Princess Tiana Goes to Splash Mountain

Disney has officially announced that Splash Mountain will be rethemed to feature a “Princess and the Frog” theme as opposed to a “Song of the South” theme.  This has been met with some controversy, but personally I am all in favor of this decision.  Princess and the Frog is an excellent film and an appropriate choice for the design and theming of Splash Mountain.

In full disclosure, Princess and the Frog is one of my favorite Disney films so the film getting its own ride is something I find to be extremely exciting.  From the animation to the characters to the music, the film was extremely delightful and a great addition to the Disney animated pantheon.  Tiana herself is actually my second favorite Disney princess (behind only Elsa).  So this is good news on a personal level as I will be seeing a larger presence of the film in the park.

However, in addition to that, there is a lot of opportunity to adapt the film into the ride.  The track itself and the storytelling of the ride in its current state suggest how they could be adapted around the scenes in the film.  A brief overview may be a key to explaining how that could happen.

The current layout along the water track opens out with a fishing scene set in a river and introduces the world of Br’er Rabbit while the tune “How Do You Do?” plays.  It is followed by the “Laughing Place” which is located in a dark cave that leads into a mountain climbing up to Br’er Fox’s hideout, Chickapin Hill.  After rising, this leads into a 50 foot drop directly into the Briar Patch before an exit past a riverboat scene and Br’er Rabbit returning home.

Using this track, the opening fishing scene could be a great location for the bayou with a round with the opening song “Take You There” playing while the dark and moody atmosphere of the Laughing Place could be rethemed to include Dr. Facilier and a recreation of the scene with the song “Friends on the Otherside.”  The artwork suggests that Mama Odie’s treeboat will be on top of Br’er Fox’s hideout so it will likely be her on top with a round of “Dig a little Deeper” before the drop.  The finale would stay the same though as we pass Louis the Alligator playing jazz on a riverboat and saying goodbye to Tiana and Prince Naveen.

For all I know, this theoretical pitch for how the ride could go could be completely wrong and they could switch scenes with other parts of the film, but it does show one key point.  There is potential for this story to fit in well with the design and theming of the ride, especially since both take place in the south and can use similar props.  As a result, Princess and the Frog is the perfect film to bring to Splash Mountain.

The songs as well will be a welcome addition to the ride.  Quite a few have already been listed, but each one will be needed to create the same inviting atmosphere as the current iteration of the ride.  The ride has particularly likable songs such as the Disney all time classic “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” so that will be no easy feat.  All the same, the songs from the film are well designed to create the same atmosphere if used properly.

So there is a lot of potential in this ride.  The songs, the potential visuals, the characters, and the ability to use parts of the existing layout will be what makes this a good update to Splash Mountain.  This all suggests that there is good reason to believe that the change will be a success.

Of course, I will still miss the old parts of the ride.  I still do have fond memories of the first time I saw the stork animatronics fishing on the ride and I will miss falling into the Briar Patch, the various renditions of Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah, and Br’er Fox, Br’er Rabbit, and especially Br’er Bear.  Leaving anything behind is hard even when the future might be brighter.

The ride itself has been a point of controversy for many due to a debate about the film the ride is based on.  However, it is important to remember that the petition on Change.org to keep the ride the same had twice as many signatures as the petition to change it.  So there is no denying that the current iteration is still beloved by many.

All the same, the direction that is being taken will still keep the spirit of the original ride the same.  After all, the 50 foot drop (the best part of the ride) will stay the same, the riverboat will probably still be used, and Disney likes to keep references to old rides so parts of the ride will still probably be hidden there somewhere.  No matter what, the same quality of the old ride will remain even after the changes.

There is no doubt change is scary, but it also provides promise for a great, big, beautiful tomorrow.  If the changes are done well, this could make the ride even better.  Only time will tell, but for now I believe this is a good thing and it will be nice to see Princess and the Frog have a larger role in the Disney Parks.