Disney has unveiled the concept art for the ride that will replace the popular, recently-canceled Splash Mountain at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in late 2024.
For this attraction, “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure,” the park is reaching back to the 2009 film Princess and the Frog as a theme. Set in the roaring 1920s in New Orleans, the film featured a cast of black and Latino characters including Princess Tiana (Anika Noni Rose), Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos), and wise old Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis).
The new ride is set to be hosted by Mama Odie, who will again be voiced by Lewis, according to WDWMagic. Disney World patrons will be taken on a tour through Mama Odie’s bayou world of talking animals, New Orleans flavors, and Cajun chaos.
NEW: Tiana's Bayou Adventure will feature a new cast of original Disney characters, brand-new original music, favorite songs from the film, and the "alluring scent of beignets" will fill the attraction's queue. pic.twitter.com/L5GTliMvei
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) April 12, 2023
Set a year after the events of the movie, visitors will be told Princess Tiana has created an employee-owned Food cooperative called Tiana’s Foods that is built on a salt dome. As patrons of the ride enter the attraction, they will be told that the princess is missing a key ingredient for her Carnival celebration and they will be sent on a quest to find it during the ride.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is set to replace the Splash Mountain ride that was deemed to be “racist” by activists back in 2020.
In June of 2020, Disney announced that it would overhaul the Splash Mountain ride because it featured “racist imagery” connected to the 1946 Disney film Song of the South.
The ride, which debuted in 1989, consisted of a log flume journey through an animatronic world from Song of the South, culminating in a thrilling drop of more than 50 feet through rapid waters.
But after years of Black Lives Matter agitation, a petition protesting the ride said that the connection to the film was “problematic” and filled with “racist tropes.”
“While the ride is considered a beloved classic, it’s [sic] history and storyline are steeped in extremely problematic and stereotypical racist tropes from the 1946 film Song of the South,” the petition said. “The best next step to remove all traces of this racist movie would be to re-theme Splash Mountain into a Princess and the Frog themed ride.”
Disney quickly caved in to the pressure and immediately announced it was scrapping the ride and replacing it with a nod to Princess and the Frog. Splash Mountain will have its last run on May 30.
The Splash Mountain ride is not the first ride Disney has deemed “racist.”
In 2021, the park decided that some aspects of its Jungle Cruise ridge wasn’t “inclusive” enough and announced changes would be made.
In a video promotion of the revamped ride posted in July of 2021, Disney Imagineer Chris Beatty said one of Disney’s goals was to “bring a sense of inclusivity” to the ride. “We want to make sure that everyone that rides the Jungle Cruise can see themselves in the characters and in this experience,” he said.
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