D23 had a lot of huge announcements for the Disney parks. Among them was a Lion King flume ride for Disneyland Paris which makes some wonder if that should have been Splash Mountain’s replacement!
D23 has come and gone and folks are buzzing on the announcements of scores of attractions coming to just about every Disney park worldwide. They range from California getting an Avatar land to WDW’s Frontierland putting in Cars rides. But the international parks got attention too.
Among them was how the much-maligned Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris is going to be transformed into Disney’s World of Adventure. To beef up this park, an announcement came of a Lion King land with a flume ride not unlike Splash Mountain.
This has led to talk among Disney fans as to whether or not Disney should have used this rather than The Princess and the Frog as a Splash replacement. While there’s good reasons why it might have worked, there’s also reasons why Disney may have been right not using it and how it fits a different park better.
Why Disney should have used The Lion King rather than Tiana
The chief reason why Disney should have gone for The Lion King is the obvious fact that the movie is a lot more popular than The Princess and the Frog. The film is as beloved now as it was in 1994 and only grew in popularity thanks to the 2019 live-action movie, the long-running Broadway musical and countless merchandising.
It has a connection with fans that Tiana doesn’t and has been used successfully in Disney parks in the past. The idea of a river adventure involving the characters makes sense and it’s easy to imagine the hyenas replacing the vultures as you head to that big drop. The songs would be great as it’s an obvious idea to show “Hukana Matata” with “Be Prepared” and other big scenes and mix them with the drops.
Following the movie was obvious, yet an original story would still be as fun. It comes down to how the property just has so much more appeal than Tiana does and kids would be more willing to flock to see Simba, Timon, Pumba and the rest than Tiana and her friends to make this a more obvious idea for Disney.
Why Disney was right not to use Lion King
On the flip side, there are very good reasons why Disney was right not to use The Lion King as a Splash replacement. The first is simply logistics, as it’s actually much easier to build a new ride around the Lion King than try to adapt the existing Splash Mountain frame to the storyline. Tiana had to make adjustments already to handle the original Splash layout. Recreating that mountain into Pride Rock would be a costly challenge.
There’s also the brutal truth that the theme just wouldn’t fit. Tiana makes sense in Disneyland being close to New Orleans Square and in Frontierland in WDW. It fits the area and the swamp lands are a good backdrop for the ride. It really is amazing how easily the property slides into this and feels natural.
The Lion King, on the other hand, is distinctly African and thus is totally out of place here. Adventureland might be better yet really the best place in WDW for this would be the Animal Kingdom (which, frankly, could use it). Tossing this jungle-themed ride into Frontierland makes no sense and be too distracitng.
Also, it’s obvious this is the central part of an entire Lion King-themed land meant to boost World of Adventure up. The park needs more signature rides and a version of such an iconic one like Splash Mountain with a theme centered on a Disney classic is one surefire way for World of Adventure to bring in folks. Making an entire land focused on this film is much better than just an overlay to a ride in an area it doesn’t quite fit in.
At the end of the day, it may be up to some guests whether or not Disney should have used the Lion King as a Splash replacement from the start. The fact Tiana has become more accepted as a fun ride in its own right helps although some can see the Lion King as a better property. Yet it’s also best that this unique ride stands on its own in Paris and might end up becoming its own classic attraction to roar for guests for a long time to come.