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

[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.

 

[Hotamber]

I think the question will be why is this princess in the Frontierland bayou by the railroad tracks away from all the other ones by the castle. I see this redo causing more issues then it solves. Zootopia or American Legands would have had fit better and actually sent a better message. WDI is going against their own branding by dropping the mountain part of the name. I guess the princesses will be in all lands at Magic Kingdom now. Space mountain is blue cannot wait for Elsas frozen space adventure. Even Universal keeps their minions in a row and they don't even have lands. Sad that laziness and greed are killing Walt's original layout of different lands

 

[MisterPenguin]

I think the question will be why is this princess in the Frontierland bayou by the railroad tracks away from all the other ones by the castle. I see this redo causing more issues then it solves. Zootopia or American Legands would have had fit better and actually sent a better message. WDI is going against their own branding by dropping the mountain part of the name. I guess the princesses will be in all lands at Magic Kingdom now. Space mountain is blue cannot wait for Elsas frozen space adventure. Even Universal keeps their minions in a row and they don't even have lands. Sad that laziness and greed are killing Walt's original layout of different lands

The Bayou setting fits very well in DL, not so much in MK.

But, as has been mentioned many times in this thread in just the past few days and weeks, that the Liberty Square to Frontierland area is already a thematic mess in which geographic and chronological themes are ignored.

Splash in WDW had been somewhat visually Old-Westified, even though the stories and characters remain Deep South. So, Splash itself wasn't a good fit for it's placement.

In fact, Frontierland regularly confuses Old South with Wild West. The Old South's timeframe as presented in the MK had not been "the frontier" for over a hundred years. And a Country Bear Jamboree singing songs from the mid-20th century is neither Old South nor Frontier.

Also, not all Princesses have to be confined to Fantasyland as if it were an internment camp. Jasmine fits in just fine in Adventureland.

 

[Hotamber]

My point is in 10 years from now no one is going to question why all the non white princesses are not in Fantasyland. Seems like trying to solve one issue will cause worse ones that will be harder for the company to justify in the future. Does not seem like they looked at the bigger picture especially with what the lands represent and how people perceive living by a castle vs a railroad

 

[harryk]

I don't believe that I've ever seen a mountain in a bayou - so why not just build

Tiana's Bayou Adventure​

somewhere else in the Magic Kingdom. Seems more realistic to me. That way the keep a 'ride' going and add another. Or is there some other reason that they want to eliminate a ride that is based upon Song of the South ???

 

[Figgy1]

The original announcement of the Splash Mountain to Princess and the Frog thread is now available in the 'Politics and Social Issues' forum at https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/splash-mountain-re-theme-announced.965846/unread

In the absence of many specific details on the project and due to its polarizing nature, the original thread is mostly a political/social debate, which is best served in the Politics/Social section of the forum. In its original location in News & Rumors it became impossible to moderate within the no-political discussion rule that we have in place (see Terms and rules).

This thread will serve as the ongoing thread for discussion of the attraction retheme. ANY political/social commentary in this thread will be deleted and the poster will be banned from taking any further part.

Here is the original announcement news article which contains concept art and all of the released information at this point.

Splash Mountain to be rethemed to The Princess and the Frog

The massively popular Magic Kingdom ride loosely based on Song of the South will be rethemed.

www.wdwmagic.com

 

[maemae74]

I can't believe there are so many opinions on this subject!! Everything in the darn park is make believe why can't we all just pretend that this fits perfectly in Splash's spot and enjoy the new ride. So much energy going into being ed about a make believe princess evicting some make believe animals from their home .

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨︎ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

I can't believe there are so many opinions on this subject!! Everything in the darn park is make believe why can't we all just pretend that this fits perfectly in Splash's spot and enjoy the new ride. So much energy going into being ****ed about a make believe princess evicting some make believe animals from their home .

 

[drizgirl]

I can't believe there are so many opinions on this subject!! Everything in the darn park is make believe why can't we all just pretend that this fits perfectly in Splash's spot and enjoy the new ride. So much energy going into being ****ed about a make believe princess evicting some make believe animals from their home .

Probably has something to do with the fact that Disney cared about this sort of thing for so long.

 

[JoeCamel]

I can't believe there are so many opinions on this subject!! Everything in the darn park is make believe why can't we all just pretend that this fits perfectly in Splash's spot and enjoy the new ride. So much energy going into being ****ed about a make believe princess evicting some make believe animals from their home .

Probably has something to do with the fact that Disney cared about this sort of thing for so long.

They built a business on the back of theme, invented the standard and to just lump it together and say its made up so why care discounts all the people that worked their whole careers to make sure everything you see works together to create an experience. To the op, things are in their place because they were designed with great thought and effort to be that way. The lot today takes a dump on all that hard work.

 

[montyz81]

Oh its sarcasm. Guess you havent seen any of my old posts….

Sorry, I haven't. I'll definitely pay attention from now on. I'm glad it was sarcasm