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

[ppete1975]

Splash Mountain may also get revamp at Tokyo Disneyland | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

An Oriental Land representative said the company was aware of the proposed change for the U.S. amusement parks, adding that at this point, only consideration was being given about what to do with the ride at the Tokyo park.

This was 2 years ago and kinda buried, but it seems like nothing ever came to fruition. I would expect it to be due to the design of Tokyo Splash more than anything, as I stated it's designed completely different than the others. It would by far likely be the hardest to retheme due to its intricate design.

IF they come up with something amazing that people demand we might copy it, outside of that we are good with what we have.

 

[ppete1975]

It seems many people will be apoplectic when they discover the impossible journey through rivers on entirely different continents that Disney expects guests to swallow on the Jungle Cruise next-door in Adventureland. Not to mention that the docks are located opposite Polynesian ceremonial buildings sitting next to a Middle Eastern marketplace.

well adventureland was never supposed to be a place, it was the land of adventure.....

So all the stories about adventure from around the world come together in an amalgamation. When Disneyland was started anything that wasnt american was exotic. Its only with cable tv, air travel being more prevalent and the internet that the world has gotten smaller. National geographic magazine was peoples window to the world for decades. Heck even world showcase was exciting and educational as most people hadnt traveled and that was the early 80s.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨︎ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

What do you put in its place ?

Muppets.

 

[ppete1975]

I think the easiest would have just been change a few characters to mickey mouse and friends replacing the song of the south characters. Make some background story and change the dialogue and songs. Even make the first few scenes involve disney villains, and you are being chased then you escape over the falls.

or finally tie alot of your rides together including splash with SEA and come up with all new ip and characters for the ride.. AND MERCHANDISE

But this was never why this is happening.

 

[RSoxNo1]

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.

Personal opinion, 3 parks are better / moving in the right direction. 1 Park is significantly worse.

 

[Dear Prudence]

The replacement in mk should have been coco…

Since they tried to copyright and Indigenous holiday and terminology, they can keep their hands off shoehorning Coco into places. Granted, I loved the movie, it's one of my faves. I just don't think they deserve to use it like that. It's bad enough that they ruined Brer Rabbit and won't accept responsibility for it. Cultura is not for sale.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨︎ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

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.

Isn't that more of an apology/dismissal than a solution? Saying it doesn't fit because these other things don't fit doesn't really address the concern about how Disney will better integrate Tiana into WDW's Frontierland. Even though cronologically it's a bit of a mess, visually they Old-Westified everything so it's kosher. They won't be able to do the same here, or will they?

 

[ppete1975]

Personal opinion, 3 parks are better / moving in the right direction. 1 Park is significantly worse.

if you count strollers, attitudes, costs, tik tokkers, vloggers, self entitled people, and crowds.... id say all 4 are worse. MK we lost the entrance to Tomorrowland the subs (ok the lagoon more than the subs) hollywood studios lost its identity (although i like star wars being added) epcot.. a shell... animal kingdom is was underdeveloped when it opened and is now just being completed (although still needs more)
Still cant wait to go back though

 

[Lilofan]

Restaurant! Yes! Boudoin, Gumbo, Crawfish Etouffee, red Beans and Rice mmmmmm, of course wash things down with a Hurricane. Hey, a little spice never hurt anyone.

Port Orleans French Quarter had all u can eat southern breakfast buffet pre 9/11 with grilled steak and sugary beingets. I missed that.

 

[Dear Prudence]

Isn't that more of an apology/dismissal than a solution? Saying it doesn't fit because these other things don't fit doesn't really address the concern about how Disney will better integrate Tiana into WDW's Frontierland. Even though cronologically it's a bit of a mess, visually they Old-Westified everything so it's kosher. They won't be able to do the same here, or will they?

It's honestly wild to me watching them try to act like this isn't 100000% their fault.

 

[tanc]

it's probably more likely Tokyo wasn't impressed with the retheme. If someone comes to you and presents a retheme for a top of the line attraction and presumably wants you to pay for it without existing version, would you want to spend the money? You'd be literally running on a proof on concept. I could easily imagine OLC being asked to spend $200 million on the new retheme.

I mean it's fiscally a disaster, they have to work with the hand sculpted structure of Tokyo's Splash mountain. It isn't just rethemeing a few buildings and a little bit of rock work. It's a custom hand sculpted work of art that sounds like an unfathomable nightmare to redo. From the beginning of the queue to the end of the ride is pretty much completely indoors.

At least the US parks have buildings outside that make the queue probably much easier to work with.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Isn't that more of an apology/dismissal than a solution? Saying it doesn't fit because these other things don't fit doesn't really address the concern about how Disney will better integrate Tiana into WDW's Frontierland. Even though cronologically it's a bit of a mess, visually they Old-Westified everything so it's kosher. They won't be able to do the same here, or will they?

Definitely not a solution. But, it was a problem... that should have been solved. But wasn't. So... why is it just now in need of a solution?

But, if people insist that the replacement fit "Frontierland," then where is their eagerness to get rid of a Deep South ride that is Splash Mountain, which didn't fit "the Frontier"? Or the outcry that Country Bears continue to exist destroying the theme of "Frontierland." Or the outcry that a Mississippi Riverboat of the Mark Twain era doesn't fit "the Frontier"?

Either "the frontier" has a specific time and place as most people would think of it, making three attractions within Frontierland non-thematic, and the term "Frontierland" a joke, OR... "Frontierland" has a much broader definition would could embrace the Mississippi of Mark Twain and the Deep South of Bears, SotS, and Tiana's Bayou.

I for, one would like to see a broader reimagining of the land. Perhaps unite the Caribbean of Adventure land with Tiana's Bayou and put Tiana's restaurant in place of Pecos Bill. Call the whole area "Mississippi Gulf." Then, the only attraction that's an outlier is BTMR.

