Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station

Jack Spence Masthead

Hey everyone, I have great news! “Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak” opened today (June 15, 2012) at Storybook Circus in the Magic Kingdom. As with the rest of this new area, everything looks fantastic! Casey Jr. has arrived from out of town and is getting ready for a big show. Casey and some of his circus cars are parked on the turntable while a few of his friends have already been positioned nearby. All of the animals are excited about the show and exhibit their enthusiasm with sprays of cooling water on the crowds below.

I have included 13 pictures of the area and a short video. I encourage you to watch the video as this will give you a better idea of what this new area is all about.

With each new tidbit Disney offers, I’m getting more and more excited about the rest of the new Fantasyland. Things are looking good.

Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak

Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak

Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak

Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak

Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak

Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak

Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak

Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak

Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak

Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak

Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak

Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak

Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak

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28 Replies to “Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station”

  1. My son encountered this on 6/17 when we stayed for EMH.
    It was late, and he subtly approached it and was sprayed gently by one element. Then he got sucked into the magic and just frolicked in pure bliss for about 30 minutes. He got soaked and needed several reminders to wrap it up but it was one of those “amazing to be parent of the happiest kid here” moments. He is almost 8, and while he isn’t exactly on the spectrum he is very slow to dip into pretending and super serious/intellectual about everything. There were 2 high school girls also having the time of their lives. Such a great addition to the area.

  2. So fun! Just pack some x-tra clothes and let the kids enjoy! The children in the video look like they are having such a great time!! Even though I don’t have children of my own, (I do work in early childhood ed however, so I consider myself to have had many children over the years :-)!), and don’t usually visit with children in tow, I would enjoy this myself! Such attention to detail…CANNOT WAIT to see what other surprises this expansion will bring… just great!!!
    Thanks for the glimps, Jack!

  3. Just got back and this was a great break on a hot afternoon. The railing is a non-issue when you are there live. I probably would not have noticed it except for the 2 or 3 kids who were repeatedly climbing on it and cast members had to ask them to stay off of the railing. It would be a disaster if the railing wasn’t there. I love the details throughout the new circus area. My 2 year old spent our whole wait for dumbo trying to pick the peanuts off the ground. The restrooms are themed as a round house with train tacks leading out to the splash zone and the train. Really well done.

  4. I don’t know. All i see is the railing. The rail was not in the concept art. See link.

    Jack’s Comment:

    You forgot to send the link. LOL

    You have to remember, concept art is just that, a concept. I can show you a lot of “late stage” concept art that differs from the finished product.

    I don’t know if the railing was an afterthought or not, but regardless, it is needed for safety.

  5. Jack,

    Thanks as always. I’ve said this before, but you are my favourite Disney blogger in all of cyberspace. I basically stopped reading allears after both Anita Answer and you were gone. I’m glad you’re back.

    My son will be 21 months old the next time we visit in January, so probably a perfect age. A couple of questions:

    1. Is there a place to change nearby, especially for those “diaper age” children who will need to put on their swim diapers?

    2. Will this be operational in January? All the time, only when warm, not at all? I note that several of the “refreshing” water theming elements(squirting tikis in Adventureland, spitting elephants at Kali River Rapids) can be turned off in January, but I assume this will be left on as it is a full attraction?

    Many thanks, Wendy

    Jack’s Answer:

    1. There is a restroom about 20 feet away.

    2. I don’t know. You are correct that other water features are turned way down or off during cold weather, but this is a much bigger attraction. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

  6. Wonderful update, as always – thanks for always keeping those of us who can’t be there as often as we would like informed!

    Really appreciate what you do!

  7. Thanks Jack! Great pictures.
    As to the rail controversy; I took a look at pictures of actual railroad turntables and found that the rail around Casey Jr. is fairly authentic. The railing for an actual turntable runs the entire diameter of the turntable, so the Disney Imagineers did make a slight modification by actually shotening the length of the rail and adding a “gate” at the front of the engine. I think the rail performs a dual task of giving the look of a real railroad turntable while preventing accidents that could come from climbing on or around the engine.
    Looking forward to your next blog.

  8. Thank you Jack for another wonderful blog. I love everything about this play area and cannot wait to visit it for real in Aug/Sept. I know my girls will have a great time playing in the area, and I know I will have a great time as well playing with them :).

  9. Hi Jack! This looks like sooooo much fun, especially in that hot, Florida heat and humidity!!! I can’t wait to try it out!

  10. I love it already!

    Even though my kids are getting older I’m sure they’ll throw caution to the wind and get soaked in here. It’s just what MK needed after Donald’s Boat disappeared. On past trips I have taken my kid’s PJ’s to the parks and let them go wild in the water play areas. When they’ve had enough I’d take them to the restrooms to dry them and get changed. As was usually the case they’d fall asleep on our way back to the resort, and we’d just pop them into bed.

    I love the water play areas, the kids have a ball and their antics are usually very entertaining.

    As for the rail, if it wasn’t there I’m sure there’d be many more accidents if it hadn’t been placed there. As the old saying goes, you can’t please all of the people all of the time…

    Thank you for this blog Jack! I’m quite excited about the other parts of Storybook Circus too!

  11. Hey Jack! Your poster “Mitchell” is dead on. The fencing around Casey Jr. was installed in keeping with the themeing of a real roundhouse. An added benefit of the fence in my opinion (and nothing but my opinion) is the safety factor for children (lots of parents let their kids run unattended). I too went to visit the play area and didn’t notice the fence until I had been there a while. Although, perhaps the dad’s should have kept their shirts on. Ick.

