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

[Disney Glimpses]

I think the queue is more likely than the laughing place, but the laughing place segment could be revised to be a mine.

They mentioned the salt mine as the only place with “any height to it.” Almost certainly we’ll be dropping out of a salt mine.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

It's way off-topic, but I think Frozen Ever After is among the most disappointing rides Disney has ever built. It's hard to believe that barren, half-finished attraction was their choice to represent Frozen. It was slightly understandable when they were trying to get something into the parks as quickly as possible, but the fact that they're just cloning it now instead of designing a new, actually good/impressive attraction for the IP is indefensible.

Even if it was in Fantasyland it would still be a bad attraction, but the fact they butchered the Norway pavilion for it makes it that much worse.

You’re not wrong and I know I’m in the minority haha. It was kind of a waste of the Frozen IP too.

 

[Ghost93]

They mentioned the salt mine as the only place with “any height to it.” Almost certainly we’ll be dropping out of a salt mine.

Good point. Although now I'm wondering if the concept art of Mama Odie's Treehouse/boathouse being on top of the mountain no longer reflects what the exterior of the attraction will look like. In the movie, her house wasn't on top of a salt mine.

 

[Ghost93]

Yes, the ride takes place after the film so maybe the storyline will be that Tiana's Place went bust so they ended up buying a salt mine to make ends meet?

Lol.

I think the possibilities are:

1. Tiana is in search for some object/artifact/resource that she needs for Mardi Gras that she can only get within the Salt Mine.

2. During the bayou journey to Mardi Gras, Louis loses his trumpet, and he and Tiana go off course into the salt mine to retrieve it. In the Salt Mine, they encounter some time of danger before the drop. Possibly Facilier's Friends on the Other Side?

 

[Chip Chipperson]

Good point. Although now I'm wondering if the concept art of Mama Odie's Treehouse/boathouse being on top of the mountain no longer reflects what the exterior of the attraction will look like. In the movie, her house wasn't on top of a salt mine.

"One day while working in the garden, Tiana struck salt! The force of the salt rushing out of the ground raised the house 50 feet high." Boom! Done. Where do I sign up to become an Imagineer?

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

Well, to be fair, all that really proves is there's a big demand for frozen. Not that the ride is great or even good. All it really proves in my opinion, is that Disney was shorfsighted.

Similarly, you won't be able to say Tiana's was a success by the lines. I would put money down the lines will stay the same. If you rethemed splash to the good dinosaur, it would still get huge lines. That wouldn't make it a success. It would only prove you have a capacity issue.

But my direct response was to the idea that everyone loved maelstrom and acknowledges it was a better ride than frozen. In that limited view I think the lines we had when frozen opened and continue to have in comparison to maelstrom help show what ride the general public like better.

I totally agree I don’t think you will be able to make the same inference from the splash/tianna conversion. Splash is so wildly popular now that it’s unlikely you will see a large difference in wait times before/after. It’s also going to be structurally still a flume ride, the only one at WDW so you could likely theme it almost any way you want and it will still be a popular attraction

 

[Disney Glimpses]

Splash is so wildly popular now that it’s unlikely you will see a large difference in wait times before/after

Splash’s wait times are very low at night. I suspect this re-theme may change that. At least for some time.

 

[Kirby86]

Splash’s wait times are very low at night. I suspect this re-theme may change that. At least for some time.

Probably for a few months but the reason people typically don't go on those rides at night is because 1) they will be leaving soon and who wants to get wet before you drive in a car. 2) temperature wise it's colder. 3) it's fireworks time. Once the Tiana new shine wears off the wait times will more likely then not stabilize to somewhere they are currently. You may have a difference of 5 to 10 minutes difference but I don't see the rides wait time being much longer than the current iteration.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

Probably for a few months but the reason people typically don't go on those rides at night is because 1) they will be leaving soon and who wants to get wet before you drive in a car. 2) temperature wise it's colder. 3) it's fireworks time. Once the Tiana new shine wears off the wait times will more likely then not stabilize to somewhere they are currently. You may have a difference of 5 to 10 minutes difference but I don't see the rides wait time being much longer than the current iteration.

