News Tiana's Bayou Adventure - latest details and construction progress

[Ayla]

Hmmm, I kind of thought the reason for forums was to share opinions, not keep them to myself. Why should I keep my opinion to myself? For some reason, anyone who has a negative opinion about this attraction is supposed to "keep it to themselves." The only victimhood I feel is the fact I've lost an attraction I like.

Debate is healthy. I haven't been rude to anyone who likes this retheme. I haven't been disrespectful. All I've done is express my opinion. And my poll thread was because I like polls. You can check my last six threads that I've started...they're all polls. I like fostering discussion and gauging opinions. I didn't even intend for people to start commenting in the poll thread, but it seemed better than constantly derailing this thread with debates over the merits of it.

Show me what forum rule I have broken.

Take it up with the mod.

 

[mickEblu]

The Princess and the Frog is incomparably more intense than Song of the South. Half the movie involves the protagonists being pursued by shadow demons. In comparison, the only thrilling moment of Song of the South was the live-action scene where Bobby Driscoll gets attacked by a bull.

Of course, Facillier isn't likely to be in the ride, but the idea that Princess and the Frog is an inherently more childish IP is ridiculous.

Who said the IP is more childish? Tiana is a modern IP with the target audience being little girls. Thats going to be the main group tuning into the new show on Disney +. Little girls that’ll have to get drenched and go down the largest drop at WDW to see Tiana. Which I’m sure is exactly the PatF attraction they would have came up with if this was purpose built.

What point are you even making? The fact that PatF has more “intense” elements is obviously acknowledged as all of us complaining wish they were including more of the darker elements from the movie on the attraction. Like the shadow demons you mentioned but they aren’t so we re just left with a flowery grass heap that has a “happy” 50 foot drop with a giant Princess crown on a water tower.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

The Princess and the Frog is incomparably more intense than Song of the South. Half the movie involves the protagonists being pursued by shadow demons. In comparison, the only thrilling moment of Song of the South was the live-action scene where Bobby Driscoll gets attacked by a bull.

Of course, Facillier isn't likely to be in the ride, but the idea that Princess and the Frog is an inherently more childish IP is ridiculous.

You and LittleBuford are engaging in a strawman fallacy, arguing against something that was never said. And you've ignored the clarification as well.

The point was not that the PATF IP inherently lacks thrills and intensity. It has plenty. And had they actually drawn from those elements (which they should have), the ride could (and should) have been just as intense if not moreso than Splash. The problem is that they aren't doing that. As far as i'm aware, the plot contains no intense elements, the drops themselves are just "there" in the middle of this syrupy sweet happy musical adventure without any justification or buildup.

This concept makes far more sense for a calm ride with no drops. Like Small World, Navi River or El Rio. I also believe that had this ride been built from scratch without replacing an existing attraction (even keeping most of the the story concepts intact), it would not have included any drops. The drops exist only because it's reusing an existing track layout that already has them. Trying to force a square peg through a round hole.

Again, Tony Baxter brought this point up in that recent interview and threw some no-so-subtle jabs at Tiana in the process. He explained how he and his team designed the ride with intensity and buildup throughout to build up to and justify the big drop.

 

[celluloid]

The cheerleaders of this project, are slowly, but surely unfortunately realizing the concerned were pretty spot on.
Some new clean scenery, a few impressive AAs...and none of it is going to feel connected to the fact that it is a log flume that goes by them. Why am I hearing don't expect more than 17 animatronic figures now?

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Why am I hearing don't expect more than 17 animatronic figures now?

Because you apparently chose to believe a disreputable blogger who misread a piece of really old existing information that Disney released and made a clickbait youtube video about it. The claim that there are only 17 AA's isn't true. I don't know the exact number, but there are a LOT more than that. Multiple times more.

