We've known for a couple years now that Splash Mountain, the popular log flume ride at Disneyland and Walt Disney World was going to close down, to make way for a completely rethemed version of the ride based on The Princess and the Frog. Over the last several months we've seen a lot of pieces of information about the new ride, but with no indication when the old ride is going away. Today Disney Parks confirmed that the Walt Disney World version of Splash Mountain will close forever January 23, 2023.
Only the closing date for Walt Disney World was given, so it appears that the Disneyland version of Splash Mountain has not been set for closure quite yet. That being said, both versions of Tiana's Bayou Adventure have been set for a "late 2024" grand opening, so the Disneyland version of the ride is unlikely to stay open much longer.
The closing info came along with new details about the first scene of Tiana's Bayou Adventure. New concept art was released that showed Tiana introducing guests to a gang of zydeco playing animals who will apparently be key players in the story of the ride, which will act as a sequel to the film.
Back in 2020 we saw something of a grass roots push toward getting Splash Mountain rethemed from its Song of the South story to something that was more inclusive. The Princess and the Frog was an early popular choice for a new theme. However, it was somewhat surprising when Disney announced only a few weeks later that Splash Mountain would indeed be rethemed, and it would be rethemed to exactly the characters and story that fans had been asking for.
With the announcement that Tiana's Bayou Adventure was set to open in late 2024, we knew that Splash Mountain's days were numbered. Splash Mountain is a massive attraction full of animatronic characters and any overhaul was going to take time. Fans have been expecting to hear the Splash Mountain death toll any day now, and for Walt Disney World, it has finally happened.
With Walt Disney World's Splash Mountain going down first, one assumes that means that it will see it's version of Tiana's Bayou Adventure open first as well. Technically speaking, any time in the second half of 2024 qualifies as "late 2024" so we could see the Orlando ride open in mid-summer or early fall, with the Disneyland version coming later in the year.
Assuming that Disneyland Resort gives us about a two month warning on closing its Splash Mountain as well, once we know that will happen, we can probably expect Disneyland's Tiana to open exactly that many months after Disney World.