Yeah, I mean I more meant because the lines will be so exorbitant during the day that people will take advantage of lower demand at night. But as you noted, that may only last a few months. Really depends how far they take this re-theme.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Nothing says light-hearted family fun like a salt mine!

 

[Tha Realest]

Nothing says light-hearted family fun like a salt mine!

One of the most prominent salt mines in Louisana was Avery Island, which has a long history of using slave labor. I hope they don't gloss over the connection between salt mines or slavery or else they'll be guilty of the very same insensitivity of SOTS!

Wiki - Avery Slaves

 

[Casper Gutman]

One of the most prominent salt mines in Louisana was Avery Island, which has a long history of using slave labor. I hope they don't gloss over the connection between salt mines or slavery or else they'll be guilty of the very same insensitivity of SOTS!

Wiki - Avery Slaves

Yeah, I didn't want to bring that up, but yeah... Louisiana salt mines carry connotations that are just as bad as Splash's current theming.

The salt mines thing is all just baseless conjecture, right? We have no real reason to think they'd actually go in that direction?

 

[Tha Realest]

Yeah, I didn't want to bring that up, but yeah... Louisiana salt mines carry connotations that are just as bad as Splash's current theming.

The salt mines thing is all just baseless conjecture, right? We have no real reason to think they'd actually go in that direction?

At about the 1:30 mark the video narrator (Carter?) mentions they toured Avery Island "to take a look at a salt dome, which is one of the only areas in Louisiana that has any elevation." Again, conjecture, but if they had to come up with a conceit for what brings you up - then down - this might seem to be it?

 

[FutureCEO]

Given that Epic Uni is 3 years away and it take 5 plus years for Disney to build anything. I won't count on anything from Disney.

 

[Tha Realest]

Given that Epic Uni is 3 years away and it take 5 plus years for Disney to build anything. I won't count on anything from Disney.

C'mon, no urgency. It's not like Nintendo has any enduring, multi-generational popularity or anything.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

C'mon, no urgency. It's not like Nintendo has any enduring, multi-generational popularity or anything.

I still think Epic Universe is more likely to impact attendance at Universal Studios than it is Walt Disney World. Disney will also announce another expansion.

 

[LittleBuford]

but if they had to come up with a conceit for what brings you up - then down - this might seem to be it?

Am I alone in knowing nothing about salt mines/domes (including the difference between them)? The idea that this conceit would translate into something that guests could make sense of seems pretty farfetched to me.

 

[Tha Realest]

Am I alone in knowing nothing about salt mines/domes (including the difference between them)? The idea that this conceit would translate into something that guests could make sense of seems pretty farfetched to me.

Since this ride is being shoehorned into an existing attraction with a 50+ foot plunge, I think the Imagineers were scrambling to come up with a geographic rationalization for how, and why, the ride would go up and then down suddenly (in a region with very little elevation changes). This video hints at what they possibly decided upon. I do not believe they've thought through the implications of this decision.

 

[MisterPenguin]

One of the most prominent salt mines in Louisana was Avery Island, which has a long history of using slave labor. I hope they don't gloss over the connection between salt mines or slavery or else they'll be guilty of the very same insensitivity of SOTS!

Wiki - Avery Slaves

Yeah, I didn't want to bring that up, but yeah... Louisiana salt mines carry connotations that are just as bad as Splash's current theming.

The salt mines thing is all just baseless conjecture, right? We have no real reason to think they'd actually go in that direction?

I didn't know Louisiana still had slaves in the 1920's. Wonder how this will affect Juneteenth?

 

[LittleBuford]

Since this ride is being shoehorned into an existing attraction with a 50+ foot plunge, I think the Imagineers were scrambling to come up with a geographic rationalization for how, and why, the ride would go up and then down suddenly (in a region with very little elevation changes). This video hints at what they possibly decided upon. I do not believe they've thought through the implications of this decision.

But how rational is the current set-up? Not very, and no-one cares.

I suspect (hope?) that the salt-mine/dome reference in the video proves to be a red herring.