I've always been one to embrace change in the Disney parks, even though I still wish I could take a ride through Toad Hall at WDW .
I understand and embrace the current focus on change throughout the country and the world to address racial inequality.
With that said, I have a couple of issues with the re-theming of Splash Mountain:
1 - if the focus on racial inequality is part of the equation I would argue that Splash Mountain has absolutely no racial overtones. The Uncle Remus character does not appear anywhere in the ride. The ride is based solely on the animated characters from the film. Most people have never even seen the Song of the South movie since it's been locked away for 30 years, so if they make the argument that the movie is racist they really don't have any first hand basis for that argument. I admit that I have never seen the movie, so I am also in that group of people. However I have ridden Splash Mountain more times than I can count, and it has never caused me to think it is racist.
2 - The Louisiana Bayou has no business being in the middle of Frontierland! This re-theming works in Disneyland because of the proximity to New Orleans Square, so I have no issue with it there. From a thematic point of view, it does not work at all in WDW.
I would be very interested in hearing other opinions about this.
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