Ever since the pandemic struck in 2020, updates on the Disneyland Resort’s Princess and the Frog Splash Mountain retheme have been sparse. Well, thanks to one of the animated film’s stars, we have quite a big update.
According to Anika Noni Rose, who voices Princess Tiana in Princess and the Frog, the new overlay will debut to parkgoers in 2024. Rose was asked on Live with Kelly and Ryan if Disney was making a Princess and the Frog attraction to which she responded, “They are making a ride, it will be out in 2024. I’ve been involved in the beginning, just talking about how we want it to be, what we want it to do, but, if I were to tell you anything else, I would be sucked into the ground and you’d never see me again.” This is the first time we have heard anything on an opening timeframe and it should be noted Disney has yet to confirm this themselves. Expect a confirmation at the D23 Expo in September.
The reimagined attraction is set to replace Splash Mountain’s ties with Disney’s 1946 animated film Song of the South, which was highly criticized for painting racist depictions of Black people and helped perpetuate “a dangerously glorified picture of slavery.” While Disney has disowned the film in 1986 and has not officially released it on DVD, the ride’s ties to the movie sparked many controversies, with fans even petitioning for the Parks to remove the ride or re-haul it altogether to remove it any connections with Song of the South.
As of now, Splash Mountain remains operational and there has been no concrete timeframe for when the attraction will close for the overlay, but one could take an educated guess and say December 2022 – January 2023 during its normal annual refurbishment, which is done during Disneyland’s colder season.
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