LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — This weekend will be the last splash for a popular but controversial Walt Disney World ride.
Splash Mountain will close to visitors at the Magic Kingdom for good Sunday night.
The attraction, which takes guests on a water-logged ride through a Southern bayou while following the misadventures of Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Bear and Br'er Fox, has been a fan favorite since it opened at the Magic Kingdom in 1992.
Splash Mountain includes characters from the 1946 Disney film "Song of the South," which critics claim portrays racial stereotypes.
Disney announced in 2020 that Splash Mountain would be transformed into Tiana's Bayou Adventure, based on the 2009 animated film "The Princess and the Frog," which features Disney's first Black princess.
The new ride is scheduled to open in 2024.
Come next week, anyone wanting to hear the Oscar-winning "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" song while floating in a log along a gentle stream will have to schlep across the country to California's Disneyland, which has not yet announced a closing date for its version of Splash Mountain.
