Photo: BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images
Splash Mountain, one of the most emblematic attractions of the Disneyland parks, closed forever in the Magic Kingdom, in Florida, amid applause and lines of 4 hours to be part of the emotional goodbye, amid criticism, supposedly for having racist roots.
The popular attraction closed on Sunday and, for Tuesday, the TikTok hashtag #goodbyesplashmountain had attracted 1.6 million views.
“I will always miss you. Goodbye Splash Mountain”read the caption of a video that had more than 1,300 likes on Tuesday afternoon.
Another video claims to show a wait of more than three hours to board on the last day.
Splash Mountain was created during the 1980s, and was one of the most expensive attractions Disney had ever made.: transformed a log flume, a typical amusement park attraction, into an immersive journey full of animatronics through different scenes… based on the movie Song of the South.
The closure of the 30-year-old attraction, which Princess Diana visited in 1993, follows a change of years call because according to complainants features various characters from the 1946 Disney film “Song of the South,” which featured racist stereotypes.
The film, set on a plantation, features an elderly black man known as Uncle Remus, who relates traditional African-American tales to white children cared for by black servants.
The years after its release, Walter White, former executive secretary of the NAACP, said the film “helps perpetuate a dangerously glorified image of slavery.”
In March 2020, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that the film would not appear on the streaming service Disney+, saying it is “not appropriate in today’s world.” Deadline reported.
That June, Disney announced that Splash Mountain would be “reimagined” as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, based on Disney’s first black princess featured in the 2009 film “The Princess and the Frog.”
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will open at both the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California in 2024.
“The new concept is inclusive, one that all of our guests can connect with and be inspired by, and speaks to the diversity of the millions of people who visit our parks each year,” Disney said in 2020 when announcing the new feature.
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