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Retheme Splash Mountain?

Should Splash Mountain be re-themed?

  • Keep the rabbit - a classic!

  • Bring on the Frog!


Results are only viewable after voting.
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I say bring on the frog. Kids today have not seen Song of the South, so the stories and theming have no context. An updated Splash Mountain would be more relevant and would tie in with Disney movies better. That same line of thought is why I'm not completely upset about the Guardians of the Galaxy ride. I loved Tkwer of Terror at Disneyland, but I get it that Twilight Zone theming is somewhat outdated.
 
Bring on the Frog! (atleast in disneyland since its close enough the new orleans square to fit the theme)

I don't get anyone's obsession with Song of the South. Disney modified POTC to be more in line with today's world view, therefore its long overdue to move on from SOTS.
Dont' think anyone has an obsession with Song of the South. The movie honestly isn't even that great outside of the controversial stuff. And Disney has tried to distance themselves as much as possible from the movie. Splash Mountain is based on some characters but it really doesn't have strong connection to the movie, and there is no controversial scenes in the ride. A vast majority of people don't even know the ride is based off of a movie in anyway. I just don't see them spending the time or money to redo a ride that is still well loved, especially at this time.

Plus, it wouldn't be that easy to retheme it. It's proximity to New Orleans Square is the only pro the retheme has. It would not be easy to do. None of the scenes/sets would really fit for Princess and the Frog so the ride would need to be gutted and completely redone, an to fit in with the movie and New Orleans Square they would probably need to retheme the exterior as well. So it would be a pretty massive project and pretty much just building a whole not ride. As much as I'd love to see PatF get a ride and it would be great to be in that area I do not see this being that feasible.
 
I think it should be rethemed. Even if its ties to SOS are obscure and buried, the tie still exists and whether one knows about it or not shouldn't be an excuse to keep it. Logistics-wise, I think that also means removing instances of "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" audio throughout the parks, editing out instances of ride audio from some fireworks soundtracks, and changing Disneyland RR audio as it passes through SM. I'm not particularly emotionally invested in any of that IP (I historically don't ride SM), either.

On a side note, I think the portrayal of POCs is much more problematic in Jungle Cruise. That's a bit more overt than SM's association with SOS, but that's another thread for another day!
 


For those eager to find ways to be offended by Disney attractions, surely the Hall of Presidents should be the first for the chopping block. Many of those old white guys honored by that attraction actally owned slaves; not in a fictional story in a movie, but in real life. Washington owned 317 slaves and Jefferson over 600, to name just two, but there were many more; the full list is in the link below.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_United_States_who_owned_slaves
 
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I'd be a fan of retheming, and not just in light of current events. There's always going to be those who rail against changing old ride themes, for nostalgia and personal familiarity. And there will always be those who seek out change because that's where they find their connection. Neither are inherently wrong.

My husband and I were talking about how this could be accomplished, and it could be a lot of fun. Change one scene so that you see everything from frog-size. Louie and the riverboat would be a pretty easy reskin. Mama Odie in the trees. One night scene where we get to see Evangeline and Ray and hear his song. And Facilier at the end going down the hole to the "other side" for the big drop. Yes, you'd have to get creative with the human elements of the movie but that's what the Imagineers are for :)
 
I think very few people have seen the movie that Splash was based on. It reads what it is--a fun movie where a silly rabbit leaves home, only to find it is where he really wants to be.

If you start trying to "read" everything at WDW very little would pass muster.

I would be devastated if they changed Splash.
 


So I get the idea of switching it to Princess and the frog to get Tiana into the parks, because she deserves her own ride/experience.

For me if there's gonna be a retheme of it, I'd go with a Rescuers theme and give a whole new story for bernard and miss bianca. They can adjust it to fit into the land themes and provide a story that way.

The issue comes with music, but I have faith in Disney on that front.

Edit: I will say PATF does fit with DLR much more than WDW. I'd be cool with them having separate themes for the same ride system. They already do that with GOTG:MB and TOT.
 
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I'd be a fan of retheming, and not just in light of current events. There's always going to be those who rail against changing old ride themes, for nostalgia and personal familiarity. And there will always be those who seek out change because that's where they find their connection. Neither are inherently wrong.

My husband and I were talking about how this could be accomplished, and it could be a lot of fun. Change one scene so that you see everything from frog-size. Louie and the riverboat would be a pretty easy reskin. Mama Odie in the trees. One night scene where we get to see Evangeline and Ray and hear his song. And Facilier at the end going down the hole to the "other side" for the big drop. Yes, you'd have to get creative with the human elements of the movie but that's what the Imagineers are for :)


And how does that all fit in with Frontieerland??
 
