Splash Mountain Closing To Replace Its Racist Heritage With A Black Disney Princess

It's time to say "so long" to "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" as Disneyland's Splash Mountain prepares to soak its final passengers. After first opening in 1989, the log ride closes at the end of May, so Memorial Day weekend marks the final holiday for park visitors to take a soak as they dive down that waterfall. The Disney World version already closed.

That's at least until the ride gets re-themed and reopens in late 2024 as "Tiana's Bayou Adventure," themed around Disney's The Princess and the Frog. The change has been a long time coming. Disney first announced it following renewed attention on Black representation during 2020's Black Lives Matter protests, following the police murder of George Floyd, and an online petition from fans.

The existing ride has used story, characters, and songs drawn from 1946's Song of the South — a film infamous for its racist, stereotypical depiction of Black People, and which Disney has kept locked in its vault and off its Disney+ streaming service (though the ride largely avoided the film's most problematic, controversial elements).

Fans pushed for the change

Fans had petitioned to change the theme to that of Disney animated movie The Princess and the Frog even before it became official, with tens of thousands signing.

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"There is a huge need for diversity in the parks and this could help fill that need," the petition reads.

"As someone who grew up in Florida and had to endure bullying from white classmates on every field trip to Disney, this needs to be changed as soon as possible," a commenter wrote.

It looks like the Disney Imagineers were already thinking along the same lines, according to a 2020 D23 interview with Disney Imagineer Bob Weis — they'd already been working on the project for a year or more. though Imagineers explored a variety of new themes.

Watch video showing the research that Disney's Imagineers put into the new attraction here:

The film features Disney's first Black princess, Tiana, and is set in the New Orleans bayou — a natural fit given Splash Mountain's placement at Disneyland right next to the park's New Orleans Square.

Conceptual design work was underway in 2020, along with preliminary reviews and developing a timeline — which was slower than it might have been, thanks to extended COVID-19 closures.

In a press release when the announcement was made, Disney said:

Splash Mountain as it currently exists.

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Courtesy Disney

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The opposition

Weis acknowledged that not all fans may support the change. A rival petition to keep the ride the way it's been had even more supporters than the original when the change was announced.

"There is nothing wrong with the ride," the petition to keep things the same reads. "The controversy from these stories and Song of the South comes from the depiction of the slaves and their relationships with slaveowners on the plantation. Splash Mountain removes these elements and focuses solely on the fun stories that are not racist, but merely taken from oral tales of slaves ... The want to change the ride to be themed to something more politically correct is foolish."

In response, Weis said "we completely understand that these decisions aren't always popular, but I think our biggest fans know that we care as much as they do."

Increased diversity

The ride opened in 1989. Former Imagineer Tony Baxter, who was working on the revamp as a creative advisor with the Imagineering team, cited the opportunity to use animated stories that have been created since the ride's opening. It opened before the modern wave of Disney animation, Baxter noted — including 2009's The Princess and the Frog.

"Following conversations with Imagineering's leaders about the new attraction's scope and resources, I had a great sense of reassurance — the attraction will be one to be proud of," Baxter said.

"It's important that our guests be able to see themselves in the experiences we create," Walt Disney Imagineering executive Carmen Smith said in a statement.

The revamped ride's storyline will still be musical, featuring music from the film and themed around a Mardi Gras performance by Tiana, Louis, and friends that takes place after the events of the movie. It will feature an emphasis on New Orleans jazz and other parts of the city's culture in what Disney describes as a "musical journey," as well as celebrating Black joy.

"It is really exciting to know that Princess Tiana's presence in both Disneyland and Magic Kingdom will finally be fully realized," the character's voice actress Anika Noni Rose said in a press release.

You can watch the trailer for The Princess and the Frog here: