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

[LittleBuford]

I'm one of the few millennials that saw Song of the South as a child. I saw it before I went on Splash Mountain. Had I not seen it, I'm sure the reverse psychology aspect of Brer Rabbit tricking Brer Fox into throwing him into the Briar Patch would have gone over my head. I would have probably assumed that Brer Rabbit sincerely didn't want to be thrown into the briar patch and just lucked out by surviving.

You’re not alone. I just searched for and opened (at random) two reviews of the ride, and here are the relevant passages:

After making our way through Br’er Fox’s lair, one realizes the only way out is down, as in 50 feet down. At the exit of the lair is the big drop that the ride is well known for. At the drop you land in the thorns, where no one wanted to go.​

After the drop, we’re back to the light sailing around the ride. We enter another character area and find a welcome home party for Br’er Rabbit. There are so many different animals singing and dancing to Zip A Dee Doo Dah. We don’t actually find out how Br’er Rabbit escapes Br’er Fox’s plan to eat him, but nevertheless I’m glad he makes it out!​

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Splash Mountain ride review | Countdown to Magic

Here is our Splash Mountain ride review.

www.countdowntomagic.com

Surrell notes that one of the changes to the Magic Kingdom version was to try to strengthen the coherence of the story, which was based on episodes and vignettes picked from various parts of the film Song of the South, by adding “Brer Frog as a stand-in for Uncle Remus.”​

Maybe this helped, but I’ve certainly never been able to follow the story, or even hear clearly the song lyrics and the lines uttered by characters over the course of the ride.​

Like most people, I’ve never seen Song of the South (a film a little too much of its time in race relations for Disney to be willing to re-release it) so I depend on the ride to explicate itself as story, and have never had much luck with that.​

Does this matter? Not in the least. Although the incidents that unfold along the ride are mostly more picaresque than structured as a classical story, the ride has a clear beginning, middle and end, and a secondary (for some primary!) but dramatically supportive story arc built on the suspense of which drop will be the big drop!​

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Review: Splash Mountain at the Magic Kingdom - yourfirstvisit.net

SPLASH MOUNTAIN I review rides only when they are new or after they have changed, on the theory that first time visitors ought to try them all and hence don’t need reviews. (For those without the time or energy to try them all, there’s a comprehensive guide to Disney World rides and attractions...

yourfirstvisit.net

 

[Incomudro]

I don't understand how someone could miss that. They make it explicitly clear near the beginning of the ride that Brer Rabbit's home IS the briar patch. He's seen departing there with the front door boarded up and a sign saying "gone for good".

In Brer Fox's lair, Brer Rabbit also claims he's fine with whatever horrible deaths the fox suggests doing to him (despite them being exceptionally gruesome such as being hanged, skinned, or roasted alive), but is apparently "most terrified" of being flung into the briar patch. Brer Rabbit was also established throughout the ride several times as being a prankster that enjoys messing with Brers Fox and Bear and baiting them into traps (even their own).

It couldn't have been any clearer that Brer Rabbit was baiting Brer Fox into flinging him in. Even if you did somehow miss that, they make it even more explicit in the finale scenes where Brer Rabbit is sitting outside his front door of his briar patch house (which again was shown at the start of the ride) and boasting about how he tricked them again.

I'm a millennial who has seen SOTS as well, but I did not see it or the shorts until after I rode Splash (which again was when I was 4 years old at most). The plot and everything going on was still perfectly clear to me regardless.

I missed it all - not kidding.
I never knew 'till now that he was flung into the brier patch.

 

[Kirby86]

I missed it all - not kidding.
I never knew 'till now that he was flung into the brier patch.

I think the Disneyland one convoys that better since Brer Fox says "Briar Patch why that's where you're going" at the drop. WDWs just has Brer Bear say "Briar Patch?".

However during Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah while Brer Rabbit is talking to Mister Bluebird he says " I got to thank Brer Fox and Brer Bear for flinging me back to my Briar Patch" However it is possible to miss that because they Mix in Brer Rabbits verses of Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah with his conversation with Mister Bluebird.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Yeah, still not getting how anyone could miss the plot like that...

 

[LittleBuford]

I missed it all - not kidding.
I never knew 'till now that he was flung into the brier patch.

If you don’t already know the plot, you see him tied up at the top of the drop, seemingly terrified and about to be killed by Br’er Fox, and then you see him unbound, unscathed, and happy in the final scenes. There’s quite a lot to fill in between these two moments, and while some were able to work it out for themselves, others were not. That’s not a criticism of the ride—the story in its broad strokes was still a pleasure to watch—but I think the idea that the details of the plot were easy to follow is a bit overstated by some in this thread.

 

[Kirby86]

Yeah, still not getting how anyone could miss the plot like that...

I always got the story about what was going on with Brer Rabbit tricking Brer Fox. They established that by him tricking those two into the Laughing Place. But I can see why some people might find it a clunky transition.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Yeah, still not getting how anyone could miss the plot like that...

Yeah it’s a very simple plot. I understand maybe not taking it in the first time, but it’s pretty evident after your second or third ride, unless you are trying to not listen to the dialogue and music.

I will, however, give people who have only rode it recently the benefit of the doubt. The audio in the last two years before closure were incredibly inconsistent, often playing out of sync or not playing at all on some ride throughs.

 

[Kirby86]

If you don’t already know the plot, you see him tied up at the top of the drop, seemingly terrified and about to be killed by Br’er Fox, and then you see him unbound, unscathed, and happy in the final scenes. There’s quite a lot to fill in between these two moments, and while some were able to work it out for themselves, others were not. That’s not a criticism of the ride—the story in its broad strokes was still a pleasure to watch—but I think the idea that the details of the plot were easy to follow is a bit overstated by some in this thread.

Which is why I think Disneylands has the better drop dialog. It makes it clear Brer Fox is throwing Brer Rabbit into the Briar patch.

 

[Trauma]

If you don’t already know the plot, you see him tied up at the top of the drop, seemingly terrified and about to be killed by Br’er Fox, and then you see him unbound, unscathed, and happy in the final scenes. There’s quite a lot to fill in between these two moments, and while some were able to work it out for themselves, others were not. That’s not a criticism of the ride—the story in its broad strokes was still a pleasure to watch—but I think the idea that the details of the plot were easy to follow is a bit overstated by some in this thread.

Yup.

Add on the fact that if your a kid who has never been on it, maybe your just scared of the drop and then happy you survived it.

It’s hard to focus on story when your heart is racing.

 

[EagleScout610]

I think the Disneyland one convoys that better since Brer Fox says "Briar Patch why that's where you're going" at the drop. WDWs just has Brer Bear say "Briar Patch?".

I always saw that as World's leaving it more up to the rider who tossed him. Br'er Fox thinking he was inflicting as much pain as possible or Br'er Bear just being an idiot.

However during Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah while Brer Rabbit is talking to Mister Bluebird he says " I got to thank Brer Fox and Brer Bear for flinging me back to my Briar Patch"

Now he never will
Also Disneyland's Zip features the line "But what Br'er Fox don't know is, the Briar Patch is where my home is!"

 

[neo999955]

I've ridden SM probably 20 times over the past decade (first time in 2012) and I've never been FULLY sure what the exact plot is of the ride. I do think it's easy to get the broad strokes, which all you honestly need. Some people will really cling to that story start to finish and others (like me) tend to enjoy the atmosphere and follow along with the flow. I've been able to ride GoTG a few times now and I certainly know what happens in that ride, but when I'm on it - I barely pay any attention because the feel and vibes are so good it's overwhelming (and fun). I think that's a really wonderful feeling and something Disney is still great at capturing (I for one, really really love Mickey and Minnie).

Anyway, when it comes to Tiana, I have a more optimistic anticipation as I believe they'll do a beautiful job and I think they'll be able to build a wonderful atmosphere that fits the track really well, even if I too wish the Dr was in the ride for the drop. Am I concerned about cost cutting and too many screens, of course, but I agree Disney knows it can't seriously mess this one up.

 

[Trauma]

When I read a few pages back about how this ride can’t fail I thought that was ridiculous.

The more I thought about it when Disney chose Tiana they are all in.

This HAS to be a success or Disney is going to get blasted from every possible direction imaginable.

What would they even do?

 

[Buried20KLeague]

TBA will not fail. It can not. There’s not enough pixie dust in the world to help Disney recover from the negative PR that would occur if it did. You may not like TBA when it opens, but it will not be a failure. It will be highly detailed, it will feature several AAs of Tiana, Louis, and friends, as well as critters and more. This retheme has to be at the least as good as Splash or better. It’s simple. Not trying to attack you, but it’s basically fact. TBA will not fail.

