Tiana's Bayou Adventure: Disneyland Watch & Discussion

[Ghost93]

I think if they added more suspense on the lift hill, the Disneyland version of Tiana's would be largely fine. The Magic Kingdom version is too drawn out.

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

Absolutely not. Not only is it a poor replacement to Splash Mountain from a storytelling and execution standpoint, but it also does a very poor job of capturing the same spirit of the Princess & the Frog film. It’s written & executed like an interactive Blue’s Clues/Dora the Explorer style Disney Jr. show reimagining of the characters rather than a tasteful continuation of the film. Which absolutley ‘does not’ fit the thrill element of this attraction. It should be geared towards all ages rather than mainly the preschool set. Baffling they’d do that when the other Fantasyland style darkrides around the park simply showcase the scenes of the stories and capture the same moods, writing style & characterizations as the films they originate. Unless the writers behind this attraction genuinely believed they captured it.. which my jaw would drop, if so. No idea why they felt a story w absolutely no tension & stakes would fit along a thrilling log flume, particularly when the film itself had plenty of tension & stakes in its story.
The story they’ve come up with here is looking for musicians for a celebration.. which is ‘constantly’ hit over the head throughout.. like oiii, and what a waste of technically complex animatronic figures that do absolutely nothing to justify it. They sit or stand around and wiggle, while telling you what they’re supposed to accomplish, (or what you’re apparently supposed to help them accomplish). No sense of “adventure” or challenge whatsoever either. Besides its lack of action taking place between scenes, the critters aren’t hard to find either (had they done that, it would’ve encouraged more re-rideability of actually spotting/finding the musicians throughout, and would’ve fit the plotline they came up with better). And then there’s something about us being the special spice that makes everything complete despite the critters being the thing they were actually looking for (not more guests). It hardly makes sense.

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

Then again, Frozen Ever After at EPCOT doesn’t have much happen either and it seems that’s what they used as their model for this ride, minus the Disney Jr. show style writing throughout. Wish more folks would complain about the quality of that attraction’s storytelling & action & staging of the AA figures (minus Olaf & Sven in the first scene and Olaf ice skating in his next scenes, those look fine) also, but yeah.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Then again, Frozen Ever After at EPCOT doesn’t make much sense either nor has much happen either and it seems that’s what they used as their model, minus the Disney Jr. style writing throughout.

Eh, that attraction's whole thing is "Do you wanna go meet Elsa? I mean, come on you know you do!" And once you do, that's pretty much the end of the experience, even though you have about half the ride left to go.

I would totally consider that to be Disney Junior level storytelling.

At least it's finally getting real AAs (checks notes) 10. years. later.

 

[mickEblu]

Prefer? No.

But I think, now that I've ridden it three times, that if the ride itself was more focused and didn't replace Splash Mountain, it wouldn't have near as much heat on it as it does.

If this opened in, say, Paris or something as a new build, people would not have cared so much about this attraction and might have even appreciated it.

I will say that while riding it, people don't always appreciate the level of wetness but don't seem to actively hate the ride.

So if it didn’t replace one of the most beloved Disney attractions of all time it wouldn’t be judged as harshly? Obviously. But its issues extend way past that. For starters, not doing the source material any justice at all.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Does anyone else remember when Tiana's was announced/built, and people were saying it was needed since Splash was poorly maintained and was unreliable, with often malfunctioning animatronics?

 

[Distorian]

My only praise for Tiana is that with Splash Mountain gone there is one less must-do attraction at the park, which frees up my time to go on other rides.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

So if it didn’t replace one of the most beloved Disney attractions of all time it wouldn’t be judged as harshly? Obviously. But its issues extend way past that. For starters, not doing the source material any justice at all.

Even if it were a new build it would still be inferior to Splash for us, similar to how we still prefer Star Tours over the Millennium Falcon ride and Toy Story Mania over the Spiderman ride. They are both enjoyable enough rides, just not as good as the older rides that are similar.

I think if Tiana was a new ride (an addition to Splash) it would be viewed much more favorably but I think it would still be seen as the “lessor” of the two rides.

 

[mickEblu]

At least we can pretend Millenium Falcon doesn't exist- you have to go out of your way to see it/ride it.

Tiana's looms over half of the dang park- it's an ever present reminder of Disney's 2020 DEI push.

Yup and it’s a reminder not only in their decision to replace Splash but even in the execution of how they handled its replacement. If they built a PatF ride in 2017 it would have looked much different.

 

[TheCoasterNerd]

No, I don’t prefer it, but I absolutely love it on the same level. They’re equally good to me. Granted I don’t have much nostalgia for splash since I only rode it once when I was 6 but I absolutely adore Tiana’s. Such a fun ride imo and one I ride EVERY time I go to the parks

 

[donaldtoo]

Does anyone else remember when Tiana's was announced/built, and people were saying it was needed since Splash was poorly maintained and was unreliable, with often malfunctioning animatronics?

