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

CastAStone

5th gate? Just build a new resort Bob.
Premium Member
Are you serious? Haha, every single one of those is a fraction of the size/complexity of the Splash Mountain project. They haven't even shut it down and we're expected to believe it will be complete in the calendar year after next? Even if they were working on it right now it would be a stretch. They aren't even doing that, not at least on site.
K. I will bet real money it’s done in 18 months.
 

ifan

Well-Known Member
The fact that there isn’t “synergistic” marketing this morning (press release, teaser video, insta and tik tok posts) makes it seem likely that this wasn’t a planned statement. Disney probably scrambling now to figure out the best way to follow this up.
 

celluloid

Well-Known Member
None of it bodes well.

If it happens and her info is somehow right because Disney PR had her announce it in a vague lackluster way in morning tv(which tells you it is just what she is already knowing she is involved with since the 2020 announcement)

2 years from now to finish pre building whatever they may or may not have to demo some sections, retheme others and overhaul hardware and software for the ride and install odds and ends test and cycle it.

People keep claiming so much is going to be fabricated in shops and hauled in, welly yeah, that is how everything works but you would by now see some sort of hype with the way Disney loves doing that of the Animatronic figures, insta pictures from WDI or some magical music over shots of scenic elements being created with WDI people in hard hats saying what an exciting time it is to prep this attraction.

She had to say something related to her biggest fame to most people, and that is the last she heard of it too.
 

Kirby86

Well-Known Member
People keep claiming so much is going to be fabricated in shops and hauled in, welly yeah, that is how everything works but you would by now see some sort of hype with the way Disney loves doing that of the Animatronic figures, insta pictures from WDI or some magical music over shots of scenic elements being created with WDI people in hard hats saying what an exciting time it is to prep this attraction.
I think when they were making the Beauty and the Beast attraction for China (which most of the US fanbase will never go to) WDI shouted from the hilltops look at our new generation of audio animatronics.
 

celluloid

Well-Known Member
I think when they were making the Beauty and the Beast attraction for China (which most of the US fanbase will never go to) WDI shouted from the hilltops look at our new generation of audio animatronics.

Exactly. Wasn't that with Japan? There has not been a single blip on anything created for this in a shop somewhere. You would be getting the same kind of videos by now.
 

zakattack99

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
They did TOT -> Guardians MB in 5 months, California Screamin -> Incredicoaster in 5 months, TGMR-MMRR in 30 months, and Maelstrom to Frozen in 21 months. So yeah they CAN do it.
Just a few thoughts on this, not disagreeing, because yes they can do it if they want, but looking at this another way:

Out of what you outlined above I think the TOT to Guardians is the exception, everything but the ride system, was redone at a crazy speed. No offence but Incredicoaster is not a great example as there was not much that was redone as there was not much there to begin with (maybe I missed something or am ignorant to everything that was done). The last two I believe are good parallels to this project 20-30 months for a redo.

So lets look at the likely start date for this project:

Disneyland:

Currently Disneyland is down at least two rides until some point (lets say June) of 2023. When they will also gain the Mickey ride. Personally I do not see them taking more capacity away from the park (especially once you begin to factor in holiday closures for Mansion and IASW) until Toontown is back. So my belief is that the earliest they can start Splash is June of next year. If we go 20 months from then would be Feb 2025 and 30 months would put us at Dec 2025 both outside the 2024 opening quoted. Never having been to Disneyland or California I am not sure how summer heat would factor in their decision as to when to close the ride, push ride closure out till fall of next year and now your opening is in 2026 territory.

Disney World:

Again nothing happing here until TRON is up. So that would put us at Nov of this year at the earliest. Possible for a 2024 opening if that was to happen. However they may hold until after the busy Christmas season so that would put us in Jan/Feb next year making a 2024 date unlikely. From what I remember insiders have already hinted that they are planning on normal winter maintenance on Splash indicating that next year (2023) will be a mostly normal year for the mountain. Disney needs capacity for both general guest sanity and to keep Disney Genie+ as a viable sell. A late 2023 closing would be my guess if it closes at all.

Could I be wrong absolutely, but I think if we look at it from a operational standpoint, there are pieces of the puzzle that have to move before this goes forward at both parks. However if that is the case than a 2024 opening is unlikely on both coasts. Obviously this all depend on the timeline but I would be very surprised if these closures take lass than 20months.
 

