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

[bwr827]

Man, imagine being in charge of Disney World- and having Burbank tell you you need to close Splash Mountain, the most popular ride in the most popular park in the most popular vacation spot on the planet.

And spend $100 million in the process. But no worries- WDI's got their best on it.

And then they deliver this.

Most popular ride? Did anyone ever rope drop Splash? Did Splash’s lightning lanes sell out before all the other rides on Genie+?

I hope they’ll update some other woefully outdated attractions next, like Peter Pan and Jungle Cruise (at least give us better speakers so we can better enjoy the humour).

 

[ToTBellHop]

What is most concerning to me here is that this wasn’t done on the cheap, so they had enough money to do a lot. How do so many people get together and decide THIS is the storyline? Further, they’ve lost a lot of talent recently, but many of those departed Imagineers still love the parks and would gladly provide advice. It is DEEPLY concerning to me that current Imagineers have the hubris to have Tony f-in’ Baxter in a room, hear his advice, and say, “thanks, but I think we are gonna go in another direction.”

That’s appalling.

And it makes me concerned for other projects. Will they ignore Rohde’s advice on Tropical Americas?

You have these members of your creative team that you elevate to god-like status in your fan communities and then toss them aside? It makes no sense. You can’t start every freakin’ DPB article with “Because Walt Disney once said, ‘…’” if you have no intention of upholding the old standard.

 

[DisneyJunkie]

I like to think I stay open-minded when it comes to Disney re-doing some of their attractions. But for me, the first major strike was when they decided to go with a Princess and Frog theme. It certainly isn't one of their most beloved films, and for me, it isn't even one I mildly enjoyed. So then I wait for them to get this far where they can start showing off what they've done with a once much-loved attraction, and as so many others have expressed, I'm extremely disappointed. What I will compliment is something very general - the obvious improvement in animatronics and some visuals. Other than that, the rest is trash. Seriously. The music is terrible compared to what played during Splash Mountain, not the least bit catchy. The overall storyline isn't remotely interesting, and the complete lack of villain inclusion only hurts it that much more. Think about it: some of the favorite and best WDW attractions include the villain in some way - Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear, Little Mermaid, and so on. The empty sections of this new ride are inexcusable. It's as if they knew fully well that they really had no story and no real idea what they wanted to do here. The whole thing is a huge missed opportunity as far I'm concerned.

 

[wdwmagic]

What is most concerning to me here is that this wasn’t done on the cheap, so they had enough money to do a lot. How do so many people get together and decide THIS is the storyline? Further, they’ve lost a lot of talent recently, but many of those departed Imagineers still love the parks and would gladly provide advice. It is DEEPLY concerning to me that current Imagineers have the hubris to have Tony f-in’ Baxter in a room, hear his advice, and say, “thanks, but I think we are gonna go in another direction.”

That’s appalling.

And it makes me concerned for other projects. Will they ignore Rohde’s advice on Tropical Americas?

From everything we can see this project has been fully financed. In the past there has been valid criticism that certain projects have been underfunded, but not the case here.

 

[ToTBellHop]

From everything we can see this project has been fully financed. In the past there has been valid criticism that certain projects have been underfunded, but not the case here.

Right. And this is what they went with?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

What is most concerning to me here is that this wasn’t done on the cheap, so they had enough money to do a lot. How do so many people get together and decide THIS is the storyline? Further, they’ve lost a lot of talent recently, but many of those departed Imagineers still love the parks and would gladly provide advice. It is DEEPLY concerning to me that current Imagineers have the hubris to have Tony f-in’ Baxter in a room, hear his advice, and say, “thanks, but I think we are gonna go in another direction.”

That’s appalling.

And it makes me concerned for other projects. Will they ignore Rohde’s advice on Tropical Americas?

You have these members of your creative team that you elevate to god-like status in your fan communities and then toss them aside? It makes no sense. You can’t start every freakin’ DPB article with “Because Walt Disney once said, ‘…’” if you have no intention of upholding the old standard.

TWDC needs to clean house from the corner office down…sweep the decks

It’s been coming for along time

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I like to think I stay open-minded when it comes to Disney re-doing some of their attractions. But for me, the first major strike was when they decided to go with a Princess and Frog theme. It certainly isn't one of their most beloved films, and for me, it isn't even one I mildly enjoyed. So then I wait for them to get this far where they can start showing off what they've done with a once much-loved attraction, and as so many others have expressed, I'm extremely disappointed. What I will compliment is something very general - the obvious improvement in animatronics and some visuals. Other than that, the rest is trash. Seriously. The music is terrible compared to what played during Splash Mountain, not the least bit catchy. The overall storyline isn't remotely interesting, and the complete lack of villain inclusion only hurts it that much more. Think about it: some of the favorite and best WDW attractions include the villain in some way - Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear, Little Mermaid, and so on. The empty sections of this new ride are inexcusable. It's as if they knew fully well that they really had no story and no real idea what they wanted to do here. The whole thing is a huge missed opportunity as far I'm concerned.

A couple of issues:

1. They touched a classic…which automatically ramps up the stakes. To quote Apollo 13: “failure is not an option”

2.no problem doing PATF adds to the parks. It’s a good property. It is NOT…however…a hugely successful one.

And that’s an issue. They claim they are giving people what they want…but they then don’t do it with any sort of priority.

Here’s what should have gotten the treatment first based on appeal and longevity:

TANGLED. !!!

Moana

then maybe patf

 

[doctornick]

No, I believe that after watching GENERATIONS of kids fall in love with it.. and actually communicating with them why. None of them ever said they went on it for heat relief. The splashes and drop fun? Of course... was a splash down unique that drew them in? Absolutely not. Never did they say "man, I wish they would just cut out all that other stuff and just have those fun drops!"

