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News Splash Mountain retheme to Princess and the Frog - Tiana's Bayou Adventure
- Thread starter wdwmagic
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ppete1975
Well-Known Member
I think it was a way to have people tune into the essence festival to hear the news... i didnt even know about this thing. But now all the Disney fans will be watching and paying attention. Free publicity for both.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
Relevant dates:
December 23, 2013: At the end of episode 52 of the Unofficial Guide's Disney Dish podcast, Jim Hill mentions that Disney is considering adding characters from Frozen to Maelstrom.
May 27, 2014: WDWMagic.com user WDW1974 has reported that Imagineer and animator George Scribner confirmed on a Disney Cruise Line ship that Frozen would be retrofitted into the existing Maelstrom attraction.
September 12, 2014: Tom Staggs officially announced a new Frozen attraction replacing Maelstrom on the Disney Parks Blog. He also indicated that there would be a meet and greet area as well. Following the announcement, WDWMagic.com user wdw71fan reported that this will not be a simple over lay of the existing attraction.
October 5, 2014: Maelstrom had it's last day of operation.
June 21, 2016: Frozen Ever After officially opened to guests.
To Animaniac's point. Anything less than 20 months from Splash Mountain closure to Princess and the Frog re-opening is a sign that this will be a cheap overlay.
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
I'll do you one better. Splash is larger by at least a factor of two (maybe three) in terms of ride duration, physical length, number of show scenes, animatronics, etc. Any comparable downtime given the far more extensive amount of work and upgrades that need to be done would be a disservice to this attraction.
Not to belabor the point, but PATF is a delightful film and there are tremendous opportunities that flow from it. These characters deserve their own, standalone thing, and I worry it will always be in the shadow of a classic and beloved attraction.
lentesta
Premium Member
The last I heard was that DLR's re-do was fairly straightforward. The Splash part of Critter Country would be annexed to New Orleans Square, with no theme or chronological concerns. I think Disneyland's pretty easy.
Last fall, I'd heard WDI was still struggling with the chronology problem in WDW, since Frontierland has a definitive end to its timeline, which I think its roughly 1790-1895. That's at least ~25 years before the events in PATF, which is a faily large gap in both time and in the definition of the US "frontier".
The proposals I was aware of last fall included:
- Build the PATF ride with Tiana and alter Frontierland to include 1920's New Orleans
- Build the PATF "prequel" ride without Tiana but with other characters from the film
- Let Tiana take over Pecos Bill's and make it Tiana's Palace
WDI has shown with GOTG and now Batuu that existing themes, timelines, and canon aren't barriers to putting in any ride in any location. It's possible they take option #1. I think the reason why options 2 and 3 exist is that enough people in WDI saw the problems with #1, that they were looking for a compromise everyone could live with.
I mean, if option #1 is taken, it means Frontierland includes everything in US history from the Lewis & Clark expedition to the end of World War I, the formation of the League of Nations, and almost up to the Great Depression. Everything from canoes to airplane travel, to the earliest helicopters, is fair game. The first half of Tomorrowland's Carousel of Progress would fit into Frontierland's chronology.
I think WDI recognizes the issues with this, hence this is why we've not heard more about it.
If the next Disney update on PATF focuses only on Disneyland, that would be an indication that WDW's Frontierland timeline remains an issue within WDI.
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
"John" is a benevolent traveler unstuck in time; he belongs in any land, in any park, that he wants.
After all, that's the exterior of his house in Living with the Land.
KaliSplash
Well-Known Member
I don't think Mickey gives a rip about timelines and what fits and doesn't fit in a particular place. They have demonstrated that repeatedly in various locations/parks.
This is simply a matter of them demonstrating how inclusive they can be in the current day and age and reality.
This is simply a matter of them demonstrating how inclusive they can be in the current day and age and reality.
GoneForGood
Well-Known Member
Number 2 has me curious. Mainly because it sounds so interesting. I do recall reading of a "critter centric" version of the overlay.
The whole "Does it fit?" discussion has been covered quite a bit in terms of WDW. I haven't elaborated on it, but I feel the only reason the current version works is due to a loophole--that being the Brer stories are more "southern" but are still American/African American folktale characters, and have always been placed in Frontierland/Liberty Square. (And in an even more interesting turn, Brer Fox and Brer Bear were featured prominently in NOS at DL when it was a newer addition).
