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

[MerlinTheGoat]

Do we know if the features on Splash are actually "broken?" Maybe they're being turned off? Obviously lights are an issue, but AAs that aren't moving and audio that isn't playing? IDK

Based on my ride from earlier today, I didn't spot any AA's that are completely motionless. But there are a number that are operating without full range of motion (i noticed a couple that had stuck eyes or mouths), or are a bit misaligned. The only major one that was missing most of its movement was Brer Fox right past the riverboat, it barely moves and is almost static (this is also only one of two places I noticed audio missing). There are a couple of figures that have been removed from the ride outright. One being the hopping rabbit (you can usually still see the figure behind the bush when deactivated/broken, but I think he's missing outright, so is the audio). Another being one of the three alligators in the finale. There may also be a small frog or two as well. But again, i've seen it FAR worse.

The worst areas for show problems are in the Laughing Place, starting at the spinning beehives which aren't spinning anymore. Most if not all of the black lights are out here as well, so it's very dark. Brer Bear here is also missing quite a bit of motion too. The fountain effects in the following scene before the final lift are also missing, save for a solitary jet underneath one of the turtles. The soaker jets on the big drop have also been switched off for a long time now, even during the summer (i've personally always hated these myself, so i don't complain about these).

With the exception of that aforementioned alligator, every figure in the finale was present and appeared to have full range of motion (to my eyes at least). Though the riverboat itself was not swaying and the wheel was not rotating. To put it in perspective, i've been on the ride where every single figure on the boat was stationary or barely twitching and with some of the chickens with their heads bent so far backwards they looked headless.

The lighting is actually probably the biggest issue with the ride currently. There's a lot of spotlights missing that are used to illuminate characters or scenes, so things are much darker than they should be. Including some of the aforementioned dark light lamps in the Laughing Place. And in the scenes just before the final lift, there's the opposite problem where it appears the work lights are being kept on. I also think the two shadow projections were not working.

 

[_caleb]

Based on my ride from earlier today, I didn't spot any AA's that are completely motionless. But there are a number that are operating without full range of motion (i noticed a couple that had stuck eyes or mouths), or are a bit misaligned. The only major one that was missing most of its movement was Brer Fox right past the riverboat, it barely moves and is almost static (this is also only one of two places I noticed audio missing). There are a couple of figures that have been removed from the ride outright. One being the hopping rabbit (you can usually still see the figure behind the bush when deactivated/broken, but I think he's missing outright, so is the audio). Another being one of the three alligators in the finale. There may also be a small frog or two as well. But again, i've seen it FAR worse.

The worst areas for show problems are in the Laughing Place, starting at the spinning beehives which aren't spinning anymore. Most if not all of the black lights are out here as well, so it's very dark. Brer Bear here is also missing quite a bit of motion too. The fountain effects in the following scene before the final lift are also missing, save for a solitary jet underneath one of the turtles. The soaker jets on the big drop have also been switched off for a long time now, even during the summer (i've personally always hated these myself, so i don't complain about these).

With the exception of that aforementioned alligator, every figure in the finale was present and appeared to have full range of motion (to my eyes at least). Though the riverboat itself was not swaying and the wheel was not rotating. To put it in perspective, i've been on the ride where every single figure on the boat was stationary or barely twitching and with some of the chickens with their heads bent so far backwards they looked headless.

The lighting is actually probably the biggest issue with the ride currently. There's a lot of spotlights missing that are used to illuminate characters or scenes, so things are much darker than they should be. Including some of the aforementioned dark light lamps in the Laughing Place. And in the scenes just before the final lift, there's the opposite problem where it appears the work lights are being kept on. I also think the two shadow projections were not working.

Thanks for sharing! I appreciate your keen eye.
If the AAs are in bad shape (they are old!), how are they going to reuse them in the retheme?

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Thanks for sharing! I appreciate your keen eye.
If the AAs are in bad shape (they are old!), how are they going to reuse them in the retheme?

