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

[Disney Glimpses]

At both Disneyland and Disney World or just at WDW?

It's hard for them to delay it much longer at WDW unless they're going to actually spend money on the current attraction. It's essentially falling apart.

Both. The project will cost at a minimum $200 million between the parks. They are already cancelling studio projects. Layoffs are on the horizon and they already announced the pull back of $500 million in capital expenditures for 2023. And any cash left over will be directed to save the DTC business.

Now, they may still close it on time as it was suggested above and then simply slow play the refurb (they will have the capacity to do so after Tron opens). But I would not expect this attraction to open until 2026.

The truth is, regardless of which side of this debate you are on, it would be ridiculously terrible optics to proceed with an unnecessary re-theme (from a financial standpoint) after laying off thousands of employees across the company.

Which is why I think they will find as much cash as possible to minimize the need for a reduction in labor. The first place to start is unstarted and less financially forgivable projects.

 

[Tha Realest]

Both. The project will cost at a minimum $200 million between the parks. They are already cancelling studio projects. Layoffs are on the horizon and they already announced the pull back of $500 million in capital expenditures for 2023. And any cash left over will be directed to save the DTC business.

Now, they may still close it on time as it was suggested above and then simply slow play the refurb (they will have the capacity to do so after Tron opens). But I would not expect this attraction to open until 2026.

The truth is, regardless of which side of this debate you are on, it would be ridiculously terrible optics to proceed with an unnecessary re-theme (from a financial standpoint) after laying off thousands of employees across the company.

Which is why I think they will find as much cash as possible to minimize the need for a reduction in labor. The first place to start is unstarted and less financially forgivable projects.

Also, from an operational / capacity standpoint, this ride is a workhorse. Taking that offline for 2 years given current capacity issues* may be untenable.

*yes, they are opening Tron, but we have no idea how reliable it will prove to be.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

Also, from an operational / capacity standpoint, this ride is a workhorse. Taking that offline for 2 years given current capacity issues* may be untenable.

*yes, they are opening Tron, but we have no idea how reliable it will prove to be.

Good point. In reality though, I think attraction is important to them and it will ultimately happen (indisputably). I could see the timeline being pushed 12 months though in an effort to save some jobs while this storm is weathered.

 

[UNCgolf]

Also, from an operational / capacity standpoint, this ride is a workhorse. Taking that offline for 2 years given current capacity issues* may be untenable.

*yes, they are opening Tron, but we have no idea how reliable it will prove to be.

I think TRON's capacity is also lower than Splash Mountain's. The TRON hourly capacity may be slightly higher (I'm not sure about that), but Splash Mountain is 8 minutes long; TRON is about 60 seconds. That makes a big difference.

I also think Splash has a larger customer base than TRON -- Splash does have the big drop, but the ride is nowhere near as intense overall as a roller coaster, and TRON's seating is apparently an issue as well? I'm just speculating, but I'd be very surprised if there weren't a higher percentage of MK guests interested in riding Splash Mountain on any given day than will be interested in riding TRON.

Of course that latter concern doesn't matter as much if the rides are full all day every day anyways.

 

[Tha Realest]

I think TRON's capacity is also lower than Splash Mountain's. The TRON hourly capacity may be slightly higher (I'm not sure about that), but Splash Mountain is 8 minutes long; TRON is about 60 seconds. That makes a big difference.

I also think Splash has a larger customer base than TRON -- Splash does have the big drop, but the ride is nowhere near as intense overall as a roller coaster, and TRON's seating is apparently an issue as well? I'm just speculating, but I'd be very surprised if there weren't a higher percentage of MK guests interested in riding Splash Mountain on any given day than will be interested in riding TRON.

Of course that latter concern doesn't matter as much if the rides are full all day every day anyways.

That's a good point. I think Tron's audience is also more self-limiting, both from the roller coaster aspect as well as the expected VQ/ILL arrangement.

 

[UNCgolf]

That's a good point. I think Tron's audience is also more self-limiting, both from the roller coaster aspect as well as the expected VQ/ILL arrangement.

I believe it has a higher height requirement as well -- not positive about this but I think it's 48" to Splash Mountain's 40".

Being a VQ/ILL will make the rest of the park busier too, since no one will actually be waiting in line to ride. A trade off from standby Splash Mountain to all VQ (if that's what they do) TRON will have a significant negative effect on MK crowding.

 

[EagleScout610]

Really sad to see how Splash has been left to rot tho, show-wise.

 

[SailorMercury]

30 years to get an entire Star Wars Land going

They’ve only had Star Wars bought out for 10 years. They didn’t start doing IP based lands until A Bugs Land so it seems about the right amount of time for Star Wars to be done by Disney.

 

[MisterPenguin]

They are already cancelling studio projects.

Studio projects "in development" get "canceled" all the time; part of the time, because the people working on it move onto other things, or, because they just chose not to start it.

What studio project was actually greenlit and is now cancelled?

Layoffs are on the horizon

The hiring freeze is so as not to have to do layoffs.

The announcement of hiring freeze is, IMO, just a bone to throw to Wall Street.

Chapek and co. are confident in where they are, but Wall Street is systematically punishing all streamers for not giving them huge dividends right now.

and they already announced the pull back of $500 million in capital expenditures for 2023.

