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

[Animaniac93-98]

Is it true that Tokyo DL is opposed to retheming their Splash to PatF? I thought they were opposed to paying for a retheme.

We don't really know what's happening with Tokyo. The original announcement said nothing about that version of the ride. We do know that it's not Disney's call, but it's all rumors and speculation as to what's specifically happening behind the scenes. The ride has continued to operate since TDL opened back in July.

I also can't get the original Parks blog post to load now, either by searching or trying the link on WDW Splash's Mountain's official page, but any other one on the blog works for me.

 

[EagleScout610]

Is it true that Tokyo DL is opposed to retheming their Splash to PatF? I thought they were opposed to paying for a retheme.

TDO wants Tokyo to partially pay for the Orlando retheme, since the 2 are mirror images it would just be cloned over to MK. Tokyo doesn't want to retheme theirs so they don't wanna foot the bill

 

[Touchdown]

I got evaced out of Alice once, the ride stopped at the Tweedles. To evac, I went through a door on the outside (left, Main Street USA direction) and was taken through Peter Pans Maintenance Bay and dumped out by the Alice Bathroom it I really is amazing how close things are at DL.

 

[_caleb]

TDO wants Tokyo to partially pay for the Orlando retheme, since the 2 are mirror images it would just be cloned over to MK. Tokyo doesn't want to retheme theirs so they don't wanna foot the bill

Not to be obtuse—are you certain OLC doesn’t want to retheme, or that OLC doesn’t want to pay for a retheme? I know these were private conversations, but I’m curious because there is a huge difference between the two.

I’m especially interested because there is a cultural dynamic to these conversations. If TWDC approached OLC with an offer to cover all costs to retheme an attraction that has brought shame on the Company, I don’t see them objecting.

But again, these all seem to be third-hand information.

 

[UNCgolf]

Not to be obtuse—are you certain OLC doesn’t want to retheme, or that OLC doesn’t want to pay for a retheme? I know these were private conversations, but I’m curious because there is a huge difference between the two.

I’m especially interested because there is a cultural dynamic to these conversations. If TWDC approached OLC with an offer to cover all costs to retheme an attraction that has brought shame on the Company, I don’t see them objecting.

But again, these all seem to be third-hand information.

I'm pretty certain they don't want to retheme to Princess and the Frog. I don't think they're adamantly opposed to a retheme of Splash in general, but it's a major attraction and supposedly Princess and the Frog has almost no fan base in Japan. They probably look at it as a move with potential downside and absolutely no upside for their operations; they'd want a retheme to be something more marketable for them that wouldn't potentially decrease interest in the ride.

 

[_caleb]

I'm pretty certain they don't want to retheme to Princess and the Frog. I don't think they're adamantly opposed to a retheme of Splash in general, but it's a major attraction and supposedly Princess and the Frog has almost no fan base in Japan. They probably look at as a move with potential downside and absolutely no upside for their operations; they'd want a retheme to be to something more marketable for them that wouldn't potentially decrease interest in the ride.

This makes sense. And it would be another aspect of the cultural dynamic (which other posters have mentioned here)- that the Brer theme does not present the problematic connotations it may have in the U.S.

Or maybe it does, but there isn’t any will to confront it though something like this.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

If TWDC approached OLC with an offer to cover all costs to retheme an attraction that has brought shame on the Company, I don’t see them objecting.

Such a deal would be unprecedented in the history of Tokyo Disney. Since the 70s when the agreement was made, OLC has paid for everything. Now if Disney does wants to pay this time, that would be different. I'm not sure how such a deal would be hashed out.

 

[EagleScout610]

I'm pretty certain they don't want to retheme to Princess and the Frog. I don't think they're adamantly opposed to a retheme of Splash in general, but it's a major attraction and supposedly Princess and the Frog has almost no fan base in Japan. They probably look at as a move with potential downside and absolutely no upside for their operations; they'd want a retheme to be something more marketable for them that wouldn't potentially decrease interest in the ride.