To repeat myself and once again attempt to correct this misinformation- The number "17" was not referring to the total amount of AA's that are present in the ride. It was from a press report released by Disneymany many months ago stating that they had created 17 new original major characters for this ride's story. We've seen some of these in promo art already, the instrument playing critters. They will be animatronics, and they will also have duplicate figures apread throughout the ride multiple times. In addition, there are around 10 separate returning characters from the film that will receive AA's as well. Several of which (Tiana, Naveen and Louis) will also be appearing multiple times throughout the ride. It appears there will also be other "ordinary" animal AA's scattered throughout as well (ones that don't play instruments and aren't central characters). Again, I don't know the exact total number of AA's in the ride (or how that quantity will compare with Splash), but it's going to have a lot. Far more than anything they've built for multiple decades now.

As others here have also pointed out, there's also good reason not to believe the claims about Bob Iger visiting the ride and calling it boring as well.

The cheerleaders of this project, are slowly, but surely unfortunately realizing the concerned were pretty spot on.

I don't know who you're talking about. If it's me, that doesn't describe my position at all. But otherwise the same people who hated this project from the start still hate it. And the same people who like it still like it. If anything, there's a growing amount of optimism from the more neutral crowd ever since they released those images of the interior the other day.

 

[celluloid]

Why am I hearing don't expect more than 17 animatronics?

Because you apparently chose to believe a disreputable blogger who misread a piece of really old existing information that Disney released and made a clickbait youtube video about it. The claim that there are only 17 AA's isn't true. I don't know the exact number, but there are a LOT more than that. Multiple times more.

I said I heard it, not believed it. There is a lot of crap on here all around, calm your jets dude.

You really don't need to presume it is all about you.

I don't know what you mean by the neutral are getting more excited about this project, other than there is something visible given which is always better than wondering, there is literally a recent poll here that shows the opposite. The more people are realizing, we are really just getting a ride through food co-op with magic tossed in for the finale, the more disappointed people are becoming.

 

[SuddenStorm]

This is a big issue I have with modern day WDI. Everything is all bright and happy showtunes all the time. With barely any recognizable hints of danger or threat, which is I think what captivates a lot of children in the first place.

Tokyo's BatB ride is a good example of an attraction that, imo, was ruined by this.

Modern WDI literally removed the tension from Disneyland's Snow White ride.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I don't know what you mean by the neutral are getting more excited about this project, other than there is something visible given which is always better than wondering, there is literally a recent poll here that shows the opposite. The more people are realizing, we are really just getting a ride through food co-op with magic tossed in for the finale, the more disappointed people are becoming.

The "something visible" in this context is physical scenery. As opposed to empty rooms with video screens as many were concerned the ride would be. To say that hasn't improved opinions on this project is simply not true. There exist people who have admitted they actually WANT this ride to be terrible, but that's an extreme position and goes to show a lack of sanity. It's asinine to want a ride to be bad. Just as there are people who are so high on the dust that Disney could fill the ride with feces and people would lie and say it's amazing. I'm referring to people who are more cautious and don't fit into either extreme.

The poll you're referring to lets you view the people who voted, and it's a lot of the same people whose opinions we already knew based on their posts in this thread or the other one. Good and bad. There are also some people in this thread (good and bad) who didn't vote. To see what opinions have changed, you'd require another prior poll with some of the same people voting in it. For the record, I think both the highest and lowest ratings in that poll are fairly absurd choices based on what we know currently. There's no good reason to think this is going to be the pinnacle of what Disney has made, nor a good reason to think it's going to be among their worst.

The vast bulk of the actual "ride" part (as in the interior dark ride portion and even a large chunk of the exterior) doesn't take place inside a food co-op, it's through a swamp full of music instrument playing animals. The co-op is a backstory that will largely be relegated to the queue and a few corners of the exterior (I suspect largely the old mill lift and the curve around the top). And now that we've seen multiple piece of art and even photos of the interior as well as a photo of it, this should be abundantly clear.

You and I can both continue to complain about the salt mine and co-op backstory, it's bad and stupid. But it's also a fact that it won't really have any relevance to about 95% of the ride. Which as I expected is a boat ride through an enchanted bayou filled with a ton of musical jazz playing critters.

 

[celluloid]

The poll you're referring to lets you view the people who voted, and it's a lot of the same people whose opinions we already knew based on their posts in this thread or the other one. Good and bad. There are also some people in this thread (good and bad) who didn't vote. To see what opinions have changed, you'd require another prior poll with some of the same people voting in it. For the record, I think both the highest and lowest ratings in that poll are fairly absurd choices based on what we know currently. There's no good reason to think this is going to be the pinnacle of what Disney has made, nor a good reason to think it's going to be among their worst.

