Princess Tiana Coming to Disneyland Park and Magic Kingdom Park
Our days are starting to not feel complete without some kind of breaking Disney news lately and we’re here to give you the latest. Disney Parks Blog announced today and Splash Mountain at Disneyland and Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom is making a change! Disney Imagineers have been working on a way to “plus” Splash Mountain since last year and now letting us in on the details!
The theme of Splash Mountain will be completely reimagined to feature Princess Tiana and friends from “The Princess and the Frog.” Imagineers will start the attraction where to movie ended and join Princess Tiana and Louis as they prepare for their first-ever Mardi Gras performance.
Here’s what Disney is saying about this exciting new change:
“Tiana is a modern, courageous, and empowered woman, who pursues her dreams and never loses sight of what’s really important. It’s a great story with a strong lead character, set against the backdrop of New Orleans and the Louisiana bayou. In 1966, Walt himself opened New Orleans Square when it became the first new “land” added to Disneyland park, so it feels natural to link the story and the incredible music of “The Princess and the Frog” to our parks.
The voice of Princess Tiana and Tony Award-winning actress, Anika Noni Rose, shared, “It is really exciting to know that Princess Tiana’s presence in both Disneyland and Magic Kingdom will finally be fully realized! As passionate as I am about what we created, I know the fans are going to be over the moon. The Imagineers are giving us ‘The Princess and the Frog’ Mardi Gras celebration we’ve been waiting for, and I’m here for it!”
The approach to retheming or “plussing” attractions (as Walt Disney referred to it) begins with Imagineers asking the question, how can we build upon or elevate the experience and tell a fresh, relevant story? It’s a continuous process that Imagineers are deeply passionate about. And with this longstanding history of updating attractions and adding new magic, the retheming of Splash Mountain is of particular importance today. The new concept is inclusive – one that all of our guests can connect with and be inspired by, and it speaks to the diversity of the millions of people who visit our parks each year.
Charita Carter, the senior creative producer leading the project at Walt Disney Imagineering shared, “Like Princess Tiana, I believe that courage and love are the key ingredients for wonderful adventures. I am delighted to be a part of bringing this fun-filled experience to our guests.”
For Imagineers, change is rooted in a tradition set by Walt Disney who encouraged new innovations, new ideas, new scenes and current storytelling. And the experiences they create can be enjoyed by guests who visit our parks from all over the world.
As part of the creative development process, conceptual design work is well underway and Imagineers will soon be able to conduct preliminary reviews and develop a timeline for when the transformation can start to take shape.”
Disney also released quotes from Imagineers and the cast of “The Princess and The Frog” about this announcement. Here’s what they had to say:
Looks like everyone is excited for this update to Splash Mountain! What do you think?
As always we will keep you informed with and all the news from all the Disney parks! Stay tuned here for all things Disney!
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