I wouldn't put it past Disney to just plop the PATF version down in WDW as is without any changes to the land. I DO have to wonder...will Tiana and the rest of the PATF M&Gs move to Fronteirland after this is done? Or will she stay in PFTH?
I really just want to see more of this concept. Many ways it can go.
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
I dunno. I get the sense they have a bunch of creative writing obsessives sitting in a room for months on time creating intricate backstories to things that are never hinted at.
Disney Glimpses
Well-Known Member
I can understand the company has committed to re-theming Splash. I won't go over the obvious reasons stated here again, but Disneyland's is as easy as it will get. Perhaps the company will revisit a western river attraction and build a PATF attraction elsewhere. I don't know why they would be so obsessed with making sure Splash becomes PATF.
Timeline?
Doesn't WDI know that CBJ is singing songs from the mid-20th century? And that a Mississippi river boat is parked in a Colonial port? And that the Diamond Horseshoe is on their maps as belonging to Liberty Square?
GoneForGood
Well-Known Member
I think one of my top (maybe second...after an Idea I haven't shared yet) favorite Alternate retheme Ideas came from DSNY Newscast. He proposed WRE but using critters in place of humans. I thought that was an awesome idea.
yensidtlaw1969
Well-Known Member
I have kind of a hard time believing that this is any sort of holdup for PATF in WDW.
Disney's track record in the 21st Century is littered with examples of them saying "we want this to fit, so we'll just put it where we want, make minimal effort at justifying that change in the existing area, and just call it a day".
I'd be pleased to learn that WDI suddenly has such intense conviction that it's powerful enough to stall a poor thematic fit being pushed through from the top . . . but I'm not buying it for a nickel.
SailorMercury
Well-Known Member
I don’t know. This one has big reason for justification because of what they’re removing. Sure they’re removing Splash because of what it’s associated with, but they still know how beloved it is. So it’s a lot more justification to be had than a simple “Guardians is at EPCOT because Star-Lord went as a kid and really liked Horizons.” Because when it comes to justifying the closure of Ellen’s compared to the closure of Splash Mountain, it’s night and day in the justification of theming.
Not just PLAY! But I've heard their plan to combat Epic also includes:
•Moana
•A fully fixed Yeti
•Tiana Mt.
•Free churros and turkey legs for everyone on property
•The public overthrowing of Bob Chapek
BuzzedPotatoHead89
Well-Known Member
It’s both sad and comical that of the items listed the second one probably has by far the worst odds of ever happening, especially with Joe Rhode out of the picture. Lol.
James Alucobond
Well-Known Member
It seems to me a much simpler solution would be to just have the queue be temporally transportive. There's nothing about the exterior of the updated ride shown thus far that ties it directly to the 20s. You could easily push it closer to the turn of the century (just prior to where the story starts with Eudora reading to Tiana and Charlotte) and then tell that story along the way as you lead up to the ride itself.
Incomudro
Well-Known Member
Yeah, Splash is massive.
I know Maelstrom was loved by some - I liked it - but it never felt like a full blown attraction to me, it felt like a World Showcase ride in a country attraction to me which I viewed as a smaller way of doing things than a stand alone park attraction.
So, I didn't mourn the loss of it much.
But Splash is iconic, and yes - massive.
yensidtlaw1969
Well-Known Member
Disney has closed popular rides for replacement before, and has just as much justification with this one as they have with others - they want to do it.
Disney has never made a habit of getting hung up on what the guest wants when it comes to making big decisions like this, and they've certainly never found themselves in the quandary of feeling like they can't do something because it'll trip up the thematic logic of the existing area.
Sometimes they massively retheme the area. Usually they minimally retheme the area. Sometimes they don't retheme the area at all.
For better or for worse, Disney is fully aware that the majority of guests have no awareness of the Frontierland timeline as it exists. They're not gonna let that stand in the way of doing what they want here. The fact of the matter is that Splash Mountain itself was already a major blow to the established place and time of Frontierland at WDW - as major as has ever been realized, at least - and almost nobody bats an eye. They won't suddenly get hung up on resolving an issue this very ride created 30 years ago that never proved meaningfully impactful on the guest experience.
The likelihood is high that they will just do what they want to the ride, share many of the elements with its sister in Disneyland, and if they think they can make money turning Pecos Bill into a Tiana Restaurant they'll do it without much conceptual thought to any existing chronology.
That's not exactly how I want them to handle this, but history speaks for itself.
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