Splash Mountain is one of the mountain rides that can be found in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The water log attraction was originally developed by Tony Baxter for Disneyland in the late 1980s. When construction of the Walt Disney World version was underway in the early 1990s, some Walt Disney Imagineers decided to add a personal touch to the ride by customizing some of the sounds for the ride.

Splash Mountain FSU

One interesting sound that is unique to the Walt Disney World version is the sound that one of the gophers makes during the cavern scene of the ride. The gopher was programmed to say FSU, which is hard to make out unless you listen carefully. Multiple sites are reporting that an Imagineer decided to program the gopher to say “FSU” to reference the university they attended, Florida State University. The Walt Disney World version of the ride can be “officially” called the Florida State University Splash Mountain because of that “feature”. Also, the gopher does not say Go FSU, however, just FSU. Some places are reporting that the gopher says Go FSU; however, recordings do not seem to indicate that the gopher says go. Tokyo Disneyland’s Splash Mountain also features the FSU gopher. Our team has confirmed that the gopher does say FSU on the Tokyo Disneyland edition.

Florida State University is a popular public University that is located in Tallahassee, Florida.

You can view a recording by Sharp Productions on YouTube below. The gopher says FSU right after the 7:25 mark in the video. You can see the gopher that says FSU by watching the second video by Gordy Haynes. Just fast forward to the cavern scene, and you will be able to see the gopher. The cavern scene with the gopher in that video starts at 7:12.

Where The FSU Gopher is Located

The Splash Mountain FSU gopher is located in the cavern scene, the last scene before the water log reaches the incline for the big drop. The specific gopher seems to be the one that pops out of the ceiling when the water log is approaching Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit. The next time you are on the ride, pay attention to the gopher and see if you can hear it say “FSU”.

You can also hear the gopher say FSU on many of the videos of the ride that are posted on the internet. Just pay attention toward the end of the cavern portion of the ride and you will hear the gopher say FSU rather clearly.

A photo of the splash mountain FSU gopher that pops out from the top of the ceiling

Above photo of the FSU gopher from Gordy Haynes's YouTube video. Used under the fair-use provision.

Splash Mountain FSU Tokyo Disneyland

The Tokyo Disneyland version of the ride also features the gopher that says FSU at the same area where the Walt Disney World FSU gopher is located.

To learn more about the water attraction, please visit the other pages about the ride.

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