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

[Dear Prudence]

Alright, so let's say a song from PatF replaces all SotS songs in Splash.

How Do You Do -> ???
Laughin Place -> ???
Zipadeedoodah -> ???

Which songs do you think will fit each?

I personally can't get Dig a Little Deeper outside of my head, replacing Zipadeedoodah. It's in C Major as well. Ugh... I just want them to keep the bluegrass theme somehow

We're supposed to get a new song, too.

 

[Midwest Elitist]

We're supposed to get a new song, too.

Oh no...

Anyways, I just realized something: MK will go from the superior ride to the inferior one, as DL version is what it is made for.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Oh no...

Anyways, I just realized something: MK will go from the superior ride to the inferior one, as DL version is what it is made for.

There aren't many things WDW has the superior version of, Splash was one of the only ones. Tower of Terror also, but DL doesn't even have one anymore.

I can confirm that there is a team in Florida actively working on their version of PatF, so perhaps that's a good sign for it being developed somewhat distinctly?

 

[Ghost93]

there were a few things Splash Mountain had working in its favor - the ride only attempts to recap the animated sectionitnshorts presented as asides within the actual plot of the movie. There's less ground to have to cover in the short-form medium of a ride than the usual full-length animated feature.

Lol, I don't know how they could have adapted the live-action segments of SOTS in the ride as the live-action story, in addition to being problematic, has little tension. Could you imagine sitting in a log past scenes of Johnny getting made fun of for wearing a lace collar or Sally telling Uncle Remus not to tell stories to Johnny? Oh, the THRILLS!?!

What would the climax of the ride even be? Johnny getting gored by a bull?

 

[Midwest Elitist]

There aren't many things WDW has the superior version of, Splash was one of the only ones. Tower of Terror also, but DL doesn't even have one anymore.

I can confirm that there is a team in Florida actively working on their version of PatF, so perhaps that's a good sign for it being developed somewhat distinctly?

That's good. I think Space Mountain as a whole is better at WDW. The queue + effects are just better IMO. I think the track(s) are better too.
Also, isn't Haunted Mansion better at WDW?

 

[SteveAZee]

I don't remember a lot of "maelstrom was a better ride than frozen." I do remember a lot of frozen has no business in Norway and they should have kept maelstrom. I think most people knew that Frozen would be more popular than maelstrom. But that isn't the point. It was about attention to the theming. I would put money down that you could have swapped, any fantasyland ride, spaceship earth, pirates, dinosaur, haunted mansion or a host of others with frozen, and instant huge lines. That would in no way be a reflection on what the public likes better in my opinion. It only shows you there was huge pent up demand for frozen.

I think for me, all of this could be true:
- Pent up demand for something "Frozen" caused the replacement of Maelstrom
- Maelstrom had mostly run its course and should have been updated or replaced
- Putting Frozen in Epcot/World Showcase was... a stretch... thematically
- Maelstrom was interesting, different, educational, and entertaining

 

[Midwest Elitist]

Lol, I don't know how they could have adapted the live-action segments of SOTS in the ride as the live-action story, in addition to being problematic, has little tension. Could you imagine sitting in a log past scenes of Johnny getting made fun of for wearing a lace collar or Sally telling Uncle Remus not to tell stories to Johnny? Oh, the THRILLS!?!

What would the climax of the ride even be? Johnny getting gored by a bull?

You're about to be drowned along with the puppies. Then, Uncle Remus comes out of nowhere and tells a story which saves you.

It's a shame the problems with the live action overshadows the (generally great) cartoon portions.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

That's good. I think Space Mountain as a whole is better at WDW. The queue + effects are just better IMO. I think the track(s) are better too.
Also, isn't Haunted Mansion better at WDW?

Yes, Space Mountain is better, you're right, though I kind of wish we had a soundtrack and the option to plop in Hyperspace every now and then. WDW's Haunted Mansion is the one I grew up with, so I'm biased towards it, but I kind of feel like they're pretty similar in terms of experience these days. WDW's queue is better with the outdoor enhancements from about 10 yrs ago. But DL does the Holiday overlay, which is really cool.