I believe it's more that Tokyo wants to keep their Br'er theme. Japan is more about critters than princesses

 

[_caleb]

I believe it's more that Tokyo wants to keep their Br'er theme. Japan is more about critters than princesses

Any evidence of this? It’s ok if not-you’re entitled to your opinions. I’m just curious about this (again, mostly due to the cultural dynamic).

 

[UNCgolf]

I believe it's more that Tokyo wants to keep their Br'er theme. Japan is more about critters than princesses

That's not the impression I got -- while they like the theme, I don't think they're absolutely married to it. I'm sure they'd prefer not to retheme in general just to avoid the costs, but it seemed like most of the information we were hearing back when this was announced was that Tokyo had no interest in PatF.

 

[EagleScout610]

Any evidence of this? It’s ok if not-you’re entitled to your opinions. I’m just curious about this (again, mostly due to the cultural dynamic).

It was mentioned by WDW Pro early in this topic. I'll track down the post

 

[lazyboy97o]

Not to be obtuse—are you certain OLC doesn’t want to retheme, or that OLC doesn’t want to pay for a retheme? I know these were private conversations, but I’m curious because there is a huge difference between the two.

I’m especially interested because there is a cultural dynamic to these conversations. If TWDC approached OLC with an offer to cover all costs to retheme an attraction that has brought shame on the Company, I don’t see them objecting.

But again, these all seem to be third-hand information.

To be short and crudely blunt, preference for a light skin tone is still prevalent in Japan.

 

[EagleScout610]

So with Jungle Cruise on the redo block, anyone else fear they'll speed Splash up even further and half a** it more?

 

[Movielover]

So with Jungle Cruise on the redo block, anyone else fear they'll speed Splash up even further and half a** it more?

Oh I think we all know it will be half a**ed. I think we are about pass 3/4's a** personally, and we haven't even gotten to the inevitable mid construction budget slashing that happens on all projects as well...

 

[BubbaisSleep]

So with Jungle Cruise on the redo block, anyone else fear they'll speed Splash up even further and half a** it more?

I feel like Splash will be okay just because JC doesn't seem like a complete overhaul but instead just a replacement of only about 2 or 3 scenes. If they were doing a movie overhaul I'd be worried. I doubt JC will have to be closed for very long. If P&TF redo ends up being crap, it is just because it was crap from the beginning.

 

[EagleScout610]

I feel like Splash will be okay just because JC doesn't seem like a complete overhaul but instead just a replacement of only about 2 or 3 scenes. If they were doing a movie overhaul I'd be worried. I doubt JC will have to be closed for very long. If P&TF redo ends up being crap, it is just because it was crap from the beginning.

I read that Disneyland's Splash would be a 12 month redo. I can imagine WDW would be longer

 

[BubbaisSleep]

I read that Disneyland's Splash would be a 12 month redo. I can imagine WDW would be longer

Wow that’s pretty quick for an old ride like Splash. With Disney’s history on rushed projects, that actually leaves me worried. While I enjoy the ride, the aesthetics of Guardians & Pixar Pier are the results of rushed projects.

 

[Disneyfanman]

I feel like there is a lot of pressure to get the retheme right. Splash is continually among the highest rated attractions in the parks, AND this is a pretty high profile project, no matter what the motivations are. If Disney botches it, there will be a STUNNING amount of bad publicity. If there is any motivator for the mouse besides bags of money, it's potentially bad publicity. I'm feeling pretty good about the idea that they would delay it significantly (if it's a CAPEX issue) vs. gut the budget.

 

[Horizons '83]

Are we even certain they have enough capital to redo both at the moment? I can't imagine shovels will hit the ground in the next 2 years.

 

[EagleScout610]

Wow that’s pretty quick for an old ride like Splash. With Disney’s history on rushed projects, that actually leaves me worried. While I enjoy the ride, the aesthetics of Guardians & Pixar Pier are the results of rushed projects.

Thats assuming the current sets are mostly utilized. If it's a complete gut/rebuild it'll probably be longer