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

[UNCgolf]

I don’t fully understand that line of thought people have. Maybe I’m more optimistic, but Disney’s track record has far more successes to me then misses.

My list that gives me hope, and maybe it’s because I look at a company wide lense:

- Buena Vista Street
- Cars Land
- Radiator Springs Racers
- Pandora
- Flight of Passage
- Galaxy’s Edge
- Rise of the Resistance
- Toy Story Land
- Frozen Ride
- Runaway Railway
- Mystic Manor
- Grizzly Coaster
- Shanghai Pirates
- Alice in Wonderland attraction plussing
- Peter Pan attraction plussing
- ROA redo

I just don’t see them messing up one of their icon rides.

It's clearly a matter of differing opinion on some of what they've done. I think Toy Story Land and Frozen Ever After are disappointments at best, and bordering on being outright bad. Runaway Railway looks fun and I'm looking forward to riding it, but it also could have easily been better and is not as impressive as the Great Movie Ride. I also found Galaxy's Edge to be somewhat disappointing outside of Rise of the Resistance. Smuggler's Run is mediocre and the land overall has too much bland empty space. It's far far better than Toy Story Land and certainly isn't bad, but there are a lot of things they could have done to make it better (and some of them were supposed to be part of the land but were cut).

Beyond that, though, I'm also concerned that at this moment they won't be willing to spend the money necessary to create something comparable to what currently exists.

 

[doctornick]

I don’t fully understand that line of thought people have. Maybe I’m more optimistic, but Disney’s track record has far more successes to me then misses.

My list that gives me hope, and maybe it’s because I look at a company wide lense:

- Buena Vista Street
- Cars Land
- Radiator Springs Racers
- Pandora
- Flight of Passage
- Galaxy’s Edge
- Rise of the Resistance
- Toy Story Land
- Frozen Ride
- Runaway Railway
- Mystic Manor
- Grizzly Coaster
- Shanghai Pirates
- Alice in Wonderland attraction plussing
- Peter Pan attraction plussing
- ROA redo

I just don’t see them messing up one of their icon rides.

I dunno. I think many of us look at situations where there have been replacement rides with some concern. I would agree that most new builds have at least been decent if not excellent and, in those cases, worse case is still a new attraction that adds something new to the parks.

But when we see attractions replaced by new rides, it's been a mixed bag as to how the new rides compare to the ones they replaced:

Imagination ride
Horizons to M:S
UoE to Ellen's
Living Seas to Nemo
Maelstrom to Frozen Ever After
Soarin' to Soarin' 2.0
Tiki Birds to Under New Management (later restored to close to the original)
ExtraTERRORstrial encounter to Stich (and closed)
SWSA to Fairytale Hall
Flights of Wonder to an Up themed show
GMR to MMRR
ToT to Mission Breakout
California Screamin' to Increadicoaster
Paradise Pier to Pixar Pier
20K subs to Nemo

Most of these at best were "neutral" changes and many are regarded as significant steps down from the attractions that preceded it. Adding to the potential for a rushed job and financial pressures in regards to Splash - not to mention the high pinnacle of achievement that is the baseline for the attraction - and it's definitely concerning for many of us that we will end up with a lesser attraction.

Edit: There's a reason why many of us are hoping that SSE just gets a high quality renovation versus a whole brand new theme and experience. We are leery of modern Disney trying to "improve" upon classic rides.

 

[Brer Oswald]

I don’t fully understand that line of thought people have. Maybe I’m more optimistic, but Disney’s track record has far more successes to me then misses.

My list that gives me hope, and maybe it’s because I look at a company wide lense:

- Buena Vista Street
- Cars Land
- Radiator Springs Racers
- Pandora
- Flight of Passage
- Galaxy’s Edge
- Rise of the Resistance
- Toy Story Land
- Frozen Ride
- Runaway Railway
- Mystic Manor
- Grizzly Coaster
- Shanghai Pirates
- Alice in Wonderland attraction plussing
- Peter Pan attraction plussing
- ROA redo

I just don’t see them messing up one of their icon rides.

It depends on what you consider high of quality. I’m going to exclude everything that debuted after August 2019, or international.

Flight of Passage is an experiential attraction. It presents a great experience...for the first 5 rides. After my 5th, it’s just alright. I honestly find the queue and build up more exciting than the ride. If it tries to tell a story, it’s pretty bad at it. I’ve been on it 8 times and I don’t know what the plot is.

Radiator Springs is a fun attraction. Although, without the Cars bias I have, I think the interior scenes would lose a bit for me. It’s a well put together attraction, but nowhere near the storytelling of Splash.

Toy Story Land is a weak kid’s land. It has a fun coaster, but nowhere near as detailed as ToonTown. The coaster is cute.

Frozen is a very weak attraction. I give it a pass because what it replaced was also a very weak attraction. It’s a nothing burger. It merely adds to the Epcot roster, rather than being a standout attraction.

Nothing Disney’s done since Splash has had the same expert level of storytelling and pacing as Splash (with the possible exception of ToT).

That’s why I’m skeptical, and a bit upset. You know, beyond the notion that you should just throw your problems like a trash bag over your neighbour’s fence, and run for the hills.

 

[Brer Oswald]

I think they will certainly cut costs, and are across the parks, but I do not think they’ll cut costs when it comes to this, they know this is too important.

