Splash Mountain Getting Lap Bars

Tokyo Disneyland Splash Mountain has the same boats as WDW and its been running since opening with the same lap bars going on the WDW version. Capacity is still excellent and actually, its easier to board the TDL Splash boats than in WDW, since you don't have those fixed lap bars/handrails to squeeze around.

Regarding seatbelts on Rapids rides... The ones in Europe are not equipped with them, but they have the issue of having riders running around the boats, trying to avoid waves. The problem is that if they're running and the boat hits something, there is a chance of the person falling into the water, which happened at Parc Asterix. The kid drowned, because if they e-stopped it, all that water has to go somewhere, no? He drowned in the deep reservoir portion under the lift.

And unfortunately there really isn't anything that can be done about that. If you E-stop a rapids ride, it's at least five or six minutes before the current subsides, and fifteen or twenty before it empties out. And if the incident is near the lift, well, guess what will be the last place to drain.

It's all a matter of which incident would you rather prevent? And will your means of prevention create a new hazard? After all, seat belts don't prevent riders from switching seats mid-ride, it just makes it take slightly more effort.

At least flume rides are stable enough and have shallow enough channels that capsize is nearly impossible.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.