Ice Mountain Rapids
Rising majestically over Yukon Valley is Ice Mountain. This towering, yet friendly-looking structure houses one attraction: Ice Mountain Rapids. Taking inspiration from Splash Mountain, Grizzly River Run, and Matterhorn Mountain, this raft ride combines a fun story, catchy tunes, and thrilling drops for an experience guests won't soon forget!
The cozy, themed queue winds throughout the mountain, its path dictated by the rest of the attraction, with few switchbacks. Finally, guests get to the rather serene loading zone, where they board their raft with the help of a cast member. Their rafts follow a few curves in the river and encounted one minor drop before entering a frozen cave.
Inside, riders find themselves in what can only be described as a winter wonderland. Animals found in the Yukon, all anthropomorphic and wearing warm clothing (bringing to mind the characters seen in attractions like Country Bear Jamboree, Splash Mountain, and America Sings) can be seen having fun in the snow. Throughout this scene, an energetic track plays as the creatures all sing along, unifying the entire scene. On the left-hand side of the raft are a lynx and a musk ox aboard a snowmobile - the musk ox sits on the back, and its weight causes the entire snowmobile to turn over, its front half sticking up into the air as the arctic fox stubbornly attempts to accelerate the crankshaft. Nearby, more animals are fishing, their lines in the river occasionally retracting to reveal what they've caught. A polar bear has caught a tiny fish, a muskrat has caught an enormous fish, and an elk has caught an old boot. Meanwhile, an arctic fox sits in front of a hole in the ice, a fishing pole in his paws. Suddenly, he feels a tug on his line and reels it in... only to discover that he's caught a wooden sign with "NO FISHING" written on it. On the right-hand side of the raft, a group of bison can be seen paddling alongside us in a canoe - which is starting to sink as a result of their weight. On the shore, a grizzly bear, a mule deer, a wolverine, and a bearded seal are gathered around a campfire, trying to keep warm. A pair of cougar cubs work on a snowman in the shape of a polar bear, a raven (the provincial bird of the Yukon) perched atop its head. A caribou sits in a kayak, paddling furiously, puzzled as to why he's not moving. Suddenly, it's revealed that his kayak is sitting on the head of a bowhead whale, which promptly rises out of the water. The whale's tail splashes us, sweeping us into the next scene.
Riders are suddenly surrounded by humongous snow-topped mountains and glaciers. As the river becomes a bit choppier, the ice on either side of the raft begins to crack and break apart. The river is starting to rise. As suspenseful music plays, chunks of glacier fall off and land all around us (accomplished via both 2.5D effects and physical set pieces on guide wires.) You might get wet!
After another sudden drop, the rafts approach more animals, all of them attempting to get away from the rising river. A family of black bears have climbed up a tree. A bison stands, trying to keep his balance, atop an upside-down kayak, a red fox standing on his shoulders and a beaver standing on the fox's head. Fast-flowing ice chases after a beluga whale that three lynxes, a snowshoe hare, an elk, an otter, a cougar, and a coyote are sitting atop.
Our raft approaches the foot of a mountain and begins to climb (actually, it's on a lift hill). Animals on either side of the raft are seen climbing alongside the guests - wolves, grizzly bears, polar bears, caribou, moose, bison, foxes, musk oxen, woodpeckers, blackbirds, sparrows, mountain goats, wolverines, seals, and even the beluga whale... that needs to be pushed up the hill by a group of elk. Dramatic music plays as we approach the top of the mountain.
At the top of the mountain, on the left-hand side of the raft, is a mule deer on skis. Seemingly unaware of the rising water below, he is preparing to slalom down the mountain. He gives us a grin. This character is bound to produce a few chuckles... that'll quickly turn into screams as the raft hurtles down a thirty-foot drop, outside.
It's nighttime now. The river has subsided and the animals are all safe. The raft circles them as they all sit outside in the snow, watching the Aurora Borealis shimmer in the night sky. As we turn away from the animals, bowhead whales emerge from the water and spray glowing water from their blowholes. The polar bear-shaped snowman reappears, now holding a sign reading "COME BACK SOON, EH?", a nice farewell as the rafts drift into the unload area.
