The internet is a funny place — I too live there. But do I jump on eBay to sell water from now-closed Disney World rides? No. I have some dignity.
That brings me to today’s news. People are quite literally selling water they claim to have flogged from the famous Walt Disney World ride Splash Mountain on eBay.
I’m talking mason jars, plastic bottles (a-holes) and baggies of … liquid. And they’re selling it for a pretty penny (that’s an American currency FYI) too.
You see, Splash Mountain hosted its last rides at the Florida amusement park on Sunday, January 22, sending Disney-lovers into some kind of frenzy. I mean, we sell hard-to-get Disney VHS’ for wild amounts these days. Is this that different?
That was a joke. This is very different. There is no value to be had from owning a snap lock bag of water. Do it for the gigs if you must, but do not spend thousands of dollars that could go towards literally anything else.
Seriously, one listing has bidding starting at AUD$1,085.65.
Another somehow has 10 bids and is currently up to $24.67 AUD. I should note, however, that the one with actual bids also has this “Certificate of Authenticity” which is surely a stitch-up.
Want to buy it now? It’ll cost you $4,934.79 AUD for a scrunched plastic water bottle full of the magic liquid. But you get the shocking handwriting in permanent marker labelling it for free!
Why is the ride closing? Disney is making the effort to erase Splash Mountain’s racist backstory, which is drawn from the 1946 film Song of the South.
The film was set on a Georgia plantation after the Civil War. If you’ve ever head the song “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah”, Song of The South is where it’s from — it even won an Oscar for the tune. But it romanticised slavery and perpetuated racial stereotypes, which is why the film has not been available in any form for more than 35 years.
The decision to close the ride was announced in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter movement following the murder of George Floyd.
The ride will be reopening next year, replacing the animatronic Song of the South characters like Br’er Rabbit with those from 2009 movie The Princess and the Frog. It’ll also be renamed to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
Splash Mountain does still exist at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, although New York Post reports that Disney has similar plans to reinvent the ride in the same way.
When I was 10, I rode it (“rode it” sounds very weird) even though the final decline or “splash” was terrifying to me — it is one of the few rides at Disneyland that weren’t fully enclosed so you could actually see what you were in for.
Perhaps I could sell my memory for $10?
Chantelle Schmidt is a freelance writer. You can follow her here.
