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

[HauntedPirate]

Realistically I think D23 is a possibility for more information but I still doubt it. Disney announced this project too early, and they can't back out of it. The publicity would be outrageous backing out on a change like this.

So now Disney is forced to spend the money to redo Splash Mountain. Quite possibly they may even offer to pay for Tokyo's in the future too. For now there's just so little information about this project that who knows what will happen.

Arguably Tokyo would be the hardest to change because not only do you have a ride, you would have to redo the quick service place attached to Splash Mountain for it to fit thematically.

They absolutely can back out. There is nothing dictating they must move forward with this at all. The whole thing was a knee-jerk reaction to begin with. If they announced they were building a PatF-based ride at DHS and this was cancelled, no one would bat an eyelash. If this was cancelled/never brought up again, who would care? Those who are told to be outraged?

And Tokyo isn't changing theirs.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I doubt Disney will spend money to retheme Splash in Tokyo. While Song of the South has always been controversial in the US, the controversy is nonexistent in Japan. And since most US customers would go to either Disneyland or Magic Kingdom, I think Disney is really going to only want to focus on retheming the attraction where the attraction is controversial.

Disney wouldn't spend a dime to retheme Splash in Tokyo, as they don't own the parks there.

 

[Ghost93]

They absolutely can back out. There is nothing dictating they must move forward with this at all. The whole thing was a knee-jerk reaction to begin with. If they announced they were building a PatF-based ride at DHS and this was cancelled, no one would bat an eyelash. If this was cancelled/never brought up again, who would care? Those who are told to be outraged?

And Tokyo isn't changing theirs.

Just because you desperately wish there wasn't controversy surrounding Splash Mountain doesn't mean there isn't. I would agree that before 2020 the average guest found nothing wrong with the ride, but after 2020 there was clearly enough people clamoring for a retheme and opposed to the presence of SOTS in the parks for Disney to make the change. The retheme is certainly polarizing and unpopular on this particular website, but I doubt that NO ONE would bat an eyelash.

I agree that the Tokyo Splash Mountain will probably remain untouched.

 

[Midwest Elitist]

Just because you desperately wish there wasn't controversy surrounding Splash Mountain doesn't mean there isn't. I would agree that before 2020 the average guest found nothing wrong with the ride, but after 2020 there was clearly enough people clamoring for a retheme and opposed to the presence of SOTS in the parks for Disney to make the change. The retheme is certainly polarizing and unpopular on this particular website, but I doubt that NO ONE would bat an eyelash.

I agree that the Tokyo Splash Mountain will probably remain untouched.

The average guest still finds nothing wrong with the ride. Any polling has shown the retheme is unpopular. Sure, the terminally online residents of psycho Twitter have a problem with it and even they are starting to forget about it.

 

[WDWJoeG]

Just because you desperately wish there wasn't controversy surrounding Splash Mountain doesn't mean there isn't. I would agree that before 2020 the average guest found nothing wrong with the ride, but after 2020 there was clearly enough people clamoring for a retheme and opposed to the presence of SOTS in the parks for Disney to make the change. The retheme is certainly polarizing and unpopular on this particular website, but I doubt that NO ONE would bat an eyelash.

I agree that the Tokyo Splash Mountain will probably remain untouched.

Really? Define "enough people".

Clearly the millions of people who actually go to the parks that this impacts haven't stopped coming or enjoying the attraction.

Again, it exists only in the bowels of Twitter from folks who don't even go to Disney parks anyway and Disney's DEI department.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Just because you desperately wish there wasn't controversy surrounding Splash Mountain doesn't mean there isn't. I would agree that before 2020 the average guest found nothing wrong with the ride, but after 2020 there was clearly enough people clamoring for a retheme and opposed to the presence of SOTS in the parks for Disney to make the change. The retheme is certainly polarizing and unpopular on this particular website, but I doubt that NO ONE would bat an eyelash.

I agree that the Tokyo Splash Mountain will probably remain untouched.

