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

[mickEblu]

No Dr. Facilier???

What the heck? He was the coolest part of the movie. Dang! Oh well....[sigh]..maybe the design team thought his appearance in the ride would scare or "trigger" a small number of people????

Maybe Dr. Facilier is considered a negative stereotype abd needed to be canceled in 2023??? I dunno....

I can only guees and wonder what concepts go through the mind of a Tiana's Bayou Adventure attraction Imagineer today....

I guess we will find out in a year or two. (Maybe 3 or 4)

It’s interesting because Dr. Facilier hasn’t been outright cancelled like the Song of the South or So Dear to my Heart characters. He’s in the new Once Upon a Studio short. He’s still a walk around character if I’m not mistaken and is a meet n greet character at Oogie Boogie or at least he was last year. May be a little far fetched but perhaps they want to surprise us? Nothing they have said so far would indicate he has a presence in the ride but if they want him to be a surprise that would make sense. Maybe that’s why we haven’t been given a lot of details about the actual ride? I don’t buy the notion that he isn’t in the ride because it takes place after the events of the movie. He’s way too popular of a character to eliminate for that reason and it would be incredibly easy to come up with a reason on why he’s returned from the Other Side. It’s either he’s been deemed problematic and is not in it or he’s in it and they re trying to surprise us.

I also wouldn’t find it too hard to believe that he wasn’t originally planned to be in the ride but they decided to pivot after seeing all the disappointed reactions from the fans. Even the biggest retheme supporters are confused/ disappointed about Facilier not being included

 

[LittleBuford]

Oh, and apparently Naveen will be playing a "humorous role" in the story. Make of that what you will.

What are you making of it? You seem to implying something.

 

[LittleBuford]

I’m not sure why people are intent on framing Facilier’s absence in ideological terms. The ride takes place after the movie, by which point Facilier has been carried off to the underworld. You wouldn’t expect to see Ursula or Maleficent in rides set after the events of the two movies to which those characters belong. (For my part, I would love for Facilier to make an appearance in spirit form, but I’m not holding my breath.)

 

[mickEblu]

I’m not sure why people are intent on framing Facilier’s absence in ideological terms. The ride takes place after the movie, by which point Facilier has been carried off to the underworld. You wouldn’t expect to see Ursula or Maleficent in rides set after the events of the two movies to which those characters belong. (For my part, I would love for Facilier to make an appearance in spirit form, but I’m not holding my breath.)

Except Facilier coming back in spirit form would make complete sense and would be as easy as putting on a projector and some music.

This “takes place after the events of the film” phenomenon is relatively new. Frozen Ever After is the only one I believe and nobody cares about Hans. The Majority of fans will be disappointed to not see Facilier.

 

[LittleBuford]

Except Facilier coming back in spirit form would make complete sense

Not necessarily depending on the story they’ve come up with.

 

[mickEblu]

Not necessarily depending on the story they’ve come up with.

Yes we wouldn’t want an excellent villain , great song and some suspense getting in the way of the missing ingredient/ salt mine/ Mardi Gras party.

 

[LittleBuford]

Yes we wouldn’t want an excellent villain , great song and some suspense getting in the way of the missing ingredient/ salt mine/ Mardi Gras party.

I am not particularly inspired by what we know of the plot so far either, but I see no point getting preemptively angry about something of which we have so few concrete details. Why not experience the finished product first before forming a judgement?

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I’m not sure why people are intent on framing Facilier’s absence in ideological terms. The ride takes place after the movie, by which point Facilier has been carried off to the underworld. You wouldn’t expect to see Ursula or Maleficent in rides set after the events of the two movies to which those characters belong. (For my part, I would love for Facilier to make an appearance in spirit form, but I’m not holding my breath.)

Even if you're adamant to defend this ride taking place after the movie and keeping most of the plot they've come up with, there was still nothing to stop Disney bringing Facilier back. There are two different logical ways to do it-

1- Just straight up resurrect him. Facilier's power, or rather the source of his power, is different from Ursula and Maleficent. It comes from his "Friends on the Other Side", aka malevolent spirits in the netherworld who are after the souls of the living. This makes his character particularly compatible with a resurrection. Those spirits dragged him down there in the first place as punishment for his failure. Nothing to stop them from giving him another final chance at collecting souls.

