News Splash Mountain retheme to Princess and the Frog - Tiana's Bayou Adventure

[Cesar R M]

The real reason Joe Rohde left Imagineering and joined Virgin Galactic was to venture to outer space to find a Yeti-like alien he could persuade to stand inside Expedition Everest all day long.

Speaking of Imagineering guys.. Is there anyone left from the old guard that gave the excellent attractions?

 

[wdwmagic]

Speaking of Imagineering guys.. Is there anyone left from the old guard that gave the excellent attractions?

Nope

 

[Midwest Elitist]

It would be hilarious if they take everything out, and just put two screens on each side for each area of the ride and call it a day.

 

[celluloid]

Speaking of Imagineering guys.. Is there anyone left from the old guard that gave the excellent attractions?

Working? Not any known. Alive, yes.

 

[Cesar R M]

It would be hilarious if they take everything out, and just put two screens on each side for each area of the ride and call it a day.

Hilarious.. TO WHO?

Because they could do that.

 

[Karakasa]

I fully expect screens to be utilized. The question is how much and for what purpose. If the majority of ride is screens that would be disappointing- I feel like for screens to work on an attraction with minimal animatronics it needs to be something incredibly cartoony and kinetic like M&M. Something slow-moving like Avatar River Journey where screens and projections seem to entirely replace AAs except for the one at the end doesn't work well- and 50% of Splash is a slow-moving water ride. Something like RotR where screens are used where they make sense but AAs are used everywhere else is what Disney should be going for.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

I fully expect screens to be utilized. The question is how much and for what purpose. If the majority of ride is screens that would be disappointing- I feel like for screens to work on an attraction with minimal animatronics it needs to be something incredibly cartoony and kinetic like M&M. Something slow-moving like Avatar River Journey where screens and projections seem to entirely replace AAs except for the one at the end doesn't work well- and 50% of Splash is a slow-moving water ride. Something like RotR where screens are used where they make sense but AAs are used everywhere else is what Disney should be going for.

I will be shocked if they have more than five NEW high-quality animatronics. In fact, I'd set the over/under at seven. I'll take the under. They'll repurpose as many of them as possible and call it a day.

 

[Kirby86]

I will be shocked if they have more than five NEW high-quality animatronics. In fact, I'd set the over/under at seven. I'll take the under. They'll repurpose as many of them as possible and call it a day.

I expect most of the non main animatronics to be recycled. Chances are a few new Tiana animatronics, Brer Bear will be re-skinned to the Lewis the alligator and a whole lot of critters staying the same

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

I expect most of the non main animatronics to be recycled. Chances are a few new Tiana animatronics, Brer Bear will be re-skinned to the Lewis the alligator and a whole lot of critters staying the same

The real question is whether the new Tiana animatronics will be rear-projection faces like Frozen Ever After, or full animatronics like Tokyo's Beauty and the Beast. If they do rear-projection, it won't match the other animatronics, which will be another test of how much they really care.

 

[Kirby86]

The real question is whether the new Tiana animatronics will be rear-projection faces like Frozen Ever After, or full animatronics like Tokyo's Beauty and the Beast. If they do rear-projection, it won't match the other animatronics, which will be another test of how much they really care.

Let's be honest the only reason Tokyo got those animatronics was because OLC was footing the bill. I'd be shocked if they didn't try to use the Frozen style animatronics.

 

[𝐌𝖆𝖓 𝖎𝖓 𝐖𝖊𝖇]

I will be shocked if they have more than five NEW high-quality animatronics. In fact, I'd set the over/under at seven. I'll take the under. They'll repurpose as many of them as possible and call it a day.

Whats your over/under on how many critters will be repurposed?

 

[UNCgolf]

The real question is whether the new Tiana animatronics will be rear-projection faces like Frozen Ever After, or full animatronics like Tokyo's Beauty and the Beast. If they do rear-projection, it won't match the other animatronics, which will be another test of how much they really care.

I hate those projection face animatronics. They look okay (albeit not as good as a face on a full animatronic like in BatB) from one specific angle, but horribly bad if you ever look back at them as you're passing by.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Whats your over/under on how many critters will be repurposed?

Ha good question. A bit more complicated because I think they'll remove a fair number of them also. If the total number now is 58 animatronics, then I'd say the O/U for removal is 25 (extra geese, some of the dancing birds on the Zip-A-Dee Lady, and whatever else saves them an extra buck on maintenance costs). For repurposing, I think the O/U would be 14 (though I don't count removing clothes from an existing animatronic). For removal, I'll take the over. Between screens and cost-cutting, it just makes sense to me. For repurposing, I think I take the under, simply because they'll get rid of so many of them. The rest will either be stripped of their garments or reskinned altogether as characters. Even Brer Rabbit could be reshaped into a Tiana or Naveen frog (supposing they go that route and change them back at any point).

 

[Kirby86]

Ha good question. A bit more complicated because I think they'll remove a fair number of them also. If the total number now is 58 animatronics, then I'd say the O/U for removal is 25 (extra geese, some of the dancing birds on the Zip-A-Dee Lady, and whatever else saves them an extra buck on maintenance costs). For repurposing, I think the O/U would be 14 (though I don't count removing clothes from an existing animatronic). For removal, I'll take the over. Between screens and cost-cutting, it just makes sense to me. For repurposing, I think I take the under, simply because they'll get rid of so many of them. The rest will either be stripped of their garments or reskinned altogether as characters. Even Brer Rabbit could be reshaped into a Tiana or Naveen frog (supposing they go that route and change them back at any point).

