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

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Ghost93

Ghost93

Well-Known Member
Olangotang said:
So if this is true, a few things:

Disney never explicitly said that Splash is racist, just PR fluff about being "inclusive" (again, they think their fans are children).
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While the initial press release didn't mention Song of the South, there was an interview where Bob Chapek mentioned despite Splash being popular it needed to change because it was tied to Song of the South which he said made slavery seem happy. He made some false statements in the interview (like saying the ride was 60 years old), but he made it clear that SOTS was the problem.
 
C

celluloid

Well-Known Member
Ghost93 said:
While the initial press release didn't mention Song of the South, there was an interview where Bob Chapek mentioned despite Splash being popular it needed to change because it was tied to Song of the South which he said made slavery seem happy. He made some false statements in the interview (like saying the ride was 60 years old), but he made it clear that SOTS was the problem.
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Apparently, Bob does not even know when the film takes place, nor when the ride opened within three decades.
 
UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
MisterPenguin said:
Well, lack of other insiders saying the same is a sign, as well as:

1. Long time poster who never referenced insider sources before (AFAIK)

2. Claim to hear it from more than one insider.

3. The reason not to makes no sense. Disney knew they were going to do other projects as well as retheme Splash... nothing has changed.

I believe and sincerely hope it was meant to be an obvious joke and not a prank.
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Yep, exactly my thoughts.
 
Sir_Cliff

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
999th Happy Haunt said:
There are plenty of IPs that "deserve" an attraction. Princess and the Frog can get in line again.
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I must say I don't find the argument such and such a film "deserves" an attraction particularly compelling. I can understand why they would want to give PatF priority, but they've struggled to come up with more than a show or meet-and-greet for many of their far more popular IPs such as The Lion King or Moana. Sometimes the results when they finally do get around to developing an actual ride (such as TLM and BatB) suggest maybe they didn't have any great ideas of how to translate popular IPs into good attractions and maybe should have just left them without a ride. This has come up on the Encanto thread, but there are other films like that one which seem to lend themselves more easily to theme park attractions regardless of how popular it is relative to other IPs. I'm kind of surprised they never came up with a decent Stitch attraction as they have a good character and fun settings to work with as well as high merchandising potential, regardless of the strengths or weaknesses of the film he's from.

In the case of PatF, I guess the setting of New Orleans and the bayou is appealing for a water-based attraction? I'm not sure whether any other aspects of the film make it particularly ideal for a theme park attraction in and of itself. I'm not sure how well known (or appealing) the characters are outside of Tiana and the songs also haven't really caught on.
 
Ghost93

Ghost93

Well-Known Member
Sir_Cliff said:
I must say I don't find the argument such and such a film "deserves" an attraction particularly compelling. I can understand why they would want to give PatF priority, but they've struggled to come up with more than a show or meet-and-greet for many of their far more popular IPs such as The Lion King or Moana. Sometimes the results when they finally do get around to developing an actual ride (such as TLM and BatB) suggest maybe they didn't have any great ideas of how to translate popular IPs into good attractions and maybe should have just left them without a ride. This has come up on the Encanto thread, but there are other films like that one which seem to lend themselves more easily to theme park attractions regardless of how popular it is relative to other IPs. I'm kind of surprised they never came up with a decent Stitch attraction as they have a good character and fun settings to work with as well as high merchandising potential, regardless of the strengths or weaknesses of the film he's from.

In the case of PatF, I guess the setting of New Orleans and the bayou is appealing for a water-based attraction? I'm not sure whether any other aspects of the film make it particularly ideal for a theme park attraction in and of itself. I'm not sure how well known (or appealing) the characters are outside of Tiana and the songs also haven't really caught on.
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I agree that just because a movie is good doesn't mean it warrants an attraction. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of my favorite Disney films, but with it's somber tone and subject matter I don't think it's very suited for a "ride" at Disney World. Frollo, despite being a great character, sorta feels out of place when he shows up with the Disney villains in Fantasmic and other events.

