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This afternoon, the Splash Mountain ride at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Park was unexpectedly drained. Twitter user Bethany (@BK_est_91812) shared a photo of the currently closed Disney World attraction with the caption:
“Let the change begin…splash mountain is currently drained. Could this be the beginning?”
Let the change begin.. splash mountain is currently drained. Could this be the beginning? pic.twitter.com/uHu6vzNg1Y
— Bethany (@BK_est_91812) July 27, 2020
“The beginning” Bethany’s Tweet refers to is the planned retheming of the Disney Parks ride at Disney World and Disneyland. Instead of its existing Song of the South theme, it will be renovated to feature Princess Tiana, Prince Naveen, Louis the alligator, and other Princess and the Frog characters.
It is worth noting that Walt Disney World officials have not announced the reason for Splash Mountain’s draining and closure today. Although scheduled ride closures for maintenance are generally reported to the public, and this particular event was not, Splash Mountain has been drained for refurbishment and routine cleaning.
It is worth noting that as of an hour ago, Splash Mountain had not been added to the “Closed For Refurbishment” list on the Walt Disney World Resort website. The only attraction currently listed as “Temporarily Unavailable” is the Walt Disney World Railroad on Main Street, U.S.A. We expect Disney to formally announce a set date when Splash Mountain will close.
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No timeline was announced for either project when Disney announced that Splash Mountain would be rethemed at its theme parks on both coasts.
Since former Walt Disney World Resort President and current Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro indicated that Lead Imagineer Charita Carter, Disney Legend Imagineer Tony Baxter, and others who are involved in the design process have been working for over a year, however, it can be assumed that work on the Princess and the Frog Splash Mountain retheme will begin sooner rather than later.
Since this is a developing story, stay tuned to Inside the Magic for additional updates about why Splash Mountain at Disney World has been drained of water today.