I don't wish for no controversy because there isn't controversy. The only ones with a problem with this are the ones who have been told there's a problem with it. But please, point us to all the ties Splash Mountain has to the story of SotS. I'll wait. No one was "clamoring" to retheme this ride except a few fringe whackos (sounds familiar, given other current topics).

Oh, there are characters from SotS? That's it? And the story for the ride is completely unrelated to the movie and there is absolutely no other tie to the movie other than they pulled some characters from it? Gosh, where's my pitchfork?!?! It's amazing what can happen when you look at something with a critical eye and can discern that the ride is completely separate from the movie.

 

[Ghost93]

But please, point us to all the ties Splash Mountain has to the story of SotS. I'll wait. No one was "clamoring" to retheme this ride except a few fringe whackos (sounds familiar, given other current topics).

Oh, there are characters from SotS? That's it? And the story for the ride is completely unrelated to the movie and there is absolutely no other tie to the movie other than they pulled some characters from it? Gosh, where's my pitchfork?!?! It's amazing what can happen when you look at something with a critical eye and can discern that the ride is completely separate from the movie.

The ride stands on its own well enough that those who haven't seen the movie can get enjoyment out of it. But that doesn't mean it's "completely separate" from the movie. The songs and the characters all come from the animated portions of SOTS. The general plotline of Splash mountain is a loose adaptation of the Tar Baby story from SOTS (though the baby is replaced with a beehive).

I do think the Magic Kingdom version feels less directly inspired by SOTS than the Disneyland version. The Disneyland queue for the ride plays instrumental versions of the songs "Song of the South," "That's What Uncle Remus Said," "Sooner or Later" "Let the Rain Pour Down" and "All I Want" — which all come from the live-action portions of the movie. The Disneyland version queue also includes quotes from Uncle Remus and his fireplace. In fact, the entire namesake of Critter Country in Disneyland directly comes from the Remus quote "Where the critters are closer to the folks and the folks are closer to the critters."

The Magic Kingdom version has less overt easter eggs, but the story, characters and songs still come from the movie.

 

[WDWJoeG]

I don't wish for no controversy because there isn't controversy. The only ones with a problem with this are the ones who have been told there's a problem with it. But please, point us to all the ties Splash Mountain has to the story of SotS. I'll wait. No one was "clamoring" to retheme this ride except a few fringe whackos (sounds familiar, given other current topics).

Oh, there are characters from SotS? That's it? And the story for the ride is completely unrelated to the movie and there is absolutely no other tie to the movie other than they pulled some characters from it? Gosh, where's my pitchfork?!?! It's amazing what can happen when you look at something with a critical eye and can discern that the ride is completely separate from the movie.

Yup, it's the same level of "outrage" as the auction scene in Pirates.

Number of people out of the countless millions who have ever gotten off of Pirates and Splash Mountain and called a manager to complain? Zero.

And yet here we are enjoying the hysterical, witty dialogue about selling chickens (because pirates buy poultry) and auctioning off grandfather clocks (because pirates love to bid on antiques).

Disney has sadly become a complete joke.

 

[WDWJoeG]

The ride stands on its own well enough that those who haven't seen the movie can get enjoyment out of it. But that doesn't mean it's "completely separate" from the movie. The songs and the characters all come from the animated portions of SOTS. The general plotline of Splash mountain is a loose adaptation of the Tar Baby story from SOTS (though the baby is replaced with a beehive).

I do think the Magic Kingdom version feels less directly inspired by SOTS than the Disneyland version. The Disneyland queue for the ride plays instrumental versions of the songs "Song of the South," "That's What Uncle Remus Said," "Sooner or Later" "Let the Rain Pour Down" and "All I Want" — which all come from the live-action portions of the movie. The Disneyland version queue also includes quotes from Uncle Remus and his fireplace. In fact, the entire namesake of Critter Country in Disneyland directly comes from the Remus quote "Where the critters are closer to the folks and the folks are closer to the critters."

The Magic Kingdom version has less overt easter eggs, but the story, characters and songs still come from the movie.

All true. And the countless millions who actually come to the park, actually ride the ride, listen to the music, and read the quotes love it.

Only people looking for something (regardless how ridiculous) to be offended about care - and even those aren't going to the parks anyway so nooooooobody cares.

Well, to be fair, the guests certainly don't, but Disney has a department whose entire job is to find offense in the attractions and correct it - so that handful of uber woke people looking to be outraged and justify their existence in the company REALLY care!

 

[doctornick]

Just because you desperately wish there wasn't controversy surrounding Splash Mountain doesn't mean there isn't.

There's "controversy" over Splash Mountain to about the same extent that there is controversy over having statues of Abraham Lincoln. Just because there is an extremely small number of people who complain about something doesn't mean that has to be changed.

The vast majority of Americans in general and Disney Park attendees specifically have no problems or concerns with Splash Mountain.

A bigger and real issue is the lack of African American representation in the parks. I think that Disney would justifiably get some heat if they don't build a Tiana based attraction in the parks at some point (or another attraction with clear AA representation, but that's their big IP to use in WDW; DLR could have something Black Panther based at least). you wouldn't need to remove Splash to add Tiana to the parks in a substantial way though.

 

[Californian Elitist]

The controversy is that Splash is based on SotS and we’re in the 2020s, where things are changing socially. Because Disney likes to pretend that SotS doesn’t exist due to the racist content in the film, and this is the 2020’s, Splash is now controversial.

Blame Disney.

 

[Brer Oswald]

They absolutely can back out. There is nothing dictating they must move forward with this at all. The whole thing was a knee-jerk reaction to begin with. If they announced they were building a PatF-based ride at DHS and this was cancelled, no one would bat an eyelash. If this was cancelled/never brought up again, who would care? Those who are told to be outraged?

And Tokyo isn't changing theirs.

The 20,000 people that petitioned for this will probably be angry. But the amount of those people that go to the parks are too weak minded to stop going, and the others were never going to Disney in the first place.

 

[LittleBuford]

Oh, there are characters from SotS? That's it? And the story for the ride is completely unrelated to the movie and there is absolutely no other tie to the movie other than they pulled some characters from it?

Anyone who’s seen the movie knows that Splash Mountain is heavily based on the animated sequences. It isn’t just a case of reusing some of the characters; the narratives, too, are imported into the ride.

 

[WDWJoeG]

Anyone who’s seen the movie knows that Splash Mountain is heavily based on the animated sequences. It isn’t just a case of reusing some of the characters; the narratives, too, are imported into the ride.

And? What "narratives" of the Brer Fox, Bear, and Rabbit story concern you?

 

[Californian Elitist]

Anyone who’s seen the movie knows that Splash Mountain is heavily based on the animated sequences. It isn’t just a case of reusing some of the characters; the narratives, too, are imported into the ride.

Yeah. To say that the ride is “completely unrelated” to the movie is disingenuous.

 

[Midwest Elitist]

Yeah. To say that the ride is “completely unrelated” to the movie is disingenuous.

I know we don't agree on everything here (ok, we agree on way to much tbh vs our disagreements) but I appreciate how you keep everything (satis)factual.

Sorry, I just had to.

 

[LittleBuford]

And? What "narratives" of the Brer Fox, Bear, and Rabbit story concern you?

None. That wasn’t my point.

 

[LittleBuford]

Yeah. To say that the ride is “completely unrelated” to the movie is disingenuous.

Absolutely. I have no problem with people wanting to defend the ride, but to claim it has no meaningful connection with the movie is factually untenable.

 

[Brer Oswald]

It’s disingenuous to say that the narratives were created in the movie. They existed long long before. It’s why I’ve suggested several times that they just replace the music and change the designs of the three main characters. If removing all callbacks to SotS is necessary, that’s all that would need to be done.

 

[Californian Elitist]

It’s disingenuous to say that the narratives were created in the movie. They existed long long before. It’s why I’ve suggested several times that they just replace the music and change the designs of the three main characters. If removing all callbacks to SotS is necessary, that’s all that would need to be done.

The ride is still based on SotS.