Walt Disney World has closed its famous Splash Mountain water ride, the Magic Kingdom attraction that for years had been criticized for having racist roots. But not everyone was happy to see the ride.
It closed on Sunday, and by Tuesday, the TikTok hashtag #goodbyesplashmountain had attracted 1.6 million views. Somber tribute videos to the game set to the song “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah,” some of which claimed to show the last few times of visitors riding their log boats over its 45-degree-drop waterfall, had thousands of likes.
“I will always miss you. Bye 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 two hours to board on the last day.
Other Disney devotees, some of whom are known as “Disney adults,” sought to capitalize on the attraction’s closure by posting on eBay more than 70 bottles, Mason jars and plastic bags filled with what they claimed to be “Splash Mountain water.” . Some vendors said the liquid was stolen during the last few days of the trip’s operation.
The containers garnered dozens of bids, with some buyers offering to pay more than $50.
The closure of the 30-year-old attraction, which Princess Diana visited in 1993, follows years of calls for change because it features several 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 tells traditional African-American folktales to white children cared for by black servants.
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 that 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 the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Park in Anaheim, Calif., in 2024. (It was not immediately clear when Splash Mountain at Disneyland Park closed.)
“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. .
Tokyo Disneyland’s website does not indicate if or when its Splash Mountain attraction will close. A Walt Disney World representative did not immediately respond to questions Tuesday.
A three-year-old Change.org petition decrying Splash Mountain’s racist images and demanding that it be replaced with a “The Princess and the Frog” attraction garnered more than 21,000 signatures.
“While the ride is considered a beloved classic, its story and plot are infused with extremely problematic and stereotypical racist tropes from the 1946 film Song of the South,” the petition reads.
A “To Save Splash Mountain” counter-petition has attracted more than 99,000 signatures.
“Splash Mountain has never included depictions of slaves or any racist elements and is based solely on historical African folktales that families of all ethnicities have enjoyed for nearly a century,” the petition says. “It’s absurd to pander to a small group of ‘Disney haters’ who don’t understand history and change the subject of such a nostalgic attraction.”
Splash Mountain is no stranger to controversy: In 2018, it made headlines when Walt Disney World banned a man who rode it while holding a “Trump 2020” sign.
