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Splash Mountain has officially closed forever at Walt Disney World and work is already underway to transform the classic Frontierland attraction into an all-new ride inspired by The Princess and the Frog (2009).
The new attraction, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, will feature the same track and layout as Splash Mountain did, however all the visuals that Guests experience on the ride will be rethemed to the New Orleans setting and a new story inspired by the Disney animated film.
Credit: Disney
RELATED: Everything We Know So Far About Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
The opening of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is still over a year away, but work on the new ride began immediately after the closure of Splash Mountain. From inside the Park, Guests can already spot some changes to the attraction such as the removal of Splash Mountain’s signage and some thematic elements, but overhead shots reveal where progress is happening.
Twitter user @bioreconstruct shared aerial photos of the area, which give a glimpse at the ride’s now-drained track and work vehicles backstage:
Aerial look at transformation starting of Splash Mountain to Tiana's Bayou Adventure pic.twitter.com/OD9ZYpLu5K
— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) February 14, 2023
RELATED: Splash Mountain Can Still Be Heard Outside of the Magic Kingdom
Along with the drained ride path, aerial shots reveal that several props included throughout the exterior of the original attraction have been removed.
Another image taken by @bioreconstruct shows blue scrims, but it is, of course, unclear what the progress is like under them or inside the ride’s show building:
Aerial look at redo of Splash Mountain to Tiana's Bayou Adventure. One thing that can be spotted is blue scrims along the log routing. pic.twitter.com/YeJvPM9ITG
— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) February 14, 2023
RELATED: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Will Likely Preserve Splash Mountain Animatronics
The storyline of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure picks up after the final kiss between Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen, so Guests will be able to experience a new series of events as Tiana joins Louis to prepare for a Mardi Gras parade. With the new source material for the ride encompassing some of Disney’s most beloved original songs, it will be exciting to see what changes take place to transform Splash Mountain into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
We will continue to monitor updates to the attraction, and will report back with more information as we have it leading up to the opening of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in 2024.
