News Splash Mountain retheme to Princess and the Frog - Tiana's Bayou Adventure

[Roger_the_pianist]

Mentioning Western River Expedition got me thinking about what could have been problematic about that ride. I think the storyline implied you were also being chased by Mexican bandits. Imagine if this Native American depiction were in an attraction today:

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Mentioning Western River Expedition got me thinking about what could have been problematic about that ride. I think the storyline implied you were also being chased by Mexican bandits. Imagine if this Native American depiction were in an attraction today:

Marc Davis made alternate versions of the shows scenes without the depictions of minorities.

 

[milordsloth]

I still think a muppet retheme would be a fun fit for Splash Mountain. Make it a retelling of The Muppet Movie and join Kermit and Fozzie on a trip to see how the muppets became a family. I just want more Muppets in the park. Who knows maybe the ended of the Muppet Haunted Mansion Disney+ special will say coming to Disneyland and Walt Disney World next year?

I spent 2 min putting this together. I'm liking a Muppet retheme already

 

[Kate F]

You seem to be missing the point that the entire basis of the refurb is to get rid of what is currently there, not their desperate interest in adding something new.

The assignment they're acting on here is not to add a new attraction to Magic Kingdom, but rather to take the racially problematic attraction and do away with it. They could built a massive, brand new Tiana ride right next door and they would still feel the need to get rid of Splash Mountain as it currently exists.

I don’t approve of the demonization of the current ride either. The fact that even people in this thread have it in their top 10 says something.

 

[SailorMercury]

Magic Kingdom Vice President Melissa Valiquette comments on the progress being made on the reimagining of Splash Mountain at Walt Disney World​

Magic Kingdom Vice President Melissa Valiquette comments on the progress being made on the reimagining of Splash Mountain at Walt Disney World

Magic Kingdom Vice President says "we promise not to let you down, we're going to deliver a wonderful attraction"

www.wdwmagic.com

The quote gives off this energy

 

[fgmnt]

The Shanghai POTC is mind-blowing in person... The show scenes are massive...The overall attraction is quite impressive. Don't let the videos fool you...It is a real hit!

The videos alone make me wish we could see the ride system deployed at WDW to bring an Indiana Jones River Adventure ride to the Studios. It looks consuming.

I find it really difficult to say WDI doesn't have the juice anymore. I think it's overly simple to conflate all of the problems surrounding the division (incredibly financially and capacity inefficient) and problems the company inflicts on the division (not even Tom Fitzgerald can convincingly grin through some of the turds like the EPCOT Festival Center, and the IP edict and some attraction decisionmaking above WDI's level have been depressing) into saying they are not making great attractions. They are! The problem is that PEP and WDI need to make a lot of GOOD attractions instead of a handful of great attractions. The Splash Mountain retheme is a lot easier to swallow if there is any capacity improvement to MK that will be brought online between TRON's opening and Splash's closure.

 

[Scott N]

Three or four idiots on the internet does not equate to the masses wanting this classic ride changed. Another corporation cow-tailing to a few loud mouths on the internet. I just had my last trip to Disney world to enjoy my last ride on my favorite all time ride at any park. Clueless Disney. It’s cartoon characters and songs, nothing racist and I have seen every color of person having fun on this ride and never heard one of them claim to be offended… just wet

 

[James Alucobond]

Three or four idiots on the internet does not equate to the masses wanting this classic ride changed. Another corporation cow-tailing to a few loud mouths on the internet. I just had my last trip to Disney world to enjoy my last ride on my favorite all time ride at any park. Clueless Disney. It’s cartoon characters and songs, nothing racist and I have seen every color of person having fun on this ride and never heard one of them claim to be offended… just wet

I agree with you that the masses likely are not up in arms about this. The majority of people probably don't know or care. But this isn't about that. It's about Disney carefully curating and cultivating their image, which is not the same as clueless Twitter mob kowtowing even if you don't agree with it.