There is the issue. They took something that was pretty much across the board considered Imagineering and theme park design for the lamen, a masterpiece. We are going to at best get something that is not quite an Imagineering equal. A retheme of an existing ride system needs to be so dang good, especially when what surrounded it was so good.

I have seen one image of the inside. We don't know when it was taken, but what we see is a physical set that seems like the same scenic structures as the scene was in Splash with taller grass and a perspective illusion cabin.
Unless you think it was taken long ago, and it could have, there are no Animatronics in that shot. Unless there is a Louis going to pop out and scare kids, I don't think most are getting as excited about static scenery as you seem to think people are when the base is clearly still Splash.
And certainly less animatronic quaintly is likely, because again, unless a lot are added, do you ever recall a spot in Splash where you could take an interior show scene photo with just that much scenery?

There is still plenty of reason to be concerned and not thrilled.

We got a picture of a fake field and cabin. Maybe something dynamic will happen, but it is not a good look all things considered.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

There is the issue. They took something that was pretty much across the board considered Imagineering and theme park design for the lamen, a masterpiece. We are going to at best get something that is not quite an Imagineering equal. A retheme of an existing ride system needs to be so dang good, especially when what surrounded it was so good.

I have seen one image of the inside. We don't know when it was taken, but what we see is a physical set that seems like the same scenic structures as the scene was in Splash with taller grass and a perspective illusion cabin.
Unless you think it was taken long ago, and it could have, there are no Animatronics in that shot. Unless there is a Louis going to pop out and scare kids, I don't think most are getting as excited about static scenery as you seem to think people are when the base is clearly still Splash.
And certainly less animatronic quaintly is likely, because again, unless a lot are added, do you ever recall a spot in Splash where you could take an interior show scene photo with just that much scenery?

There is still plenty of reason to be concerned and not thrilled.

We got a picture of a fake field and cabin. Maybe something dynamic will happen, but it is not a good look all things considered.

None of the AA's have been installed in the ride yet at all. It's all still an active construction zone and they're not going to risk these figures being damaged by installing them while there's still a lot of traffic and work being done on the ride. AA's always come last for that reason. So I don't know why anyone is expecting to see them installed at this point yet.

The quantity of AA's i've been referring to is a mixture of information I was given over a year ago (much of which has been proven accurate), along with more recent comments directly from Disney. They've stated there will be "dozens" of AA's. Someone from earlier in this thread who got something else correct before anyone else (the riverboat being demolished) said there would be over four dozen AA's. Among a lot of other more primitive "moving figures".

Incidentally, someone also claimed to recognize the exact same set those photos were taken from in Splash. If they are indeed the same, then Splash didn't even have any AA's in that corner. However, given that they've carved away a lot of the old set and seemingly opened it up somewhat, it looks like they may have freed up enough space to put some AA's in there. We'll see, far too early to tell when again none have actually been installed.

 

[celluloid]

None of the AA's have been installed in the ride yet at all. It's all still an active construction zone and they're not going to risk these figures being damaged by installing them while there's still a lot of traffic and work being done on the ride. AA's always come last for that reason. So I don't know why anyone is expecting to see them installed at this point yet.

That is optimistic, not evidence. Where would animatronics be in that scene if not in the grass hiding for a sudden burst into the scene? In the cabin?

There is not really anything in the image other than some rocks with plastic that show maybe protecting a perched spot in the distance. Imagineers are adjuting lighting and staging in the photo. We could have some AAs by now within this shot.

Also, I would not be so sure about walls moving. You are seeing a trick of the eye with the height of the Imagineers in the channel area and the same scene where you would have seen Brer Frog on Brear Gator's back on part of that tree.
There were small layered earth where the tall grass all is and the big edged plateau deal now seems to be where the cabin has been built around it. Where the Gator's tail was, that branch has been cut off and resurfaced.

Darker sky but same depth.

 

[Brer Panther]

The Princess and the Frog had just as many scary moments and thrills as the animated sequences of Song of the South.

