The Mercury News

Splash Mountain water sells on eBay for $200 after ride closes

Dozens of listings pop up after the closure of the Disney World log ride, which is undergoing a major update

- By Brady MacDonald

Diehard Disney fans are selling water scooped from the flume of Splash Mountain on the last day of operations at Walt Disney World for $50 dollars an ounce like it's holy water blessed by the pope at the Vatican.

Dozens of listings have popped up on eBay for “Splash Mountain Water” since the Magic Kingdom log ride in Florida closed on Jan. 22 for a yearlong transforma­tion of the attraction into Tiana's Bayou Adventure.

Splash Mountain water from the Magic Kingdom is listed for $1 to $1,000 on the online auction website in a variety of containers ranging from Mason jars and Thermos bottles to Ziploc bags and water candles.

One eBay seller posted a joke listing for $25,000 for “tap water from my sink” to poke fun at fellow Disney fanatics and highlight the emotional connection to the log ride that opened in 1989 at the Florida theme park.

“This is obviously just for fun and to make fun of the people who are really selling water from a ride,” the eBay seller wrote. “I'm a Disney fan, but come on people. Has the world gotten so doomed that people would buy water from a ride?”

Bidders paid as much as $202.50 on eBay for four ounces of Splash Mountain water from the last day of the ride. Sellers offered similar amounts of Splash Mountain water for the buy-it-now price of $149.

Magic Kingdom visitors waited in record-setting lines that stretched for as long as 220 minutes on the last day for Splash Mountain.

Expect Disneyland visitors to scoop up water souvenirs and wait in equally long lines when Splash Mountain finally closes after a 34-year run.

Disneyland's version of Splash Mountain will also

undergo a Princess Tiana makeover — but the Anaheim theme park has not yet announced a closing date for the attraction. Tiana's Bayou Adventure will open in 2024 at Disney World and Disneyland.

The reimaginin­g of the Splash Mountain rides will remove thematic elements related to “Song of the South” — the controvers­ial 1940s live-action/animated film criticized for perpetuati­ng racist stereotype­s that has been disowned by Disney.

The twin Tiana's Bayou Adventure rides will tell an extension of the “Princess and the Frog” story that picks up after the final kiss between Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen.

The new backstory for Splash Mountain will follow Tiana and Louis the trumpet-playing alligator as they prepare for their first Mardi Gras performanc­e.

Tiana's takeover of New Orleans Square and nearby Critter Country has already begun.

In February, Disneyland will transform the French Market restaurant in New Orleans Square into Tiana's Palace — the New Orleans restaurant run by Tiana in the “Princess and the Frog” animated film.

Eudora's Chic Boutique retail store opened in Disneyland's New Orleans Square in September. The Tiana-themed store is named for the seamstress mother of the animated Disney princess.

 ?? JOE BURBANK — ORLANDO SENTINEL ?? Guests plunge down the big drop at Splash Mountain in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World on Dec. 7, 2022. The popular attraction opened in 1992and will close permanentl­y on Monday to be repurposed with a new theme as “Tiana's Bayou Adventure.”
JOE BURBANK — ORLANDO SENTINEL Guests plunge down the big drop at Splash Mountain in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World on Dec. 7, 2022. The popular attraction opened in 1992and will close permanentl­y on Monday to be repurposed with a new theme as “Tiana's Bayou Adventure.”

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