2- If you don't like the idea of Facilier coming back to life, keep him dead but reverse the idea. Let guests travel to meet him instead, temporarily send guests to the "Other Side". Make the final small drop be our transition into the netherworld. The shadow spirits who inhabit it can appear there alongside an AA of Facilier in his skeletal makeup (i'd imagine black lighting would be a stunning way to bring this place to life....or death). With the final lift being our attempt to escape back up to the land of the living, Mama Odie appears at the top to fight off the demons and sends us back into the bayou with the big drop. Hell, if we're traveling to the afterlife, it would even provide the perfect opportunity to justify a cameo from Ray's spirit guiding us up the lift. You can even keep the entire co-op storyline if necessary and have this be a brief excursion you stumble upon when trying to find that "perfect ingredient".

 

[mickEblu]

I am not particularly inspired by what we know of the plot so far either, but I see no point getting preemptively angry about something of which we have so few concrete details. Why not experience the finished product first before forming a judgement?

Not having Facilier/ Friends on the Other Side is unforgivable. Not to say that it’s impossible the ride isn’t good without him but it’s a big strike and when you consider that + the details we’ve heard it’s not looking good.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I must say I am less passionate about Facilier and Friends on the Other Side than a lot of posters on this thread.

This may have something to do with the fact that PatF isn't one of my personal favourites from the Disney catalogue and I struggle to see any of the songs or any of the characters other than Tiana as among Disney's most popular, but a PatF attraction or spin-off without Facilier or his song doesn't exactly seem to me like trying to do an Aladdin spin-off without the Genie. It makes logical sense to use Facilier in this attraction if they want to have an element of threat or danger, but it seems that is not what they're going for here (for example, isn't Mama Odie now going to be on the lift hill?). In that case, do people really love that character and song so much that they it will ruin the attraction if they aren't there?

 

[ToTBellHop]

I must say I am less passionate about Facilier and Friends on the Other Side than a lot of posters on this thread.

This may have something to do with the fact that PatF isn't one of my personal favourites from the Disney catalogue and I struggle to see any of the songs or any of the characters other than Tiana as among Disney's most popular, but a PatF attraction or spin-off without Facilier or his song doesn't exactly seem to me like trying to do an Aladdin spin-off without the Genie. It makes logical sense to use Facilier in this attraction if they want to have an element of threat or danger, but it seems that is not what they're going for here (for example, isn't Mama Odie now going to be on the lift hill?). In that case, do people really love that character and song so much that they it will ruin the attraction if they aren't there?

He’s my favorite character in the film. I’d rather they drop Naveen. Tiana can do better than that duckboy.

The Other Side would’ve looked fabulous in dark light replacing the Laughin’ Place…

 

[𝕴𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖗97]

Even if you're adamant to defend this ride taking place after the movie and keeping most of the plot they've come up with, there was still nothing to stop Disney bringing Facilier back. There are two different logical ways to do it-

1- Just straight up resurrect him. Facilier's power, or rather the source of his power, is different from Ursula and Maleficent. It comes from his "Friends on the Other Side", aka malevolent spirits in the netherworld who are after the souls of the living. This makes his character particularly compatible with a resurrection. Those spirits dragged him down there in the first place as punishment for his failure. Nothing to stop them from giving him another final chance at collecting souls.

2- If you don't like the idea of Facilier coming back to life, keep him dead but reverse the idea. Let guests travel to meet him instead, temporarily send guests to the "Other Side". Make the final small drop be our transition into the netherworld. The shadow spirits who inhabit it can appear there alongside an AA of Facilier in his skeletal makeup (i'd imagine black lighting would be a stunning way to bring this place to life....or death). With the final lift being our attempt to escape back up to the land of the living, Mama Odie appears at the top to fight off the demons and sends us back into the bayou with the big drop. Hell, if we're traveling to the afterlife, it would even provide the perfect opportunity to justify a cameo from Ray's spirit guiding us up the lift. You can even keep the entire co-op storyline if necessary and have this be a brief excursion you stumble upon when trying to find that "perfect ingredient".

