Walt Disney World has closed its Magic Kingdom water ride, the Magic Kingdom attraction that has been criticized for its racist roots. The ride went well, but not everyone was happy to see it go.
It closed Sunday, and by Tuesday, the TikTok hashtag goodbyesplashmountain had attracted 1.6 million views. Somber tribute videos to the ride set to the song Zip-A Dee-Doo Dah, some of which claimed to show visitors last times riding its log boats over its waterfall with a 45 degree drop, had thousands of likes.
I will miss you forever. Goodbye, Splash Mountain, read the caption of a video that had more than 1,300 likes Tuesday afternoon.
Another video claims to show a two-plus-hour wait to board on the final day.
Other Disney devotees — some of whom are known as 'Disney adults' — looked to capitalize on the rides closing by listing more than 70 bottles, mason jars and plastic bags filled with what they claim to be Splash Mountain water on eBay. Some sellers said they swiped the liquid during the ride's last days of operation.
The containers fetched dozens of bids, with some of them offering to pay more than $50.
The closure of the 30 year-old ride — Princess Diana visited in 1993 — follows a years-long call for change because it features several characters from Disney's 1946 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, the former executive secretary of the NAACP, said the film helps perpetuate a dangerously glorified picture of slavery. In March 2020, Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger confirmed that the film would not appear on the streaming service Disney and said it is not appropriate in today s world.
In 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. It was not immediately clear when Splash Mountain closed at Disneyland Park. 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 millions of people who visit our parks each year, Disney said in 2020.
The website for Tokyo Disneyland doesn't indicate when or when it's going to close.
A Walt Disney World representative did not respond to questions Tuesday.
A Change.org petition three years ago that decried Splash Mountain's racist imagery and demanded it be replaced with a ride dedicated to The Princess and the Frog garnered more than 21,000 signatures.
While the ride is considered a beloved classic, its sic history and storyline are steeped in extremely problematic and stereotypical racist tropes from the 1946 film Song of the South, that petition states.
More than 99,000 signatures have been attracted by a counter-petition To Save Splash Mountain.
Splash Mountain has never included depictions of slaves or racist elements and is based solely on historical African folktales that families of all ethnicities have been enjoying for nearly a century, that petition states. It is absurd to pander to a small group of Disney haters that don't understand the story, and re-theme such a nostalgic ride. Splash Mountain was the subject of controversy in 2018 when Walt Disney World banned a man who rode it while holding up a Trump 2020 sign.