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

[Disney Glimpses]

I am pretty sure the title of this thread reads.... "attraction discussion only"

If they gave us something to discuss we would discuss it. There's been nothing but silence on this for the last 2 years as they've let the current attraction deteriorate as though the Magic Kingdom were Nara Dreamland.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Disney: We would like you to change Splash Mountain at Tokyo Disneyland

OLC: OK, we'll tear down and rebuild Space Mountain

Disney: No! Splash, we said SPLASH Mountain!

 

[Midwest Elitist]

Disney: We would like you to change Splash Mountain at Tokyo Disneyland

OLC: OK, we'll tear down and rebuild Space Mountain

Disney: No! Splash, we said SPLASH Mountain!

Disney: we want you to change the most popular ride at your park.

OLC: <Block User: Disney?>

 

[EagleScout610]

Disney: We would like you to change Splash Mountain at Tokyo Disneyland

OLC: OK, we'll tear down and rebuild Space Mountain

Disney: No! Splash, we said SPLASH Mountain!

 

[Goofy Ninja]

I'd love to have a Princess and the Frog ride, but I don't think it should replace Splash. It is one of the best rides in all of Disney World.

 

[Poseidon Quest]

This ride is in appalling condition. Worst I have ever seen it, and I have ridden it hundreds of times. What the heck is going on?

On initial impression, it appears that the poor state of the attraction of both coasts indicates that Disney is just allowing it to limp along until the actual closure happens. However, I'm not so sure that the lack of maintenance correlates with this.

I've heard from Disney Cast Members that one of Disney's largest issues right now is training and retaining enough techs, which leads to many of the maintenance issues we've seen not just with Splash, but with a large number of other attractions as well. I'm sure it's been said many times throughout the thread, but a common narrative surrounding Splash is that its show effects are a maintenance nightmare. It wouldn't surprise me to see that Splash is degrading because they refuse to pay their techs more, rather than letting it fall apart because they plan on closing it.

 

[bdearl41]

I'd love to have a Princess and the Frog ride, but I don't think it should replace Splash. It is one of the best rides in all of Disney World.

This is the correct take.

 

[EagleScout610]

I'm not sure if it's the camera, but Splash seems to be VERY dark. If so, I wouldn't put it past them to just shut the lights off and say "Ignore the dark broken stuff"

 

[Dear Prudence]

I'm not sure if it's the camera, but Splash seems to be VERY dark. If so, I wouldn't put it past them to just shut the lights off and say "Ignore the dark broken stuff"

I am SO EMBARESSED just looking at this.

 

[kalel8145]

I won't go back and read 313 pages, I'm sure there are all kinds of good moments here. Just strictly on a re-theme (not speaking on the politics of it), I would be down for it. If done right, it could be really good with the swamps and bogs. I get some are staunch classic ride theme supporters, and I am too for some things. But there is nothing wrong with updating certain rides. I think splash could be one of those that lends itself to a re-theme. Just my opinion.

 

[celluloid]

As you can tell from the dragon prominently featured in the centre of its logo, Animal Kingdom was originally intended to include a section devoted to mythical creatures. Not exactly educational, but it would have been great fun. I don’t see how the addition of a Zootopia area would undermine the (ostensible) environmental mission of the rest of the park.

Not direct conservation but mythological animals are a direct tie to how we perceive nature both good and bad. Pandora is the myth of storytelling on a way humans interact with nature. Sometimes questioning whether that animal or environment could exist or not. Not educational in a traditional sense but an inspiring thought provoking one. So mythology has its place.

Zootopia is a story about humans interacting social themes through anthropomorphic animals. I can see why Zootopia is more of a stretch for sure.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Because Pandora is about fictional animals, which was always part of the mission. Pandora still isn't a great fit, but Joe Rohde et al. managed to make it work.