Oh man, this would have been great. Ray guiding us up the lift is perfect.

 

[Bocabear]

That is a fun idea... I think Friends On The Other Side is about the best and most memorable song from the film...sure wish they were going to use it.

 

[Brer Panther]

Since one of the overarching themes of the attraction seems to be “empowerment,” it’s unclear how he would fit into that

In that case, the villains can be the guys who wouldn't let Tiana buy the mill and said she was better off not owning it because of her "background".

 

[mickEblu]

Apparently the only reason this attraction is going to have lots of animatronics (without projected faces) and a high budget is because Disney was startled by the backlash that followed the announcement. So it's a possibility.

I don't see why they're so obsessed with continuity here. Toy Story Land is supposed to take place in Andy's backyard, but Bonnie's toys are present (at least in Toy Story Midway Mania) and nobody complains about that. Do they really think anybody's going to complain about inconsistency if Facilier shows up in the ride?

Agree with the sentiment but Facilier or his spirit and/ or shadow coming back from the Other Side wouldnt be an inconsistency.

 

[mickEblu]

Even if you're adamant to defend this ride taking place after the movie and keeping most of the plot they've come up with, there was still nothing to stop Disney bringing Facilier back. There are two different logical ways to do it-

1- Just straight up resurrect him. Facilier's power, or rather the source of his power, is different from Ursula and Maleficent. It comes from his "Friends on the Other Side", aka malevolent spirits in the netherworld who are after the souls of the living. This makes his character particularly compatible with a resurrection. Those spirits dragged him down there in the first place as punishment for his failure. Nothing to stop them from giving him another final chance at collecting souls.

2- If you don't like the idea of Facilier coming back to life, keep him dead but reverse the idea. Let guests travel to meet him instead, temporarily send guests to the "Other Side". Make the final small drop be our transition into the netherworld. The shadow spirits who inhabit it can appear there alongside an AA of Facilier in his skeletal makeup (i'd imagine black lighting would be a stunning way to bring this place to life....or death). With the final lift being our attempt to escape back up to the land of the living, Mama Odie appears at the top to fight off the demons and sends us back into the bayou with the big drop. Hell, if we're traveling to the afterlife, it would even provide the perfect opportunity to justify a cameo from Ray's spirit guiding us up the lift. You can even keep the entire co-op storyline if necessary and have this be a brief excursion you stumble upon when trying to find that "perfect ingredient".

This sounds so much better than anything we’ve head from Disney. Particularly #2.

 

[Basil of Baker Street]

Thinking about it I suppose it makes sense for Dr Facilier to not be in it if the goal is to avoid Princess Tiana to not be a frog through most of the attraction. I do wish they would Imagineer a way.

 

[ChrisM]

Wait - an exciting and meaningful storyline that actually ties into the movie? Why would anyone want that?!

Clearly what people want is an in-depth exploration of co-op food production techniques and a search for a rusty trumpet.

I'm personally looking forward to the unexpected conflict between labor and management (in a co-op! how daring!) really building to a crescendo as we top the lift hill, only for Mama Odie to magically appear and resolve all issues by dumping a thick legal agreement into our log which sends us careening down into the magical swamp of proletariat utopia!

 

[LittleBuford]

Wait - an exciting and meaningful storyline that actually ties into the movie? Why would anyone want that?!

Clearly what people want is an in-depth exploration of co-op food production techniques and a search for a rusty trumpet.

There’s also Option 3: “The story they’ve revealed so far isn’t what I necessarily would have wanted, but I’m going to remain openminded and give it a chance.”

 

[ChrisM]

There’s also Option 3: “The story they’ve revealed so far isn’t what I necessarily would have wanted, but I’m going to remain openminded and give it a chance.”

I'm absolutely ready to give it a chance! I truly hope it's a great ride and a worthy successor to Splash.

But Disney hasn't really done themselves anything favors in disabusing the skeptics of their worst fears. So until then, let the comedy continue.