After waiting a year, the re-theme of the iconic Disney ride, Splash Mountain has opened in the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. The new ride, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, turns the characters of 1946’s Song of the South into the 2009 animated film The Princess and the Frog. On the ride we see Princess Tiana and her friends gather a group of musical critters to play at her party.
The re-theme has been surrounded by controversy, with many Disney fans wanting the ride to stay the same. However, a push to include more recent I.P. into rides (among other reasons) led to the change. The ride has been plagued with multiple technical problems ever since its opening. It has gotten to the point where riders were required to be evacuated. Despite adding new animatronics, the attraction still has the same 30+ years of wear and tear. Very few refurbishments seem to have taken place to the ride system. 
In addition to the technical problems, many felt underwhelmed with the overall presentation. The ride’s story does not follow the “Princess and the Frog” film, and multiple key characters are seemingly absent. The most noticeable absence is the main villain, Dr. Facilier, aka The Shadow Man. His absence was apparently due to fears that Voodoo would be seen as offensive, but the lack of threatening presence on the ride is rather apparent.
After years of planning and the research that went into the new advanced character animatronics, music, and projection screens, the budget most likely would not have been cheap. Now, according to a new report via Forbes, the budget of both the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland re-themes of the ride could have cost Disney roughly $71 million per attraction, bringing the total to about $142 Million.
If these numbers are accurate, that means that the massive multi-million dollar budget went into an underwhelming re-theme of a decades-old ride that still needs repairs. Only time will tell if these rides will get the proper repairs they need to operate fully, or else the only green Disney will be full of is envy over Epic Universe opening next year.
What do you think? Was the re-theme worth $142 Million? Or could they have done a better job repairing the ride’s various technical issues? Let us know your thoughts.
Sources: KTLA, Forbes
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