Disney has spent an exorbitant $142 million on progressive replacements for some of its most beloved themed attractions since deciding to get rid of them at the height of the George Floyd protests.
The corporation ordered its Splash Mountain water rides to be downgraded in 2020, deeming its references to the 1946 film Song of the South “inappropriate in today’s world.”
But its replacement with attractions based on 2009’s The Princess and the Frog, featuring its first black princess, has struggled to attract visitors and unite fans of both horror films.
Business magazine Forbes calculated the cost of the renovations in Florida and California after a Disney design manager, who remained mum on the subject, revealed what the corporation was spending on Disneyland Paris.
And the backlash from Disney fans has left analysts fearing the entertainment giant will never see a return on its investment.
Disney’s Splash Mountain was one of the most popular attractions at its Florida and California resorts, but was deemed “inappropriate” in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Its $142 million replacement, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, has been plagued by mechanical failures and has been slammed as a “disaster of epic proportions” by Disney fans.
“The reputational damage this debacle will cause is incalculable and that alone could make it one of the most expensive theme park attractions in Disney history,” the magazine wrote.
Splash Mountain quickly became one of the most popular attractions when it opened at Disneyland in 1989, combining a thrilling log ride with an immersive cartoon experience featuring the adventures of Br’er Rabbit.
The 1946 film on which it was based featured the Oscar-winning song Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, but was criticised by Black Lives Matter activists for its “racist” depiction of life after the Civil War.
In 2020, Disney CEO Bob Iger banned the film from the Disney+ platform, insisting that “Song of the South, even with a disclaimer, was simply not appropriate in today’s world.”
And he revealed that the attractions would be replaced by ‘Tiana’s Bayou Adventure’, designed by his ‘Imagineering’ team and based on Disney’s 2009 version of The Princess and the Frog.
The new attraction was opened at the Florida resort by Disney World President Jeff Vahle last month.
It is based on Disney’s 2009 version of The Princess and the Frog, featuring the corporation’s first black princess.
But it wasn’t just traditionalists who were horrified when Disney unveiled its new attraction with a ride-through video in May.
“Did you really replace an iconic vehicle with this?” wrote one of the thousands of disgruntled customers.
“It was the most boring thing I’ve ever seen,” added another. “It has no story, no moments of tension and it’s not funny, unlike its predecessor, which was much funnier and more successful.”
“This is a slap in the face to Tiana and the African American community,” commented a third. “Tiana deserved her own new vehicle… not a beat-up version of Wish!”
“This attraction represents everything that is wrong with modern Disney,” added a fourth.
And spirits have not improved since the attraction opened to the public in June, with persistent mechanical problems repeatedly forcing its closure.
Disney had already warned of a drop in attendance at its theme parks in the second quarter, blaming a “global moderation due to the post-COVID travel spike.”
In 2020, Disney CEO Bob Iger insisted that Splash Mountain had to go because the 1946 version of Song of the South on which it was based was “simply not appropriate for today’s world.”
WDWMagic reported that even on July 4, wait times had dropped below an hour, down from the usual four hours.
“Crowd levels are definitely a lot lower than they used to be for the 4th of July,” ThatParkPlace reported.
Disney is typically tight-lipped about its investments and has declined to confirm how much it spent on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
But a short-lived, indiscreet LinkedIn post from Imagineer design manager David Jaraudias shed light on the staggering cost of renovating its attractions.
He revealed that the Avengers Campus at Disneyland Paris cost exactly $404.1 million to build in 2022.
He also confirmed that the remodeling of ‘Star Tours’, the resort’s Star Wars simulator, cost $71 million, which will allow The business magazine estimate the cost of replacing Splash Mountain, which is labor-intensive, at $142 million.
Actors dressed as Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen from The Princess and the Frog perform on a float during the Festival of Fantasy Parade
This is not the first time the corporation has undertaken a costly rewrite of its 101-year history.
In 2021, Disney announced it would be refurbishing Jungle Cruise, one of Disney Parks’ original attractions, which had been criticized in years past for being racially insensitive due to its depiction of animatronic Indigenous people as savages or headhunters.
Three years before that, Disney removed a bride auction scene, deemed offensive because it showed women lining up for the auction, from its Pirates of the Caribbean attraction.
He remains under pressure over the crow characters in the 1941 film Dumbo and the King Louie character in the 1967 film The Jungle Book, which have been criticized as African-American caricatures.
The depiction of Native Americans in the 1953 film Peter Pan and the Siamese cats (often considered Asian stereotypes) in the 1955 film Lady and the Tramp have also been ridiculed.
Reaction to the new attraction has been unfavorable from Disney fans in general.
But it’s the poor quality of Splash Mountain’s replacement that has most irked Disney fans, according to reviews on its YouTube page.
“Disney spent so much on animatronics that they forgot to spend money on developing a good story,” wrote one.
“I’m not even going to comment on how you ruined one of the best rides in all of the parks, but if you were going to do The Princess and the Frog, this was the best you could do?” another added.
‘There is no story, half the ride is dark sections with the same repetitive firefly screens, songs with chants in the background but no one singing, embarrassing dialogues.’
“Imaginative engineering has lost its creativity and narrative ability,” wrote a third.
“This is a disaster of epic proportions.”
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