Or, unite Main Street with Liberty Square all the way to BTMR and call it "The Journey of America" which has the mini-lands of Mainstreet, Liberty Square, Old New England (Harbor House and Haunted Mansion), Mississippi Valley, and The Old Southwest.

This way, Frontierland (and Liberty Square) wouldn't have glaringly misthemed attractions in their thematic lands.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

well adventureland was never supposed to be a place, it was the land of adventure.....

So all the stories about adventure from around the world come together in an amalgamation. When Disneyland was started anything that wasnt american was exotic. Its only with cable tv, air travel being more prevalent and the internet that the world has gotten smaller. National geographic magazine was peoples window to the world for decades. Heck even world showcase was exciting and educational as most people hadnt traveled and that was the early 80s.

I'm waiting for the part that doesn't also apply to Frontierland . . .

As has been said many times, putting Princess and the Frog in Frontierland doesn't break any rules that Song of the South in Frontierland hasn't already broken.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

The replacement in mk should have been coco…

Honestly? That's not a bad idea. And not just in a "well at least it's not Zootopia..." kind of way.

Lots of music, geographically/culturally closer to the American south west, popular IP, PoC cast, it checks off a lot of boxes.

Going indoors and outdoors could be the transitions between the worlds of the living and dead.

We know a Coco boat ride (both as overlay and new build) has been given serious consideration within WDI already. I know the proposal for Florida was to change Gran Fiesta Tour, but Splash would have made a more exciting/impressive version.

 

[ppete1975]

I'm waiting for the part that doesn't also apply to Frontierland . . .

As has been said many times, putting Princess and the Frog in Frontierland doesn't break any rules that Song of the South in Frontierland hasn't already broken.

well my comment was directed at someone elses comment... is why it was talking about adventureland.

But since you asked.

My biggest issue is that we should have gotten a new ride with princess and the frog with a restaurant ala disneyland and pirates. Instead of a retheme that could have been absolutely anything. We need capacity and more attractions, Not a retheme just to satisfy a group and get PR.

Tianas place- get food just like the movie and look over the new princess and the frog attraction (like blue bayou and poc).

Add that with a cheap retheme of splash that basically removes the song of the south elements with anything... doesnt even have to be IP, although a classic mickey and friends in western wear could have been fun and fit into the "kid" vision of magic kingdom.

 

[Disney Analyst]

We will just wait to see how they tie this into the MK. Perhaps that corner becomes a new mini land with Big Thunder also lightly rethemed?

 

[ppete1975]

End of the day, if its a well done ride everyone will love it and not care where its placed.

If its poorly done this is going to be figment level anger lol

 

[Unbanshee]

If its poorly done this is going to be figment level anger lol

Everyone has to take a breath after screaming and when they do, there will be plenty of pixie dust to inhale

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

well my comment was directed at someone elses comment... is why it was talking about adventureland.

But since you asked.

My biggest issue is that we should have gotten a new ride with princess and the frog with a restaurant ala disneyland and pirates. Instead of a retheme that could have been absolutely anything. We need capacity and more attractions, Not a retheme just to satisfy a group and get PR.

Tianas place- get food just like the movie and look over the new princess and the frog attraction (like blue bayou and poc).

Add that with a cheap retheme of splash that basically removes the song of the south elements with anything... doesnt even have to be IP, although a classic mickey and friends in western wear could have been fun and fit into the "kid" vision of magic kingdom.

I understand why it was talking about Adventureland - but the poster you were responding to was making the point that the Lands of Magic Kingdom cover a lot of ground, and that the concern about PATF in Frontierland is pretty baseless when you consider how much latitude exists in the other MK lands. To which I added the point that Splash Mountain already bends the "rules" of Frontierland, and Tiana won't do so any more than Splash already does.

I still think they could and should move the Splash Mountain Exit Restrooms and build a Tiana's Palace Restaurant back there, I did a sketch that I posted somewhere further back in the thread. But people talk as if there's something inherently wrong with Tiana taking up residence in the attraction or in Frontierland overall, and, like, the extent to which that's true is no greater than the extent to which the Brer's were already a poor fit for the ride, land, and park.

At this point anyone who says the point of the retheme is to "satisfy a group and get PR" is either trying to stir up trouble or admitting to absolute ignorance. Either be an adult and find some actual understanding of the situation or just quit pushing that nonsense.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I understand why it was talking about Adventureland - but the poster you were responding to was making the point that the Lands of Magic Kingdom cover a lot of ground, and that the concern about PATF in Frontierland is pretty baseless when you consider how much latitude exists in other lands. To which I added the point that Splash Mountain already bends the "rules" of Frontierland, and Tiana won't do so any more than Splash already does.

Precisely. The Rivers of America are also technically meant to represent several rivers in different parts of the US, including the Mississippi which flows through New Orleans if people need to make sense of its placement in Frontierland. Just think of that part of the flume that runs alongside the river as a bayou along the Lower Mississippi in Louisiana and the rest of the ride as travelling further into the bayou if that helps. Once you get to Big Thunder, you can imagine you're on the Rio Grande.

I really don't think it's necessary given the conventions of the Magic Kingdom, but that logic would work better than the current version of Splash's placement.

I still think they could and should move the Splash Mountain Exit Restrooms and build a Tiana's Palace Restaurant back there, I did a sketch that I posted somewhere further back in the thread. But people talk as if there's something inherently wrong with Tiana taking up residence in the attraction or in Frontierland overall, and, like, the extent to which that's true is no greater than the extent to which the Brer's were already a poor fit for the ride, land, and park.

Honestly, that sketch and idea are a perfect way of handling the whole area. I do think they should leave Pecos Bill's alone!