re-themed based on the 2009 film The Princess and the Frog. Disney stated that the development of the project began in 2019, prior to the online petitions that were circulated during the George Floyd protests. The New York Times reported that Disney executives had privately discussed removing the attraction's Song of the South theme for at least five years, before putting into development a theme based on The Princess and the Frog. The project will be led by Walt Disney Imagineer Senior Creative Producer Charita Carter with Baxter returning as a creative advisor. A spokeswoman said that there are no plans to redesign the attraction at Tokyo Disneyland, although The Oriental Land Company, which operates Tokyo Disney Resort, is currently engaged in discussions on whether or not to change the attraction. In August 2021, Vice President of Magic Kingdom Melissa Valiquette stated that due to the slow process of redesigning the ride, it was "going to be a little bit of time to reimagine Splash Mountain." During that month, new artwork and details for the retheme were revealed. In July 2022, during the ESSENCE festival in New Orleans, it was announced that the new ride, Tiana's Bayou Adventure, will open at both parks in late 2024. In December 2022, new artwork was unveiled and it was announced that the Magic Kingdom version of Splash Mountain would close on January 23, 2023. From July 1 to August 31, 2022, Splash Mountain at Tokyo Disneyland became Splash Mountain "Get Wet MAX" during which guests got more soaked than usual to get relief from the extremely hot and humid Tokyo summers. Attraction Both versions of the ride feature the same scenes and a similar layout. The hollow tree stump on top of Splash Mountain is modeled after the exterior of Br'er Fox's lair in Song of the South and is called Chickapin Hill. The story of the ride "Br'er Rabbit Leaves Home" is told in the dark ride segment on the meandering river. The flume converts to a roller coaster-style track in complete darkness to transition to "The Laughing Place" caverns. After Br'er Rabbit is captured, the logs ascend up the attraction's predominant hill into the "Tar-Baby" segment (although in the attraction the tar baby is replaced with a hive of bees). Br'er Rabbit, now captured by Br'er Fox, tricks the villain into throwing him into the briar patch; the drop itself mimics