The attraction will close in January, more than two and a half years after Disney first announced it would be closing.

Splash Mountain Walt Disney World Florida

There is a entrance to Splash Mountain at the Magic Kingdom Park.

AFP via Getty Images

On January 23, 2023, Splash Mountain will be closing at Disney World in Florida.

Additional information will be shared at a later date, as the company has yet to announce when the ride will close.

Disney first announced that Splash Mountain would close in June 2020 due to the racial justice movement that followed the killing of George Floyd, as the ride is based on the film Song of the South, which has been criticized as racist and was pulled from distribution due to its romanticized depiction of race relations

The Princess and the Frog will be the new film that will be used to change the ride's name.

The new attraction will open in Disney World and Disneyland in the year 2024.

PLAY Forbes Business Biden’s First State Dinner Serves Up Lobster—And Controversy Qatar Reviews Deaths Of Migrant Workers, But Huge Questions Remain This Week In XR: Sony Intros Smartphone Mo Cap, Mocopi, Acquires Beyond Sports Anticipating A Russian Attack, The Ukrainian Army Trained Its Tank Crews To Fight Like Artillery How A Rock Star, A Physician-Legislator, And An Evangelical Senator Bonded To Help End The Global AIDS Pandemic: A Backstory 1/1 Skip Ad Continue watching after the ad Loading PodsVisit Advertiser websiteGO TO PAGE Biden’s First State Dinner Serves Up Lobster—And Controversy

21,322. The number of people who signed a Change.org petition calling for Splash Mountain to be re-themed before Disney decided to close the attraction in 2020 is more than the number of people who signed the original petition.

Surprising Fact

The announcement in 2020 of Splash Mountain's impending closing led to a spike in merchandise sales for souvenirs from the ride, though the attraction and its gift shop would remain open for another two and a half years.

Even though Splash Mountain is one of the most popular rides at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, most guests still don't know about Song of the South, which was pulled from distribution in 1986. The company had previously been tight-lipped about the ride's closing date even as years stretched on past the initial announcement of Splash Mountain's closing. Disney has taken other measures to remove the film from its theme parks, including removing the song "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah" from background music. Disney wants to improve diversity efforts in its theme parks and remove content that is culturally sensitive. The company made changes to its popular Pirates of the Caribbean attraction to address depictions of women that were criticized, as well as retooling its Jungle Cruise attraction to remove depictions of native people.

There is a new scene and animals for the adventure.

The song of the south theme is being removed by Disney.

The company won't say when work will start after Disney said it would change its policies.

Disney's Splash Mountain, based on the song "Song of the South", sells out merchandise before it gets a new name.