Since the announcement of how much Capex they said they were going to spend at the last quarterly? Where is this info from?

And any cash left over will be directed to save the DTC business.

The DTC business is just fine. They knew that this year would be peak losses (as part of their loss-leading strategy). Sub hikes and an ad tier are coming to turn things around. And their guidance is still that DTC will be profitable come 2024. As they've been saying for the past 3 years.

 

[_caleb]

Kylo AA has become much much reliable in recent months that it's in A-mode more than B-mode.

Most people don't know this, but they replaced the Kylo Ren AA with a Cal State Fullerton grad student named Kip (non-Equity). Except for his smoke breaks, Kip is much more reliable than the AA ever was–even in B mode.

 

[Incomudro]

I can't believe how much motion used to be in the figures on this ride.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I want to note that even in the poor condition the WDW ride is currently in, it's actually still in considerably better shape than 2010-2012. Back then there was scarcely any color left on the mountain's exterior paint. Netting and tarps were installed in several areas due to damaged and falling rockwork. Most voice audio speakers were damaged and barely comprehensible. Tons of animatronics were missing, none remained with more than about 25% of their motion and a huge amount that were completely motionless. This became a fairly common occurrence during that period-



Not to mention the boat seats were all caked in mold, scum and slime. They should have been handing out free tetanus shots and antibiotics for riding in them. Every water feature was switched off aside from the main flume needed to push the logs along, even the big drop was dry for an extended period of time.

In early 2013, the ride received an excellent refurbishment. They fixed almost everything. And for quite a few years after this, it looked almost brand new again. The only lingering issue outside was the real greenery once adorning the mountain exterior was only partially restored to life. One of the Mr Bluebird figures also took a few weeks to get working consistently again. But otherwise, the ride was pretty much back to the proper condition it was on opening day. It was great to see the ride working as intended. I was surprised what they accomplished in such a short amount of time. It was only down for a bit over two months.

I rode Splash Mountain at WDW late last month, and while in unacceptable condition, it still has quite a ways to go before it's as dilapidated as it was in 2012. As it stands, it sounds like it will probably be put down for good before it gets to that point again. Especially if the January claims are true.

Remember when Disney used to make fun of trashy knockoff businesses and their ill-maintained broken down attractions? Yeah, starting to hit a bit close to home now...

 

[EagleScout610]

How soon will Chapek break down my door for today's Goodwill score?

 

[celluloid]

They’ve only had Star Wars bought out for 10 years. They didn’t start doing IP based lands until A Bugs Land so it seems about the right amount of time for Star Wars to be done by Disney.

They did not need to own Star Wars to have the rights and see the potential. We had Star Tours, a new trilogy and events for decades. Imagineering had plenty of land ideas. Them owning it completely for a push only proves my earlier point.

Your second part is not really true.
Toontown was created directly due to Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Supporting attractions came later.

The land was created from the movie and the anchor attraction and aesthetics based on it.

 

[Dan Deesnee]

As much as I adore this ride, if they're going to let it fall into such disrepair so frequently just put it out of it's misery and get this refurbishment going.

I still think it's going to be a massive failure. Really nice from the outside because they can sell tickets with photos of it for marketing, completely underwhelming on the inside. I predict it will be all the worst aspects of Navi River Journey and Frozen. Crappy screens, underwhelming story, underwhelming environment, great songs, and 1-2 great animatronics.

 

[_caleb]

As much as I adore this ride, if they're going to let it fall into such disrepair so frequently just put it out of it's misery and get this refurbishment going.

I still think it's going to be a massive failure. Really nice from the outside because they can sell tickets with photos of it for marketing, completely underwhelming on the inside. I predict it will be all the worst aspects of Navi River Journey and Frozen. Crappy screens, underwhelming story, underwhelming environment, great songs, and 1-2 great animatronics.

What do you mean by “massive failure?” Negative reviews?
Because there is no way people are not going to ride the ride anymore due to the changes.

 

[celluloid]

The hiring freeze is so as not to have to do layoffs.

The announcement of hiring freeze is, IMO, just a bone to throw to Wall Street.

The memos mentioned freezes and loss of jobs. A freeze does not mean no layoffs.

The point is to save it and make more money.

 

[BobPar]

What do you mean by “massive failure?” Negative reviews?
Because there is no way people are not going to ride the ride anymore due to the changes.

Massive failure is tough bc its one of the “thrill” rides the MK offers but this ride easily can fail when it comes to people desire to ride it between attaching a princess to it and if the ride isnt good people will not be looking to re ride it. I dont think there was ever a time we were in MK where we did not ride Splash multiple times…

 

[MisterPenguin]

The memos mentioned freezes and loss of jobs. A freeze does not mean no layoffs.

The point is to save it and make more money.

Well, we'll see from social postings all these non-layoffs layoffs that people think are going to happen.

 

[Dan Deesnee]

What do you mean by “massive failure?” Negative reviews?
Because there is no way people are not going to ride the ride anymore due to the changes.

Failure as in, going from tons of animatronics to just a few, more poorly incorporated screens, cheap special effects, weak story, etc.

Nothing they've revealed so far and nothing they've done recently gives me hope that the failures listed above won't happen. Navi River Journey and Frozen are our two best examples of what to expect. Many people view both of those rides as cheap and wasted potential, to some degree.