by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 9:00 AM ET, Thu June 1, 2023
Walt Disney World and Disneyland’s Splash Mountain rides closed on May 31, 2023, making way for their re-theming as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, inspired by the 2009 Disney movie “The Princess and the Frog.”
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will debut in late 2024 in both parks and will feature Tiana, Prince Naveen, Mama Odie, Tiana’s alligator friend Louis and some new characters that weren’t introduced in the movie. Many of the same cast members will lend their voices to the attraction.
"In many ways, Tiana's Bayou Adventure is a love letter to New Orleans," Charita Carter, executive producer of relevancy activations for Walt Disney Imagineering, said in a statement to ABC News in December 2022.
"Like the musical city that inspired this attraction, Tiana's second act is about a community working in harmony to achieve something extraordinary. She reminds us of an immutable truth we can all relate to: 'If you do your best each and every day, good things are sure to come your way.' And that's a melody we can all sing along to!"
According to ABC News, the ride, which was introduced in Disneyland for the first time in 1989 and became a staple water ride at both parks, though it has been criticized for its racist and offensive depiction of Black people. The ride was originally inspired by the controversial 1946 animated movie “Song of the South.”
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