Old age is not the problem here, negligent maintenance is (the corporate/money side of things here btw, not the people doing the work). If proper routine inspections and repairs were conducted in a preventative and proactive manner, the ride could be kept in a condition pretty much 100% consistent with how it looked on opening day.

And i'm entirely serious about that statement. Tokyo Disneyland is evidence of this. Their version of Splash is just as old as ours and has the same exact AA's, except they're all in perfect condition and function flawlessly with their full range of motion. That level of care reflects on Tokyo Disneyland as a whole (including even older attractions that have remained largely unchanged since 1983 yet still look as pristine as the day they opened).

AA's can last a VERY long time when properly taken care of. Heck Disney took them from even worse condition than they're in currently and restored them to opening day condition again during the 2013 refurb. With new exterior skins as well. And that only took about two months. This overhaul will take at least 1-2 years, plenty of time to make any necessary repairs and get them working perfectly again.

The question to me is not whether they can fix the AA's. The question is whether they will continue to properly maintain following the initial honeymoon period after the attention dies down. I highly doubt it. Again, Splash's condition is a symptom of an ongoing resort-wide ailment.

 

[EagleScout610]

Brer Bear here is also missing quite a bit of motion too.

That scene actually looks quite better than it did a few weeks ago. Br'er Fox was completely slumped over lifeless over a barely shaking Br'er Rabbit, and the lights were off on Br'er Bear, who wasn't moving at all.
Dead Br'er Fox:

 

[Elijah Abrams]

Now that Bob Iger is back at Disney, is there hope for Splash Mountain to stay the same?

 

[Disney Analyst]

Now that Bob Iger is back at Disney, is there hope for Splash Mountain to stay the same?

No.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

The replacement started life well before Chapek became CEO. It also isn't a secret that Iger is even more against Splash Mountain than Chapek is.

The best that can be hoped for at this point is that the recent claims i've heard about the replacement are accurate. Because again, aside from the salt mine backstory, it sounds much more promising than the initial concept discussed by Jim Hill. Hopefully they don't cut the budget during construction either.

 

[Nland316]

The replacement started life well before Chapek became CEO. It also isn't a secret that Iger is even more against Splash Mountain than Chapek is.

The best that can be hoped for at this point is that the recent claims i've heard about the replacement are accurate. Because again, aside from the salt mine backstory, it sounds much more promising than the initial concept discussed by Jim Hill. Hopefully they don't cut the budget during construction either.

If anything, I think the news just secures a pretty healthy budget for the project. Something that would be far less concerning for us fans.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

If anything, I think the news just secures a pretty healthy budget for the project. Something that would be far less concerning for us fans.

Not likely. The budget is already approved and the project is going to begin very shortly (not sure if they're going to wait until Tron opens or start in January). Budget cuts can still happen during the construction process though. And that is no less likely to happen under Iger as it is under Chapek, he's every bit as cut-happy as Chapek, especially if there's monetary concerns at the top. He cares about the optics of the ride's IP, not the quality of the ride experience itself.

 

[Nland316]

Not likely. The budget is already approved and the project is going to begin very shortly (not sure if they're going to wait until Tron opens or start in January). Budget cuts can still happen during the construction process though. And that is no less likely to happen under Iger as it is under Chapek, he's every bit as cut-happy as Chapek, especially if there's monetary concerns at the top. He cares about the optics of the ride's IP, not the quality of the ride experience itself.

I would assume however, since this is one of the few projects that would be completed in Iger’s 2-year CEO window, he would actually want to deliver quality on it. Not saying any significant creative choices would change at this point, but I think Iger will put a lot more importance toward it compared to Chapek because of this.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I would assume however, since this is one of the few projects that would be completed in Iger’s 2-year CEO window, he would actually want to deliver quality on it. Not saying any significant creative choices would change at this point, but I think Iger will put a lot more importance toward it compared to Chapek because of this.

The initial concepts being tossed around while Iger was CEO were very low budget and called for a removal of of most/all of the animatronics. I was told that the budget actually incrementally went up and up and up after Chapek became CEO. I don't necessarily see this as a direct correlation to Chapek (I hate both Iger AND Chapek). But at the very least he didn't veto it.