And if costs are cut in some areas of the ride I hope it’s not noticeable in the least.

Unless the mass layoffs were just to finance this attraction, I wouldn’t count your stars just yet.

The odds are really stacked against this being remotely good, let alone better than what’s there now.

 

[matt9112]

I don’t view myself as belonging to either side. I love the current theme and am, on a personal level, sorry to see it go, but I also accept that the association with Song of the South is unwelcome for some people and am therefore willing to give the new theme a fair chance. I suspect there are others like me who are somewhere in the middle, neither happy about nor devastated by the planned overhaul.

The theme is the least of my worries...a cheap frozen 2.0 overlay is my concern.

 

[ToTBellHop]

The theme is the least of my worries...a cheap frozen 2.0 overlay is my concern.

That’s my worry. PatF could make a gorgeous ride. But you’d need a full gut which, for Disney, would cost at least $200 million. And even still, will the drops make any sense? You have a ride system and layout that was designed to work with the existing story. It’s a huge challenge to invent a new story that works with the existing ride system and pacing.

 

[UNCgolf]

That’s my worry. PatF could make a gorgeous ride. But you’d need a full gut which, for Disney, would cost at least $200 million. And even still, will the drops make any sense? You have a ride system and layout that was designed to work with the existing story. It’s a huge challenge to invent a new story that works with the existing story and pacing.

That's the thing. When I say I don't have faith in Disney to make something comparable, this is a big part of it. It's much harder to fit something in to an existing ride than it is to build something new from scratch, and Splash is so long that it makes everything that much more difficult both in the overall cost and the challenge involved.

Frozen Ever After is half as long as Splash and has minimal theming/details beyond the AAs themselves. Converting Splash will be far more expensive than FEA even if using FEA's scant detailing.

 

[Disney Analyst]

That’s my worry. PatF could make a gorgeous ride. But you’d need a full gut which, for Disney, would cost at least $200 million. And even still, will the drops make any sense? You have a ride system and layout that was designed to work with the existing story. It’s a huge challenge to invent a new story that works with the existing story and pacing.

Does it need a full gut though? A lot of the existing scenery can work and or be modified. Certain parts will need a gut, but the first drop into the show building, that section has good bones already for a bayou.

 

[LittleBuford]

The theme is the least of my worries...a cheap frozen 2.0 overlay is my concern.

I like Frozen Ever After.

 

[celluloid]

Does it need a full gut though? A lot of the existing scenery can work and or be modified. Certain parts will need a gut, but the first drop into the show building, that section has good bones already for a bayou.

They have to change the entire thing. That bayou that is there now, is a racist bayou.

 

[Disney Analyst]

They have to change the entire thing. That bayou that is there now, is a racist bayou.

I know it’s a joke, but I guess I always figured this redo would always utilize as much as it could from the original scenic wise.

I guess some would say that’s cheap, but I just figured it made sense... gives fans of the ride familiarity, and also saves money. That bayou scene needs minimal changes (I.e. all the small houses and stuff).

 

[lazyboy97o]

Does it need a full gut though? A lot of the existing scenery can work and or be modified. Certain parts will need a gut, but the first drop into the show building, that section has good bones already for a bayou.

Depends on it’s condition and compliance with contemporary regulations. Water is rough on everything.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Depends on it’s condition and compliance with contemporary regulations. Water is rough on everything.

Oh for sure. They may want to start fresh.

Although they could uninstall scenery to freshen / clean what they want to keep, while they work on any structural / repair issues.

 

[UNCgolf]

I know it’s a joke, but I guess I always figured this redo would always utilize as much as it could from the original scenic wise.

I guess some would say that’s cheap, but I just figured it made sense... gives fans of the ride familiarity, and also saves money. That bayou scene needs minimal changes (I.e. all the small houses and stuff).

I think it depends on whether they want to keep all the old AAs. I think they'd like to get rid of them all to save maintenance costs, and if they do that, the existing scenes probably need to be fully overhauled. But who knows?

 

[Brer Oswald]

Does it need a full gut though? A lot of the existing scenery can work and or be modified. Certain parts will need a gut, but the first drop into the show building, that section has good bones already for a bayou.

For sure it would. Most of the ride takes place in farm lands and mineshaft, of an art style more reminiscent of a Mickey Mouse cartoon than PatF.

 

[Brer Oswald]

They have to change the entire thing. That bayou that is there now, is a racist bayou.

It isn’t even a bayou. It’s a small stream through a farmland.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Every time I look at Twitter, I feel thankful for the wonderful people on WDWMagic that disagree with my opinion. Thank you guys again.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Every time I look at Twitter, I feel thankful for the wonderful people on WDWMagic that disagree with my opinion. Thank you guys again.

We can disagree and still be friendly we are all Disney fans after all. And... some of us fellow Canadians

 

[matt9112]

I like Frozen Ever After.

Imagine if the largest disney animated IP (at that time for sure) got its own brand new ride instesd of being sho horned into something because el cheapo.

 

[Dutch Inn '76]

They have to change the entire thing. That bayou that is there now, is a racist bayou.

Indeed. With the horrible racism in that bayou, in those logs, I will not be content until they burn the entire attraction to the ground and put up a re-education center.