Zootopia is about people. It has little to do with actual animals in any way -- they're basically humans dressed up in animal suits dealing with human issues. It fits Animal Kingdom about as well as Disney's Robin Hood would. Even if you ignore all that, I believe the Zootopia they're building in Shanghai is a giant city facade, which they would almost certainly clone. That alone would feel wildly out of place at with the rest of Animal Kingdom.

My larger concern is that if Zootopia works there, then basically anything with an animal (or an anthropomorphic one) should work, which opens Animal Kingdom up to most Disney IPs.

Pandora the land is about the inherent value of nature, albeit on a foreign planet. Animal Kingdom has defined themes, and more so than any other land added to any other park with strictly defined themes, Pandora fits like a glove.

You can argue about ride quality all you want, as that's subjective, but the story treatment for Pandora in DAK is perfect.

 

[UNCgolf]

You can argue about ride quality all you want as that's subjective, but the story treatment for Pandora in DAK is perfect.

I agree -- I just don't expect to see that kind of story treatment again for a middling fit with Joe Rohde gone.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I agree -- I just don't expect to see that kind of story treatment again for a middling fit with Joe Rohde gone.

Definitey not with Zootopia. Rohde himself has publicly said why it doesn't fit.

 

[LittleBuford]

I edited my post after you quoted -- part of the issue is that it would likely mean the park was fine for a wide assortment of other IP, but it's mainly the animal thing.

Animal Kingdom, even with Pandora, is easily the most thematically consistent WDW park right now (Magic Kingdom is kind of its own thing, but they've also stripped a lot of the theme out of the various lands over the years). It's actually my favorite park to visit despite the lack of attractions because it's so well designed. Zootopia would be the beginning of the end of that, at least for me, and would be another move towards homogenizing all four parks and throwing anything anywhere.

As someone opposed to zoos* on principle, I acknowledge that my relationship with Animal Kingdom is fundamentally different from yours. I respect your perspective, though, even if I don’t share it.

———

* I’m not referring to animal sanctuaries, of course. Those I welcome and support wholeheartedly.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Any intellectual property that has animals or trees belongs in the Animal Kingdom. After all, the name of the park has animal in the name, and the icon of the park is a tree!

 

[UNCgolf]

As someone opposed to zoos* on principle, I acknowledge that my relationship with Animal Kingdom is fundamentally different from yours. I respect your perspective, though, even if I don’t share it.

———

* I’m not referring to animal sanctuaries, of course. Those I welcome and support wholeheartedly.

I think there are two different kinds of zoos (if not more). There are a huge number of zoos that should be shut down because they are bad for the animals and only exist to make money, but there are some large natural habitat zoos that both treat the animals well AND serve an important role in education and conservation.

Obviously true animal sanctuaries are the ideal (unfortunately there are plenty of "sanctuaries" that are even worse than zoos and breed big cats so they can sell people the opportunity to play with a tiger cub), but I do think there is a significant benefit to a small number of large, well run zoos that essentially function as destinations (as opposed to having a bunch of smaller zoos dropped in the middle of cities with little room for the animals). But obviously this is well off-topic so I'll leave it at that!

 

[Phicinfan]

Any intellectual property that has animals or trees belongs in the Animal Kingdom. After all, the name of the park has animal in the name, and the icon of the park is a tree!

Agree to disagree, as Zootopia isn't about animals, its about animals acting as people facing people problems.

 

[Basil of Baker Street]

Even though this is way off subject from PaTF, I am surprised that Disney named the film Zootopia due to the word "Zoo" which is now considered by many a negative word. Both primary and secondary meanings. I suspect Disney will allow this film to die.

 

[LittleBuford]

Even though this is way off subject from PaTF, I am surprised that Disney named the film Zootopia due to the word "Zoo" which is now considered by many a negative word. Both primary and secondary meanings. I suspect Disney will allow this film to die.

The prefix “zoo-” has to with animals in general: “zoology”, “zoomorphic”, etc. The standalone word “zoo” is just an abbreviation of “zoological garden”.