After the push back they got with her being a frog through most of the movie.. There is no way they are having Tiana be a frog in the ride.

 

[Dear Prudence]

The real question is whether the new Tiana animatronics will be rear-projection faces like Frozen Ever After, or full animatronics like Tokyo's Beauty and the Beast. If they do rear-projection, it won't match the other animatronics, which will be another test of how much they really care.

I've said this since tge beginning! Anything less than Tokyo quality for this is just downright disrespectful. If this has the meaning they say it does, then they need to prove it. I couldn't imagine waiting your entire life to see a character who looked like you and then have it look cheap and ugly. Disney, you messed up the first time making her a Frog the whole movie, don't bungle THIS, too.

Either way, I hope they do a good job with Tiana's hair. Even in WRECK IT RALPH 2 they ROYALLY messed up and had to reanimate her skin and hair (again, the sheer level of disrespect). I hope they take all the notes from their mistakes and really do what needs to be done here. Stop telling us how important this is when you guys clearly can't put the effort in, Disney.

 

[DisneyDodo]

I do expect that we’ll get some of the impressive BatB-level animatronics. The concept art of Tiana holding the lantern looks eerily similar to the animatronic of Belle holding one. However, I would expect the total number of animatronics in the ride to drop by ~50%, with the majority of Splash AAs being removed completely. We’ll get a lot more empty space, plus some projection effects (e.g. fireflies) to fill some of it. There will be a lot of head-swiveling by riders to follow a set of two impressive AAs with their eyes for as long as possible until they reach the next interesting thing to look at.

 

[Midwest Elitist]

I do expect that we’ll get some of the impressive BatB-level animatronics. The concept art of Tiana holding the lantern looks eerily similar to the animatronic of Belle holding one. However, I would expect the total number of animatronics in the ride to drop by ~50%, with the majority of Splash AAs being removed completely. We’ll get a lot more empty space, plus some projection effects (e.g. fireflies) to fill some of it. There will be a lot of head-swiveling by riders to follow a set of two impressive AAs with their eyes for as long as possible until they reach the next interesting thing to look at.

Isn't that kind of bad though? From what I recall, you never have to swivel your head on the current splash, everything is directly in front of you or off to the side a bit.

 

[DisneyDodo]

Isn't that kind of bad though? From what I recall, you never have to swivel your head on the current splash, everything is directly in front of you or off to the side a bit.

It wouldn’t make me happy. But highly advanced AAs are very marketable and will make the average guest (and non-guest) feel that Disney went above and beyond for Tiana.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

I do expect that we’ll get some of the impressive BatB-level animatronics. The concept art of Tiana holding the lantern looks eerily similar to the animatronic of Belle holding one. However, I would expect the total number of animatronics in the ride to drop by ~50%, with the majority of Splash AAs being removed completely. We’ll get a lot more empty space, plus some projection effects (e.g. fireflies) to fill some of it. There will be a lot of head-swiveling by riders to follow a set of two impressive AAs with their eyes for as long as possible until they reach the next interesting thing to look at.

And what will they do with the leftover animatronics??? #MakeAmericaSingAgain

Your guess about the decrease fits in well with my O/U estimate. I totally agree with you.

I've said this since tge beginning! Anything less than Tokyo quality for this is just downright disrespectful. If this has the meaning they say it does, then they need to prove it. I couldn't imagine waiting your entire life to see a character who looked like you and then have it look cheap and ugly. Disney, you messed up the first time making her a Frog the whole movie, don't bungle THIS, too.

Either way, I hope they do a good job with Tiana's hair. Even in WRECK IT RALPH 2 they ROYALLY messed up and had to reanimate her skin and hair (again, the sheer level of disrespect). I hope they take all the notes from their mistakes and really do what needs to be done here. Stop telling us how important this is when you guys clearly can't put the effort in, Disney.

They're already doing a disservice to the film by not giving it a clean slate attraction. They could have made it something brand new, but now it will always be the ride that used to be Splash Mountain. If it's true that this "reimagining" has been in the works for years, you can't tell me there weren't other proposals of a standalone attraction. And why is the planning not done yet if it's been so many years? I think it's because this project actually got greenlit when that petition was covered by the news. It may have been a suggestion before that, but concrete plans...I bet not.

Yet another example of Disney rushing to do something that should be done right (put in a PatF attraction), and it's almost certainly going to disappoint a lot of people (though I'm sure Good Morning America will be gushing over it in 2027 or whenever it finally opens).

 

[Midwest Elitist]

And what will they do with the leftover animatronics??? #MakeAmericaSingAgain

Your guess about the decrease fits in well with my O/U estimate. I totally agree with you.


They're already doing a disservice to the film by not giving it a clean slate attraction. They could have made it something brand new, but now it will always be the ride that used to be Splash Mountain. If it's true that this "reimagining" has been in the works for years, you can't tell me there weren't other proposals of a standalone attraction. And why is the planning not done yet if it's been so many years? I think it's because this project actually got greenlit when that petition was covered by the news. It may have been a suggestion before that, but concrete plans...I bet not.

Yet another example of Disney rushing to do something that should be done right (put in a PatF attraction), and it's almost certainly going to disappoint a lot of people (though I'm sure Good Morning America will be gushing over it in 2027 or whenever it finally opens).

It probably got greenlit and barely any work has gone into the plans. But they'll make sure to pretend they care by slowly removing any history of the attraction, such as taking Zip (absolutely uncalled for) off the park speakers and clearing all merchandise (Which they're so incompetent at doing).

I think we're going to be in an awkward place with no souvenirs, no references to the ride, but it still being there for a couple years in it's current form.