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

[tanc]

The rumor was Disney wanted OLC to pay for it. OLC presumably of course shot it down and there's a lot to take into consideration with Tokyo Splash.

I would argue it is by far the most unique entity of the ride. The entire queue is indoors, so rethemeing that is probably nightmare material. Not to mention Critter Country was specifically designed for Splash and has nothing else to replace it, it's like one of two rides there. Lastly, there is a quick service restaurant built into the mountain and so presumably that quick service would have to be changed.

Basically my guess is that it easily could be the hardest one to retheme because it's totally unique. It's not like DL and WDW how they are relatively the same with the queues. It could very well be twice the price as the other rethemes.

Tokyo's splash is relatively close to WDW. So you have the best version of Splash ever made with an entirely indoor queue and restaurant attached to it. Japan isnt dumb for not wanting to spend the money. If anything I have a feeling that maybe one day it will be rethemed, but I would be shocked if it's PATF and I think it would have quite a lot of backlash in Japan.

 

[BuddyThomas]

But anyway, this planned retheme should not be problematic for anyone. They can retheme the Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and the Haunted Mansion while they're at it. How many times does someone need to ride the exact same thing?

 

[erasure fan1]

Disney has vested interest in closing all of the Splash Mountains. That the Tokyo version isn't closing suggests that they do not have the ability to just close that one - perhaps there's some contractual peculiarity there with the OLC. But they want the ride dead and buried worldwide, and they could have saved money on Tiana's Bayou Adventure by sharing costs with Tokyo had they said yes to turning their Splash into it,

The fact that the OLC isn't changing their splash tells me one thing. Obviously Disney went to them and made some sort of presentation about what the new ride would be. And since the OLC said no, they obviously weren't impressed enough to consider it. And that doesn't instill any confidence in this redo for me.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

The fact that the OLC isn't changing their splash tells me one thing. Obviously Disney went to them and made some sort of presentation about what the new ride would be. And since the OLC said no, they obviously weren't impressed enough to consider it. And that doesn't instill any confidence in this redo for me.

OLC has a number of places they're spending their money these days, and lots of it - it's entirely possible they just didn't want to close and pour more money into an attraction that is, in their eyes, already very successful.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

OLC has a number of places they're spending their money these days, and lots of it - it's entirely possible they just didn't want to close and pour more money into an attraction that is, in their eyes, already very successful.

I don't think we can deny that Splash Mountain in every park has been a "very successful" attraction. Disney is choosing to retheme one of their most successful, if not one of the highest rated, attractions in their US Parks. They are also choosing to spend a ton of money to do so. I tend to think there was a contingent within the company that was wishing they could backtrack out of this. Unfortunately, they can't.

 

[BuddyThomas]

My main issue is that Splash has been around for more than 30 years, and there is really absolutely no reason whatsoever that it cannot be rethemed at this point.

 

[Kirby86]

The fact that the OLC isn't changing their splash tells me one thing. Obviously Disney went to them and made some sort of presentation about what the new ride would be. And since the OLC said no, they obviously weren't impressed enough to consider it. And that doesn't instill any confidence in this redo for me.

That may have something to do with it but also Princess and the Frog isn't popular in Japan. Granted it wasn't exactly a hit Here but Tiana is a princess so I'm sure merchandise with her on it sells well.

 

[eliza61nyc]

is the ride changing or just the story? I mean that frozen ride itself is the same thing as malestrom. now YOU say it wasn't needed but obviously others felt differently, exactly why is it a problem. the ride is "gone"

 

[crazy4disney]

Disney sees $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ with the newly redesigned princess gift shop

I truly dont remember but was PaTF even a big hit for Disney? Did it draw numbers like some of the other classics that received rides/attractions right away or as close to it as Disney possible….

 

[BuddyThomas]

You have no idea what a ride that debuts in 2024 is going to include, so i don't even know why this is being discussed.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

You have no idea what a ride that debuts in 2024 is going to include, so i don't even know why this is being discussed.

The whole point of this thread is to discuss what *might* be in the ride. I'd much rather do that than witness political bickering. Unfortunately, that seems to be rather impossible in this thread...and Disney is to blame for that, because politics did play a role in this retheme. But whatever, like I said, I'm here to discuss what's going to be in this ride.