Maybe even more. The animated sequences in Song of the South were mainly comedic in tone - I don't remember much in the way of scary moments.

The previous version of the ride had a very intimidating final lift sequence in terms of tone. The briar patch itself also made the drop even more intimidating. And on some level, even the silliness of Brer Fox following Brer Rabbit throughout the ride attempting to capture and eat him is both funny but also morbid. It serves as a buildup to that final lift and drop sequence. The ride was not all sunshine and roses, a tension existed in the back of your mind even during the scenes that were literal sunshine and roses.

Yes, this. The scene where Brer Fox captures Brer Rabbit is the ride's big "scary" moment. Notice how Brer Bear is absent from this part? He would've ruined the mood.

We are climbing a hill to see Mama Odie? Leaving the Bayou?

I think it's going to be like what @Buried20KLeague said: some character says "Mama Odie is just up that hill!" and then we go up the lift hill. At the top, we see Mama Odie and she says "I'd better get you back to Tiana! This is the quickest way back! Down you go, ha ha!" or whatever.

Apparently the lift hill is going to be Mama Odie's house, so...

This is a big issue I have with modern day WDI. Everything is all bright and happy showtunes all the time. With barely any recognizable hints of danger or threat, which is I think what captivates a lot of children in the first place.

Tokyo's BatB ride is a good example of an attraction that, imo, was ruined by this.

Ever since they acquired Lucasfilm and Marvel it seems like they’re perfectly content containing all the danger/ threat/ conflict to those properties which is a shame as often times that means omitting physical representation of some of the best parts of a classic Disney film.

I've said it before, but it's like Disney put Joy from Inside Out in charge of designing rides. Everything must be bright and happy, no scary moments ever.

Hmmm, I kind of thought the reason for forums was to share opinions, not keep them to myself. Why should I keep my opinion to myself? For some reason, anyone who has a negative opinion about this attraction is supposed to "keep it to themselves." The only victimhood I feel is the fact I've lost an attraction I like.

Debate is healthy. I haven't been rude to anyone who likes this retheme. I haven't been disrespectful. All I've done is express my opinion. And my poll thread was because I like polls. You can check my last six threads that I've started...they're all polls. I like fostering discussion and gauging opinions. I didn't even intend for people to start commenting in the poll thread, but it seemed better than constantly derailing this thread with debates over the merits of it.

I've said this before too, but it seems as though saying anything negative about this retheme is considered bad on this site for reasons I probably shouldn't get into.

 

[Lirael]

Maybe even more. The animated sequences in Song of the South were mainly comedic in tone - I don't remember much in the way of scary moments.

Yes, this. The scene where Brer Fox captures Brer Rabbit is the ride's big "scary" moment. Notice how Brer Bear is absent from this part? He would've ruined the mood.

I think it's going to be like what @Buried20KLeague said: some character says "Mama Odie is just up that hill!" and then we go up the lift hill. At the top, we see Mama Odie and she says "I'd better get you back to Tiana! This is the quickest way back! Down you go, ha ha!" or whatever.

Apparently the lift hill is going to be Mama Odie's house, so...


I've said it before, but it's like Disney put Joy from Inside Out in charge of designing rides. Everything must be bright and happy, no scary moments ever.

I've said this before too, but it seems as though saying anything negative about this retheme is considered bad on this site for reasons I probably shouldn't get into.

Mama Odie at the top is such a waste and bad decision. The whole fun of the fall was when you go from the peppy song and theming to the more somber music and theming, that gets you scared/excited for the fall. Mama Oldie being nice doesnt generate any thrill on the fall

and it's such such a waste. Friends on the other side is so perfect for it. Imagine hearing that and, either as you go up or on that split second you pause at the top, you get the "are you ready" part. That'd give me chills

 

[TheCoasterNerd]

every time I get a notification from here I hope its more construction photos and every time I'm disappointed

 

[bmr1591]

I just watched a video of the Zootopia ride.

My first thought was what an absolute disaster it would be if this (or anything at all similar to it) was at Animal Kingdom, so still very glad we dodged that bullet.

