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

[CaptainAmerica]

I don’t know, Be Prepared is about fratricide, not many other villains could sing a song about murder with the audience boping along to it in a kids movie. That one has to be #1, and Oogies song is probably #2.

Nightmare is SUPER niche. It has a dedicated core of fans but casuals aren't into it and would have no idea who "Oogie Boogie" is.

 

[JohnD]

Whenever Disney goes full on evil witch/wizard they make their best and most iconic villains, and there are 5 who stand out:
-Evil Queen
-Malnificent
-Ursula
-Jafar
-Dr Faciller

Yes there are other great villains (Cruella, Frollo, Gaeston, etc) but when you hear Disney Villain your mind tends to dwell on these 5.

Oogie Boogie

 

[Touchdown]

Why not instead make it so Dr Faclier is stealing the riders soul to regain a body, and Tiana and friends are trying to help you avoid that fate by bringing you to Mama Oodie via the bayou (explained in queue and lifts.). The ride starts out with Goin Down The Bayou and Rays relations (How Do You Do,) transitions to a Lewis section (Laughin Place,) but Faclier kicks us and Lewis into the brambles (drop) incapacitating Lewis (Brer Bear alligator) and separating us from the group for Friends on the Other Side (Laughin Place) only for Mama Oodie coming to save us last lift and drop) with the finale room being Down Here in New Orleans (reprise.)

Remember when riders were part of the story?

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Given I've ridden it pre and post 2015, I can only say that the change to projections from wall movement didn't result in any noticeable difference in the ride. Still one of the bumpiest rides at DL.

"Bumpy" and "Unreliable" are very different complaints.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I think it would be criticised only because of the frog issue. The idea that book-report rides in general are bad is a relatively new one that I don't think exists outside certain hardcore fan circles.

Replacing Splash with a 12 minute book-report of PATF would (in my opinion) be disastrous for them.

Little Mermaid is a cute ride, but it’s not considered a great Disney attraction. Held back by the limitations of a retold story, in a small scale format.

The Disneyland Fantasyland dark rides perfected the concept of taking a movie, and quickly pulling you through moments you know, while still making it feel fresh and adventurous. I think it works in that format well.

But Disney hasn’t done an attraction on the scale of Haunted Mansion, POTC, or Splash, that is a direct retelling of a movie (that I can think of).

(Well you mentioned Splash is a book report, but I concede I had no idea).

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Suppose they skipped scheduled maintenance and then something happened on the ride that injured a guest. The lawyers would have a field day with them skipping scheduled maintenance, even if the maintenance was more for cosmetics than anything else.

Splash Mountain is not closing for Scheduled Maintenance this coming January - it is closing permanently to begin the transformation into Tiana's Bayou Adventure.

 

[JohnD]

Splash Mountain is not closing for Scheduled Maintenance this coming January - it is closing permanently to begin the transformation into Tiana's Bayou Adventure.

They're using the normal refurbishment schedule to take it down for the retheme.

 

[LittleBuford]

Little Mermaid is a cute ride, but it’s not considered a great Disney attraction. Held back by the limitations of a retold story, in a small scale format.

What holds the ride back isn’t that it’s based directly on the film, but that it’s poorly executed. If a ride is done well, people don’t care whether it’s a book report or not.

 

[Disney Analyst]

What holds the ride back isn’t that it’s based directly on the film, but that it’s poorly executed. If a ride is done well, people don’t care whether it’s a book report or not.

I mean for sure, but I guess I appreciate that Disney is trying to create something more original, with a known IP.

I just hope it's good.

 

[TwilightZone]

looks like its time to dip out of this thread again

 

[UNCgolf]

Agreed.


It's a 12-minute ride, they wouldn't need to linger on the frog parts. All the banger songs are in the beginning anyways.

Down In New Orleans (Tiana is human)
Almost There (Tiana is human)
Friends on the Other Side (Tiana is human)
Gonna Take You There / Dig a Little Deeper (frog)
Down In New Orleans Reprise (human)

It would probably be a lot more work for Disney, though, because the whole interior couldn't be bayou scenes (or mainly bayou scenes). They'd have to do have New Orleans with possibly some building interiors, then transition to bayou, then eventually transition back to New Orleans.

Not that that's an argument against doing it, but it may have been a consideration.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

It would probably take a lot more work for Disney, though, because the whole interior couldn't be bayou scenes (or mainly bayou scenes). They'd have to do have New Orleans with possibly some building interiors, then transition to bayou, then eventually transition back to New Orleans.

Not that that's an argument against doing it, but it may have been a consideration.

Couldn't the interior be half Facilier / magic and half bayou?

 

[UNCgolf]

Couldn't the interior be half Facilier / magic and half bayou?

I only meant if you were trying to incorporate all those songs, since the first couple would require a New Orleans setting at the beginning but not Facilier/magic.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

They're using the normal refurbishment schedule to take it down for the retheme.

That it happens to be closing in the same month they typically perform its annual maintenance is pretty irrelevant here. People are talking as if Splash Mountain will be recieving its regular annual maintenance this coming January, and that's absolutely not true. These posts about "scheduled maintenance" make it seem like the Splash Mountain will reopen to guests at some point, which it won't, it will become Tiana's Bayou Adventure. What they'll be doing come January 23rd is very different from "scheduled maintenance", and Splash Mountain as we know it will never be seen in Walt Disney World again.

 

[Rush]

I'm keeping fingers crossed for a mini New Orleans makeover to the area adjacent to the ride.

 

[JohnD]

These posts about "scheduled maintenance" make it seem like the Splash Mountain will reopen to guests at some point, which it won't

Wrong. Tiana will open "at some point" in 2024.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Now we're really getting off topic but Meredith Inglesby guest starred as Mother Gothel on the Magic last year and she also did a couple of sets in Fathoms that gave me feelings.

She did a fantastic job, both with her singing and acting.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I mean for sure, but I guess I appreciate that Disney is trying to create something more original, with a known IP.

I just hope it's good.

Agreed. I appreciate that they are coming up with new material, finally. Whether it’s good or not remains to be known, and even that is subjective. But at least they’re trying something different.

 

[VJ]

looks like its time to dip out of this thread again

time to be movin' along?

 

[GoneForGood]

Just wanted to share this. I read the blog entry and saw that the newly released artwork is intended to be the first show scene after we drop down into the showbuilding. From the image Disney shared, this may potentially involve partial if not full re-build of the sets, as if this scene is placed on the first "bend" in the attraction, there isn't any room there currently.

(The "tunnel" before the fishing pond has a CM/Emergency walk way that comes out a little, right up on the trough on the right hand side, there would be no room for it as is.)

But then I thought about it for a bit, the dock in the image looks similar to the one that the three geese are standing on a little further into the show building. The issue is, this dock is on the RIGHT hand side of the track, while in the new image it's on the left. So I went ahead and mirrored the image out of curiosity:

The frogs in the image are situated where the bullfrogs on Splash are now. The same with the dock. If true...then I wonder why the image was revealed mirrored. I hope I explained that in a way that makes sense.

Now of course, this is likely me WAY overthinking it, and Disney intends on doing a full or partial gut. Just random speculation on my part.