News Tiana's Bayou Adventure - latest details and construction progress

[Disney Analyst]

I think it'll be a pretty funny moment to have Mama Oddie chuckle as you fall off a waterfall, honestly fits her character. Loving, slightly sassy, slightly sinister.

Indisputably a different vibe, but not necessarily a bad one.

“Gumbo gumbo in the pot, away you go, down that drop!”

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

What did Tony say? I haven’t heard anything

Relevant discussion starts around 50-51 minutes in (though it's worth listening to the entire thing as they do come back to the topic at different points). About 55 minutes in is where he explains how they built up the tension throughout the ride, but especially during the final big lift. And how that fear was necessary to make it work (and the relief afterwards with the grand finale riverboat was the reward). Around 58 minutes, he says hopefully Tiana will also adhere to these same foundational concepts since they're keeping the track intact.

We know now that they have not adhered to those philosophies. And despite him taking a seemingly neutral-ish stance on Tiana (he's probably under at least some sort of NDA here), I have no doubt that Tony is 100% in the know on what they're doing with it. The disdain he has for it and the warnings about its problems come through loud and clear.

 

[James Alucobond]

You don't have to think it's a bad choice, it's fine if you prefer that. But there were people on here who were mocking those who claimed this was even happening at all, and that it was being done intentionally to tone the fear factor down. Even when Tony Baxter already said it was and criticized them for it (given his focus on this aspect, I suspect that this was the main reason he became disillusioned with the project and left). Lot of gaslighting. Now there's public evidence directly from the people in charge. So hopefully this is put to rest and this denial ceases.

I ... don't quite remember this happening? I remember people saying that they weren't intentionally scaling down the drop visually from the exterior in order to make it look more palatable for younger riders. Charita's statement doesn't contradict that; she still sees working up to going down a huge drop as a formative rite of passage. I suppose it's entirely possible I missed a conversation about people denying the drop wouldn't be framed similarly from a narrative perspective, but I thought it had been totally clear that they were going with something more upbeat and uplifting ever since they published the Odie artwork that clearly accompanies the lift now.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I ... don't quite remember this happening? I remember people saying that they weren't intentionally scaling down the drop visually from the exterior in order to make it look more palatable for younger riders. Charita's statement doesn't contradict that; she still sees working up to going down a huge drop as a formative rite of passage. I suppose it's entirely possible I missed a conversation about people denying the drop wouldn't be framed similarly from a narrative perspective, but I thought it had been totally clear that they were going with something more upbeat and uplifting ever since they published the Odie artwork that clearly accompanies the lift now.

There was a lot of back in forth about whether the upbeat changes to the final lift would actually even make the ride less scary at all since the drop still exists. But with more explicit statements from the heads of the project that they did indeed consider Splash scary and were attempting to make alterations to the scenes to make it less so, that's not really up for debate anymore.

I don't know if Charita or her team have commented on the way the drop itself is being framed to also seem less scary. But having seen the ride in person, I can say that it definitely doesn't look nearly as tall or imposing anymore. Shaving the peak off, covering it in flowers and removing the thorns will do that.

 

[James Alucobond]

I don't know if Charita or her team have commented on the way the drop itself is being framed to also seem less scary. But having seen the ride in person, I can say that it definitely doesn't look nearly as tall or imposing anymore. Shaving the peak off, covering it in flowers and removing the thorns will do that.

When it's running, you still see logs drop from a massive height. They're not hiding that. The detail on the mountain being less scary doesn't change that, just like the slide at Blizzard Beach doesn't look any less terrifying because it's not covered in thorns. But yes, the tone of the scene on the lift hill will change completely; I just don't remember people denying that, especially when the Odie art showed up.

 

[PierceForums]

This thread lives off Drew The Disney Dude. Our savior.

 

[LittleBuford]

I think it'll be a pretty funny moment to have Mama Oddie chuckle as you fall off a waterfall, honestly fits her character. Loving, slightly sassy, slightly sinister.

Indisputably a different vibe, but not necessarily a bad one.

The shift from scary to joyous doesn’t seem out of keeping with what they did to Disneyland’s Tower of Terror, and most people seem to enjoy the new version.

 

[mickEblu]

The shift from scary to joyous doesn’t seem out of keeping with what they did to Disneyland’s Tower of Terror, and most people seem to enjoy the new version.

So you don’t see the difference between dropping up and down at a rapid pace with the Guardians cracking jokes with the oldies playing vs crawling up a lift hill?