Comped

Well-Known Member
Just a few thoughts on this, not disagreeing, because yes they can do it if they want, but looking at this another way:

Out of what you outlined above I think the TOT to Guardians is the exception, everything but the ride system, was redone at a crazy speed. No offence but Incredicoaster is not a great example as there was not much that was redone as there was not much there to begin with (maybe I missed something or am ignorant to everything that was done). The last two I believe are good parallels to this project 20-30 months for a redo.

So lets look at the likely start date for this project:

Disneyland:

Currently Disneyland is down at least two rides until some point (lets say June) of 2023. When they will also gain the Mickey ride. Personally I do not see them taking more capacity away from the park (especially once you begin to factor in holiday closures for Mansion and IASW) until Toontown is back. So my belief is that the earliest they can start Splash is June of next year. If we go 20 months from then would be Feb 2025 and 30 months would put us at Dec 2025 both outside the 2024 opening quoted. Never having been to Disneyland or California I am not sure how summer heat would factor in their decision as to when to close the ride, push ride closure out till fall of next year and now your opening is in 2026 territory.

Disney World:

Again nothing happing here until TRON is up. So that would put us at Nov of this year at the earliest. Possible for a 2024 opening if that was to happen. However they may hold until after the busy Christmas season so that would put us in Jan/Feb next year making a 2024 date unlikely. From what I remember insiders have already hinted that they are planning on normal winter maintenance on Splash indicating that next year (2023) will be a mostly normal year for the mountain. Disney needs capacity for both general guest sanity and to keep Disney Genie+ as a viable sell. A late 2023 closing would be my guess if it closes at all.

Could I be wrong absolutely, but I think if we look at it from a operational standpoint, there are pieces of the puzzle that have to move before this goes forward at both parks. However if that is the case than a 2024 opening is unlikely on both coasts. Obviously this all depend on the timeline but I would be very surprised if these closures take lass than 20months.
Absolutely, and considering with LA being pretty much a lock for the World Cup, among other things, the timeline doesn't make sense. If Orlando gets matches somehow, that would have to play into Disney's consideration, or at least I hope, because it would be a gigantic capacity sink for what I would expect to be a very large crowd coming to Disney on both coasts as part of the festivities.
 

SailorMercury

Well-Known Member
She only mentioned "an attraction", and did not mention Splash Muntain by name. Which could be something far different. I checked with some people and they gave me an interesting tidbit... From what I'm hearing it could be a small as an Enchanted Tales with Belle type of experience, if they didn't want to take Splash down and wanted to cheapen out on the experience.
Must be riding Jungle Cruise the way you’re in DeNile.
 

Rescue Ranger

Well-Known Member
As much as I love Splash and the characters, at this point all I can say is GOOD! Close is it NOW. They should be embarrassed to keep it running in the condition it's currently in. It's pitiful.

Never thought I'd see the WDW of past come to be perfectly pleased and feel comfortable operating an attaction with missing ears, numerous broken animatronics, inoperative features, broken water effects, broken jaws, broken bees, peeling paint....the list goes on. I don't want to see it leave and wish P&tF could be a new attraction but it's better than seeing Splash waste away even further.

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out. As much as I'd love Splash to stay and be refurbished, time to accept it now. Tons of potential for them to hit this outta the park. Hope to see the Disney World of old return to caring and being close to perfection again because many attractions and areas of the parks/resorts are looking rough. Should never get to that point.

These conditions would never have existed under past leadership and values. No one wants to see Tiana's left arm floating in the bayou 6 months after this opens.
 

Midwest Elitist

Well-Known Member
Does MK get a bluegrass style PATF OST? I sure would hope so.
Bluegrass "Dig a Little Deeper" would soften the blow of losing Zip, but it means we will never hear that rendition again.

I think this project execution is going to be dumber than we can possibly imagine, so I'm not holding out hope that we get different music versions. I more expect some dumb comment from DEI about how "Bluegrass music makes people feel uncomfortable because it brings memories of the South" or some other stupid and anti-intellectual comment.
 

EagleScout610

Always causin' some kind of commotion downstream
Premium Member
I'm going to assume that the whole 2024 part was the date given when Disney announced this in the first place, and they were probably under the assumption the ride would be down by now for it.
 

Incomudro

Well-Known Member
I find it nearly impossible to believe that they can get this up and running by 2024.
At least not in the way that a reskin of one of the greatest rides in the history of the park deserves.
A slapped together, painted over version with lots of screens and a third of the functioning AA's?
Yeah, they can probably pull that off - and I'm afraid that's what they'll be doing.
I hope I'm wrong.
 
Last edited:

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom