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

[Surferboy567]

Am I the only one that thinks the new tree/mountain top looks good?

 

[celluloid]

The same place the Waterfall came from:

View attachment 480449

And the rest of the mountain, for that matter. It is called Chickapin HILL, after all.

The waterfall is explained in the Splash Mt backstory.(maybe a backstory for the house will happen, but in recent times Disney does not show the track record)
To your point about the hill, when you are the side of the characters in scale, is a mountain. Many mountains are called foothills btw. But it does not matter, Mt becomes iconic in scale, hence Space and Thunder's canyons too.
That being said, it def has more thought put into it than the bayou treehouse now five stories in the air.

 

[MotherOfBirds]

With regards to when the ride's story takes place, I really wish we could get away from the idea that the plots of theme park attractions need to very carefully constructed so as not to conflict with the canon or timeline of the IP. The bending over backwards does not contribute positively to the final product.

All the villains are dead, but we have M&G's for them. Rapunzel has a pixie cut, but her face character has the long braid. Beast is still a beast and the castle is still spooky. I could go on. People are going to ride PatF to see their favorite characters and get drenched in bromine. Maybe the canon-worship was good for GE because of the large adult fanbase who cares very much about that sort of thing (it wasn't, IMO). For animated Disney IP's, if an incongruent timeline is enough to shatter your suspension of disbelief, or to lower your opinion of the ride, then it was never really meant for you. Or, you've got low blood sugar and it's making you grumpy.

Side note, it is my greatest wish that we will ascend the ramp to the final drop surrounded by Facillier's minions as they sing, "ARE YOU REEEEEEADY?"

 

[jt04]

Any new storyline might have more to do with the future of the IP than the origin story. Amazing watching people try to invent reasons the reimagining of Splash and the new PatF storyline won't work when it most likely is still a work in progress.

 

[jt04]

Wow. Looks like Disney transferred the Tree of Life from DAK to Frontierland. Even more of a reason why it doesn’t fit the land either!

This is what needs to happen. A quarter scale version of the ToL. The thorns becoming the trees roots.

I'm less and less inclined to believe Frontierland from Diamond Horseshoe to Pecos survives this. That of course wouldn't mean a new Frontierland-esque land wouldn't still be part of the MK. Big Thunder clearly has to stay.

 

[yaksplat]

Back in 2014, PhotoDave219 (who used to post here and was often a good source of information) stated that Frozen at Epcot was approved at $75 million (after a significant 40% cut apparently). I believe this included the ride along with new restrooms and meet & greet facilities. I don't know how much was spent on the ride itself, but one would think a significant portion. Perhaps $50 million, though someone who knows the exact amount can clarify. The reason I bring this up is to give some perspective about what that budget gets you in the modern era. A very small handful of somewhat advanced face-projected AA's, and a lot of barren corridors with projections on the walls.

The original Splash Mountain at Disneyland by contrast also had a reported budget of $75 million. Most animatronics were reused, but they still had to create an entirely new building, ride system, scenery etc etc. It was still a very expensive attraction for the time, but imagineering was far less bloated and much much better at managing costs back then.

I'm not sure what the budgets for WDW and Tokyo Splash Mtn were. They share similarities but largely have very different and more detailed scenery, a somewhat different ride system, and a handful of more advanced AA's (though slightly fewer in quantity). Regardless of the version though, if modern Disney were to gut and replace most of the interior Splash Mtn scenes with the same amount of quality scenery and number of AA's (assuming their creative teams even have the capacity to do so anymore), it would still likely cost at least 3-4 times more than the original's $75 million.

WDW Pro (whose source was correct about Splash Mtn and other attractions being looked at for overhauls several weeks ago) has thrown out $50 million for this PATF overhaul. I don't know if this was an assumption, or a number shared by the source, but I assume it was the latter. That in and of itself is a pathetic amount. That's comparable to what I ballparked for the Frozen ride, but stretched far thinner due to Splash Mtn being an immensely longer ride with far more scenes to have to deal with.