Same goes for movies like Bambi and the Fox and the Hound. Good stuff, but I can't think of a ride that would suit them. Many are indifferent to James Cameron's Avatar as a movie, but agree that the land in Animal Kingdom is really cool and that Flight of Passage is a great ride.

I do think that if Splash Mountain had to be rethemed, the Princess and the Frog is an extremely good fit due to its bayou setting. The fireflies and Dr. Facillier's Friends on the Other Side could also lend themselves well to impressive lighting effects.
 
GoneForGood

GoneForGood

Well-Known Member
Ghost93 said:
I agree that just because a movie is good doesn't mean it warrants an attraction. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of my favorite Disney films, but with it's somber tone and subject matter I don't think it's very suited for a "ride" at Disney World. Frollo, despite being a great character, sorta feels out of place when he shows up with the Disney villains in Fantasmic and other events.

Same goes for movies like Bambi and the Fox and the Hound. Good stuff, but I can't think of a ride that would suit them. Many are indifferent to James Cameron's Avatar as a movie, but agree that the land in Animal Kingdom is really cool and that Flight of Passage is a great ride.

I do think that if Splash Mountain had to be rethemed, the Princess and the Frog is an extremely good fit due to its bayou setting. The fireflies and Dr. Facillier's Friends on the Other Side could also lend themselves well to impressive lighting effects.
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Frollo's inclusion in WDW Fantasmic always made me laugh. Especially when he accuses Mickey of "Witchcraft!" at the end.... when he is literally in league with evil sorcerers. LOL
 
MerlinTheGoat

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
The "grapevine" I heard from just two weeks ago claims that PATF in Florida (presumably CA too, the discussion was just specifically about Florida) is still full steam ahead and is slated to close down shortly after Tron opens in 2023. They claim Tron isn't making 2022, and i'm very inclined to believe it.

I hope I won't get in trouble for sharing this, I can't validate where I got it from either. A small handful of other people following this thread will know where I got it. I have a strong desire for Visionary Soul and EagleScout to be correct and will be ecstatic if my grapevine turns out to be wrong (said grapevine would also be happy to be wrong). However, I don't want people to get their hopes up here. For fans of Splash Mtn, no news is good news. They're not going to announce it's canned, but the longer Disney goes without acknowledging and/or sharing new info, the better the chances it has been canned. Maybe D23 will provide a decent litmus test, if it's radio silence on the project throughout the event then i'd actually start to believe there's something to Visionary and Eagle's sources.

As for Disneyland cloning Tokyo's new Space Mountain, literally no idea. It may depend on whether Tokyo signed some sort of exclusivity contract. Someone told me that ever since Hong Kong's first round of expansions, most newer Asian attractions have had contracts attached preventing their attractions from being cloned for about 5 years after opening. This is apparently why Shanghai Disneyland didn't have a Toy Story Land when it first opened, and also why Tron was a 2021 project for WDW (before the delay). It may also be why Paris and Hong Kong are getting a clone of Epcot's Frozen ride instead of Tokyo's reportedly VERY different and far more elaborate variant. I don't know if Tokyo has signed a similar contract for their Space Mountain retheme, we'll see.
 
C

Comped

Well-Known Member
MerlinTheGoat said:
As for Disneyland cloning Tokyo's new Space Mountain, literally no idea. It may depend on whether Tokyo signed some sort of exclusivity contract. Someone told me that ever since Hong Kong's first round of expansions, most newer Asian attractions have had contracts attached preventing their attractions from being cloned for about 5 years after opening. This is apparently why Shanghai Disneyland didn't have a Toy Story Land when it first opened, and also why Tron was a 2021 project for WDW (before the delay). It may also be why Paris and Hong Kong are getting a clone of Epcot's Frozen ride instead of Tokyo's reportedly VERY different and far more elaborate variant. I don't know if Tokyo has signed a similar contract for their Space Mountain retheme, we'll see.
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Far as I understand Space's redo is not under an exclusivity contract.
 
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