Disney’s revamped Splash Mountain will open in 2024, says Anika Noni Rose
Disney still won't flat out confirm the date but Rose seems to have let the details slip in a recent interview
Aux News Disney
Nearly two years after it was first announced, Disney’s Splash Mountain Princess And The Frog revamp is finally, truly almost here: the attraction will reportedly open for guests in 2024.
“They are making a ride—it’ll be out in 2024,” Anika Noni Rose, who voices Princess Tiana, said during an appearance on Live With Kelly And Ryan on Thursday. “I’ve been involved in the beginning, just talking about how we want it to be, what we want it to do, but, if I were to tell you anything else, I would be sucked into the ground and you’d never see me again.”
According to a spokesperson at Disney, though, “timing has not been determined” for an official opening of the new ride. However, more information is set to be released at this month’s Essence Festival of Culture, set to kick off in New Orleans on June 30.
Disney first announced plans for a “completely” reimagined Splash Mountain in 2020. Plans for the parks revamp came after growing criticism (and a Change.org petition for removal) of themes and scenery taken from Song Of The South, a 1964 Disney film rife with racist caricatures that has never been made available on home video or on Disney+.
“Princess and the Frog is a beloved princess movie but has very little representation in the parks. Tiana could be one of the first princesses with a thrill ride, as well as giving her a much deserved place in the parks,” user Alex O., who started the Change.org petition two years ago, wrote. “This change could kill two birds with one stone, remove the offensive stereotypical theming the ride currently has and bring a much needed diversity to the parks.”
Disney’s new vision of Tiana’s magical bayou landscape will follow the princess as she prepares for a New Orleans-style Mardi Gras celebration alongside familiar faces like Naveen, Louis, and Mama Odie. The ride will also feature original music inspired by the film.
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27 Comments
Granted the frog does request it, but can a human being ever truly receive consent for this type of intimate contact with an amphibian?
Any particular reason you’re asking?
There’s a super cute frog with big lips right in front of them!
For a friend.
I fully support this change, but please god let them keep using animatronics in the ride (either new or re-vamped.) I’m suck of going on rides that are basically just hallways lined with oversized TV screens.
A big reason I love going to Disney world is that it feels like a theme park museum with how many rides from the 60s are still operating. They almost have to keep the animatronics even if they put a new character over top
If they wanted to make the ride REALLY scary…
Yeah, my only concern about the re-theming is that they’re going to gut what was a pretty elaborate and well-done ride and replace it with a cheap series of screens.
Agreed on the animatronics, though I do expect a decent amount of fun 3D projection-mapping for Dr Facilier’s magic effects during the spooky portions of the ride
They’d better at least keep the animatronic fox that says he’s going to marry my Dad.
Hear hear. And maybe it’s just me being a hair’s breadth from 40, but if you’re moving a lot with those screens in front of you, I’m a hard pass. I’ve never come closer to throwing up on a ride than I did on the Hogwarts ride at Universal. Gyroscopic motion rides and faux 3D are not good mixes in my book.
You kicked a couple of digits around: Song of the South was released in 1946, not 1964. Although the thought of Disney releasing that film in the year AFTER Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington is perversely hysterical.Anyway, are they still going to call it Splash Mountain after giving it a Princess and the Frog remake? Because the nearest mountains to New Orleans are probably the Ozarks.“Splash Swamp” probably doesn’t sound as fun, but it might also make it one of the few Disney attractions without a ridiculous line.
Considering “Space Mountain” also doesn’t really make sense, they’re probably going to keep it splash mountain or Princess Tiana’s Splash Mountain.
It should always be noted that Space Mountain is like the second highest mountain in Florida.
The first being Mount Dora.
Expedition Everest is now the tallest “mountain” in Florida, and before that it was Big Thunder.
Whatever they call this new version of Splash Mountain, it’ll probably be an awkward mouthful that only self-satisfied marketing execs will use, while the general public will still call it “Splash” or at least abbreviate it to something easier. Kind of like how no one says “Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance” or “Radiator Springs Racers” and instead opts for “Rise” and “Cars” respectively.
“Princess & The Log” would be pretty funny, tho.
I know it’s not technically “space” if it’s on another planet, but that’s what I always thought “Space Mountain” was supposed to be. Like on Mars or something.
“Bouncing Boat Bayou”
Dear Disney, please send me $50 and .00001 percent of yearly revenue from this ride. Sincerely…
‘Princess with a Thrill Ride’. Do you think Disney will okay that for my new band name?
I feel like Splash Mountain is too iconic to change. Like, if you asked people to name some rides at Disneyworld, the first two people say will be Space Mountain and Splash Mountain (granted, you could say that will be because they names are so similar that of course they’d get both, but still)Then again, I’ve considered a lot of things too iconic to change over the years but Disney’s still done it and will probably keep doing it.
I’m just being pedantic. I’d probably say “Pirates of the Caribbean” instead of Splash Mountain, though. Along with Space Mountain.
I am weirdly excited for this ride (beyond them just fixing a wrong) because I love this movie. It’s so underrated and plus I do think lends itself to the format of the ride.
It is like one of the most forgotten Disney movies and doesn’t deserve to be.
I had never seen it until a couple of years ago, and it’s far better than its reception and reputation led me to believe. Pretty damn freaky.
I fully support a re-theme and it works especially well in Disneyland where it’ll be right next to New Orleans Square, but I don’t like the idea of a “sequel” to the movie with original music. Being a part of a movie you know and being able to sing along to classic songs you recognize is a lot more fun and resonates on a deeper level. In other words, we don’t care about your new material — play the hits! What a shame if it doesn’t include “Almost There”, “Dig A Little Deeper”, and “Friends On The Other Side” with full show scenes as opposed to just hiding them in the queue somewhere.
And speaking of “Friends On The Other Side”, someone REALLY needs to confirm that Dr. Facilier (by far the best part of the film) will be involved here. Even if they insist on a sequel, they better take a page out of Mr. Toad’s book and send us to Hell so we can spend some quality time with the Shadow Man.
This will be fine and all, but I’d have loved a Kuzco’s water slide attraction.
I’ll miss Splash Mountain, but its memory will live on through one man’s account of the animatronic fox addressing him by name and marrying his father.