Florida Congressman Speaks Out in Favor of Splash Mountain, Says Attraction ‘Didn’t Bother Anybody’

Spencer Lloyd

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Florida Congressman Speaks Out in Favor of Splash Mountain, Says Attraction ‘Didn’t Bother Anybody’

Recently, a Congressional Representative from Florida gave a five-minute interview on the cable channel Newsmax in which he criticized Disney for closing Splash Mountain at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

Byron Donalds

Representative Byron Donalds, a Republican who represents Florida’s 19th district, went on the program “Wake Up America Weekend” last weekend to interview with host Carl Higibie over various issues concerning him as a Republican, and in the final salvo of the interview brought up Splash Mountain, as they had been discussing “culture wars” on the program and debated about certain social issues.

Donalds says he “never even though about [the ride] being an issue,” and further claims “we have these people who choose to want to be victims.” He goes on to say “Splash Mountain didn’t bother anybody… I don’t even get it.”

Later on Twitter he linked to the interview and said “Let me get this straight. Splash Mountain is racist, but Joe Biden saying you’re not Black if you don’t vote for him isn’t??… Cancel Joe, not Splash Mountain!”

Splash Mountain is of course set to close permanently on January 23 at Walt Disney World and a later date next year at Disneyland for its transformation into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, based on the 2009 film “The Princess and the Frog.” The story of the ride is that Tiana, with Naveen and Louis, sets off on a journey to host a unique Mardi Gras party. Guests will be “active participants” in the ride and it will end with the “ultimate Mardi Gras party.”

The attraction will have new music inspired by the film’s soundtrack. There will be new characters alongside the characters from the animated movie. Based on silhouettes of characters in the concept art, at least some may be redressed audio-animatronics from Splash Mountain. Read more about the inspiration behind Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.

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5 thoughts on “Florida Congressman Speaks Out in Favor of Splash Mountain, Says Attraction ‘Didn’t Bother Anybody’”

  1. Literally facts! The only people that are bothered by it are the stupid non Disney woke snowflake fans.

  2. Hey there, Byron Donalds is actually a Member of Congress. While the headline gets it right, the article refers to him as a “Florida State Representative” multiple times. That title is for a member of Florida’s Legislature, which is a separate body from the U.S. Congress. He should be referred to as either Congressman Donalds or U.S. Representative Donalds

  3. Just because it was set to close, doesn’t mean it will finally happen. You forget? Bob Chapek was set for three more years by extending his contract, before it got scrapped with him. The same can happen to the retheme. It ain’t over till the fat lady sings. So be prepared for possible cancellation.

  4. If Disney can make a movie about the Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad they can make a new movie about the great characters in Splash Mountain and leave the controversy behind. The whole idea of Song of the South was learning life’s lessons through story telling. It was a good film unfairly judged.

  5. I applaud Rep. Donalds for speaking out on this. There is nothing intrinsicly wrong with Splash Mountain nor the backstory, just those who choose to be victims. Don’t get me wrong – I am excited to see a Tiana based attraction (she is my favorite princess) but to cancel a beloved attraction and play the race card while doing it was a despicable move by Disney.

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