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... With that said, this was the right call. I read somewhere a blind man rode SM and his main comment was that the characters voices reminded him of the Jim Crow South he grew up in.

This is a long time coming (though I don't buy the "we've been working on it since last year" hooey.

Also, why not replace Pecos Bill with a New Orleans restart l restaurant themed to "Tiana's Place?" It will better connect Adventureland with Frontierland.
 
Alright my two cents on the matter. I personally would be ok with keeping Splash the way it is. Most people probably wouldn't connect Splash to a movie that hasn't seen a wide release in decades. On top of that, Disney's attempt to make Pirates slightly less offensive ended up making the ride slightly worse.

However change is likely to be inevitable so
A Princess and the Frog retheme would be great for Disneyland's version of the ride provided Disney decides not to cut back expenses after a drop in attendance like they're famous for doing.

For MK's version
Keep the ride the same, but change out Bear, Fox and Rabbit for original characters. Keep most of the animatronics and change the score. This is probably the most minimal change of all. Stuff would be modified to fit the new story/characters but most of the ride should still be largely intact.

Give the mountain a total overhaul and change it to a mine/frontier theme similar to Timber Mountain at Knotts. You could easily just remove the grass/green around the mountain and replace it with earth tones. Interior would obviously get a full overhaul with new show scenes and maybe incorporate some modern elements into the ride like projection mapping. Don't cheap out on us Disney.

And lastly, combination of the last two ideas. Give the mountain a full overhaul and use original characters. Completely new show scenes but cute animals are still the focus of the attraction. Brand new score, modern elements mixed with classic show scenes.

This is all banking on Disney not being cheap and forcing budget cuts however.

This also means my beloved Grand Fiesta Tour might be on the chopping block in the future too. I'm kinda sad about that but I guess that was inevitable too. ?
 
I like Princess and the Frog, glad it’s getting a ride. Not sure how a water ride really fits it though. Reminds me that I want a Tangled ride. I really like the way Splash Mountain looks so I’ll miss that. I really hope they go with traditional animatronics instead of projection mapping on the faces, I hate the way it looks on the Frozen ride.
 
I would be ecstatic if animatronics look more like the ones on Tokyo’s Beauty and The Beast ride than the ones on Frozen. Belle’s animatronic looks especially stunning on that ride. Her motions look fluid and elegant; keeping a perfect balance between cartoonish and realistic.

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I’m very excited about the PatF ride, personally. IIRC, the movie had a lot of gorgeous scenes that seem a natural fit for a water ride. I just hope it doesn’t look thrown together last-minute.
 
We were there from opening till close. longest we waited was 2 hours and that was around 6pm, We were one of the very last in line right at park closing and while I didnt note the time we boarded we were in the riverboat scene at midnight. When we got off the ride the queue was empty and they loaded the first log of cast members. There were a good amount of cast and maintience workers who rode while guests cheered them on. There was really no pushby the park for guests to leave....it was a great sendoff to a great attraction.
 
Splash Mountain never was the greatest at fitting in with Frontierland. With Tiana on the way, rumors are spreading about Splash's corner of Frontierland turning into something like New Orleans Square at Disneyland. My only issue with that is Magic Kingdom already has Liberty Square, which I see as the Florida counterpart to New Orleans Square (not in theming but how they represent a small stretch of town and include The Haunted Mansion). I'm wondering if they would transform this part of Frontierland into something like Critter Country. It never was done with Splash Mountain to begin with, but is it really too late? More specifically an area themed to the American South with touches of critter presence. Tom Sawyer Island I believe would fit well with this area because of its rustic non-western theme, and the island would be a perfect environment for critters to run about. However they would have to do something with the shooting arcade and the restaurants and shops.
 
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The animatronic is REALLY impressive-- not surprising they're pushing to open ASAP. They had water flowing the other day, so testing should start soon.

It's just too bad that just like with Frozen they didn't update and improve the actual ride system as part of the retheme. Just like Frozen it will still have the same downtimes and issues it had before.
 
Splash Mountain was my all-time favorite ride, so it makes me really happy to see its waterways coming to life again. The fact that they’re using a traditional animatronic (vs. projection-based face) for Tiana gives me hope that they’re going to do the ride, and its predecessor, right by this retheme.
 
The original splash Mountain was wonderful, because it was a long ride, with a story, and a lot of animatronics.

They could have re themed the original ride using all the original animatronics and scenes. Just a non IP new story. Some of their best attractions over time were none IP. Expedition, Everest, the haunted mansion, pirates of the Caribbean, Spaceship Earth and all of the original Epcot rides, Space Mountsin etc.

But Disney only does IP these days. This case is like what Paramount used to do, with little consideration for the cohesion of the park.


This installation hurts the cohesion of the park. Because of the placement of big thunder, Mountain, it splits Frontierland.

Converting all of Frontierland into New Orleans would be another mistake. Frontierland is a wonderful feeling area of the park.

Additionally, this seems to be a half budget makeover of the ride with less animatronics and more screens
 
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