Disney first introduced plans to shut one in all its signature Disneyland and Walt Disney World sights, Splash Mountain, again in the summertime of 2020. The plan all alongside has been to not a lot substitute it as replace it — to keep up the fundamental format and construction however to exchange the characters and theming that had been from Disney’s controversial 1946 movie Tune of the South with ones from the favored 2009 movie The Princess and the Frog.
There have been occasional updates since then; the announcement of the brand new journey’s identify (Tiana’s Bayou Journey) and a tentative opening date of 2024. However with the intention to open Tiana’s Bayou Journey, Splash Mountain wants to shut, and till at this time Disney had given no indication when that could be.
Lastly, Disney Parks Weblog has given a concrete date: Walt Disney World’s Splash Mountain will shut on January 23, 2023. (A time limit for Disneyland’s model of the journey might be given “at a later date.”)
Splash Mountain first opened in 1989, some 40 years after the discharge of Tune of the South, and properly after its content material had already turn out to be a supply of controversy for Disney. (Following one final re-release in 1986, Disney basically locked Tune of the South away and has by no means made it commercially accessible on house video — for extra on why learn this text.) Regardless of its questionable content material, the movie additionally accommodates a few of Disney’s hottest songs, together with “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.”
Disney additionally unveiled some new particulars in regards to the revised journey, together with some idea artwork of a scene that comes as “you first drop into the bayou and encounter some mates each new and acquainted … you’ll be a part of Princess Tiana and jazz-loving alligator Louis throughout Mardi Gras season as they put together to host a one-of-a-kind celebration for the individuals of New Orleans.”
Though The Princess and the Frog is way extra beloved than Tune of the South, Disney obtained a variety of pushback once they first introduced this refurbishment from followers who love Splash Mountain no matter what it’s primarily based on. These of us have lower than two months to journey Splash Mountain one final time, at the least in Florida.
