There are quite a few projects happening at Disney World currently!
Some exciting changes!
With the updates on Jungle Cruise, retheming the rooms at the Contemporary Resort, and the full transformation of EPCOT, we’re excited about so many things! Splash Mountain is getting a retheme soon as well, in both Disney World and Disneyland, and today we got a look at the artwork for the ride.
As Disney kicks off World Princess Week today, we got our first peek at some new concept art! This photo shows Tiana leading guests through an expedition in the Bayou as well as new characters. Tiana is also wearing pants, which is “connecting who Tiana was in the movie to who she will be in the future.”
©Disney
The story takes places after the final kiss in the movie as Naveen and Louis join Tiana on her latest adventure, which is hosting a one-of-a-kind Mardi Gras celebration where everyone is welcome. During this celebration, some original music inspired by songs from the film will bring guests into the story. Guest will be able to encounter old friends and make new ones as well! Let’s take a look at some of the new characters we think might be introduced according to the artwork. First, we have this otter friend!
©Disney
Then, we have a pelican…
©Disney
…and some turtles!
©Disney
Imagineers noted that guests will be active participants coming along with Tiana on this adventure.
Princess and the Frog attraction Concept Art ©Disney
New Orleans-based artist Sharika Mahdi was commissioned by Disney to create a series of 4 original paintings to inspire Imagineers working on the ride, one of which was revealed today! This represents a Mardi Gras party that will be at the end of the ride.
©Disney
The team working on the retheme has done virtual research trips in New Orleans through Zoom and they recently had their first of many in-person research trips to help get the story right. Take a closer look at what the Disney Imagineers have been working on in this video:
Disney also announced a $50,000 donation to the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts to celebrate all of these developments, their love and appreciation for New Orleans, and their commitment to arts education. Stay tuned to DFB for the latest news and updates on the Splash Mountain retheme and everything else coming soon to the parks. We’ll keep you covered!
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Splash Mountain being re-themed totally sucks. Why destroy such an awesome ride? If Disney wants and Princess and the Frog ride it should be done somewhere else and not destroy a favorite ride for so many guests.
I like the concept of the ride. Jist not a replacement to Splash Mountain. It is located in Frontier Land…
There are no mountains in New Orleans. I lived there for a year. They should have rethemed this ride after Pocahontas. Would have made more sense.
Not excited at all for this redesign… if Disney feels it needs to be changed it should be changed to pocohantas. She would fit perfectly in frontier land, more so than the bayou. The drop is like a waterfall and just around the river bend is the perfect song… come on Disney rethink this…
And not a single nod to James Baskett. Sad, sad, sad…… he’s been virtually erased from every aspect of Disney, and yet he was a true pioneer and stood up to very real racism.
I loved being in New Orleans during Mardi Gras – this ride should be a blast!
There are no mountains with giant waterfalls in the bayou. I don’t get it. Also a ride is supposed to be exciting, even a little scary. There’s nothing interesting about this.
Please tre-think the knee jerk reaction to change a beloved classic tide, Disney. Disney formerly took pride in its accurate theming. Tiana does not belong in Frontierland and she deserves an original ride/attraction.
You will lose me and my family Disney I will not give you a red cent no need to mess this ride up as well as you messed up everything else with your greed. No more family trips for us I’ll save 15,000- 20,000dollars a year instead of putting it into those no good for nothing c e o s
My husband, daughter, and I love all things Disney, except the idea of changing the beloved Splash Mountain. I can’t help but feel that this is a reaction to racial unrest in our country. I fully support an attraction/ride featuring Tiana and Mulan as well, but it should not be in place of one of the most loved rides. If you feel there should be a change, it would be a great way to honor another princess that represents Native Americans, Pocahontas. The movie has perfect scenes to match Splash Mountain, especially when she in her canoe go over a waterfall. It looks like several of the Disney family feel the same way that I do. MOST importantly, Walt Disney would be ABSOLUTELY opposed to this change. He did not want any characters to be in a land that they were not a part of that specific part of the park. He would adamantly reject the plan to have girl singing about the bayou cooking creole gumbo in Frontier Land. I know that work on the plans are already in place, but please consider the request of many of your customers. Thank you so much for your time and consideration.
Do the high boots and pants mean she’s going to be a frog hunter now? Also that last piece of artwork is terrible. If the ride looks like that, everyone will leave with a headache.
Happy to see the ride change! People act like nothing has ever changed in Disney World. It’s great to see what was a ride rooted in racist tropes (there’s even a noose trap in a tree) be replaced by something new. I agree Tiana deserves a new ride- but this retheme needed to happen. (Also it’s laughable to suggest we replace racist tropes with other racist tropes and use Pocahontas instead… yikes on bikes) I don’t like a lot of the Disney decisions lately… but this was a solid move. Hoping they can ditch the stereotype Native Americans on Peter Pan next….
So I guess they will now have to remove the twelve slave-owning Presidents from the Hall of Presidents, right?
Pandering at its finest!! Huge mistake changing this cute ride just to cater to the 1 % going in to the park !!!
More like 0%. The Twitter mob is afraid to leave their basements.