Anika Noni Rose, who gave voice to Disney’s Princess Tiana, says “The Princess and the Frog” ride will open in 2024. The actress was interviewed during the “Live With Kelly & Ryan” morning talk show Thursday.
Hosts Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest quizzed Rose about the benefits of being a Disney royal and the upcoming attraction.
“They are making a ride. It’ll be out in 2024,” Rose said. “I’ve been involved in the beginning, just talking about how we wanted to be, what we wanted to do. But if I were to tell you anything else, I would be sucked into the ground and you’d never see me again.”
She didn’t mention Splash Mountain specifically during the conversation. In 2020, Disney announced that Magic Kingdom’s Splash Mountain, as well as the one at Disneyland, as an attraction based on the characters and music of “The Princess and the Frog,” an animated Disney film that debuted in 2009.
Disney gave no time frame and has shared little Splash Mountain news since then. On Thursday, the company said timing has not been determined for the attraction and that it would share more details during Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans in July.
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Last August, Melissa Valiquette, vice president for Magic Kingdom, told the Orlando Sentinel that the change would be a lengthy process.
“The sequence of these things is that sometimes, you know, the decisions can be made many, many months, even years before any of that will be seen on stage,” Valiquette said.
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Splash continues to operate at Magic Kingdom with its original storyline, featuring characters from “Song of the South,” a 1946 Disney movie. The ride opened at Walt Disney World in 1992.
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Ripa also asked Rose if being a Disney princess landed her in the “secret club,” possibly a reference to Club 33, a high-end club in the theme parks.
“Here’s what I get, which doesn’t have anything to do with this particular ride but it has everything to do with being a princess,” Rose said. “When I go to Disney, I wait in zero lines.”
And she rides over and over if she wants, she said.
“Sometimes I’ll ride what used to be … now it’s Guardians of the Galaxy … It’s my favorite ride. I might ride it eight times,” Rose said. Although Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind opened at Epcot last month, she may have been referring to Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout, the re-imagined Tower of Terror attraction at Disney California Adventure theme park in Anaheim.
Rose was on the show to promote her Netflix series “Maid.” “Live With Kelly & Ryan” is syndicated by Disney Media Distribution.
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