When I wrote to Don Carsen, one of the lead Imagineers on WDW's Splash (see several hundred pages ago on this thread for the transcript), he told me that the attraction has really good bones and would hold up well with whatever changes they needed to make to it. That gives me hope that perhaps the WDW version will still stand out in some ways. What those are, I don't know, besides maybe the fact that the logs are more comfortable and the overall speed is more relaxed. We'll see.

 

[Bocabear]

Yes, Space Mountain is better, you're right, though I kind of wish we had a soundtrack and the option to plop in Hyperspace every now and then. WDW's Haunted Mansion is the one I grew up with, so I'm biased towards it, but I kind of feel like they're pretty similar in terms of experience these days. WDW's queue is better with the outdoor enhancements from about 10 yrs ago. But DL does the Holiday overlay, which is really cool.

When I wrote to Don Carsen, one of the lead Imagineers on WDW's Splash (see several hundred pages ago on this thread for the transcript), he told me that the attraction has really good bones and would hold up well with whatever changes they needed to make to it. That gives me hope that perhaps the WDW version will still stand out in some ways. What those are, I don't know, besides maybe the fact that the logs are more comfortable and the overall speed is more relaxed. We'll see.

While I am sort of against this change, I do think it will hold up well...Just hopeful they put the time and money into making it as good or better then the original...

 

[Midwest Elitist]

When I wrote to Don Carsen, one of the lead Imagineers on WDW's Splash (see several hundred pages ago on this thread for the transcript), he told me that the attraction has really good bones and would hold up well with whatever changes they needed to make to it. That gives me hope that perhaps the WDW version will still stand out in some ways. What those are, I don't know, besides maybe the fact that the logs are more comfortable and the overall speed is more relaxed. We'll see.

I've said it so many times already, but if they keep the western theme and bluegrass style somehow, that would get me to like 90% at getting over Splash. Hearing that high octave harmonica gives me chills and waves of nostalgia (same as hearing the Star Tunnel music. It's my "I'm really here" trigger for WDW).

 

[Bocabear]

Will we get a hop-along-frog to replace the hop-along-bunny?

 

[MisterPenguin]

You're about to be drowned along with the puppies. Then, Uncle Remus comes out of nowhere and tells a story which saves you.

It's a shame the problems with the live action overshadows the (generally great) cartoon portions.

You see Johnny unconscious and workers in the background starting to build a coffin. Then the woodland critters get word to Remus that Johnny is in trouble. So he goes to tell him a story and then the big drop on the flume is Remus descending into Hell in which he finds Johnny and tells a story which razes Hell and frees all the souls there.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I don't remember a lot of "maelstrom was a better ride than frozen." I do remember a lot of frozen has no business in Norway and they should have kept maelstrom. I think most people knew that Frozen would be more popular than maelstrom. But that isn't the point. It was about attention to the theming. I would put money down that you could have swapped, any fantasyland ride, spaceship earth, pirates, dinosaur, haunted mansion or a host of others with frozen, and instant huge lines. That would in no way be a reflection on what the public likes better in my opinion. It only shows you there was huge pent up demand for frozen.

Frozen is thematically inappropriate for the location, but in a vacuum Frozen is the better attraction. It has countless shortcomings however, and I would argue that it was the worst attraction decision in the history of Walt Disney World.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Frozen is thematically inappropriate for the location, but in a vacuum Frozen is the better attraction. It has countless shortcomings however, and I would argue that it was the worst attraction decision in the history of Walt Disney World.

I'd say Journey Into Your Imagination replacing the original is way worse (though there were some reasons beyond their control why it happened)

 

[RSoxNo1]

I'd say Journey Into Your Imagination replacing the original is way worse (though there were some reasons beyond their control why it happened)

I'm not going to argue about the denegration of the attraction. That's a different issue. The goal of replacing the original Imagination was to satisfy a sponsor who was struggling, but ultimately it was still keeping the nature of the attraction in line with EPCOT.

