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

[celluloid]

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

The official company line is that loss of jobs will happen among the freeze.

So you want to believe the word about the freeze, but not believe about the other parts of the memo?

 

[celluloid]

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…

Good point. Massive is a vague term anyway, but if the attraction does not move the needle and is the same in ridership as it is now,
it would certainly not be a big win. Guest spending is the biggest want, but they clearly need to move the needle with such an investment.

 

[UNCgolf]

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.

I would be very happy if it turns out like Na'vi River Journey on the inside. That's one of the 3 or 4 best designed environments they've built in an attraction at WDW in 25+ years. It's transportive and uses screens better than most other attractions. It has flaws (like a lack of AAs other than the showy centerpiece), but it's also a C ticket. It's a great C ticket.

Tiana would need the detailed sets/environments of NRJ plus other things since it's an E ticket, but NRJ level interiors would be a fantastic starting point.

Frozen Ever After on the inside would be massively disappointing as that ride is mostly barren, although it at least has quality AAs (other than the stupid projected faces).

I'd point at Little Mermaid as a worst case scenario; not NRJ.

 

[Dan Deesnee]

I would be very happy if it turns out like Na'vi River Journey on the inside. That's one of the 3 or 4 best designed environments they've built in an attraction at WDW in 25+ years. It's transportive and uses screens better than most other attractions. It has flaws (like a lack of AAs other than the showy centerpiece), but it's also a C ticket. It's a great C ticket.

Tiana would need the detailed sets/environments of NRJ plus other things since it's an E ticket, but NRJ level interiors would be a fantastic starting point.

Frozen Ever After on the inside would be massively disappointing as that ride is mostly barren, although it at least has quality AAs (other than the stupid projected faces).

I'd point at Little Mermaid as a worst case scenario; not NRJ.

Personally I like NRJ for what it is but the environments are just too flat and the ride lacks memorable moments outside of the awesome AA at the end. It's a good C ticket though.

But lacking memorable moments is what happens when you use screens and have hardly any physical AA's. Due to the cost of upkeep I just don't see Disney putting lots of AA's inside of Tiana. They'll over use screens and cheap effects to mask the overall low budget, low quality retheme.

That's my fear, at least. Nothing they've done recently makes me think I'm wrong.

 

[BobPar]

Good point. Massive is a vague term anyway, but if the attraction does not move the needle and is the same in ridership as it is now,
it would certainly not be a big win. Guest spending is the biggest want, but they clearly need to move the needle with such an investment.

Honestly i dont think it has a chance of seeing the same guest flow after the initial rush when it reopens…

 

[Dan Deesnee]

Honestly i dont think it has a chance of seeing the same guest flow after the initial rush when it reopens…

For us it will probably go from a 2-3 times a trip ride to a once a trip. My boys are upset that so much stuff is princess related in WDW, I doubt they'll ever want to ride it more than once but maybe. Again, depends how good they do with it.

 

[BobPar]

For us it will probably go from a 2-3 times a trip ride to a once a trip. My boys are upset that so much stuff is princess related in WDW, I doubt they'll ever want to ride it more than once but maybe. Again, depends how good they do with it.

As i previously posted we would ride multiple times a day… cant see that ever happening w this overlay. But i agree i think that will definitely play into it as well when it comes to boys wanting to ride a “princess” ride albeit they seem to be trying to avoid Tiana being a traditional princess in this attraction.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

I would be very happy if it turns out like Na'vi River Journey on the inside. That's one of the 3 or 4 best designed environments they've built in an attraction at WDW in 25+ years. It's transportive and uses screens better than most other attractions. It has flaws (like a lack of AAs other than the showy centerpiece), but it's also a C ticket. It's a great C ticket.

maybe off topic, but as it pertains to NRJ, I am not sure where you would want to insert more animatronics. Part of the thing i think that really works for the ride, is the immersive nature of it. Like Avatar itself, the ride really showcases the land/journey across Navi River. Its one of the reason the screens really work, the "characters" that are making their way across the river with you are all in the background, and compliment, don't overpower the environment that you're in. I am not sure where you would place more animatronics to keep with that. Anything as large as the centerpiece is going to dominate that area/room i think to the detriment of the ride experience. Any anything really smaller is going to have scale issues for the ride.

 

[MisterPenguin]

The official company line is that loss of jobs will happen among the freeze.

So you want to believe the word about the freeze, but not believe about the other parts of the memo?

A job freeze is not the same thing as firing/laying-off people. You just don't hire replacements when someone leaves. That reduces the workforce, but not through telling someone they don't work here any more.

Then with less staff, you restructure so that less people are doing what used to be done by more (or, you eliminate tasks).

