Happy Birthday Splash Mountain!

While July 17th is a very special day to Disney fans everywhere as Disneyland's birthday, I did not want a particular attractions birthday to get lost in the shuffle. Splash Mountain also celebrated a birthday, fifteen years of delighting and soaking guests at the Magic Kingdom. The wonderful details throughout make it a thrill ride with a lot of heart.

Happy birthday Splash Mountain!

Water, Water Everywhere

One of the final rooms in Island Merchantile has an underwater theme featuring whales and fish. The cool blues complement the bright oranges and reds found in the areas nearby.

These fish bear a strong resemblance to the ones found in the seating area for Flame Tree Barbeque.


Much like the bird plane in the previous room, this boat takes its design influence from the fish.

The threshold into this room from the outside also features a beautiful stone mosaic.

Up, Up, and Away

This area of the store also features some wonderful flying contraptions that are part airplane and part animal.

These butterfly mobiles, while not exactly practical, are nonetheless very elegant and beautiful.


This bird plane looks like it would be a lot of fun to fly around.

Beaver Tails

The next room features orange buck-toothed beavers doing what they naturally do best: chew wood. Evidence of their presence is abundant throughout.

Beast of Burden

The next room in Island Mercantile features load-bearing animals: camels and, to a lesser extent, mules and llamas. The color palette for this room is full of bright reds and oranges, suitable for capturing that arid, desert atmosphere.

The Birds and the Bees

Stepping in the next room, the theme switches to one of bugs and birds. A honeybee motif is strong on one side of the room, beginning with the shelving fixtures:

It continues into the columns:

And runs along the ceiling:

There is also an ant design on a few of the fixtures, which creates a nice complement:

To round off the room, there are fixtures that feature hummingbirds flocking around a flower:

Beastly Beautiful

This week, I am going to be focusing on just one store and all of the wonderful details that are contained within it. That store is Island Mercantile, in Disney's Animal Kingdom. As with the rest of the park, it is full of incredible artwork that is often overlooked. The theme is a place where goods from around the world are traded, with animal motifs used to give it a feeling of whimsy.

Today will highlight the "Elephant Room," so nicknamed due to the prevalent theme of, what else, elephants.

The motif begins outside, on the intricately decorated lamposts:

Moving inside, and looking upwards, one can see that they even provide support for the roof:
There are beautiful lamps hanging from the ceiling:

On the wall high above guests is a shelving unit that contains an assortment of artwork from different cultures. The shelf's design mimicks that which is used on the lamps. Two paintings of adorned elephants flank the unit.

Support columns line the walls, and are painted with little delicate elephants:

As if the elephant theme wasn't obvious enough at this point, the light fixtures on the wall help to remind: