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News Splash Mountain retheme to Princess and the Frog - Tiana's Bayou Adventure
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mickEblu
Well-Known Member
He doesn’t say it directly but says something along the lines that DL and WDW will have close to the same amount of AAs.
peter11435
Well-Known Member
Which doesn’t necessarily mean that Disneyland is loosing 40 figures. Could be less or far more.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
From what I understand WDWs only has around 60 AAs. So if he is to believed then DLs would top out around 60 AAs as well. It currently has just over 100. But yeah it could lose more.
WondersOfLife
Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
He ded.
_caleb
Well-Known Member
If WDW gets the short end of the stick, I think it’s their own fault. They could pay as much attention to sight lines and area theming as Disneyland does, but they don’t. They’re happy with clones, abandoned attractions, stagnation/neglect, and poor use of transition space in a way that Disneyland’s AP/locals don’t go for (except maybe the PeopleMover track). I blame management.
I thought maybe you’d be happy to hear that the overlay would mean minimal changes to the ride layout itself? I’m not part of any Twitter mob, but as someone who is looking forward to the changes, I’m pleased that they’re keeping the ride mostly intact and looking forward to seeing what they’re doing with the PatF storyline.
MerlinTheGoat
Well-Known Member
I didn't listen to the podcast and don't care about Jim Hill. Some of those bullet points just sound like logical assumptions, even without having any inside information. I've speculated some of the same things. Including my assessment that it's losing tons of AA's, and that the final lift will use Facilier's shadow.
And they're almost certainly removing more than 40. That seems low, I wouldn't even assume they'll retain 5 of the current ones. Almost none of the current AA's fit with the PATF designs/proportions. Only the smaller simpler figures such as the hanging possums or Mr Bluebird, Brer Roadrunner and the laughing turtles from WDW might be able to work. But as for the vast quantity of larger bipedal birds, frogs, foxes, dogs, rabbits, pigs, cats etc etc... I can't imagine them not being scrapped.
There will probably be a tiny handful of new figures (maybe 5-10 total if very lucky) for Tiana, Naveen, Louis and MAYBE Mama Odie. Facilier will likely only be a shadow projection on the final lift. If they add other new animals, i'd guess they generally won't be actual AA's. Rather a mixture of static mannequins and simple moving figures ala Little Mermaid. That's assuming they don't just use projections for everything...
Disneyland's AA's are in the mid-high 60s. WDW's doesn't have quite as many as DL, but they're quite close (mid to high 50s). The pages that claim WDW has 68 and DL over 100 are incorrect, i've closely analyzed the rides in the past and counted the figures myself. Not sure where those numbers came from.
And they're almost certainly removing more than 40. That seems low, I wouldn't even assume they'll retain 5 of the current ones. Almost none of the current AA's fit with the PATF designs/proportions. Only the smaller simpler figures such as the hanging possums or Mr Bluebird, Brer Roadrunner and the laughing turtles from WDW might be able to work. But as for the vast quantity of larger bipedal birds, frogs, foxes, dogs, rabbits, pigs, cats etc etc... I can't imagine them not being scrapped.
There will probably be a tiny handful of new figures (maybe 5-10 total if very lucky) for Tiana, Naveen, Louis and MAYBE Mama Odie. Facilier will likely only be a shadow projection on the final lift. If they add other new animals, i'd guess they generally won't be actual AA's. Rather a mixture of static mannequins and simple moving figures ala Little Mermaid. That's assuming they don't just use projections for everything...
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But that's just it it's not minimal changes it's drastic changes with an overlay that will look minimalist. Ripping out set pieces, AAs, etc with only a sprinkling of Patf additions. The exact opposite of what we want. And the supposed plot, gah! It's terrible. I'd be all for minimal changes and keeping most of Splash the same but that sounds unlikely given the latest rumors, especially if they're going to rip out 40+ figures. It's still a downgrade. Patf deserves better and so does Splash.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Are you sure about that? I feel like I always see that 100# thrown around for DL.
Yeah many of the bullet points had already been assumed and or hoped for by myself and others. If they are following all the same story beats as Splash I don’t see why they need to remove many AAs. Of course, the one issue I see is that they ll need to use the same scale of the animals in PatF but the fact that Tiana and Naveen aren’t frogs help and this can be solved with good staging. Louis is a gigantic walking alligator so in that vein I don’t see why we can’t have dogs and geese that are also large but smaller than he is. Also I want to clarify when I say keep most of the AAs I’m not talking about them being repurposed. I’m saying literally keep the exact AAs in their current spots as much possible. Fit PatF around Splash Mountain.
The ride already evokes the whole Bayou theme. Just replace the first Brer Bear and Brer Fox with Tiana and Naveen and have them again in the finale. The rest of the way it’s Louis and most of the current AAs (except the Brer Trio). The Burrows lament AAs would also need to go or be repurposed but I really don’t see why they have to get rid of all the generic AAs present In How do You Do, Lauging Place or Zip a dee doo dah. Sure some need to be removed for them to tell this new story effectively but I believe the vast majority can be kept if they wanted to. Splash Mountain is a classic attraction and they should aim to make this ride Splash Mountain featuring Princess and the Frog as much as possible.
I also think Dr Facilier and his ghouls will only be projections but that makes sense. I wouldn’t expect more than 8 AAs. Two Tianas, 1 or 2 Naveens. Three or Four Louis’ (with a couple of them maybe being more like figures with limited movement than AAs) and 1 Mama Odie. I love how I’m talking about these characters like I know them. I ve seen this movie once 6 years ago.
_caleb
Well-Known Member
I’ve seen you mention the design/proportion thing before. Would you please elaborate on this? The design of PatF is clearly different than that of American Sings and Splash, but it seems like this might be addressed with an overlay? Just trying to understand the perspective that the current AAs won’t work.
aladdin2007
Well-Known Member
and also far less for them to take care of and upkeep,,that's all they care about now. Which is why the great movie ride got the ax instead of an upgrade, different reasoning than splash I know but internally and in the long run that's their goal with everything I feel and more or less the real reason for the change even though they will use the splash theme issue as an excuse up the river. As much less "physical" pieces as possible, more tech instead. and I totally agree with you. I can't help but think even though the ride track will remain as is its going to feel much shorter with a lot less to look at,,,we of course don't know yet exactly but that I think its the trend sadly.
Parker in NYC
Well-Known Member
Either way, I wouldn't be surprised if most people continue to call it Splash Mountain for awhile (Anybody remember "MGM Studios"?).
Still haven’t called it anything else!
aladdin2007
Well-Known Member
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
I’ve mentioned the same thing on the DL thread. For example take the frogs in PatF. They are tiny like in real life. Now take a look at 2 foot tall Brer Frog. The animals in Splash are almost human sized but in PatF they are closer to the real world and they also don’t wear clothes unfortunately.
The fact that Tiana and Naveen will not be present as frogs helps and so does some The biggest difference for me is that the animals in Splash wear clothes.
MerlinTheGoat
Well-Known Member
I'm positive. It's the numbers wikipedia cites, and seemingly other Disney websites with "ride facts" (including this one). But they are definitely wrong. I've analyzed both versions of the ride and counted the AA's several times.
Disneyland by my count has 70 animatronics. WDW I counted 60. It's plausible I missed one or two figures for each, but I was quite thorough and there's definitely not as many as 68 for WDW, let alone 100+ for DL...
I didn't count anything that was a static prop. Like the turtle being used as a drum by another porcupine AA. I also didn't count the 5 prairie dogs in the Laughing Place scenes (which are at both DL and WDW). They aren't animatronics, just static props that pop out of the holes as boats pass. No motion otherwise, even the prairie dogs in Living With the Land have more movement.
68 is at least slightly closer to the actual number for WDW, but still off by 8. The 103 number i'm seeing cited for Disneyland is just ridiculous. I have no idea where it came from but it most definitely does not have anywhere near that many.
No Name
Well-Known Member
Which is very stubborn and purely based on nostalgia because Disney-MGM Studios was not even a good name.me either I still say MGM
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Weird. Did they think people would just never count or have they lost some through the years? Doesn’t seem like any are missing. It’s not like they say 100 characters either. I’m pretty sure they always specify 100 +AAs.
MerlinTheGoat
Well-Known Member
The animals from PATF are still the general shape of real life animals. Example being the roseate spoonbills from Dig a Little Deeper.
Note that these birds are only a couple feet tall at most (Mama Odie is tiny, half the height of Tiana). Overall, despite being cartooned up (particularly the eyes, colors and silly facial expressions), these birds do compared to the size and general shape of real life spoonbills. Their heads are extremely small and their legs and necks are extremely thin.
Now look at the commonly seen birds from Splash Mtn-
You can probably see the difference just by looking. Even those small frog figures are WAY too large, fat and overall improperly shaped for PATF's frogs. Movies that share similarly more "realistic" animal designs to PATF include Lady and the Tramp, Bambi, 101 Dalmations, Aristocats, Lion King, Brother Bear, Tarzan etc.
The animals in Splash Mtn are different, the word "anthropomorphic" being the key. If you aren't familiar with the term, it refers to animals that have been drawn to have more human-like bodies (to varying degrees). Do a google image search for the term and you'll find a lot of examples. Besides Splash Mtn, Disney's Robin Hood and Zootopia are two examples that also use this anthropomorphic style.
DCLcruiser
Well-Known Member
We finally watched PATF and quite frankly, the entire movie appears to have been made to replace SM and maybe even to update the Liberty Belle. The Bayou river/alligator, the critters at the end for the wedding and the river boat scenes.
There's even hanging possums!
There's even hanging possums!
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Rescue Ranger
Well-Known Member
I'm happy that Splash Mountain appears to be reopening with MK so at least some will be able to experience it again or even for the 1st time before the re-theme.
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