  12. Jack —

    It’s not that your pictures emphasize the fence…it’s that the fence was not there before today for most of us.

    I don’t remember seeing this in any of the pics we’ve seen before of Casey and the train cars.

    That’s why it’s so jarring…because it suddenly appeared and closed him in.

    I bet someone who was not following the expansion closely might not notice it as much because they would not have seen pics without the fence.

  13. Jack —

    Thanks for this and the video. Can you answer two question?

    1. Was that metal railing around Casey always supposed to be there (i.e., was it in the original plan)?

    2. If YES, then why didn’t they do a better job of making that railing blend in?

    To me, it looks like Casey did something bad and he was put in a cage.

    I think this was an instance where they brought in some kids once the train was built and some kids might have hurt themselves or come close to it…so the Disney lawyers bounced in and insisted that Casey be railed off like this.

    It really looks like Casey was originally designed so that kids could climb into him and pretend to steer (drive?) the train…but something bad happened and they decided to rail it off.

    It would have been smart to have built Casey in a way that was impossible to climb…instead of having this railing around him that comes off to me as very unfriendly and KEEP OUT! DANGEROUS in tone.

    Jack’s Answer:

    I have no information about Casey’s “original” plans. But I can tell you this, in order to make Casey authentic to his movie counterpart, it would be impossible to make him un-climbable. Casey has too many components that would scream to a child, “climb on me.” The cow-catcher, the wheels, the pistons, the stairs to the cab. You could be right that during testing, children did climb on him and get hurt — I don’t know. But if the fence is removed, Casey would have to be drastically redesigned and he would no longer look like Casey.

    I have to admit, I’m really shocked by all the comments I’m receiving about the fence. When I was there in person, I barely noticed this railing. I believe my pictures must be emphasizing this feature.

  14. I Love this! My girls are even more excited now for our upcoming trip!! Great attention to detail, it looks fantastic and will be so refreshing on a hot day! I’m sure the kids will dry off quickly in the hot Florida sun! Thank you Disney it’s brilliant as per usual! <3

  15. hey jack
    thanks for the updates as always. it looks like a lot of fun for not only the little kids but for the big kids as well when it comes to cooling off. can’t wait for your next blog and as always keep up the great work.

  16. The railing seems to fit in with the “turntable” theme. Most trains when going through a turntable are gated or they use stoppers to keep the train from rolling off the track as they turn it. So while the fencing may have been to keep kids off the engine it does indeed fit in with the whole theme of a train at the turntable waiting to be placed on a new track. The circle around the train would be the turntable that Casey Jr. is parked on waiting his turn.

  17. Did you know that on the train cars, there are different numbers? I saw 71, 82, 89, and 98, which happen to be the same years the four parks opened at Disney World!

  18. It looks amazing. I love the wiggly eyes on Casey Jr. I may venture in myself to get some August heat relief.
    I agree the railing doesn’t look good and would have thought a playable train engine would have been fun. However Disney would never install something like that without testing out the alternatives first.
    Thanks for another great post Jack.

    Jack’s Comment:

    I barely noticed the railing when I was actually there. I think my photos emphasize it. At any rate, safety must be considered first.

  19. When will ALL of the “Storybook Circus” attractions be open?

    Jack’s Answer:

    I don’t know. Disney has announced that the Little Mermaid attraction and Beast’s Castle will be open before the holidays, but I’ve seen nothing about the rest of Storybook Circus. Sorry.

  20. The art direction on the whole circus area has been top-notch. That train looks like it could have ridden straight out of a Golden Age Disney cartoon.

    Now that we have a real water play area, maybe they’ll ditch the silly Sea Captain tomb from the new Haunted Mansion queue.

  21. This looks amazing…hoping to try it out on my next trip if it’s warm enough (late fall – I should get at least a couple days that are up in the 80’s!)

  22. The design looks incredible as always . . . . .and then there is the metal railing. I know it serves a purpose but it looks terrible. In the midst of the rest of the incredible themeing, there is a big grey barrier that just screams out “stay back”. I wish they could have come up with a better alternative than that.

  23. The last thing I want is a wet child for a few hours. Also I can’t stand going on a ride and sitting on a wet seat. This could be the worst idea disney has ever had.

    Jack’s Comment:

    Disney has had water play areas for a number of years. There are several in Epcot. This is not the first and I doubt that it will be the last.

  24. hi jack,
    great photos and video. i was not excited for this but i am now!
    did this have a height/age requirement/rules or is this for everybody?
    thanks.
    karen

    Jack’s Answer:

    Children under the age of 12 must have adult supervision. Diaper age children must wear swim-diapers.

  25. Is the flooring not one of those squishy mats? This seems weird – seems like a big slipping hazard for excited little ones. But, it looks quite inviting for a hot day!!

    Jack’s Answer:

    This surface is not the “soft” material that is seen in other water-play areas. However, the surface is non-slick. The children I saw playing today were running full speed and I saw no signs of slipping.

  26. Ok is it just me or does the metal railing around the front of the train just scream someone is going to slip and split their head on me… It is there to keep little ones from getting inside or on the front of the train? not sure. But other then that it looks great, my girls are very excited to see it..

    Jack’s Answer:

    There are absolutely NO sharp edges on this railing. This railing was intentionally put around the engine to keep children (and adults) from climbing on and falling off Casey Jr. None of the other structures can offer climbing possibilities.