I do, indeed, remember that.
Which begs the question…what’s their excuse now…?!?!?!

 

[donaldtoo]

According to Tony, those involved in the project at WDI dismissed the suggestion as ‘nobody cares about the story of the ride, they just care about the big drop’.

Yeah.
Just let that sink in for a moment.

All the recent marketing about ‘telling stories’ means zilch.

Yep, that last sentence is one of the biggest loads of ever come out of WDI considering recent developments.

 

[donaldtoo]

The WDI of today is not the WDI of 30 years ago. But also, the issues with the attraction extend far beyond just the lack of tension.

I think I'm okay that Tony was excluded from the project though. It keeps his legacy intact- he isn't tarnished by being associated with the rushed retheme of one of the greatest themed attractions ever built. He already has Tomorrowland '98 on his resume, he doesn't need TBA also.

That’s a fair point.
But still, what an incredible opportunity wizzed away by the apparently arrogant, self-absorbed, know-it-alls of today’s WDI.

 

[donaldtoo]

And the book….
That marvelous book he will be writing at some point…

-

He needs to get on that, posthaste…!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

He needs to get on that.

Great minds…!!!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

Now that the dust has long since settled, is there anybody actually prefers Tiana's over Splash Mountain on non-ideological grounds?

 

[DarkMetroid567]

I enjoy DL Tiana more than DL Splash and ride it a lot more. MK is a different story, but I’ve only done MK Tiana once.

 

[Homemade Imagineering]

The 1st half of the attraction works for me
up until the former Laughin’ Place. The infrastructure is good imo despite the A-1000s having issues from time to time. If they were to completely retool the Laughin’ Place into a scary swamp section with gators and other, more threatening bayou creatures, that would really bring this up to a worthy successor to
SM. Essentially the same plot as Monster Mansion, and allows them to still pivot away from using Facilier if they are truly hellbent on keeping him out of the attraction. The finale could stay the same in this scenario too, and provides a simple enough plot for the breakneck speed of the DLR version while bringing back that tension SM had

 

[D.Silentu]

Splash had beautiful wall-to-wall sets that totally immersed you. Tiana has some beautiful sets in pockets of light.

I think this is what bothers me most. The story they came up with was at least marginally better than the lost trumpet rumor. I feel like I can overlook the plot, thin as it is. The simplistic figures, while harder to ignore, are at least more passable than the mannequins that modern Disney has used in other places.

However, the spotlit vignettes really get to me. Especially when the same space used to feature a swamp full of nooks and crannies, but also spots where you could see the entire sizable space. The only reason I can guess for that choice is multiple Tiana figures in the same field of view. However, you can’t convince me that there wasn’t some way to camouflage them. I’ll give them a pass on the finale, even if I’d rather they used a familiar song. Yet, the choices they made in scene arrangement and set design really make it feel like the attraction, not the riders, got smaller.

 

[Professortango1]

Tiana's has 5 songs, not 2? Down in New Orleans, Almost There, Going Down the Bayou, Dig a Little Deeper and Special Spice (Special Spice is reserved for the finale just like Zip A Dee Doo Dah so yeah)

Splash's facade does look like red clay hills in Georgia. If only it was moved into Liberty Square as Georgia was one of the 13 colonies and never on the "Frontier' whatsoever. I concede that salt mine explanation was one that was basically forced instead of being a natural fit but I think they did a good way of explaining that for what they could. Salt Mine was built up and became abandoned, allowing plants to return to the giant mound again. I think the front looks like a bayou tbh. I am not aware of any giant thorny bushes in the surrounding waters of a clay hill in Georgia but if you find one, feel free to let me know

In the body of TBA, they only have 2 songs

Everything prior to the first drop is vibes. It's a prologue at best. Splash used this time to introduce the music and tone,,while having it compliment the sights. Tiana uses it as a chance to shove in another song about how hard Tiana works which doesn't fit the story.

Act 1 - Floatin Down the Bayou
Act 2 - Dig a Little Deeper
Act 3 - Missing
Epilogue/Denouement- Special Spice

vs

Act 1 - How Do You Do?
Act 2 - Everybody Has a Laughin' Place
Act 3 - Burrow's Lament
Epilogue/Denouement - Zip a Dee Doo Da

I can't speak for Florida's placement, as it was designed for Disneyland, but a folktale based ride in Frontierland fits a lot better than a ride that treats the characters as real and are looking to find animal musicians for a party in a 1920's bayou.

But here are the inspiration for Splash, which they nailed while keeping it fitting.