D’Amaro Discusses Disney’s Splash Mountain Retheme - Inside the Magic

Comments for D’Amaro Discusses Disney’s Splash Mountain Retheme

Splash Mountain Retheme

35 Comments

  1. RJ

    Nope. Don’t believe him for a minute. Could have been “reimagined” into one of hundreds of Disney themed books/movies, but have been bullied into this “particular” theme by the BLM movement/civil war.

    1. Monty

      You hit it right on the money

    2. Stan P

      Absolutely right. Disney just pandering and Walt turning over in his grave. What’s next? “Snow White” is racist?

      1. Matt

        No pretty sure just you guys are showing off the racism here… thankfully disney doesn’t care what you think

        1. Brooke

          Agree with you Matt 100%. I think it will greatly improve this ride that has looked more like an abandoned carnival attraction inside for a long time. Lights have been out, animatronics are faded. It’s going to be a big hit.

      2. EricJ

        No, no, “Sexist”:
        Remember, as every single female fan tells us, Snow sings a song about how happy she is to do domestic housework, and how girls should sit around hoping handsome princes will find them out of the blue.

        (Both of which are wrong, of course, but like the SotS complaints were any less bzzt-thanks-for-playing either.)

    3. EricJ

      Not to mention the “Armchair Imagineer” fanboys, who all came up with the same “neat idea” within minutes of BLM.

      You will never, EVER hear an Armchair Imagineer fanboy suggest actually building a brand-new building for an attraction.
      A “whole new land area” maybe, but demolition of Stupid Old Attractions That Deserve It is always the first item on their agenda.

    4. Mc

      Agreed. This is the next step in “Cancel Culture.”

  2. Sam

    Nope. Don’t believe him for a minute. Could have been “reimagined” into one of hundreds of Disney themed books/movies, but have been bullied into this “particular” theme by the BLM movement/civil war.

    1. Nicholas Cervenka

      Yeah. If it’s something that has been in the works for a while, they’d have announced at at D23, not in the heat of the BLM movement. Given that he said they’re still in the conceptualization part of it, you know it was a knee jerk reaction.

  3. Darren English

    I’m curious to see how New Orleans Square will expand to include Critter Country (sans Pooh). How will the Mansion get reflected in the new theming. N.O. Swamp would be a perfect location for a Momenti Mori store. Aside from doing the right thing re: BLM This could really be a great revitalization for New Orleans Square!

  4. Trenton B.

    I believe it. I’m sure they’ve been wanting to do this sort of thing for years. I mean, don’t you think it’s a little hypocritical to not acknowledge a movie and use it’s characters in a theme park ride and to merchandise them?

  5. Horrible Horrible Joke. Just because the Racist Marxist “BLACK LIVES MATTER” along with it’s Main Supporter The Democratic Party.
    Disney decides to Get Scared and cave into False Accusations of Racism about one of the most iconic and Best rides in the Park.
    Here in the next Six Months Disney will be pushed and frightened into Renaming AND!!! Removing any and all likenesses Of Walt Disney Himself Because he was Racist. (Just Ask BLM They will tell you)

  6. Jay

    I am completely against the re theme and do not believe for a second that it has been in the works for about a year. Disney need to leave Splash Mountain as it is. They have other projects that need attention more ( fix the Yeti). Walt wanted his parks to be place to get away from the world outside not a place for Disney to play politics pleasing the few at the cost of the many. The polls on this subject show that 79% of the people favor leaving Splash Mountain as it is and the petitions reflect that same margin too. Leave Splash Mountain alone Josh Leave it as it is.

  7. Paul Alter

    I think it’s great that Disney is doing this. America needs to move beyond the fascist, racist, white bias in this country. This is one small step, but a beautiful response to those of color who’ve seen this rides heritage as a sad reminder of slavery.

    1. Ridley Silva

      Leave Splash Mountain the way it is!

    2. Claudia Lander

      How exactly does this ride remind people of slavery. if you knew anything about the story it takes place after the civil war. sounds to me like you’re one of the black lives matter supporters to me Paul

  8. LizS

    Of course these comments never disappoint but really disappointed in them. Many so angry of a ride being rethemed and then blaming BLM, typical! Princess and the Frog isn’t a new movie but she is black, so much outrage for something different than you! Get a grip, we get one ride and Princess from the many you already have!!!