 

[Vinnie Mac]

Three or four idiots on the internet does not equate to the masses wanting this classic ride changed. Another corporation cow-tailing to a few loud mouths on the internet. I just had my last trip to Disney world to enjoy my last ride on my favorite all time ride at any park. Clueless Disney. It’s cartoon characters and songs, nothing racist and I have seen every color of person having fun on this ride and never heard one of them claim to be offended… just wet

I'm a black and I enjoyed the ride but I'd love for a switch in them to Princess and the Frog. Not everyone has political reasons for it. Opinions are opinions. Isn't free speech what you guys love to talk about?

 

[Kate F]

I will say that I would be slightly more accepting towards the whole retheme idea if fans of the current ride got anything significant to compensate for it. But we’re not going to, so….

 

[WEDfan9798]

There's always been a mélange of different states and regions surrounding the Rivers of America, so I don't think it's especially problematic even if the particulars of Louisiana spill out into the exterior. The Haunted Mansion and Sleepy Hollow are New York, the southern part of Liberty Square is Pennsylvania, Tom Sawyer Island is Missouri and (more broadly) the Mississippi River, the Diamond Horseshoe and Jamboree are the far west, Pecos Bill and Big Thunder are the southwest, and Splash is Georgia. I actually think it could be an even nicer transition if Pecos Bill becomes a New Orleans-style eatery since it was always weird to me that it was disconnected from Big Thunder in the first place, plus it might be able to more elegantly flow into the Tortuga Tavern area as a port town that would reasonably have access to the Caribbean.

Nope, it makes sense to keep it as is because the transition between Caribbean Plaza to Frontierland is supposed to be Spanish. Make Splash Mountain into the Frog ride and keep the Southern theming relegated to Splash Mountain. That would be much better than trying to redo all those buildings and cheaper, which means more money can be spent on the damn ride, which is the only reason why we're talking about this.

 

[WEDfan9798]

Marc Davis made alternate versions of the shows scenes without the depictions of minorities.

Exactly. And looking at what he did to include them towards the end, it's way less offensive than what he started with in 1967/68. I am Native and Mexican, but I don't mind the bandits or having Native Americans in the ride. Just as long as they're not gross caricatures like what you'd see in Peter Pan.

 

[BasiltheBatLord]

It sounds like she was purposefully setting expectations that this isn't happening anytime soon at MK. That would line up with the speculation that the retheme is indefinitely delayed there.

 

[RSoxNo1]

To quote myself on Twitter:

Counter argument to this. Disney doesn't build 10+ minute rides anymore. A Princess and the Frog ride as a new build would be 5 minutes tops. This is a situation where if done well, I would welcome the retrofit / retheme.

 

[DisneyDodo]

Counter argument to this. Disney doesn't build 10+ minute rides anymore. A Princess and the Frog ride as a new build would be 5 minutes tops. This is a situation where if done well, I would welcome the retrofit / retheme.

The question is whether Disney will actually fill the 10+ minute ride with the proper amount of theming, or if they will just take the same few animatronics and physical set pieces they would have used on a 5-minute ride and spread it out over 10+

 

[RSoxNo1]

The question is whether Disney will actually fill the 10+ minute ride with the proper amount of theming, or if they will just take the same few animatronics and physical set pieces they would have used on a 5-minute ride and spread it out over 10+

Absolutely. This is a situation where anything less than Splash Mountain will be looked down upon. They need to make this great.

 

[SailorMercury]

I will say that I would be slightly more accepting towards the whole retheme idea if fans of the current ride got anything significant to compensate for it. But we’re not going to, so….

According to Disney, fans of the current ride have the continued use of water to look forward to.

 

[Kate F]

Counter argument to this. Disney doesn't build 10+ minute rides anymore. A Princess and the Frog ride as a new build would be 5 minutes tops. This is a situation where if done well, I would welcome the retrofit / retheme.

So you’re excusing modern Disney’s inability to create lengthy attractions? You have to ruin another ride to get a “new” lengthy attraction because you don’t trust Disney enough to make a new one from scratch?

 

[Kate F]

According to Disney, fans of the current ride have the continued use of water to look forward to.

There are tons of flume rides out there. Why should I give a crap about the water staying? (I know this comment is sarcastic)

 

[Kate F]

You guys get on me for saying modern Imagineering is inferior (with some exceptions) while admitting that they can’t build lengthy rides nowadays and excusing it. Don’t expect me to have faith in them ruining my favorite attraction when you yourselves don’t even trust them.