No one ever walked around repeating the screams of the drop... but they seemed to learn a song from a movie they never got to see or understood and would repeat those chorus lines...

It’s funny that my kids would constantly ask to ride Splash while at Disney but never really cared about riding Kali. It’s almost like there’s something more entertaining about the former that wasn’t there in the latter.

Sticking to flume rides, they largely dislike Dudley Do Right.

 

[LittleBuford]

Right. And this is what they went with?

I don’t think how they spent the budget was the (main) issue. I can see where the money went—the attraction doesn’t look cheap to me, the screens notwithstanding. The biggest problem is the dull storyline, and that wouldn’t have taken a big budget to get right.

 

[TalkToEthan]

It is DEEPLY concerning to me that current Imagineers have the hubris to have Tony f-in’ Baxter in a room, hear his advice, and say, “thanks, but ……..

……….and then toss them aside?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Most popular ride? Did anyone ever rope drop Splash? Did Splash’s lightning lanes sell out before all the other rides on Genie+?

I hope they’ll update some other woefully outdated attractions next, like Peter Pan and Jungle Cruise (at least give us better speakers so we can better enjoy the humour).

Splash is one of the greatest rides ever built by WDI…top 5 at a minimum. It’s been incredibly popular with long lines for 30+ years.

Frankly…you don’t seem to get what you’re talking about here…
Asking about lightning lanes and genie ? A mongrel system that’s 2 years old?

Let me fill this one in for you:
Yes…people ran to splash
Yes…the fastpasses were always gone
Yes…there were 2+ hour waits for that sucker for years (in medieval times before apps that post inaccurate wait times to create upsells)

Glad I could help fill in the gaps here.

Also…you want them to hack up more older rides for this kinda nonsense? That gonna make those $200 tickets more worthwhile?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I don’t think how they spent the budget was the (main) issue. I can see where the money went—the attraction doesn’t look cheap to me, the screens notwithstanding. The biggest problem is the dull storyline, and that wouldn’t have taken a big budget to get right.

Budgets go down the hole everytime they try to shoehorn something into a retrofit. We saw it with guardians notoriously.

All that to say “new” while not adding anything.

Bob is brilliant

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It’s funny that my kids would constantly ask to ride Splash while at Disney but never really cared about riding Kali. It’s almost like there’s something more entertaining about the former that wasn’t there in the latter.

Sticking to flume rides, they largely dislike Dudley Do Right.

Because splash is one of the greatest rides ever built

Now in the past tense

 

[LittleBuford]

Budgets go down the hole everytime they try to shoehorn something into a retrofit. We saw it with guardians notoriously.

All that to say “new” while not adding anything.

Bob is brilliant

But they did add a lot of new and expensive things to this attraction. Even those of us who don’t like the end result can acknowledge as much. Whatever else is wrong with it, it is not a cheap (or cheap-looking) overlay.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

From everything we can see this project has been fully financed. In the past there has been valid criticism that certain projects have been underfunded, but not the case here.

Right. And this is what they went with?

I'm curious to know the exact budget myself, but even moreso what funds went where exactly. I assume those A1000's were pricey, not sure how much they cost precisely. That's the only thing I could see significantly eating up even a large budget. There's a lot of foliage used for the ride, but much of it looks very store bought and not the hand-sculpted stylized sort seen in Splash. Then again, perhaps going with that kind of scenery actually cost more money than something more handmade in-house by Disney artists.

But it just seems like the people who worked on this ride have to be both wasteful and incompetent. There is indeed a great deal of obscene stupidity behind bringing Tony Baxter on (presumably paying him a sizable figure in the process) only to immediately anger him by telling him they don't want his ideas. Especially given the fact that he's not afraid to go around and tell everyone that he dislikes something. Sometimes on stage right to your face in a large audience.

 

[FettFan]

Most popular ride? Did anyone ever rope drop Splash? Did Splash’s lightning lanes sell out before all the other rides on Genie+?

Before 7DMT, the rope-droppers were part of either the “Race for Space” or the “Dash for Splash”.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

But they did add a lot of new and expensive things to this attraction. Even those of us who don’t like the end result can acknowledge as much. Whatever else is wrong with it, it is not a cheap (or cheap-looking) overlay.

But it was shoehorned into an old facility…which is always more expensive and cuts things out.

One of the complaints is the lack of AAs/scenes compared to splash? Budget would affect that.

First rule of construction: it’s ALWAYS much more expensive lb for lb to retrofit over building new. Guaranteed.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Before 7DMT, the rope-droppers were part of either the “Race for Space” or the “Dash for Splash”.

Rode mine train for the first time in several years last week…

It’s not close to space…or splash

 

[ToTBellHop]

I'm curious to know the exact budget myself, but even moreso what funds went where exactly. I assume those A1000's were pricey, not sure how much they cost precisely. That's the only thing I could see significantly eating up even a large budget. There's a lot of foliage used for the ride, but much of it looks very store bought and not the hand-sculpted stylized sort seen in Splash. Then again, perhaps going with that kind of scenery actually cost more money than something more handmade in-house by Disney artists.

But it just seems like the people who worked on this ride have to be both wasteful and incompetent. There is indeed a great deal of obscene stupidity behind bringing Tony Baxter on (presumably paying him a sizable figure in the process) only to immediately anger him by telling him they don't want his ideas. Especially given the fact that he's not afraid to go around and tell everyone that he dislikes something. Sometimes on stage right to your face in a large audience.

I will be interested to hear Baxter’s take on this.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I will be interested to hear Baxter’s take on this.

…what’s the point?