    1. Brooke

      I know, sounds like white supremacy. This will be a huge improvement. There will be endless possibilities with re-theming possibly a restaurant (my vote is for the French Market which has live jazz). The interior of this ride is dated, faded and also racist. Those commenting here are likely the ones who were outraged that Disney got rid of the human trafficking in POTC. 🙂 It’s 2020 folks.

  9. Ken

    The movie sucked.

    1. EricJ

      Now, now, there was nothing wrong with P&F that having an actual PLOT, likable supporting characters or memorable songs couldn’t have fixed.
      IOW, the same problem that Moana had, and that one was reportedly getting a new Epcot area.

  10. Mike

    We talk about white people being racist but the term black lives matter is racist in its own tone. I dont see color and see people for who and what they are there are good and bad people everywhere. To say black lives matter and to get upset at people for saying all lives matter puts one race above the others in definition being racist. Iam not going to call disney liars but time will tell no secret is kept forever these days. For a point of reference my wife is african american and only reason i bring this up is to mute the people trying to say im racist

    1. MarkinTex

      “the term black lives matter is racist in its own tone.”
      No, it’s not. They aren’t saying black lives matter more than any others, they are just asking that black lives be treated like they matter as much as white lives. Because, historically, they haven’t – slavery, Jim Crow, Tuskegee experiments, etc.

      “I don’t see color” If I could offer a friendly bit of advice, that phrase has been used so often as a cover by people who then say or do something implicitly racist, it’s become a bit of a joke that it’s a red flag that the person who uses it is racist. It’s such an inherently disingenuous claim. Of course you see color, even nonracist people still do see phenotypic differences between people of different ethnic backgrounds, and still do recognize that there is an African-American subculture that is distinct from the broader mainstream American culture. Being non-racist isn’t about putting blinders on about the actual differences between people, it’s recognizing that those differences don’t matter when it comes to treating everyone with equal respect and dignity as human beings.

      1. BigTorch

        “I don’t see color” means “I dont judge someone by the color of their skin”, you dolt.

      2. Rich

        Yes, whites are racist and you can see that because they twice elected a black man president of this country. It would never happen if they were.

  11. C.D.

    Disney should show some guts and stand against this pressure to change a ride only a few find offensive . Leave Splash Mountain alone and build a new ride somewhere else for Princess and the Frog .

  12. Nigel Williams

    This is such a tricky one. I’m a massive Disney fan from the UK who has visited all the parks many times (I’d been to every one until Shanghai was built but that that trip is on hold right now) …. anyway …
    My initial take on this was “Noooooo”. Not only is Splash Mountain beloved to so many, to Disney fans of a certain age this was one of “our” rides. There’s a certain connection that comes from a ride opening during your formative years so this feels different & the idea that we won’t be able to share a trip with characters singing songs we’ve grown to love is sad … but because something makes you sad doesn’t mean it’s not right.
    Unfortunately, like pretty much everything else in the world right now it’s the bandwagon jumpers blurring this for me. On one hand I can’t help but feel Disney have actually done the “easy” thing & get positive promotion about a ride that cannot push movie views & plush toys. On the other, & I really mean this …. IF the ride genuinely upsets or offends a large amount of folk then this is the right decision. To be clear, I don’t mean someone posting on social media that the ride offends them & screaming blue murder .. I mean if a lot of folk visit the park & the ride actually causes feeling of sadness, hurt, anger or similar then in all probability it should be re-worked. This is the tricky part & I guess you’d need to be aware of guest feedback at City Hall & this is where it comes to whether it’s right or wrong for me.
    Unfortunately the vast majority of stuff I see regarding this change simply seems to come from either “Don’t change anything I like – I only care about me” or people sympathising with a group they don’t belong to … very little from people actually affected by the cause of the the change in the first place. That said I’ve not been hunting out opinions but I did read a very eloquent post online from a guest who said it always made her & her parents feel down in the dumps when in that area of the park & was clearly genuine so if this is a particularly frequent occurrence Disney are doing the right thing.
    What makes things even messier in my opinion however is that the ride wasn’t created until the late 80’s … this is not the same world being lived in as when the movie was released & I’ve read plenty that Disney considered the origins of the movie & purposely only linked the characters & songs from the movie with pretty much zero link to the actual film in an effort to not promote a film with out-of-date messages. This is another reason my initial thoughts about the re-theme were negative. As Disney fans we’re often left open-mouthed at guests returning from vacation saying “Oh man I loved the Disney Studios – that Mummy ride was awesome” then realising that not everyone has the same thirst for theme-parks as we do. With this in mind & Song of the South not being circulated for decades & no mention of any connection to it I do wonder how many casual guests actually even know it’s connected to feel offence in the first place … let alone know about the movie. I’m probably wrong but I often imagine older guests perhaps thinking “Hmmmm” when seeing Brer Rabbit & co singing the songs but that may just be my ignorance to a feeling amongst many which is why I’ll be so sad to see Splash Mountain go but if it saves a lot of other guests from having a not-so-enjoyable time in that area of the parks I’m cool with it.

