Disneyland's Splash Mountain New Name Revealed

There are mixed emotions today my friends. 

Early last year Disney revealed that they would be changing the theme of it's popular attraction Splash Mountain, due to the theme it had around the story of Br'er Rabbit, which is tied to the controversial Disney film Song Of The South, which is actually banned here in the United States. 

When Disney announced this change, the told USA Today, "...we are eager to create entirely new experiences that is more inclusive and inspirational for all guests."  

In my opinion, I think the Princess and the Frog is the best Disney film for the retheme of this ride. Oh and the name of the new attraction: Tiana's Bayou Adventure. The name definitely doesn't have the same flare as Splash Mountain, and doesn't really convey that you're going to down a giant hill and get soaked, but it does explain what the story they're trying to convey will be. 

The ride will be "the next chapter" in The Princess and the Frog, as Tiana takes guests down the Bayou with Naveen and Louis as they plan to host "a one of a kind Mardi Gras celebration" where everyone is welcome! I'm not sure you can actually plan a Mardi Gras that's for everyone and now I wonder if Disney will release some new Disney beads merch for their new Mardi Gras ride. 

If you're curious as to why Disney in the first place had the ride themed after the Song of the South, read my brief history about it below: (my other obsession is the history of Disney rides)

When Disneyland was being created, Walt Disney really wanted to have a log flume ride in his park but it never happened. Jump to the 1983 - Imagineer Tony Baxter (he's amazing, remember his name) was assigned to fill a gap that they had in Bear Country, while also finding a use for an outdated attraction called America Sings. Baxter had the idea of using a song from Song Of The South named "Zip-a-dee-doo-da," as a main part of the attraction but the ride never happened because there were so many other rides to be built before this one. 

But why did they use Song Of The South even though it's a controversial film? Well, the movie had been released about six times since it was released in 1946. This allowed people and new viewers to see it in theaters since VHS's and DVD's weren't around. The characters from the film were also super popular and loved around the Disney parks but the movie -  not so much. So Baxter thought he could create a ride around the characters instead of the story of the film. This helped solve his two tasks - using the old automatronics from the America Sings attraction, and creating a new exciting ride for Bear Country that would involve log flumes. 

Jump to a few years later when Michael Eisner became CEO and really gave the imaginer team the flexibility and encouragement to do their work. He had brought his son to the Imagineering studio and came across the model for what would've been the Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Da Run or as we know it, Splash Mountain. Eisner wasn't much of a coaster enthusiast like his son so he paid attention to what his teen liked when they would visit. The model caught his eye and Eisner asked the team to make the ride happen BUT it was still based on Song Of The South and the company wanted to make sure they wouldn't get backlash for building the ride. So what Disney did was release The Song Of The South in select theaters to see what would happen. The film actually earned $10M dollars and no controversy was brought up about it. So Eisner had the ride green lit on one condition, that there could be no mention of Uncle Remus (the slave in the film) in the ride, and the film would never be release again. BUT as you're waiting in the que for the ride, there are quotes from Uncle Remus that can be seen, just a fun fact.  

The ride opened up in 1989 and has really been a favorite ever since. If you want to know more, the podcast The Backside Of Water is fabulous for all Disney ride history. 

So there you have it, the ride like many others will be made into a Prince And The Frog ride sometime this year and next and be available to ride in 2024.