Have you…. BEEN to WDW in the past decade???

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Thank you for posting this.

I understand people are disappointed with recent Disney additions & rethemes. I have been as well.

I understand that people don’t want this retheme. I disagree.

The point is, TBA (at least from a quality standpoint) will not fail.

From those who were posting tribute videos and memorials to Splash, it may be considered a failure.

So because they made a stupid decision, it’s a guarantee the replacement will be as good or better? Lol

Optimistic isn’t even the right term for that line of thinking.

First you have to assume they knew what they were stepping in when they announced splash was ending. I’m not so sure that’s the case.

You also would have to assume they care about guest experience and what we want. I’m not sure that’s the case either.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

I don't see how the story of Splash Mountain isn't clear. I first rode it when I was only about 4 years old and had no trouble whatsoever comprehending it. This was also before I knew anything about the movie or shorts too, so it was entirely new to me. The visuals, music and dialog all tell the story.

Rabbit leaves home because he's bored and craves excitement. A fox and bear attempt to catch and eat him, but have difficulty due to both the bear's stupidity and the rabbit's cleverness. The rabbit plays pranks on the duo, but the fox finally manages to catch him while he's distracted laughing at the bear. The fox brings the rabbit to his lair and lists off possibly choices on how to kill him. The rabbit outsmarts him by baiting him into tossing him into the briar patch, which was established at the beginning to be where he lives. The fox and bear lose the rabbit, while the rabbit returns home and learns a lesson about leaving well enough alone and appreciating what you already have.

The story IS clear. Anyone saying it’s not is just being obtuse.

 

[Incomudro]

The story IS clear. Anyone saying it’s not is just being obtuse.

I guess I'm obtuse.
In my defense, I'm lucky if I've ridden the ride 6 times in my lifetime, the closest of any two rides separated by at least a year apart.
I spent most of my time on those rides taking in the scenery and enjoying the music.
I can guarantee you my wife wouldn't be able to tell me what the story was either.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

I guess I'm obtuse.
In my defense, I'm lucky if I've ridden the ride 6 times in my lifetime, the closest of any two rides separated by at least a year apart.
I spent most of my time on those rides taking in the scenery and enjoying the music.
I can guarantee you my wife wouldn't be able to tell me what the story was either.

There’s a difference between not paying attention to know the story and the story not being told clearly. The story is told clearly and well. I was saying that those that say the story isn’t told well and clearly are being obtuse.

Not paying attention to the story because you choose to get lost in the scenes and music is a different deal. That’s how I rode it sometimes too.

But the story was there and easy to get for those that cared.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

Have you…. BEEN to WDW in the past decade???

I've been to WDW over 50 times in the past decade. I also went on to explain in a later post that I agree that there have been rethemes that have not lived up to expectations. I simply stated that the PR nightmare that would be unleashed upon TWDC if TBA is a failure will be unmanageable. We could go back and forth on this forum about it, or we can wait two years and see which one of us is right.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

I've been to WDW over 50 times in the past decade. I also went on to explain in a later post that I agree that there have been rethemes that have not lived up to expectations. I simply stated that the PR nightmare that would be unleashed upon TWDC if TBA is a failure will be unmanageable. We could go back and forth on this forum about it, or we can wait two years and see which one of us is right.

That’s a bit different than saying you’re sure it will be done well and be a success.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

So because they made a stupid decision, it’s a guarantee the replacement will be as good or better? Lol

This decision being stupid is objective. To TWDC, it was a smart business choice, one that could be argued to killing three birds with one stone. 1) Getting rid of SotS (an internal want) 2) making more merchandising $$$ 3) plugging in IP and rehabbing a ride in desperate need of attention.

First you have to assume they knew what they were stepping in when they announced splash was ending. I’m not so sure that’s the case.

You also would have to assume they care about guest experience and what we want. I’m not sure that’s the case either.

I'm not sure what you mean by saying that we have to assume they knew what they were stepping in. They chose to close and retheme Splash Mountain based on the reasons I mentioned earlier.

One could also argue that this will enhance the guest experience as it will bring a popular character to MK and will have a new take on a classic attraction. Also because Splash's show quality (Disney's fault) has been so poor in recent years, this rehab will look lightyears better either way.