Frozen was a means of getting a popular IP into the parks as quickly as possible and from the outset, it was known that it would further dilute the theming of World Showcase and lack the appropriate capacity demand that the Frozen name would put upon a new ride. For me, I would argue either Frozen Ever After or the removal of Illuminations were the fatal blows to what used to be EPCOT.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Thinking about it, Splash Mountain is also a "recap the movie" ride, but there's still something charming about it that makes it stick out compared to modern recap rides. Maybe it's because the imagineers added enough new scenes and immersive environments to make it not stick out as much?

That's because it is not a simple recap of the movie. Sequences are restaged, changed, taken out of order etc to tell a coherent story that works in the context of a 10 minute-ish boat ride, even if you haven't seen the movie.

In the original movie the three cartoon segments are self contained stories that tie to some event in the live action world. What Splash Mountain did was take the basic moral/plot of the first cartoon ("you can't run away from your troubles") and then expand that using new characters plus jokes and songs from the other cartoons to embellish this one story. The drops then punctuate the narrative; getting bigger or darker as the danger increases. The final one happens because we too are thrown into the Briar patch, the rabbits reverse-psychology ploy (again a small bit taken from the movie, but now it's this dramatic moment in real life). We also get to see many more of the animals besides the bre'rs and much more of their world with sets like the riverboat. The overall narrative is streamlined, but made more interesting because of the added visuals and physical thrills.

The ride does not get enough credit for all of this. Probably because people haven't seen the movie, or haven't in a long time, so they don't notice the differences. Unlike Song of the South, Splash Mountain is better than the sum of its parts.

In the same way adapting a stage play or book into a movie requires changes to make use of or understand the limits of a different medium, making a ride based off a movie requires more thought than stringing some scenes together in three dimension and hoping it makes sense. It's what sets apart Mr Toad, Snow White's Adventure and Splash Mountain from the likes of Little Mermaid or Frozen Ever After.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

What would the climax of the ride even be? Johnny getting gored by a bull?

The bull pushes us over the hill and that's how we get the big drop.

Or it's like Jurassic Park and there's this giant bull AA we duck under to escape.

 

[LittleBuford]

The final one happens because we too are thrown into the Briar patch, the rabbits reverse-psychology ploy (again a small bit taken from the movie, but now it's this dramatic moment in real life).

It’s actually a major element of the animated sequences (and yes, I’ve seen the movie multiple times). It’s even staged as a cliffhanger, with Remus returning to the story after a brief live-action interruption to reveal how Br’er Rabbit escaped his predicament.

Yes, Splash Mountain reworks its source material, but it’s still squarely rooted in it.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

It's easier to find the holes in something like Snow White's Scary Adventures when you've seen that movie a few dozen times, but when it comes to new information people tend to make sense of what they see.

First: I didn't see your post before making my reply above. Wish I had because you put in much better words.

Second: It was harder to scrutinize and memorize Disney movies in the days when you had to wait 7 years on average to see them again. Even with things like records and books telling the same stories, you sometimes had deviations from the film. Home video changed that dynamic and I think that's why these book report rides became stricter in their recreations. I don't think it's any coincidence that WDW's Snow White ride reopened from refurbishment in 1994 at the same time the video hit store shelves.

 

[UNCgolf]

Frozen is thematically inappropriate for the location, but in a vacuum Frozen is the better attraction. It has countless shortcomings however, and I would argue that it was the worst attraction decision in the history of Walt Disney World.

I think it's arguable that Frozen is a better attraction even in a vacuum. I'm inclined to give the slight nod to Maelstrom because the going backwards scene actually made sense in the context of the ride and having the boats appear outside the attraction was a nice touch.

FEA has always felt unfinished to me -- like they were maybe 3/4 done and then decided to just open it instead of finishing off all the detailing for the scenes. But overall, Maelstrom was not a very good attraction and neither is FEA. It doesn't really matter (at least to me) which one is "better" when neither are worth much.

Regardless, I couldn't agree more with your final clause. And the fact that they've decided to just clone FEA for other parks is nearly as bad as the original decision.