A classic Walt Disney World ride begins a new chapter Friday when the attraction formerly known as Splash Mountain officially opens to the public as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Magic Kingdom theme park. It remains a log-flume ride, but it has been revamped inside and out, transforming a tan, rocky atmosphere into a green, lush swampy setting.
The Frontierland site has seen plenty of change alongside its dramatic drops. There have been foiled plans, Splash Mountain water for sale and royal — in real life, even — visitors. Here’s a timeline of attraction highlights.
• 1946: “Song of the South,” a live-action film with animated segments, debuts. The cartoon characters eventually become mainstays of Splash Mountain attractions at Disney World, Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and Tokyo Disneyland.
• 1983: Imagineer Tony Baxter conceives a log-flume ride for Disneyland as the theme park prepares to close “America Sings,” which features animal animatronics.
• 1983: “Splash,” a Ron Howard film starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah, debuts. Disney officials incorporate the title into the name of the upcoming attraction, which had a working title of Zip-A-Dee River Run. “At the time, we couldn’t see that because ‘Splash’ the movie was nothing like this little ride with ‘Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah’ and everything,” Baxter recalled. “But it’s interesting because as time has gone on, Splash Mountain is the perfect name. It perfectly describes that attraction.”
Baxter nixes the notion of adding mermaids to the Br’er-driven ride.
• January 1987: Splash Mountain is announced for Disneyland with plans to open in January 1989. But later there are technical issues regarding rider saturation levels and delays. “It is too wet — much splashier than we’d like,” Lorraine Santoli, supervisor of publicity for Disneyland tells the New York Times.
• July 17, 1989: Splash Mountain officially opens at Disneyland. The Los Angeles Times reports the cost of the ride at $70 million. It helps boost park attendance by about 10%, according to Amusem*nt Business magazine.
• 1989: “Ernest Goes to Splash Mountain,” a TV special starring Jim Varney, airs on Disney Channel.
• Late 1989: The price of a one-day, one-park Walt Disney World ticket goes up to $30.65. A report in the Orlando Sentinel says “Disney officials said the price increases were necessary to offset the cost of its new Splash Mountain” — although the ride had not yet been announced.
• Jan. 14, 1990: Disney announces that Splash Mountain is coming to Magic Kingdom. It’s one of several projects under “The Disney Decade” umbrella introduced by Walt Disney Co. CEO Michael Eisner. Others include Swiss and Soviet pavilions at Epcot, a 1,000-room hotel with a “tower of terror,” a 700-room Wilderness Lodge and a fourth — but unidentified — theme park for Disney World. Splash Mountain is referred to as “the ultimate thrill ride.”
• Oct. 2, 1992: Splash Mountain opens at Magic Kingdom. It has 26 scenes. 68 animatronic figures and a 49 mph drop, which the Sentinel notes is “faster even than the rocket ride through Tomorrowland’s Space Mountain.” The newspaper reports a construction cost of $91 million.
• January 1993: An episode of “The Bozo Show” includes scenes on a stage in front of Splash Mountain.
• August 1993: Britain’s Princess Diana takes the Splash Mountain plunge along with sons Prince William (age 11) and Prince Harry (age 8). She ducks. (The royals reportedly also experience Country Bear Jamboree, Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder Mountain railroad roller coaster).
• 1995: A flurry of riders in Disneyland lift their tops and expose themselves to the attraction cameras and onlookers, earning the ride a nickname of “Flash Mountain.”
• November 2000: A 37-year-old St. Petersburg man dies after getting out of a Splash Mountain boat and then being hit by another. The cause of death is “blunt force trauma to the chest,” according to the Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner’s office. The man is the first guest reported to die on a ride at the resort in its 29-year history.
• 2009: “The Princess and the Frog,” featuring Disney’s first Black princess, named Tiana, debuts in theaters.
• February 2011: Lap bars are installed in the 64 boats of Magic Kingdom’s Splash Mountain.
• June 2020: Amid the pandemic shutdown of Disney World theme parks, the company announces that Splash Mountain will close at Magic Kingdom and Disneyland in order to be rethemed to “The Princess and the Frog.”
“I know the fans are going to be over the moon,” said Anika Noni Rose, the actress who gave voice to Tiana in the film (and eventually the new attraction). “The Imagineers are giving us the ‘Princess and the Frog’ Mardi Gras celebration we’ve been waiting for, and I’m here for it.”
• July 2022: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure name announced during Essence Music Festival in New Orleans.
• Jan. 23, 2023: Splash Mountain closes at Magic Kingdom.
• February 2023: Water purportedly taken from the now-closed Magic Kingdom ride sells on eBay for as much as $15,000.
• May 31, 2023: Splash Mountain closes at Disneyland.
• January 2024: A tiara-topped water tower is installed at Magic Kingdom site.
• June 28, 2024: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opens at Magic Kingdom. (The Disneyland version remains under construction.)
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