In the summer of 2020, Disney announced that it would permanently close its popular Splash Mountain attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World and replace them with a new ride based on the animated movie The Princess and the Frog. Two years later, they’ve unveiled new details about the ride — and the rough timetable of when it will be coming to both Disney parks.
The ride is called “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.” Disney isn’t tearing down Splash Mountain; instead the basic layout and ride mechanism will remain, with the current theming and animatronics removed in favor of ones that reflect the characters of The Princess and the Frog.
Here’s how Disney Parks Blog describes the updated ride:
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will take guests on a musical adventure inspired by the beloved story and characters from the fan-favorite film. Picking up where the film left off, guests will join Princess Tiana, Naveen and jazz-loving alligator Louis on an adventure through the bayou as they prepare to host a one-of-a-kind Mardi Gras celebration where everyone is welcome. Along the way, guests will encounter familiar faces, make new friends and travel through the bayou to original music inspired by songs from the film as they are brought into the next chapter of Tiana’s story.
You can see some of the research that’s gone into the making of the new attraction in this video:
While Splash Mountain remains a popular attraction at Disney parks, the film it is based on, Song of the South, has long since been otherwise buried by the company because of its stereotypical and racist depictions of African Americans. (If you’ve never watched Song of the South — which Disney has kept out of circulation for decades because they don’t want people to watch it — everything you want to know about the movie is right here.)
This new ride allows Disney to keep the log flume’s popular drops and structure while updating the ride’s content for modern tastes. The company says the updated attraction is coming “Magic Kingdom in Florida and Disneyland park in California in late 2024.”