  13. James

    Over 80% of people want Splash Mountain to stay the way it is according to poll.

  14. Stacy Martin

    I am devastated that they are changing Splash Mountain. This is one of my favorite rides.

  15. Tori

    I love Splash Mountain. It’s one of my all time favorite rides. One that I ride repeatedly on each trip. And when I first heard about the change I was sad. However, it’s time to make a change. Partially because of the theme and the age. Frankly I think Princess and the Frog is a natural fit, the bayou lends itself easily to the them. And frankly, I’m happy to see that WDW is diversifying children of all shades deserve representation in the “Happiest Place on Earth”

    Frankly I’m a lot more disappointed in the rampant racism in these comments then the actual change of the rides theme.

  16. MarkinTex

    I was born in 1976, I’m a Southerner, I grew up with Uncle Remus stories in old books from my dad’s childhood. I’ve always kind of wanted to see “Song of the South” just to see what it’s like. I don’t think it’s necessary to censor every old piece of literature or cinema just because it has outdated concepts – nobody is forced to watch it, just slap a disclaimer on the cover, and whoever wants to watch it can, everyone else can ignore it. But it’s Disney’s IP, so their call if they don’t want to be associated with it. Accusations that Disney is doing PC pandering to BLM by retheming Splash Mountain now are unfair, I think, Disney has taken an explicit stance since the mid-80s not to release SotS. But that does make it odd that they chose to theme Splash Mountain to SotS when they opened Splash Mountain in 1989. And even though I do think it would be okay for Disney to inconspicuously re-release SotS to home video for those who want it, I can definitely see why in this era, it doesn’t make sense to have a SotS themed ride in their parks, that’s a little harder for people to ignore. I always enjoyed Splash Mountain, even if it wasn’t among my favorite rides, and I didn’t really think much one-way or the other of the SotS theming (but in full disclosure, the last time I rode it was at Tokyo Disneyland, so I didn’t understand the narration). Princess and the Frog was a great movie, and I think it will actually improve the ride, while also making it more relevant to younger visitors. IMO, this retheming is not something to be mad at, and I’m someone who can hold a grudge about retheming (I still hate the Nemo theming of The Living Seas, with they’d go back to the original theme that seemed more scientific and in keeping with Future World).

  17. Kim Smith

    Leave Splash Mountain the way it is and give Princess and the Frog it’s own ride somewhere else.

  18. Mc

    I Love the atmosphere and characters of Splash Mountain! This change greatly saddens me. Please Disney: stop crushing our world!

  19. Erick Arevalo

    I believe Splash Mountain at Disney World should Turned into a Western River Expedition as a retheme and have The Princess and the Frog on Tom Sawyer Island as a restaurant called Tiana’s Place. Plus build a bridge that connects from Big Thunder Mountain to The Bayou where Mama Odie lives, and and have The Princess and the Frog ride simular to The Little Mermaid ride or a show build that tells the story.

  20. I believe Splash Mountain at Disney World should Turned into a Western River Expedition as a retheme and have The Princess and the Frog on Tom Sawyer Island as a restaurant called Tiana’s Place. Plus build a bridge that connects from Big Thunder Mountain to The Bayou where Mama Odie lives, and and have The Princess and the Frog ride simular to The Little Mermaid ride or a show building that tells the story from the movie.

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