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

[celluloid]

"We have already shared how.." comes off as very savage or frustrated start to that quote from the company.

 

[Kirby86]

"We have already shared how.." comes off as very savage or frustrated start to that quote from the company.

Yeah it dosent seem celebratory more of everything was fine with us ignoring this and all of a sudden on TV it gets brought up.

 

[Patcheslee]

Just a few thoughts on this, not disagreeing, because yes they can do it if they want, but looking at this another way:

Out of what you outlined above I think the TOT to Guardians is the exception, everything but the ride system, was redone at a crazy speed. No offence but Incredicoaster is not a great example as there was not much that was redone as there was not much there to begin with (maybe I missed something or am ignorant to everything that was done). The last two I believe are good parallels to this project 20-30 months for a redo.

So lets look at the likely start date for this project:

Disneyland:

Currently Disneyland is down at least two rides until some point (lets say June) of 2023. When they will also gain the Mickey ride. Personally I do not see them taking more capacity away from the park (especially once you begin to factor in holiday closures for Mansion and IASW) until Toontown is back. So my belief is that the earliest they can start Splash is June of next year. If we go 20 months from then would be Feb 2025 and 30 months would put us at Dec 2025 both outside the 2024 opening quoted. Never having been to Disneyland or California I am not sure how summer heat would factor in their decision as to when to close the ride, push ride closure out till fall of next year and now your opening is in 2026 territory.

Disney World:

Again nothing happing here until TRON is up. So that would put us at Nov of this year at the earliest. Possible for a 2024 opening if that was to happen. However they may hold until after the busy Christmas season so that would put us in Jan/Feb next year making a 2024 date unlikely. From what I remember insiders have already hinted that they are planning on normal winter maintenance on Splash indicating that next year (2023) will be a mostly normal year for the mountain. Disney needs capacity for both general guest sanity and to keep Disney Genie+ as a viable sell. A late 2023 closing would be my guess if it closes at all.

Could I be wrong absolutely, but I think if we look at it from a operational standpoint, there are pieces of the puzzle that have to move before this goes forward at both parks. However if that is the case than a 2024 opening is unlikely on both coasts. Obviously this all depend on the timeline but I would be very surprised if these closures take lass than 20months.

This is logical. Unless they intend to not have a single ride you can get wet on in the park during summer, fall 2023 seems reasonable to start at DW.

 

[tanc]

If they botch this retheme, it definitely will look way worse since I kinda am questioning if they are going to put genuine care into the ride.

Let's say they make it in time, Tokyo might be unimpressed by the rush job and still have the exclusive version of Splash. This is going to be one hell of an event to witness. I hope they knock it out of the park but if 2024 is the estimated date, it sounds like insanity to me.

 

[celluloid]

You guys think the July announcements in New Orleans, which is a month away will have anything substantial?

I think it is going to be a lot of self patting and orleans inspired talk like the overproduced round table donation announcement was over a year ago.

We will probably see that same single file log DL concept art...again.

 

[lentesta]

K. I will bet real money it’s done in 18 months.

So you think both Splash Mountains will be re-themed and opened by Saturday, December 2, 2023?

I would take the other side of that bet. Shall we say ... a Cosmic Ray's cheeseburger meal and drink?

 

[Dear Prudence]

They did TOT -> Guardians MB in 5 months, California Screamin -> Incredicoaster in 5 months, TGMR-MMRR in 30 months, and Maelstrom to Frozen in 21 months. So yeah they CAN do it.

Those were fairly easy in comparison to the scale of both of these solid concrete attractions.

 

[LittleBuford]

I more expect some dumb comment from DEI about how "Bluegrass music makes people feel uncomfortable because it brings memories of the South" or some other stupid and anti-intellectual comment.

First, you don’t really expect this.

Second, if we’re really worried about geographical accuracy (which most of those here opposed to the retheme claim to be), bluegrass isn’t associated with Louisiana.

 

[SailorMercury]

As much as I love Splash and the characters, at this point all I can say is GOOD! Close is it NOW. They should be embarrassed to keep it running in the condition it's currently in. It's pitiful.

Never thought I'd see the WDW of past come to be perfectly pleased and feel comfortable operating an attaction with missing ears, numerous broken animatronics, inoperative features, broken water effects, broken jaws, broken bees, peeling paint....the list goes on. I don't want to see it leave and wish P&tF could be a new attraction but it's better than seeing Splash waste away even further.

