Splash Mountain re-theme announced

[BigDlover]

Let's just SAY that this doesn't have anything do with the current cultural climate...
It's still a terrible idea and I'm glad the pushback has been immense.

Pushback from Disney die-hards on sites like this though. The public isn't pushing back.

 

[noodles]

I genuinely have no idea how someone’s mind operates when it cannot even fathom underlying racism in something so simple as Song of the South. It’s there, plain as day.

Can you not see racism in all the looting and burning taking place? Willful ignorance? Do you just hate America so much that burning it down is cool?

 

[Satans Hockey]

Not that I needed more reasons to but this gives me yet another excuse to go back to Tokyo Disney. I love Splash Mountain and while I think Princess and the Frog is a great movie too I would have much rather have kept Splash how it is and have an entirely new ride for Princess and the frog

 

[invader]

Pushback from Disney die-hards on sites like this though. The public isn't pushing back.

Go read the comments on WDW instagram post.

 

[3BratsToDisney]

I don't believe those who are advocating for the Splash conversion were "finding offense in everything." I also don't believe you really have a place to invalidate someone else's thoughts on an attraction based on a controversial source.

But its okay for you to have a place and invalidate the opposing side thoughts on an attraction? Double standards much? Controversial source I'll agree on that bit and it's a debate for sure. however the ride itself, which is what we are discussing does not have anything in it controversial and did a good job of steering away from those parts of the movie. But I suppose you can say that is a matter of opinion and we will agree to disagree on that part.

 

[Father Robinson]

They're kids though, who probably don't know the history of the movie. A lot of adults know better.

A lot of (normal) adults don't give a hoot!

 

[MisterPenguin]

Been mentioned but honestly if they are acknowledging that the ride is a problem why would this remain open when (more like if) the parks reopen next month?

Because of the pandemic, Disney is having trouble getting their hands on enough TNT to blow it up.

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Rampant mental illness is the elephant in the room. Maybe people who feel physically ill because people have different views on things should spend some time enjoying themselves... like at an amusement park... on a ride inspired by a story that at its core was about a child befriending and learning life lessons from somebody, somebody who the boy's society at the time wrongly chose to sideline.

Sorry if that paragraph made anybody physically ill, LOL.

Is this for real? Because I've seen quite a few posts from people here saying they were "throwing up" or "physically ill" because of a freaking change to a theme park ride.

Are you people all completely delusional?

 

[IMFearless]

Such sad news that another amazing attraction is being destroyed.

I am still grateful that Tower of Terror was saved, and at least Spaceship Earth will remain a bit longer but Splash was by far my favourite ride in WDW. Every element of the attraction was sublime, the music, the setting, excitement, a cohesive and fluent story, plenty of pace coupled with leisurely show scenes which built the anticipation, a fabulous finale. More re-rideability than virtually every other attraction with the exception of Haunted Mansion and POTC.

Let’s just hope the people who signed the online petition get their masks on and board a flight to Orlando soon, and in sizeable number, as I fear the folks who actually frequented the parkoften up until now will not be hugely impressed with this news.

As if we needed another reason to not visit!

 

[stretchsje]

I can see this for Disneyland. Not Disney World. Mardi Gras doesn't fit thematically into Frontierland.

I'm happy Tony Baxter is involved though.

I cannot understand why this would be a priority over all the other work and possibilities. Decades of guest surveys, but a change.org petition from non-paying internet nobodies tips the boat?

 

[3BratsToDisney]

I'm going to convert to their way of thinking. And I'm going to try to ruin every single thing they hold near and dear. Me and about 50 million more if the lunacy doesn't stop soon.

Lunacy? I'm starting to think it's a mental health issue.

 

[dig311dug]

Pushback from Disney die-hards on sites like this though. The public isn't pushing back.

Disney should realize the die-hards pay their bills...

 

[RoysCabin]

If you want the actual historical answer, though, it's largely because the federal government stopped supporting Reconstruction policies, which meant there was no longer the necessary protection in place to allow it to function. And, as I said, white supremacists reclaimed control over the south.

My original point was that there's at least a case to be made that African Americans were better off during Reconstruction than they were 100 years later, which shows just how bad things were in the 20th century. It had nothing to do with the ride or the movie.

Does depend on the region, at least: there were numerous towns in the Reconstruction South that elected black leadership, only to have hate mobs storm through those towns and commit arson, lynchings, and more until they could ensure the elected black delegations couldn't be seated (this included lynching the actual elected leaders). It took Congress and U.S. Grant signing the Force Acts, known popularly as the KKK Act, to get the armed forces into gear and literally put down the Klan and its associated forces during that era. Unfortunately, when Benjamin Harrison wanted to win the super-close election of 1876, one of the compromises he made to get the electoral support he needed was that he'd pull the troops out of the South, thus effectively empowering the white power structures to make a full comeback and fully leading into the Jim Crow era as it was widely understood. So it becomes a mixed bag: the first black Congresspeople and Senators were elected during Reconstruction, but like you said, the eventual withdrawal of federal support for Reconstruction projects made the ensuing white supremacy all the more potent and toxic.

...Sorry, US History teacher, I can't help myself.

 

[Lintemuthstudios]

Disney should realize the die-hards pay their bills...

Lol no they don't.

 

[The_Jobu]

Go read the comments on WDW instagram post.

This is an interesting point. Ultimately, I think both groups are quite small, but the group of people who might stop visiting DW because of this change must be bigger than the group of people who might stop visiting DW if they cancel this change.

 

[dig311dug]

Lol no they don't.

who does? the people cheering this on twitter?

 

[the-reason14]

What in the actual hell is racist about the Splash Mountain ride? It only contains certain pieces of the movie to begin with?

Nothing if it wasn’t based from the stories of Brer Rabbit. Now that I think about it, there is a lot of things that can be racists about the attraction. The rabbit trap is a noose, the fact that Brer Rabbit is trying to “escape” the Briar Patch just to realize it’s “where he belongs,” as in, blacks belong in the south enslaved. It can be quite a reach to come up with all of that from the ride, however, the fact that these stories are told by a black man during American slavery should explain exactly why the ride is racist. It can be argued why would a black man say that being enslaved in the south is “where he or they belong.” But the movie the ride is based on depicts slavery in such a way. This is all coming from the perspective of someone’s who’s ancestors were slaves in this country, so my outlook and opinion might be the minority.

 

[TaoBoxer]

Ridiculous on so many levels.

 

[Beacon Joe]

For what it's worth, Jim Korkis wrote a great little book on this subject. It's worth a read regardless of your opinion on the matter.

 

[J_Carioca]

My all-time ride being destroyed. Cool.

Yours and mine. The news actually made me cry when I saw the CNN report. That ride was my introduction to the Magic Kingdom, the place where I understood "Disney magic" for the first time, the first ride I went on with my late father, a ride I went on three times in a row with friends. And now it's going to be gone. I hate them for doing this.