Disney World opening ‘Song of the South’ ride replacement this summer

BAY LAKE, Fla. – Walt Disney World announced that “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure” will open this summer, an attraction that is replacing “Splash Mountain,” which based off the movie “Song of the South.”

Disney has no exact opening date yet for the Magic Kingdom attraction.

The company announced replacement plans over concerns of racist stereotypes and the former ride’s movie inspiration being contextualized around slavery.

The log flume-in-water attraction’s new theme is around Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog,” released in 2009 and set in 1920s Louisiana.

The former attraction’s movie took place during the Reconstruction Era in Georgia, where a young boy visited his grandmother’s plantation and took a liking to Uncle Remus, who worked on the plantation and is a former slave.

“I’ve felt, as long as I’ve been CEO, that ‘Song of the South’ was — even with a disclaimer — just not appropriate in today’s world,” CEO Bob Iger previously said on the topic.

U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., weighed in on the renovation in 2022, saying he took his children to Splash Mountain “so many times” and never thought “it was an issue.”

“So they go from place to place, trying to find reasons to change something. So, they feel better about themselves, Splash Mountain, didn’t go and didn’t bother anybody. It’s just an amusement part of the amusement park here in a […] fun place,” he said.

Donalds said Disney “lost their minds” when it comes to topics of race and “woke” ideology.

“I don’t even get it. But again, it’s Disney at this point, they’ve lost their minds when it comes to programming and stuff like this, and it’s really sad to see them not just stand up and be like, ‘no, this isn’t racist.’ It’s just a part of our park and kids enjoy it,” he said.

The attraction closed in January 2023, crowds swarming it on its final day.