If there are indeed firings/layings-off taking place, it will get out and Chapek will further erode his trust with employees. He'll be called out for lying. The unions will be down his neck. And California will want to know if he evaded their mass-layoff notification law.

Chapek has done dumb things before, but when it comes to hiring/firing, you can be sure the lawyers are running the show due to how sensitive a firing/layoff can be if you are (or seem to be) targeting a protected minority and exposing the company to lawsuits.

 

[LittleBuford]

How can people predict from now how many times they’ll want to (re)ride the attraction? Work hasn’t even started on the retheme yet!

 

[J4546]

Navi river journey should have been bigger, used the Shanghai pirates building and ride system for a massive immersive avatar water based experience. Especially since the sequel was gonna be and is water-based

 

[UNCgolf]

maybe off topic, but as it pertains to NRJ, I am not sure where you would want to insert more animatronics. Part of the thing i think that really works for the ride, is the immersive nature of it. Like Avatar itself, the ride really showcases the land/journey across Navi River. Its one of the reason the screens really work, the "characters" that are making their way across the river with you are all in the background, and compliment, don't overpower the environment that you're in. I am not sure where you would place more animatronics to keep with that. Anything as large as the centerpiece is going to dominate that area/room i think to the detriment of the ride experience. Any anything really smaller is going to have scale issues for the ride.

I actually agree with this, for the most part.

I think more AAs would be great, but I also think it would require larger environments and it would turn the ride into an E ticket. The ride was never intended to be an E ticket.

 

[BobPar]

How can people predict from now how many times they’ll want to (re)ride the attraction? Work hasn’t even started on the retheme yet!

Pretty simple. If you are not a fan of the IP re rides usually dont happen… ride has to be mind blowing which pretty safe to say this will
Not be and will
Not live up to what Splash was…. Like ive never seen Avatar but will ride FoP many times and Navi only out of boredom or a filler….

 

[Smiley/OCD]

Pretty simple. If you are not a fan of the IP re rides usually dont happen… ride has to be mind blowing which pretty safe to say this will
Not be and will
Not live up to what Splash was…. Like ive never seen Avatar but will ride FoP many times and Navi only out of boredom or a filler….

And you’ve had 2 members just a few short posts ago that stated their boys said there’s too many princesses…they have every right to voice their opinions about the amount of princess attractions…are they right? Wrong? It doesn’t matter…it’s their OPINION. There is NO right, wrong or PC answer.

 

[BobPar]

And you’ve had 2 members just a few short posts ago that stated their boys said there’s too many princesses…they have every right to voice their opinions about the amount of princess attractions…are they right? Wrong? It doesn’t matter…it’s their OPINION. There is NO right, wrong or PC answer.

Totally agree with you on that… listen we all know why this retheme is happening and in the end imo it will only create more chaos at the MK bc eventually an attraction that was constantly packed even in its current state will never gobble up the daily amount of people who ride it now creating longer lines elsewhere…

 

[_caleb]

Pretty simple. If you are not a fan of the IP re rides usually dont happen… ride has to be mind blowing which pretty safe to say this will
Not be and will
Not live up to what Splash was…. Like ive never seen Avatar but will ride FoP many times and Navi only out of boredom or a filler….

You think people decide what rides to re-ride based on how much they like the IP of the theme?

 

[BobPar]

You think people decide what rides to re-ride based on how much they like the IP of the theme?

Read my entire statement its a combo of both but imo yes i think re rides definitely happen with popular IP’s my daughter when younger was in live w Ariel if i told you how many times we would ride daily you wouldnt believe it…

 

[_caleb]

Totally agree with you on that… listen we all know why this retheme is happening and in the end imo it will only create more chaos at the MK bc eventually an attraction that was constantly packed even in its current state will never gobble up the daily amount of people who ride it now creating longer lines elsewhere…

To be clear: you're saying that the MK will be plunged into chaos because fewer people will ride Tiana's Bayou Adventure than currently ride Splash Mountain because of their dislike for The Princess and the Frog film?

 

[_caleb]

Read my entire statement its a combo of both but imo yes i think re rides definitely happen with popular IP’s my daughter when younger was in live w Ariel if i told you how many times we would ride daily you wouldnt believe it…

Oh, I totally believe that! My son wanted to ride Buzz Lightyear over and over.

But that's not the ONLY reason a person might ride or re-ride a ride at WDW, right? You can imagine other possible criteria a guest may use when determining what to ride or re-ride?

 

[James Alucobond]

Read my entire statement its a combo of both but imo yes i think re rides definitely happen with popular IP’s my daughter when younger was in live w Ariel if i told you how many times we would ride daily you wouldnt believe it…

By this metric, Splash should already be failing since, relatively speaking, very few people even recognize Song of the South. It’s popular because it’s a fun attraction.

Likewise, there are many rides with no IP ties at all that remain consistently popular.