That aside, it was like half of a good attraction. It starts out well, and there are some good things scattered throughout, but way too much of the ride is just watching a movie play in front of you. The BatB ride has its own flaws, but I think it looks significantly better than Zootopia because you're not just watching a movie for half the ride.

I think ride designers (not just Disney) are relying on screens as a crutch way too often now. Part of the appeal of a theme park attraction is inhabiting a physical space -- that's part of what differentiates it from simply watching a film. It takes skill/imagination to design a ride that mainly relies on physical pieces; it's much easier (and much less interesting from a rider standpoint, at least for me) to just put all the action on a screen.

It’s why I don’t like Remy’s. Just watching screens the whole time. It’s boring and the ride vehicles look straight off a carnival trailer.

 

[Bocabear]

It boggles my mind that they “can’t afford” the Mary Poppins project but can consider redoing Dinoland.

The project wasn’t terribly expensive and they need to continue adding attractions to World Showcase—especially ones away from the water that push guests away from the World Showcase (Festival Food) Promenade.

I would agree... The World Showcase has never been completed....and the planned attractions were never built for several pavilions. EPCOT is a gigantic park...Biggest of the Disney parks in guest area...It has always needed more attractions, but rather than add over the years it feels like they have shuttered pavilions and did some replacements... Yeah yeah Moana water play area, but they need to start adding some real attractions to the existing showcase, and start investing in some growth for the park...new country pavilions...new front of park pavilions and attractions.... there is space, the park is designed to hold the most people...

 

[UNCgolf]

Remy is one of my favorite rides. The music and sets fit so well within the France pavilion. I'd only wish is that each pavilion got something similar.

I definitely wish every pavilion got a ride, but I don't really want Remy to be the model (although better that than FEA, I guess). I'm not a big fan of Remy either as a ride or as a fit for a World Showcase pavilion.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

I guess I'm thinking of it as similar to skydiving or jumping off a big cliff into the sea as you yell with excitement—a happy thrill rather than a scary one (though tinged with a bit of fear and adrenaline nonetheless because of the drop itself). Again, I'm not saying they'll necessarily get it right, but I think it has at least the potential to work.

Unless your parachute doesn’t open….

 

[The Mom]

Rather than going in and deleting multiple posts, I'm just going to remind you that the thread is supposed to be about construction updates. Not what should or not have been, not speculation about what will or will not be in the completed attraction.

Which also goes for discussion about whether or not the attraction should be what it will be, or whether or not people will like it - or hate it. A poll at this time is just pure speculation that will continue to regurgitate the same arguments. When it opens, there will be more realistic discussions.

For now, most posters just want updates and photos of the construction. And maybe info about the interior and actual attraction once that is available. Not constant speculation.

 

[mickEblu]

There is the issue. They took something that was pretty much across the board considered Imagineering and theme park design for the lamen, a masterpiece. We are going to at best get something that is not quite an Imagineering equal. A retheme of an existing ride system needs to be so dang good, especially when what surrounded it was so good.

I have seen one image of the inside. We don't know when it was taken, but what we see is a physical set that seems like the same scenic structures as the scene was in Splash with taller grass and a perspective illusion cabin.
Unless you think it was taken long ago, and it could have, there are no Animatronics in that shot. Unless there is a Louis going to pop out and scare kids, I don't think most are getting as excited about static scenery as you seem to think people are when the base is clearly still Splash.
And certainly less animatronic quaintly is likely, because again, unless a lot are added, do you ever recall a spot in Splash where you could take an interior show scene photo with just that much scenery?

There is still plenty of reason to be concerned and not thrilled.

We got a picture of a fake field and cabin. Maybe something dynamic will happen, but it is not a good look all things considered.

Could the grass scene with the cabin be this scene below? What you were saying makes sense but then I saw this image on my Instagram feed this morning. It would be easy to add a large Louis AA in the foreground and that wooden platform with all the small critter AAs on it. Maybe the trick is putting everything so close in the foreground that you won’t notice the rest of the scene is bare. In this regard, I think Disneylands version has a slight chance of being received better as none of the scenes except the finale had a lot of depth. Then again it had more AA’s. For me it’s not a question of if PatF will fall short from Splash but a question of how much. Especially when it comes to the finale.