Every Disney theme park ride is somebody’s favorite. Every Disney theme park ride has the potential to close and be replaced when it's time to build something new. These two things mean that anytime an older Disney World attraction shuts down, there will be those disappointed and frustrated. However, in the case of Disney World’s recent Splash Mountain closing, it apparently hit one family extra hard, since they named a baby after the ride.
When Splash Mountain had its final day last month one fan of the ride posted to TikTok that she was especially saddened by the rude closure because she had actually named her daughter after the ride.
@vibingranolamom ♬ original sound - Aidan Smith
As one might expect, the video posted opened the floodgates in the comments. Nobody was entirely sure what the woman meant. Was the kid actually named Splash Mountain? How does one translate the name of the ride into the name of a person? The comments lit up with joke responses that, to be fair, are pretty damn funny.
- Splashton Mountleigh
- So sorry sweet little Ellen’s energy adventure
- tell zippidy doo dah i’m so sorry
- Aww Hollywood Tower of Terror is adorable
The original video creator took the jokes in stride and even appeared to find them mostly funny. At the same time, clarification was obviously necessary. The mother, whose daughter is named Briar (as in patch), made a follow-up video where she clarified the kid’s name and explained that she found the name independent of the ride, but seeing the name made her think of Splash Mountain. She also has zero issues with the ride being closed, and she’s looking forward to the new version of Splash Mountain when it opens.
First off, her name is not Splash Mountain, it's Briar....I saw the name Briar and I'd never heard of it but I really love nature-y names, and it reminded me of the little briar patch on the Splash Mountain ride. We do love Disney so I was like 'That's such a cute name.' Never seen Song of the South. I know it's very controversial, and terrible, but just the ride itself I really like....I'm fine with the ride closing because I love Princess and the Frog.
The fact that Splash Mountain is a popular ride for many, independent of the attraction’s problematic source material, has been one of the major arguments for fans who did not want to see Splash Mountain close. That seems to be been feeling of the mom who named a kid after it, though, while she may have been sad that the ride is gone, she’s not that sad, as she is apparently also a big Princess and the Frog fan and is looking forward to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure just like a lot of people.
People name their children after all sorts of things from popular culture, like characters from books or movies, or TV shows. These things, once they’re out in the world, aren’t going anywhere. A kid named after a character from Game of Thrones will still have that connection even once the franchise is not nearly as popular. Such is not the case with theme park attractions, which can, and will, disappear forever. Maybe just something for future parents to keep in mind.