 

[Figgy1]

I truly dont remember but was PaTF even a big hit for Disney? Did it draw numbers like some of the other classics that received rides/attractions right away or as close to it as Disney possible….

Princess merch sells period. Princess stuff associated with a ride any ride will sell

 

[crazy4disney]

Princess merch sells period. Princess stuff associated with a ride any ride will sell

Thats not what im asking nor denying that merchandise will sell. Im just wondering how popular this movie was that Disney hasnt found a way to shoehorn it somewhere to profit off of it…

 

[UNCgolf]

I went to MK for the first time in May. Pirates is my favorite ride ever (the original). MK’s Pirates was the second biggest disappointment of my visit, in terms of rides and attractions, right after small world. Even though I knew what to expect, I was not pleased at all.

It should be interesting to see any differences between Tiana’s Bayou Bash between DL and MK.

Unfortunate that you weren't able to visit the WDW of 25 years ago instead (although having the current Animal Kingdom would be a nice addition).

 

[MisterPenguin]

I have been thinking about this lately. As Disney licenses to OLC, could they not pull the license for the Splash / SOTS Characters and music, forcing OLC to redo the attraction?

It's likely that a contract to use a licensed property includes a clause that Disney can't just yank the license at a whim.

Just look at Universal Orlando's use of Marvel, which is in perpetuum in the contract.

If OLC was smart, it would let Disney retheme Splash first and if the retheme looked good, suddenly have a 'change of heart' and agree to the same retheme and 'buy' the plans at a steep discount, if not for free (hey, Disney, this is *your* issue to fix).

 

[Californian Elitist]

Unfortunate that you weren't able to visit the WDW of 25 years ago instead (although having the current Animal Kingdom would be a nice addition).

That’s when I was most interested in WDW, 25 years ago. Now I’m very much meh for various reasons, and this includes DLR. I’ll probably visit the other parks if I’m ever in the area again, but I don’t necessarily see myself going outside of that reason.

 

[UNCgolf]

That’s when I was most interested in WDW, 25 years ago. Now I’m very much meh for various reasons, and this includes DLR. I’ll probably visit the other parks if I’m ever in the area again, but I don’t necessarily see myself going outside of that reason.

It's all subjective, obviously, but I think the Magic Kingdom was better, EPCOT was 1000x better, and DHS probably a wash -- there are more attractions there now, but the overall theme was much stronger back then and a lot of interesting stuff has been lost.

I don't have any plans to go to any Disney park anytime soon.

 

[Californian Elitist]

It's all subjective, obviously, but I think the Magic Kingdom was better, EPCOT was 1000x better, and DHS probably a wash -- there are more attractions there now, but the overall theme was much stronger back then and a lot of interesting stuff has been lost.

I don't have any plans to go to any Disney park anytime soon.

I believe you. I had my mom buy me a WDW picture book when I was a kid decades ago and a lot of what’s there now was not in that book. It’s not a good thing.

Same, I don’t have plans either. My sister wants to go to France and Italy next summer for her 30th birthday. She wants to go to DLP, so of course I would go, but that’s the only reason why. If I was planning my own first trip to France, DLP would never be on my radar.

 

[Dear Prudence]

The fact that they aren't doing that seems to suggest they can't - because like I said, they they have no vested interest in keeping Splash Mountain open anywhere, since the characters make them basically no money, and they would have saved money on the refurbishment by doing Tiana's Bayou Adventure as a joint project with OLC. We have it on good authority that OLC shot down Disney's proposal to turn Splash into Tiana in Tokuo, which would indicate that OLC can do that regardless of what Disney wants.

Perhaps they've licensed the Brer's for x amount of years and that number isn't up yet.

This was mentioned previously, but copyright in Japan works differently than it does here. All those Brer Characters are public domain in Japan. They're incredibly popular in Japan. I can't see them touching it foreseeable future.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

I have been thinking about this lately. As Disney licenses to OLC, could they not pull the license for the Splash / SOTS Characters and music, forcing OLC to redo the attraction?

I brought this up, I believe on this thread a little while back. I believe the consensus was yes, but doesn't make sense to sour a partnership when the connotation for this attraction and its source material does not really resonate with those in Japan/outside of the US.