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It’s hard to believe but it’s been a full two years since Walt Disney World Resort announced it would be reimagining the iconic Splash Mountain attraction. The announcement went out on June 25, 2020, and quickly became a controversial topic among Disney fans. Two years later why haven’t we seen any progress?
In June 2020, Disney revealed the announcement that Splash Mountain at both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort would be dropping its Song of the South (1946) theme and trading it in for The Princess and the Frog (2009) theme. With Br’er Bear, Br’er Fox, and Br’er Rabbit out of the picture, art renderings of Princess Tiana surfaced.
Disney fandom was torn in a debate with some believing Disney should leave the attraction as is while others were thrilled to hear the change was coming. Why the change? Disney is seeking an “inclusive” approach as Song of the South was noted as having racist connotations.
Disney’s announcement first went out noting, “The approach to retheming or “plussing” attractions (as Walt Disney referred to it) begins with Imagineers asking the question, how can we build upon or elevate the experience and tell a fresh, relevant story? It’s a continuous process that Imagineers are deeply passionate about. And with this longstanding history of updating attractions and adding new magic, the retheming of Splash Mountain is of particular importance today. The new concept is inclusive – one that all of our guests can connect with and be inspired by, and it speaks to the diversity of the millions of people who visit our parks each year.”
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The day after the news broke, Disney fans crowded into Magic Kingdom to snag as much Splash Mountain merchandise as possible, with long lines out the attraction gift shop. Now, two years later and Splash Mountain merchandise is obsolete despite the attraction still being in operation.
Disney left the breaking news with “As part of the creative development process, conceptual design work is well underway and Imagineers will soon be able to conduct preliminary reviews and develop a timeline for when the transformation can start to take shape. Stay tuned for more!”
We do know that transformation and building of attractions do take time. Just take Magic Kingdom’s TRON Lightcylce Run which is still under construction – taking longer to build than it took to build the entire Magic Kingdom Park.
Some changes with Song of the South theming removal have been put in place, such as Disney dropping its music from the popular Festival of Fantasy Parade at Magic Kingdom resulting in no more “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” tunes.
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But, why is the transformation still quiet after two full years? Josh D’Amaro, Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products shared reimagining of Splash Mountain was being “expedited” back in November 2020, but in August 2021 we heard differently from Melissa Valiquette, the Vice president of Magic Kingdom. Valiquette asked for patience, noting “Our Guests are going to have to put a little bit of trust into us for a bit because we promise not to let you down. We’re going to deliver a wonderful attraction that is inspiring and beautiful and worthy of this princess, Princess Tiana.”
Most recently on June 2, 2022, on Live with Kelly and Ryan, one of the Guests featured was Anika Noni Rose, the voice of Princess Tiana, who confirmed that Disney is working on the new ride inspired by The Princess and the Frog, and added that the attraction will open in 2024. Disney however has not yet confirmed the 2024 opening time frame for the attraction.
So, when will we know more? Rumors are now flurrying that with “The Essence Festival of Culture” taking place June 30 – July 3, 2022, Disney could possibly be preparing to share future details of Splash Mountain retheme at this time. Of course, these are just rumors as we try to wait patiently for what’s to come.
In the meantime, enjoy Splash Mountain while you can as we’re curious to know when our last time riding it with its current theme will be in the Disney Park. We’ll be sure to keep you updated here on Disney Tips as we learn more about Splash Mountain’s transformation.
