Splash Mountain demolition in progress for upcoming Tiana ride

Florida’s Splash Mountain closed Jan. 23, 2023, and work began almost immediately. If Disney was going to close down a major attraction for an extended period, I am happy to see work started fast (unlike the seemingly never-ending work that happened on Tron Lightcycle / Run and the continual work ongoing at Epcot).

Earlier this year, we were lucky enough to be placed behind Imagineering executives during ride testing for the upcoming Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. We assumed their work that day was to test the audio for the upcoming attraction, and since the two rides will have the same track layout, it was possible (and even quite efficient) for them to do audio testing while Splash Mountain was still open.

Jumping to the present, we can see construction walls, cranes, and scaffolding over this iconic structure at Magic Kingdom Park. In the foreground, construction walls read “Tiana’s Foods – Employee Owned, Coming Soon,” and while we do not yet have an exact date, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is expected to open in late 2024 at Walt Disney World.

With this view by Bioreconstruct, we can see how much work is happening at the Splash Mountain demolition site. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure was announced in 2020, but Splash Mountain didn’t close for almost three more years; however, once the closure did occur, Disney was fast to get to work. For a multi-year change to an attraction there is a never a “good time” to close a ride, but Disney definitely went straight to work to make sure its replacement is done on time.

Seen here (at the u-turn after the ride’s big drop moment) is an empty waterway, highlighted areas, and a temporary walkway. Don’t expect to see water again in this area for many, many months.

The most common use of pink spray paint is for temporary survey markers. We certainly don’t think Disney has gotten lost on their own construction site, so survey marking is out of the question, but,this specific rock marking could be a wide array of items in the future.

These theories are simply theories, and are not based on any details provided by Disney, but it’s fun to speculate that this could perhaps be for a slow-mo camera facing the drop tunnel where riders get wet after the ride’s main drop. Imagine getting a Disney PhotoPass photo of your scared face on the drop, and a video of your watery doom as you splash down at the bottom.

We recently had an in-depth interview about Tron Lightcycle / Run’s Disney PhotoPass opportunities. Perhaps Tiana’s Bayou Adventure could also offer unique photo and video options as well.

If not, the pink highlighted rock could also be for an outdoor animatronic, maybe a quick fly-by animatronic welcoming you back to the bayou after the drop. We don’t yet know the storyline explanation for why we drop in the ride, so it may not be as perilous as Splash Mountain’s reason.

Then, of course, there is also the simple explanation that Magic Kingdom operations doesn’t like this rock. For ride downtimes and evacuations, this rock could have caused issues in the past for getting riders out of log flumes. If so, this rock may simply be meeting its demise to accommodate easier operations.

We expect to see a lot more changes in the upcoming months (and years) of the Splash Mountain demolition and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure construction.

Based on the model shown at the D23 Expo, we can expect the Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear lair (the snag tree) atop of Chickapin hill will be coming down. We will also one day see the rise of a water tower, complete with Tiana’s tiara on top. This, along with subtle paint changes, new foliage, and the continual loss of the briar patch thorns, will mark Tiana’s arrival.

We still have plenty of time to prepare, but until then, we will be watching closely to see what Walt Disney Imagineering does next.