In case you missed the HUGE news, the Splash Mountain rides in Disney World and Disneyland are going to be re-themed, with a story inspired by Disney’s The Princess and the Frog. The rides will be called Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, and they’ll have songs and characters from the movie.
©Disney
We previously saw some concept art for the re-theme, including part of the grand finale that will play at the end of the ride. But now Disney has shared even MORE details about the inspiration for the ride. Check them out here!
Disney Imagineers have spent a lot of time in New Orleans to find inspiration for the Splash Mountain re-theme. While there, they met artist Sharika Mahdi and commissioned a few paintings from her for to use as inspiration for the ride. One of those paintings is of the big Mardis Gras party finale scene, which we previously saw when Disney released the artwork last year.
©Disney
But Mahdi recently shared her second painting with Disney Imagineers, and now we’ve got a first look at this art! It depicts a scene of jazz-playing frog musicians that “lovingly illustrates the jubilance and liveliness of this musical city.”
©Disney
Disney has shared that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will have characters from The Princess and the Frog as well as new friends to meet. The story ends in a big Mardis Gras scene, and Imagineers are hoping to capture the excitement and feeling of New Orleans in this scene and throughout the ride. Mahdi said that her artwork is inspired by how the city makes “a big deal about everything and celebrat[es] everything. I want to show this is what it’s about, being a part of New Orleans and being a part of the culture.”
©Disney Tiana’s Bayou Adventure concept art
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will open in both Disney World and Disneyland in late 2024, but Disney hasn’t shared yet when the Splash Mountain rides will close for the updates.
Splash Mountain
We’ll continue to share new updates with you, so stay tuned to DFB!
Click here to see more details about the Splash Mountain re-theme.
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I hate this whole idea but I hope they at least keep the riverboat at the end and get it rocking again. They will never replicate the great song Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah however.
I hope it does not look like the artwork when they are done with the re-theming. It looks like a cartoon much like the black lite trees inside Test Track. A great attraction is about to take a turn for the worst.
That is going to be so bad. When the concept art is ugly, the ride won’t be any better. What a waste of money.
I’m not happy with this re-theming. I will miss Splash Mountain, which has been part of Disneyland for so long. I don’t know why Disney thinks this is a good idea.
Dumbest idea Disney has had since they tried to kill off Figment. The only good news is that Tokyo Disneyland will not get their Splash Mountain ruined by any remake and will remain as is so we can all go to Japan to ride the original. May eventually be cheaper than going to Florida too!
I’ve heard from a few people now that they are going to get rid of the mountain part of the ride and make it just a regular dark ride. No mountain -no splash. Their goal is to make it “authentic” and everyone knows there are no mountains in New Orleans. As for the comment above about the river boat, you can see in the “concept art” what the ending will look like. Not a riverboat in sight.
If they do what Rick TR is saying, they are even dumber than I thought they were. No reason this could not be built somewhere else if that is the case.
And you crushed my hope of at least keeping the riverboat and ended with a rousing “When the Saints Go Marching In” (and that’s real New Orleans to me!) and not one of the bland songs from the movie.
This could be worse than I thought.