Though a lot of Walt Disney World projects have been cancelled, downsized or changed due to the effects of COVID-19, Disney has announced a massive project that will bring a brand new theme to a Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Classic – Splash Mountain! According to Disney, last year a project began that would see Splash Mountain completely reimagined into an attraction featuring Princess Tiana from Princess and the Frog!
A new epilogue for Princess and the Frog
Like Frozen Ever After at Epcot, this new, unnamed Princess and the Frog attraction will use the same ride system as Splash Mountain to tell a story that happens after the ending of the movie. In this new attraction guests will float along as Princess Tiana and Louis go on a musical adventure – featuring some of the iconic tunes from the film – as they prepare for their first-ever Mardi Gras performance. Original dialogue and music will be also be recorded, and the original voice of Princess Tiana, Tony Award-winning actress, Anika Noni Rose, has been confirmed to be reprising her role.
Timelines for this project are currently unknown
Though Disney says that work will begin behind the scenes on this project immediately as far as construction goes they are still evaluating project timelines based on the evolving situation due to COVID-19. And because there are so many unknowns with this project, Disney has confirmed that both Magic Kingdom and Disneyland parks will re-open with the existing Splash Mountain attraction for an undetermined amount of time.
Reasons to retheme
The existence of Splash Mountain has become part of a conversation in recent months about what is and isn’t appropriate at modern theme parks, and Disney has acknowledged that Splash Mountain, while it does have a brilliant ride platform, has been on their radar for a long time as an attraction that needed changes and modifications, especially as the source material for the attraction, 1946’s Song of the South has long been criticized as a racist relic of the past that Disney has not released in full on any kind of home media in over 40 years (a much longer time than the attraction itself has been open!)
And while many may question the decision to once again use an existing building for an attraction instead of constructing a new one, Bob Weis, president of Walt Disney Imagineering, touted Disney’s history of enhancing attractions with “new magic,” like Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT. Though Weiss acknowledged that these decisions to re-theme old attractions aren’t always popular,he said that Disney’s biggest fans “know that we care as much as they do”.
Though it seems like this project has been in the works for awhile and decisions are still being made about the form this new ride will take, the current Splash Mountain will be sticking around for just a little while longer while constructions and timelines are being figured out. Are you excited for this new attraction to take over the former Splash Mountain attraction space?
