Splash Mountain Re-Theme Coming in 2024…Probably
A Disney Legend may have said too much during a live interview. So, we think we know when the Splash Mountain re-theme is happening. Read on to learn more.
The Princess and the Frog Re-Theme Gets a Date?!
Actress and Broadway performer Anika Noni Rose recently provided an interview on Live with Kelly and Ryan.
During her interview, the star of Dreamgirls gushed over the impending re-theming of Splash Mountain, possibly to Disney’s chagrin.
Rose earned Disney Legend status for her heartwarming performance as Tiana in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog.
That film will provide inspiration for the upcoming changes to Splash Mountain.
You may recall that the current version of the ride shares an unfortunate connection to Song of the South, a movie Disney won’t even acknowledge today.
With The Princess and the Frog, Disney can turn a negative into a positive by adding the music and stories from The Princess and the Frog.
You can imagine how exciting that prospect is to Rose, the star of the film. So, Rose happily provided an updated roadmap for the project.
Coming in 2024?
According to the Disney Legend, Disneyland and Magic Kingdom will open their new versions of Splash Mountain in 2024.
By this logic, you should plan 2023 vacations as your final opportunity to experience the original version of Splash Mountain.
I’ll include the caveat that with augmented reality and the metaverse in the offing, younger readers will likely experience a facsimile at some point down the line.
However, the in-park version of Splash Mountain is now on its last days, just as we witnessed with The Great Movie Ride and Maelstrom.
Notably, Disney refused to confirm this report, though. Park officials instead pointed to an upcoming event on June 30th.
New Orleans, Louisiana, will host the 27th annual Essence Festival of Culture on that date. This event runs through July 3rd, and Disney has indicated that an update will occur then.
Since New Orleans provides the setting for The Princess and the Frog, this target date makes sense.
As such, I’ll likely provide more details about the updated ride by this time next month.
Small Talk about the Weather
Here’s a history lesson for you about the Essence Festival of Culture. New Orleans has hosted the event every year but 2006.
During that year, the city still faced the staggering aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I mention this because we have technically entered hurricane season again.
Two years ago, I did some fairly extensive research into the impact of hurricane season on Disney theme parks, drawing two primary conclusions.
The first is that the conversation often gets blown out of proportion.
On average, Walt Disney World parks have only closed due to inclement weather about one day every three years.
However, park officials have also gained more information about both the dangers of weather events and tourist behavior during these situations.
For these reasons, Walt Disney World has grown more proactive about closing the parks in such instances. But, again, there’s only a one in three chance we’ll even have to discuss such an event in 2022.
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