Splash Mountain
The screams that filled the air were followed by a huge splash. The group of Ozians that had been walking by turned to see what the commotion was about. They looked up to see a huge mountain with an opening in the middle, letting log rides fall from the top all the way down into what looked like a briar patch.
"We have got to go on that ride!" said Fiyero giving the other members of the group virtually no other choice. He ran around to one side of the mountain, looking for where the line started while the other followed him. They had missed out on this ride last summer when they had gone to Ozney but now they were back and the group planned on going on all the rides that they had missed out on.
This was one of them.
"I don't know about this one, Elphie," remarked Galinda as she fixated her 'Minnie' ears onto of her head, "It looks like that's a pretty big drop."
She was nervous, ever since the whole Mount Everest incident last year Galinda had normally chosen to duck out of big drop rides.
"You'll be fine," said Elphaba with a roll of her eyes. That drop was nothing to Elphaba. Last year she had gotten over her fear of heights and of water, so now she felt like all the rides in Ozney were for babies. She was fearless now when it came to rides.
"I'm sure someone would be happy to hold your hand, Galinda if you get scared," teased Nessarose lightly as Boq wheeled the girl to keep up with her friends.
"Ha-ha, very funny," said Galinda but she scowled at the wheel-chaired bound girl.
"Yes, let's not have a repeat of what happened on Mount Everest or Jaws, okay?" pleaded Fiyero as he rejoined the group in the line.
Galinda pouted and huffed. They were all making fun of her and it wasn't fair. She hoped at least one of them would scream in fear with her on this ride.
"What is this ride even about anyways?" asked Boq as he surveyed the landscape of the area as they moved up considerably in the line. Elphaba shrugged, almost making her backpack fall off her shoulders. She played with her pin-adorned lanyard on her neck and adjusted her Ozney shirt she had gotten at a gift store. Fiyero leaned against a railing and held his hands up. He didn't know either.
"Don't look at me, I don't even want to go on this ride," said Galinda as she shot Boq a look. She crossed her arms over her chest, hiding the pattern of her pink dress' bodice.
Finally after a long wait of about thirty minutes, the group of Ozians finally made it to where they loaded the rides.
"Oh, look," said Galinda, "There's a sign that says that this is our last chance to turn back, I guess we better-"
But Elphaba cut her off with a sharp tug on her arm towards the ride, "Come on, scaredy-pants."
Galinda groaned and reluctantly followed her.
They left Nessarose's wheelchair at the loading place, the attendants said they would bring it out for her when the ride was done. They loaded all the Ozians into the log. Another kid was in the front seat, but then the order went Fiyero, Boq, Nessarose, and then Elphaba and Galinda were squished together in the back of the log.
"Ha-ha Elphie," laughed Nessa as she took a look back at her sister and friend, "You got stuck with Galinda!"
Elphaba frowned a bit until the blonde hit her hard in the stomach with her elbow.
"Ow, thanks a lot Blondie," remarked Elphaba as she rubbed her stomach.
Galinda didn't have time for a retort because the ride began to take off.
They went up two conveyor belts and then were dropped into a scenic type route. Galinda of course screamed at that drop even though it was a tiny one.
Elphaba groaned besides her and suppressed the urge to clamp a hand over the blonde's mouth. She could hear giggling from her friends who were not in the back of the ride.
Snoring could then be heard all around them. Then they dropped down again and came into the indoor section of the ride.
The animatronic animals were of all sorts. Geese, rabbits, bears, frogs, opossums all were singing some song.
Elphaba wasn't really paying any attention to what they were doing; she just wanted to go on the drop.
"Oh isn't this nice," commented Galinda as they floated gently through the inside of the mountain. She was enjoying the slow ride; the big drop had momentarily been forgotten in her mind.
She thought that the animatronic animals were cute with their choppy and awkward movements as they flowed through the ride. But there was one problem; no one understood what the ride was about. There was this Rabbit who was always popping up everywhere, a Bear who seemed not all that bright, and Fox who seemed to want to eat the Rabbit. Then there was this weird thing about 'The Laughing Place,' that all of the animals suddenly were talking about along the ride.
The log ascended up a long conveyor belt towards the hole in the mountain, and Elphaba felt Galinda tense up as she realized what was happening.
The ominous vultures on the side warned of 'The Laughing Place,' but all Elphaba could concentrate on was Galinda's face. It was white with sheer terror. She barely heard Fiyero and the rest of them exclaim shouts of excitement as they ascended up towards the big drop.
"Oh Oz, oh Oz, oh Oz, oh Oz, no, oh Oz, no," Galinda whimpered as she clutched the safety bar with white knuckles. The log began to dip downwards and the two girls in the back watched as everyone else disappeared from view until they too fell down at the end of the log.
"OH MY-"
Galinda never got to finish her exclamation because her scream had turned into a silent one of terror as they fell. They both thought they heard and saw the flash of a camera but both were too busy to notice. Galinda was too busy screaming in silence and Elphaba had her hands up in the air, screaming with joy.
The landscape around them appeared as a blur as they fell and then got soaked as the log landed into the water.
Once the drop was done and the splash had come and gone, the people in the log began to chatter.
"That was awesome," shouted Fiyero with a howl as he laughed.
Nessa and Boq were comparing how wet they got from the splash. The kid in the front was chuckling in delight.
Elphaba looked over to Galinda, she had still not let go of the safety bar.
"How was that, Glin?" she asked, a smile appearing on the green girl's face.
"I'm wet," complained the blonde horrified as she took in her soaked pink dress. Her bottom lip trembled for a moment and then she launched herself at Elphaba and hugged her tightly, "And besides being absolutely terrified that was kind of fun!"
Elphaba smirked at the blonde for being unpredictable and then hugged her back.
The log then went back into the indoor part and there were all these cute animals singing a song called Zip-A-Dee-Do-Da. All of the Ozians, even though they did not know the tune, joined in and laughed merrily.
"This ride gives a false sense of calm up until the creepy vultures and the conveyor belt," remarked Galinda as she shuddered. She had been having a lovely time on the ride up until the drop. She blamed the Ozney ride engineers for that.
They came back to the landing strip where they all got off and Nessa got her wheelchair back. They were all soaked.
"It's a good thing it's hot out," said Boq as they exited the ride. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"So, what's next?" asked Nessarose.
Fiyero smirked as he looked at his friends, "I think we need to go on a little adventure with our friend Indiana Jones."
They all looked at him in surprise and with confused expressions.
"Who is Indiana Jones?" asked Nessa.
Fiyero looked at them in disbelief, groaned, and pulled them towards the Temple-like structure, "You're about to find out whether you like it or not. Don't you people watch movies?" he complained.
They all laughed as they got in line for the ride, even Galinda who had her doubts about this ride because of the creepy exterior of the temple.
"As long as we don't get stuck on any rides or die, I'm game," she said reluctantly. Everyone smiled and got ready to go on the next ride.
So recently I had the chance to go to California and I went to Disneyland and got to go on some rides that I had not been on yet. It was so much fun so be prepared for more Ozney stories! I have been on this one before I just didn't write about it until now. So most of these rides will be from Disneyland or California Adventures which is slightly different from the ones in Walt Disney World, just so no one is confused.
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