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

[Sir_Cliff]

Adventureland is like calling something Fantasyland or Movieland, it is more of a genre than a region or place in time.

American Frontier on the otherhand took place during 1607 – 1920

"The American frontier includes the geography, history, folklore, and cultural expression of life in the forward wave of American expansion that began with English colonial settlements in the early 17th century and ended with the admission of the last remaining western territories as states in 1912."

Here's Walt Disney's original dedication of Frontierland:
"It is here that we experience the story of our country's past. The color, romance and drama of frontier America as it developed from wilderness trails to roads, riverboats, railroads and civilization. A tribute to the faith, courage and ingenuity of our hearty pioneers who blaze the trails and made this progress possible."

I don't think an attraction with more or less the same facade as the existing Splash Mountain but housing an attraction set a century ago in New Orleans is going to read as jarring. Particularly as it sits alongside what might as well be and partially is a representation of the Mississippi River with a riverboat going past at regular intervals.

People are being far more literal about this theming than Walt Disney ever was.

Splash Mountain wasn't a perfect pairing with it, but it was much closer than Princess and the Frog. At least the setting feels more like the country than Tiana's, which consists of a bustling city (New Orleans in 1926) and a swamp.

Also the exterior of the new attraction will stick out like a sore thumb. The current resident Splash Mountain blends in better with Big Thunder due to their similar color palettes, which is inspired by dry western settings.

It might stick out, but we don't know based on that one piece of very vague, nighttime artwork. Certainly not enough to be talking about the color palette. I doubt even Disney has much idea about what the exterior is going to look like when this is all finished. Who knows, maybe toning down the orange color will work better?

For the record, I don't love this announcement and Splash is my favourite ride. I'm just not getting all the hand-wringing about the location, though.

 

[MickeyMouse10]

Here's Walt Disney's original dedication of Frontierland:
"It is here that we experience the story of our country's past. The color, romance and drama of frontier America as it developed from wilderness trails to roads, riverboats, railroads and civilization. A tribute to the faith, courage and ingenuity of our hearty pioneers who blaze the trails and made this progress possible."

I don't think an attraction with more or less the same facade as the existing Splash Mountain but housing an attraction set a century ago in New Orleans is going to read as jarring. Particularly as it sits alongside what might as well be and partially is a representation of the Mississippi River with a riverboat going past at regular intervals.

People are being far more literal about this theming than Walt Disney ever was.

It might stick out, but we don't know based on that one piece of very vague, nighttime artwork. Certainly not enough to be talking about the color palette. I doubt even Disney has much idea about what the exterior is going to look like when this is all finished.

I think that no one would have a problem with Tiana's ride if it was on Tom Sawyer's Island, but it just seems wrong in Frontierland. But Disney doesn't seem to care about that. They'll stick an IP wherever they want, no matter if it fits or not. Monsters Inc in Tomorrowland, Epcot's new front section, Frozen in Norway, etc. They just care about selling merchandise.

 

[Disstevefan1]

It doesn’t bother me that splash is changing. My concern is how long it will be down!

 

[dman1373]

This is so annoying.....the best ride in the park is being dropped for a forgettable movie overlay. The most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

 

[Minnie1976]

Instead of briar patches, we can have a beignet patch!

Inside of getting wet you could get covered in powdered sugar.

 

[jaxonp]

Is it still going to be called Splash Mountain?

 

[MickeyMouse10]

Is it still going to be called Splash Mountain?

I don't think so, they'll probably want to put Tiana's name in the title. Like they did with "Remy's Ratatouille Adventure".

 

[Greg in TN]

Is it still going to be called Splash Mountain?

My guess (and that's all it is, a guess) would be that the Splash Mountain name would stick around in some form, because it's part of the Disney "mountain range." But it would prob'ly be more like, "Splash Mountain: Tiana's ...(something)." Either way, I wouldn't be surprised if most people continue to call it Splash Mountain for awhile (Anybody remember "MGM Studios"?).

 

[jt04]

One small problem: The parts of Frontierland that deal with "The South" aren't from the 1600's when "The South" was "The Frontier", but many generations later after the Indians were pushed out and large towns established and territories converted into States. If you're not going to account for the chronology of the Western Expansion, then we can then still call The South as it exists today as still being frontier territory.

Whatever Song of the South is, the last thing anyone would call it is The Frontier or in the genre of frontier stories.

I like to keep reminding people that Imagineering can and has not only brought guests through geographic regions through clever theming but also through time itself. They can be creative like that.

What I find interesting is that they could use a timeframe that bumps right up against Walt moving to L.A.

You have to go to DCA for the following chapters I guess.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I think the recent emphasis on immersion, mostly in lands dedicated to specific films or franchises, has warped how people see what theming meant beginning at Disneyland. For the most part, the themes at the Magic Kingdom parks have always been big and conceptual rather than a literal time and place. In that respect, a little piece of Louisiana in Frontierland is not going to jar anymore than the desert-themed Big Thunder Mountain sitting on a wooded river with a riverboat regularly passing by. Splash Mountain is already set in the South, anyway.

I'm with @egg, the priority should be on the attraction which will almost certainly take a lot of money to do well considering current WDI budgets.

The issue isn’t so much Louisiana in Frontierland. As you note, at Disneyland that part of the country was part of Frontierland from the beginning. Even New Orleans Square, showing the “gay Paris of the Old West” was conceived of more as a sub-land and even included Frontierland Station. At the Magic Kingdom though you have a chronic-geographic tableau in the organization of Liberty Square and Frontierland. The western part of Frontierland was specifically conceived of as the west. While the movie and stories are rooted in Georgia, much of the aesthetic and even sound of Splash Mountain were modified to be more Western than Southern. Even Br’er Rabbit’s coloring was changed. The success of these changes can definitely be debated but it still shows a recognition of the unique design of Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom. The Princess and the Frog is a more radical disruption of this organization, being very specifically set later and to the east. This isn’t the last days of Wyatt Earp, this is the Jazz Age, a very different epoch in a world that has survived the horrors of the Great War.

 

[LittleBuford]

The issue isn’t so much Louisiana in Frontierland. As you note, at Disneyland that part of the country was part of Frontierland from the beginning. Even New Orleans Square, showing the “gay Paris of the Old West” was conceived of more as a sub-land and even included Frontierland Station. At the Magic Kingdom though you have a chronic-geographic tableau in the organization of Liberty Square and Frontierland. The western part of Frontierland was specifically conceived of as the west. While the movie and stories are rooted in Georgia, much of the aesthetic and even sound of Splash Mountain were modified to be more Western than Southern. Even Br’er Rabbit’s coloring was changed. The success of these changes can definitely be debated but it still shows a recognition of the unique design of Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom. The Princess and the Frog is a more radical disruption of this organization, being very specifically set later and to the east. This isn’t the last days of Wyatt Earp, this is the Jazz Age, a very different epoch in a world that has survived the horrors of the Great War.

Aren’t the Country Bears also Southern and also later, though?

 

[FigmentJedi]

Aren’t the Country Bears also Southern and also later, though?

The characters are Southern, but Grizzly Hall itself is supposed to represent the Rockies.

 

[LittleBuford]

The characters are Southern, but Grizzly Hall itself is supposed to represent the Rockies.

True, but the concern I was addressing was that The Princess of the Frog is set in the Jazz Age, which I don’t think needs to be reflected on the rethemed attraction’s exterior.

 

[FigmentFan82]

Please don’t say ziplock is going to sponsor this Fiasco. I would not like putting them on my not use list

hahahahahaha, omg I needed a good laugh. thank you

 

[MisterPenguin]

True, but the concern I was addressing was that The Princess of the Frog is set in the Jazz Age, which I don’t think needs to be reflected on the rethemed attraction’s exterior.

Indeed.

The HoP has a colonial facade, but, the attraction is in the present.

Ye Old Christmas Shoppe similarly has a Colonial facade, but almost all merch is contemporary... and... Christmasy.

Not to mention the disjunct between the Main Street facades and most of its interiors (o, hai, Tink!).

 

[Bocabear]

no need for the exterior to pick up any of the Jazz Age motifs...the attraction building according to the concept art is all country Bayou....which will blend fine enough...the integrity of each area only representing one particular thought is gone...Fantasyland Forest completely broke that ideal...especially with the circus theme attached, and then Monsters in Tomorrowland...
It is a better transition than what they did with Dumbo... I would like to see a New Orleans style mini land nearby though...like the corridor from Advetureland to Splash... Just the side of the Tall Tale inn and Tortuga Tavern... Maybe add some additional structures in that sliver of land between the walkway and train tracks....adding some MUCH NEEDED scenery to the WDRR...

 

[Goofy213]

If they change the name to something with Mardi Gras in it, does that mean we can throw beads to everyone that flashes us going down ghe hill?

 

[Bocabear]

There was a time when Flash Mountain was a thing.... there are pictures if you look them up....lol

 

[Magicart87]

If they change the name to something with Mardi Gras in it, does that mean we can throw beads to everyone that flashes us going down ghe hill?

Yep. I can see it now. "Woo! Show us your beignets!" and tosses beads. Actually this could be a very real concern. Think "Everest hairbands" but EVERYWHERE including the water.

 

[MisterPenguin]

tosses beads.

Oh, man. If it's heavy on the mardi gras theme, I hope the ride doesn't develop piles of tossed beads like the hair ties at EE.