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out. As much as I'd love Splash to stay and be refurbished, time to accept it now. Tons of potential for them to hit this outta the park. Hope to see the Disney World of old return to caring and being close to perfection again because many attractions and areas of the parks/resorts are looking rough. Should never get to that point.

These conditions would never have existed under past leadership and values. No one wants to see Tiana's left arm floating in the bayou 6 months after this opens.

This is exactly how I feel.

 

[Lil Copter Cap]

They can't afford to throw this together. Making this change in the name of inclusivity and then subsequently botching a redo of a beloved ride? You've angered not only the original fans of the ride, but those that want the change for inclusion efforts. ("We are only worth a quick, thrown together reskin?")

What none of us know (besides insiders, of course) is how detailed this reimagining is going to be—and if it's extensive, as it should be to honor Tiana/PatF, as well as the original creation of Splash Mountain, this will definitely take beyond a 2024 date.......(...maybe a winter opening, but why open this ride in Florida's coldest season?)

Currently, I'm personally most curious about the name they choose for this retheme.

 

[PizzaPlanet]

I mean it’s not shocking, there have been other updates here and there since the original announcement. I want to say there was a video posted of imagineers eating and drinking their way through New Orleans for research.

 

[Stevie Amsterdam]

Are they waiting for the Tron coaster to open so that there's not a lot of lost capacity? That's all I got.

I thought the rumor is they were waiting for Tron to do Space Mountain

I heard the rumor was they were waiting for Tron. That's it. Just waiting for it.

 

[Kirby86]

Those were fairly easy in comparison to the scale of both of these solid concrete attractions.

Incredacoaster is just a standard Intamin launch coaster. Sure it has voice overs from the cast of the movie but it's a retheme in the loosest sense of the word. Hersheypark is doing that for their Vakuma Boomerang coaster. They painted the track green and shoot fruit smells at you in the tunnel and say hey it's a jolly ranchers ride now.

 

[Doberge]

You guys think the July announcements in New Orleans, which is a month away will have anything substantial?

I think it is going to be a lot of self patting and orleans inspired talk like the overproduced round table donation announcement was over a year ago.

We will probably see that same single file log DL concept art...again.

I can see a discussion with Kemp Powers (Soul, Pixar's first black writer-directoe) and Stella Meghie (writer-director of upcoming Tiana series). Presumably they'd talk about working with Disney and then include info on the attraction. Essence Fest is about celebrating culture so Disney needs to be careful to not focus too much on the ride itself at the expense of the people and ideas behind what they're doing, so I'm not expecting much more than a talk and maybe some new drawings.

 

[Indy_UK]

I will make sure to ride the classic Splash a few times this summer trip then although sad it will be in a dire state from the sound of it

 

[wdwmagic]

I mean it’s not shocking, there have been other updates here and there since the original announcement. I want to say there was a video posted of imagineers eating and drinking their way through New Orleans for research.

Yeah from October 2021

New concept art and details unveiled for the 'The Princess and the Frog' retheme of Splash Mountain

Along with new concept art you can listen to a roundtable conversation from Dooky Chase’s Restaurant where Tiana’s story began!

www.wdwmagic.com

 

[Midwest Elitist]

First, you don’t really expect this.

Second, if we’re really worried about geographical accuracy (which most of those here opposed to the retheme claim to be), bluegrass isn’t associated with Louisiana.

There's a reason I put "more" and I should have replaced "expected" with likely.

As in it's more likely there will be an excuse to NOT have different music tracks then putting in the effort to record two versions.
The music is to fit the theme of the park area, not the IP. Which Splash did well having two different soundtracks.

 

[wdwmagic]

I heard the rumor was they were waiting for Tron. That's it. Just waiting for it.

It would certainly make sense to keep Splash running until TRON opens to soak up some of that Genie+/LL demand.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Lets just be all happy its all opening in 2024.

I think I'll pass on that. What would make me happy is proper maintenance and painting of Splash Mountain instead of the half-arsed effort TDO has given it for years.

 

[LittleBuford]

The music is to fit the theme of the park area, not the IP. Which Splash did well having two different soundtracks.

In the case of PatF, however, the IP has a huge bearing on the style of music—much more so than with SotS. I would also point to the Country Bear Jamboree as proof that Frontierland has long accommodated references and sounds that don’t really fit the land’s ostensible theme.