Splash Mountain re-theme announced

[Sundown]

You think black people in that time were truly "free" ... okay.

They were after emancipation. You are making up things or refusing to "believe" something if you think otherwise.

Also, please tell us all exactly what was "racist" about the Song of the South movie? I'd like the opportunity to refute your points.

 

[wdwmagic]

@mdktf @marni1971 @wdwmagic

Is there any hope of stopping this? Are there emails I can send? Phone numbers I can call? I've signed a change.org petition but I just don't see that as being enough. I cannot imagine visiting MK or DL without riding Splash--This is actually a turning point for me. This is serious enough for me to begin winding down visits to Disney properties and exploring new resort and vacation destinations. I am beyond saddened by this knee-jerk and silly decision.

I really dont see anything stopping it now, the train has well and truly left the station.

 

[Princess Leia]

Do we have a date for when this is closing? Will it be closed when the parks open, or will people be allowed a final ride?

 

[_caleb]

Have you ever read some of the source material for some of the other films, especially the fairy tales?

Yes!

 

[Rescue Ranger]

If planned for over a year, how come this was just refurbished?

And to those saying it needed an update and we can't expect people to visit a park with old attractions....I dunno about your visits, but every time I've been Splash has huge lines and is always extremely popular.

Is it too much to expect anything from Splash to be left, like the characters or ANYTHING? Or will they act like it never existed?

At least they can't take away our memories. Not yet anyway! I'm so so happy I created a scrapbook to always look back on.

Look, I may fall in love with this new theme, could be one of the absolute best attractions in the park. But it cuts deep to know it had to come at the loss of something so deeply integrated in Disney park culture.

 

[wdwmagic]

Do we have a date for when this is closing? Will it be closed when the parks open, or will people be allowed a final ride?

No timeframe yet

 

[Magenta Panther]

Like I said, Hall of Presidents has to be on the chopping block. Washington and Lincoln have to go, Jefferson, etc.

Nope. There's a difference between history and literature. History can't be erased, much as that might offend your delicate virgin feelings. Grow up.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

We have an expert in this thread, let's let them weigh in and enlighten us.

I can't tell if you're mocking me or mocking someone else.

 

[noodles]

Splash Mountain is an isolated situation so people saying “WHAT ARE THEY COMING FOR NEXT?!” Is a bit of an overrraction in my opinion. The reason for that is the IP in which Splash is based on which Disney has distanced themselves really since Song of The South was released. And has been going on long before statues were being torn down so I think we can separate that a bit from this conversation. Now 30 years ago when this opened they could get away with passing this off as some sort of theme park exclusive where they could pretend Splash wasn’t based on any sort of property. But nowadays with google and internet in our pockets a quick google search of Splash Mountain links it to Song of the South and thus the controversy of that movie itself. So I can understand them wanting to rethink this to in a sense finally cut all ties with Song of The South, it sucks that a great ride is victim to that but I understand it.
I will miss this ride it was quintessential Disney World for me so I feel why people are upset. But in no way do I think this has been a year in the making or that we will see this anytime soon. I think disney was trying to save face by saying this is in the works but I don’t expect to see it till 2023/2024 they are doing what they believe is their part in the national conversation right now.

Disney hopes that by sacrificing Splash they can keep everything else.
But that's not how this works.
It's not about social justice. It's about socialism.
It won't stop at placation.

 

[SaveDinosaur]

How is the storyline racist?

People that say that the movie is racist have never seen it, they just read some article from a site or blog that was made to gain political relevance. Let´s not forget that the MAIN CAST DIDN´T THOUGHT THAT THE FILM WAS RACIST and Walt approved it.

 

[UNCgolf]

Calm down. I can promise you, if Magic Kingdom was exactly the same at it was in 1989 today, people would not pay thousands of dollars to go.

Even your local six flags drops a new ride every year.

They probably would, because the 1989 Magic Kingdom had more interesting stuff to see and do than the current Magic Kingdom. Not even talking about the rides, but all of the really neat stuff that's been eliminated in the past couple of decades like the unique, themed stores.

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

People paying 100+ for 3 hours in an old park is “ground zero” for the problem already. No one can control themselves!!

So now putting new cartoons on old rides makes it worth that?

That’s such groupthink behavior...honestly

All rides need to grow and change.

 

[Tony Perkis]

Disney hopes that by sacrificing Splash they can keep everything else.
But that's not how this works.
It's not about social justice. It's about socialism.
It won't stop at placation.

Hahahahahahaha.

 

[HauntedPirate]

What do you mean based on racism? The movie? The stories? The stories are African American folk tales. The nesting of them in a 1946 movie added racist context. Stripping out the dumb movie parts leaves us with the folktales. The problem is few people are willing to put the mental effort into what they’re actually experiencing.
How sad to replace an attraction based on African American oral tradition going back centuries with a Disneyfied version of a European fairytale. This is akin to protestors pulling down the Grant statue.

This. Exactly this.

 

[tirian]

As an African American, I want to thank all of those who complained without understanding that SPlash was the last big remnant of my ancestors stories in the world. This SERIOUSLY does wonders to the black community....This is an absolute joke. I am beyond disappointed..My all time favorite attraction, the one that made me feel close to My heritage, My stories.

Thanks, Disney.

Many people did try pointing out the attraction should have had a plaque explaining the history of the Brer Rabbit stories, but historical facts don’t matter to the knee-jerk Twitter/Cancel Culture crowd.

Now we’ll have a new ride based on a California version of South Louisiana via a European fairy tale. And if you’ve ever been to the real New Orleans, the music and accents in “Princess and the Frog” were atrocious.

 

[Speedy71]

God I hate twitter.....

 

[phillip9698]

Lol. It was to honor fallen Americans. But keep pushing that liberal the south was evil agenda.

It just so happened that these monuments were built in earnest at the time black people were the most vocal about civil rights? That was a coincidence...................................twice?????????????????????

 

[wedenterprises]

I heartily approve, but I am not a Black person. I'd like to hear from more Black people on this.

 

[BasiltheBatLord]

One of the interesting effects of this is that Tokyo is going to become even more of a time capsule of what the American parks used to be like. They still have the original PotC auction scene and they'll still have Splash, at least for now.

 

[SpaceMountain75]

Does this mark the official end of caring about thematic integrity? I know there have been some stretches to make certain attractions fit before (ironically including Splash Mountain in Frontierland), but it seems like the new mentality is to just lackadaisically insert IP into areas that don’t make sense at all. Bayous in the frontier? Guardians of the Galaxy in 1930s Hollywood? They’re becoming less theme parks and more amusement parks by the second.