Idk, I just feel like Tiana deserves an original attraction of her own.

Yes. Exactly this. I would love Tiana to have more than just a retheme of Splash. It would never quite feel right there, IMO - and always feel like an overlay. Princess and the Frog also doesn’t make sense in Frontierland. I am very much for a Tiana ride, but more than an overlay on an existing attraction in a land where the story doesn’t fit.

If rethemed, I would actually like it to not be IP-driven. Anything else will just feel forced in the location. I’d prefer some kind of western river waterfall adventure with an original story. Would be so fun to have an original concept that isn’t tied to any IP.
 
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Dont' think anyone has an obsession with Song of the South. The movie honestly isn't even that great outside of the controversial stuff. And Disney has tried to distance themselves as much as possible from the movie. Splash Mountain is based on some characters but it really doesn't have strong connection to the movie, and there is no controversial scenes in the ride. A vast majority of people don't even know the ride is based off of a movie in anyway. I just don't see them spending the time or money to redo a ride that is still well loved, especially at this time.

Plus, it wouldn't be that easy to retheme it. It's proximity to New Orleans Square is the only pro the retheme has. It would not be easy to do. None of the scenes/sets would really fit for Princess and the Frog so the ride would need to be gutted and completely redone, an to fit in with the movie and New Orleans Square they would probably need to retheme the exterior as well. So it would be a pretty massive project and pretty much just building a whole not ride. As much as I'd love to see PatF get a ride and it would be great to be in that area I do not see this being that feasible.
Honestly, if you look at this topic, you get a number of people who swear its their favorite movie and are outraged by it not being on Disney+. Its not even that good.

But honestly, looking at the fan concept art, the PATF overlay doesn't look bad at all.
 
Completely agree that PATF deserves an attraction all it's own.

However, splash has a nostalgic factor that I wouldn't want to see changed - and people are right that the Peter Pan attraction is far more obviously racist.

4 of my adopted children are Indigenous and they would LOVE to see a Pocahontas attraction at Disney. There have been rumors in the past of a high energy canoe ride based on the movie, but that never came to pass.

At this point, instead of re-doing older, much loved attractions, I'd like to see Disney address their lack of representation of POC with some NEW attractions: PATF and Pocahontas would be a great start!
 
I voted retheme for several reasons but also that concept looks AMAZING and might get me on the attraction that I otherwise would not go anywhere near because I am so scared of the drop XD
 
If the ride included an audio-animatronic Uncle Remus explaining why slavery is really not that bad, I would say yes, change it. But it doesn't. It's an animatronic bunny escaping from an animatronic fox with no social commentary at all. Anyone who demands that Splash be re-themed because they see it as somehow sympathetic towards slavery should probably, to be consistent, also demand that POTC be changed due to its sympathetic attitude towards piracy. I would say leave Splash alone.

Yes, but this country doesn’t have the same painful legacy with piracy as it does with racism. Racism is a particularly acute hurt in this country. I don’t think they can be compared.
 
Yes, but this country doesn’t have the same painful legacy with piracy as it does with racism. Racism is a particularly acute hurt in this country. I don’t think they can be compared.

Sure they can. Pirates are an affront to all women as they are known to be rapists, along with being murderers and thieves. But let's not stop there. Peter Pan should go as it is very much racist against indigenous people. Dumbo needs to go as it celebrates the circus, and we all know they abuse animals. The Haunted Mansion should go as it celebrates the occult. The Hall of Presidents needs to be shut as many of the Presidents were slave owners, and there is only one black man shown, and no women. The Living Seas needs to go as they have animals in captivity. Living with the Land needs to go as they have fish in tanks, which is cruel. Test Track needs to go as we know cars are bad for the environment, or needs to be switched to E cars.

I could go on and all. And it all is every bit as ridiculous as re-theming a ride that is not racist, and shows nothing at all racist in it, because the movie from which it was derived (which hardly anyone knows) was racist.

If we all want Disney to be totally politically correct then they need to close the parks down.
 
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And how does that all fit in with Frontieerland??

That's what they pay imagineers for :)

Quite honestly, what does Splash Mountain have to do with Frontierland? Song of the South takes place in Georgia, which is one of the original 13 colonies.

oh, and this :) The theming of Splash as it currently stands has exactly nothing to do with the western theme.
 
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