This Weekend Marks Your Last Chance to Ride Splash Mountain in Disney World
It’s the end of an era folks — Splash Mountain will soon officially close in Disney World. Forever.


Splash Mountain in Magic Kingdom
Well, kind of. Splash Mountain will soon be transformed into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, with a Princess and the Frog theme that takes riders through the New Orleans bayou. The re-theme will take place in both Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Park, with the ride closing for good on January 23rd, 2023 in Disney World.


Photo: Disney
In honor of this big change, let’s take a trip through history while we say goodbye to Splash Mountain.
A Brief History of Splash Mountain
Splash Mountain first opened in Disneyland Park on July 17th, 1989, followed by opening on October 2nd, 1992 in Magic Kingdom. This log flume dark ride takes guests through the animated scenes from the controversial 1946 film, Song of the South, with a final big drop of 52.5 feet.


Splash Mountain
Disney Imagineer Tony Baxter came up with the original conception of Splash Mountain while stuck in rush hour traffic in 1983, as he wanted to find something to attract guests to Bear Country (now Critter Country) in Disneyland Park, and he also wanted to find a use for the Audio-Animatronics figures currently being used in the poorly attended America Sings attraction.


Tony Baxter, Photo: Disney
Imagineers settled on using Song of the South as the background story of the ride, with the original name planned as “Zip-a-Dee River Run.” It was changed later when then-CEO Michael Eisner suggested that the new attraction be associated with the marketing of Disney’s 1984 film, Splash.


Photo: Disney
After a few delays, the ride opened in Disneyland in 1989, followed by Magic Kingdom in 1992.
Splash Mountain in the Future
Splash Mountain originally used the story of Br’er Rabbit as told in Song of the South, which was a deliberate choice due to the criticisms of the film, which Disney never released on home video or on Disney+.


Splash Mountain
The New York Times reported in 2020 that Disney executives had been discussing ways to remove the Song of the South theme for at least 5 years, and that same year Disney announced plans to re-theme the ride based on the 2009 film, The Princess and the Frog.


Photo: Disney
On January 23rd, 2023, we bid farewell to Splash Mountain in Magic Kingdom, and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is expected to open in 2024. We don’t yet know when Splash Mountain will close in Disneyland Park, but we’ll be watching closely for updates.
You can read more details about the new ride theme by clicking here!
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