The alleged budget I saw was even lower... Which is a disaster if true, but honestly either of these amounts is absolutely unacceptable. Even with the best and brightest creatives involved (assuming there's even anyone left at the company who could match Tony Baxter and the original Splash Mtn team), doing justice to the original scenery detail and animatronics in Splash Mtn would require a budget of several hundred million.

If that's the case, why even bother. Kill the best attraction in the park and make it into a shell of its former self, sprinkled with screens.

 

[yaksplat]

Does anyone else feel that if Disney waits 2-3 years to move forward with this they may just trash the whole idea? Or by then maybe give it an appropriate budget? Option 1 would obviously be a PR nightmare, but so would not giving it a proper budget, to gut this attraction for the sake of erasing the racial prejudices that come from Song of the South and then replace a great attraction with a subpar one? I don't feel anyone really has a solid idea of what Disney's next move will be with this project.

I'm hoping for the same scenario as Tower of Terror to Guardians. Do it in DL and abandon it elsewhere. Variety across parks is a good thing.

 

[jt04]

I'm hoping for the same scenario as Tower of Terror to Guardians. Do it in DL and abandon it elsewhere. Variety across parks is a good thing.

Agree mostly. But SotS story still will go at the MK. Perhaps a Critter Country overlay instead?

MK also needs NO Square featuring PatF and Tiana. IMO.

 

[Bocabear]

It would be nice to see them add a restaurant with Cajun and New Orleans style fare...Though it's a tight area and I am not sure it would particularly fit anywhere...

 

[Plutomickey24]

Or just make all of it Adventureland, which could honestly work.

That could work too. Since Splash is that turn from Adventure Land. They could just re theme it and start Adventure Land there. Then they don't have to re theme Frontier Land.

 

[Jedijax719]

That could work too. Since Splash is that turn from Adventure Land. They could just re theme it and start Adventure Land there. Then they don't have to re theme Frontier Land.

That would be a good idea.

And SM is certainly long enough to include most if not all of the movie PATF. Start in New Orleans, go to Tiana's neighborhood, then to the swamps with the 3 stooges on the boat, Louie and Ray, then some of Mama Odie, show some of Facilier, then the final transition to the swamp wedding. The final part (the one that currently has the show boat) could be Tiana's restaurant.

 

[jt04]

Removing and reimagining the strip mall of western facades from Diamond Horseshoe to Pecos Bills solves everything.

Then dust off plans for DB and/or WRE and start clearing land.

 

[𝐌𝖆𝖓 𝖎𝖓 𝐖𝖊𝖇]

Removing and reimagining the strip mall of western facades from Diamond Horseshoe to Pecos Bills solves everything.

Then dust off plans for DB and/or WRE and start clearing land.

and for Big Thunder?

 

[Jedijax719]

and for Big Thunder?

Not to mention changing the old west set in the back as you enter the ride to make it look like the French Quarter.

 

[jt04]

and for Big Thunder?

Big Thunder is the portal to the west so to speak. Relocate the train station to the new area. Rather inexpensive and opens up a path to Fantasyland.

 

[_caleb]

Any word on a sequel to Princess and the Frog? Maybe a Disney+ project? Seems like a great opportunity for $ynergy.

 

[jt04]

Not to mention changing the old west set in the back as you enter the ride to make it look like the French Quarter.

Add trees or archway of some sort to create a transition.

 

[jt04]

So when you are in proximity to big thunder and north the RoA represents the Missouri/Red/Colorado and Columbia rivers. Everything just flows together. From the east coast of Liberty Square to the Pacific and over many eras.

Okay, stepping away from the drawing table.

 

[jt04]

Any word on a sequel to Princess and the Frog? Maybe a Disney+ project? Seems like a great opportunity for $ynergy.

Definitely needs a series on Disney plus to advance the story. So much great material to work with. Characters, music and plotlines.

 

[Surferboy567]

Any word on a sequel to Princess and the Frog? Maybe a Disney+ project? Seems like a great opportunity for $ynergy.

They could do a follow up show like Tangled. That was a decent show.