I'm going to be as vague as possible with this next comment, so I hopefully don't get modded. One major reason I was told they upped the budget so much is because of an overabundance of caution for how the general public would view the overhaul. The "blue team" (if you catch my meaning) are expected to support the overhaul because of the IP alone. But they're also trying to win over the more discerning skeptics who don't all fit so perfectly into that "blue team" (there are people such as myself who are also part of team blue, but are angry about this overhaul and have very high standards of quality). So there was seemingly motivation to create a ride that can also stand on its own as a worthy successor to Splash. And with all hope of them canning the overhaul dead (unfortunately), a worthy successor is the only real hope at this point.

This next part is purely my own fears, not based on any information. With Bob Iger back, i'm concerned he might not be as interested in trying to appeal to those other groups. He may believe that the IP alone (and the surrounding positive PR they will get from team blue) is enough to coast by on, and it won't matter what sort of quality ride comes out of it. If that's the case, he might be even more likely to cut the budget than Chapek. His go-to strategy for dealing with financial issues has always been to slash park maintenance and project budgets. And with him being brought back precisely because of financial issues, i'm worried things will actually get even worse than they have been under Chapek... I hope this doesn't happen with this project, because it would kill whatever chances I was willing to give it.

 

[EagleScout610]

Not likely. The budget is already approved and the project is going to begin very shortly (not sure if they're going to wait until Tron opens or start in January). Budget cuts can still happen during the construction process though. And that is no less likely to happen under Iger as it is under Chapek, he's every bit as cut-happy as Chapek, especially if there's monetary concerns at the top. He cares about the optics of the ride's IP, not the quality of the ride experience itself.

January for Florida most likely

 

[Tha Realest]

The replacement started life well before Chapek became CEO. It also isn't a secret that Iger is even more against Splash Mountain than Chapek is.

The best that can be hoped for at this point is that the recent claims i've heard about the replacement are accurate. Because again, aside from the salt mine backstory, it sounds much more promising than the initial concept discussed by Jim Hill. Hopefully they don't cut the budget during construction either.

There's no proof this replacement started "well before" February 2020. In fact, the disarray and mixed messages since it was announced suggests otherwise.

"Aside from the salt mine backstory," - all we know other than the salt mine aspect (which appears to be the most visible aspect of the concept art released recently) is that this is a celebration of a woman entrepreneur where everyone is welcome. Better than Splash 2.0 with updated animatronics?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

The replacement started life well before Chapek became CEO.

Imagine believing this.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Now that Bob Iger is back at Disney, is there hope for Splash Mountain to stay the same?

No. Iger was the driving force behind this in the first place lol

 

[LittleBuford]

the salt mine aspect (which appears to be the most visible aspect of the concept art released recently)

How is it visible? I saw no references to it in the concept art.

 

[Bocabear]

well if a salt mine is a water tower, then yeah...sure it's visible. The whole "Tiana runs a business" is a horrible idea for an attraction based on this franchise... as is a salt mine we never see or hear reference to in the movie... It is like they are taking a page from the Baatu playbook....

 

[LittleBuford]

well if a salt mine is a water tower, then yeah...sure it's visible. The whole "Tiana runs a business" is a horrible idea for an attraction based on this franchise... as is a salt mine we never see or hear reference to in the movie... It is like they are taking a page from the Baatu playbook....

I’m no fan of the salt-mine idea, as I’ve made clear, but there’s no sign of it in the concept art as far as I can tell.

 

[Bocabear]

I’m no fan of the salt-mine idea, as I’ve made clear, but there’s no sign of it in the concept art as far as I can tell.

Thank goodness for that...so far anyway ... Maybe they are saving that for "Tiana: Journey Of Salt" to make it's debut for the F&W next year...lol

 

[Disney Glimpses]

Now that Bob Iger is back at Disney, is there hope for Splash Mountain to stay the same?

If anyone was going to cancel the re-theme, it was Chapek.