 

[LittleBuford]

So you don’t see the difference between dropping up and down at a rapid pace with the Guardians cracking jokes with the oldies playing vs crawling up a lift hill?

I was pointing to a broadly analogous shift from foreboding to jubilant, not suggesting that the experiences were identical.

To be clear, I’m not saying the new lift and drop will work well. I’m hoping they will, but until the ride is unveiled, it’s impossible to know.

 

[Unbanshee]

Supposedly one of the reasons the Waterwheel Millhouse was completely rebuilt was to be able to support a Tiana animatronic in it, If the Frogs are Scene 2, Scene 3 would be the Millhouse. The first Tiana we see was labeled in Scene 3, Would make sense why they made the waterwheel building more of a building to be able to support the animatronic

When was it completely rebuilt?

 

[TheCoasterNerd]

Do you have the link to that article by chance? I'd love to read that.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91077264/walt-disney-imagineering-innovation-studio-disney-world#:~:text=as%20they%20pass%20her%20going%20up%20the%20first%20hill%20of%20the%20ride.

this particular Tiana is on scaffolding for a reason.

One of the goals of this ride is for theme-park goers to feel as if Tiana is talking to them directly. So, positioning the princess up high gives Imagineers the same perspective future riders will have as they pass her going up the first hill of the ride.

 

[Tha Realest]

I’ll be curious how they pull this off. Going up a lift hill at a 45 degree angle is anxiety inducing as it is. Anything that heightens the senses - bright colors, up-tempo music - may only make that more acute.

Think of horror movies where clown/carnival music is played during a garish death scene. Or when they play Freebird during the crazy action sequence in Kingsman.

The incongruency coupled with the tempo/sensory issues may make this feel psychotic.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I believe the green lighting is meant to complement purple lighting to give the classic Mardi Gras motif. Not going for eerie.

 

[EagleScout610]

1:05:00 in this interview with Charita, she states openly that the drop will be a more joyous experience as opposed to how it was in Splash.

"L:ess of a scary experience and more of a joyous and fun thing!"

 

[retr0gate]

You don't have to think it's a bad choice, it's fine if you prefer that. But there were people on here who were mocking those who claimed this was even happening at all, and that it was being done intentionally to tone the fear factor down. Even when Tony Baxter already said it was and criticized them for it (given his focus on this aspect, I suspect that this was the main reason he became disillusioned with the project and left). Lot of gaslighting. Now there's public evidence directly from the people in charge. So hopefully this is put to rest and this denial ceases.

I mean no disrespect towards you, as I feel you've been a pretty reliable source of information and have remained pretty neutral throughout this thread. I'm not denying that there are people who refuse to acknowledge any flaws in this new design, but c'mon. You've seen the claims on here that are equally ridiculous - what about the people who were adamant there would only be 17 animatronics on the ride? That they would all have projection faces / eyes? That the railing in front of the drop is going to be left unthemed? That the "Tiana's Foods" backstory would be the primary focus of the story? Whether or not the ride will lack suspense is just a drop in the bucket. There are far many more claims just like these that flood this thread daily and the people who are looking forward to this ride have been mocked relentlessly since day one. To say that anybody is being "gaslit" is extremely unfair unless we're taking the egregious behavior of people from both sides into account for. Apologies if that's what you're insinuating here and I misunderstood, but it is just exhausting to see the victim complex that, not necessarily you, but others who desperately want this ride to fail have been creating for themselves.

 

[DisneyDodo]

I was pointing to a broadly analogous shift from foreboding to jubilant, not suggesting that the experiences were identical.

To be clear, I’m not saying the new lift and drop will work well. I’m hoping they will, but until the ride is unveiled, it’s impossible to know.

Yea, this is one thing that is just really hard to pre-judge. The dark tone for the lift hill worked really well in splash. It’s possible the cheerful approach in TBA will work just as well, and it’s also possible it will completely destroy the ride’s climax. I doubt anyone can accurately intuit how the vibes of the lift hill will affect their emotions.

 

[seabreezept813]

1:05:00 in this interview with Charita, she states openly that the drop will be a more joyous experience as opposed to how it was in Splash.

"L:ess of a scary experience and more of a joyous and fun thing!"

Sounds like 7 dwarves but that’s got a kiddie hill. But my family is always happily singing heigh ho on the hill up.

 

[wdwmagic]

Quick Look at progress today..

 

[discos]

Quick Look at progress today..

Looks like they're getting ready to dress that safety railing!

 

[TheCoasterNerd]

Quick Look at progress today..

LADDER!!!