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

[Incomudro]

More animatronics don't automatically equal a better ride. The Great Movie Ride was full of them yet fell flat as an experience (at least for me).

Yes, you're correct.
We can't measure the success of the makeover by a statistical count of less AA's, and more screens add up to a less satisfying experience.
Though I too sort of dread the reduction in AA's and increase in screens - there's more to how well done a ride is than such a straight up count yields.
Conceivably a much better looking, visually beautiful and more entertaining ride can be done with fewer AA's.
Now, will it be done?
I don't know, and I've got serious doubts.
But it could be done.
As I've indicated, I'm more concerned with what appears to be a lack of key elements from the film.
Though, who knows?
Maybe those elements will be in the ride?

 

[celluloid]

The funny thing is without Ray and Dr. F you just have Louis as comic relief.

The two biggest steal the show characters of the movie will not be present.

The protagonist is relatively uninteresting compared to the things omitted and does not bode well for at least the thought of conflict. And no, an attraction does not require a conflict, but it sure tends to make things more interesting.

 

[Joel]

More animatronics don't automatically equal a better ride. The Great Movie Ride was full of them yet fell flat as an experience (at least for me).

GMR was full of them and was awesome.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

It's almost certainly going to end up worse, at least for what I want in a ride.

That's still not the same thing as Imagineers going out and intentionally trying to make it worse.

No one is saying the new imagineers are intentionally making Tiana inferior to SM, it’s just that the 2022 vision is not in the same ballpark as the old school vision…its apples and oranges…the 2022 vision of superior design is 1 or 2 AA’s and lots of computer generated screens and the AA’s will have those awful FEA facial projections because they’re too cheap to crate the traditional ones.

 

[LittleBuford]

GMR was full of them and was awesome.

Unless I'm mistaken, it didn't score all that well with guests when Disney decided to pull the plug on it. It's a matter of personal taste at the end of the day, and I realise that you are far from alone in missing the ride.

 

[UNCgolf]

No one is saying the new imagineers are intentionally making Tiana inferior to SM, it’s just that the 2022 vision is not in the same ballpark as the old school vision…its apples and oranges…the 2022 vision of superior design is 1 or 2 AA’s and lots of computer generated screens and the AA’s will have those awful FEA facial projections because they’re too cheap to crate the traditional ones.

I'm far from a Disney apologist and don't like most of what they've built in the past couple of decades, but the person I responded to originally was insinuating that they didn't want to make it better. That was the whole reason I commented.

 

[Joel]

Unless I'm mistaken, it didn't score all that well with guests when Disney decided to pull the plug on it. It's a matter of personal taste at the end of the day, and I realise that you are far from alone in missing the ride.

The Robert Osborne narration ruined it a little for me, and it really needed to be updated.

I love MMRR, too. I just wish it had been an addition instead of a replacement.

 

[Incomudro]

The funny thing is without Ray and Dr. F you just have Louis as comic relief.

The two biggest steal the show characters of the movie will not be present.

The protagonist is relatively uninteresting compared to the things omitted and does not bode well for at least the thought of conflict. And no, an attraction does not require a conflict, but it sure tends to make things more interesting.

Conflict would certainly work with the PatF ride, build the conflict throughout the ride with a sense of dread rising, to be relieved after the drop
It could be done so well with Dr. Facilier.
Perhaps, they'll still use some rising conflict? I don't know...
But the Dr. would have been such a great way to do it.

 

[crxbrett]

Honestly, even if this attraction ends up being awful, which I don't think it will, it will still have long lines. The reason? It's a partially outdoor water & thrill ride, which regardless of theming, always tend to have big lines the warmer the weather is. Regardless of quality. Look at Grizzly River at DCA - a mediocre attraction but has wait times upwards of 90-120 minutes when it gets over 85+ degrees at the park.

H₂O, outdoors and thrills = very popular with guests and for the most part long lines unless it is really cold.

This will have long lines 20 years from now even if people hate what they do to it.

 

[fgmnt]

Honestly, even if this attraction ends up being awful, which I don't think it will, it will still have long lines. The reason? It's a partially outdoor water & thrill ride, which regardless of theming, always tend to have big lines the warmer the weather is. Regardless of quality. Look at Grizzly River at DCA - a mediocre attraction but has wait times upwards of 90-120 minutes when it gets over 85+ degrees at the park.

H₂O, outdoors and thrills = very popular with guests and for the most part long lines unless it is really cold.

This will have long lines 20 years from now even if people hate what they do to it.

Lest anyone claim the Mine Train is an E-ticket, Splash Mountain is the newest E-ticket attraction in the Magic Kingdom. TRON will hold the title of the newest E-ticket for all of probably 15-18 months before the shell of Splash Mountain retakes this title.

Fun to think about.

"Fun"

 

[JoeCamel]

Conflict would certainly work with the PatF ride, build the conflict throughout the ride with a sense of dread rising, to be relieved after the drop
It could be done so well with Dr. Facilier.
Perhaps, they'll still use some rising conflict? I don't know...
But the Dr. would have been such a great way to do it.

But what if they make another princess ride like FEA and keep it giggles and sparkles? Building dread may not play well with that crowd.
I know which way I think they went
I think it comes down to who the target audience is for this

 

[montyz81]

It will be new and in far better shape than Splash has been in for some time, so that’s a hard comparison to make. I would expect it to have very long lines.

Splash has been in a deplorable state for years. It’s a real pity that this is how it ends. The least they could have done was a proper refurb before its final year. Instead, half of the leaves were painted and its condition has deteriorated further this year. Ugh.

I think you all misunderstood what I was saying. I’m not talking about how many people ride, I’m talking about how many people prioritize this ride when they first hit the park or make this a top five ride for their day versus Splash. To me that would be an indicator of the retheme vs the ride itself. Think about Test Track 1.0 vs 2.0. The ride is exactly the same, but the theme is different. Still, everyone flocks to TT when the park opens. That means it was always about the ride not the theme. I was thinking that peoples prioritization of Tiana would now change because the theme of Splash has always been as important as the ride itself.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I think you all misunderstood what I was saying. I’m not talking about how many people ride, I’m talking about how many people prioritize this ride when they first hit the park or make this a top five ride for their day versus Splash. To me that would be an indicator of the retheme vs the ride itself. Think about Test Track 1.0 vs 2.0. The ride is exactly the same, but the theme is different. Still, everyone flocks to TT when the park opens. That means it was always about the ride not the theme. I was thinking that peoples prioritization of Tiana would now change because the theme of Splash has always been as important as the ride itself.

I doubt the theme of Splash is important to many. A compelling Tiana story with strong visuals would be perfectly acceptable to most. I’m not married to Song of the South.

I worry TBA will have a weak story and/or poor-quality visuals. I’m sure I’ll like the music at least…

 

[Incomudro]

But what if they make another princess ride like FEA and keep it giggles and sparkles? Building dread may not play well with that crowd.
I know which way I think they went
I think it comes down to who the target audience is for this

Disney used to put the dread along with the giggles and sparkles.
It's what made their classic films great.

 

[marni1971]

I think it comes down to who the target audience is for this

Sometimes the target audience doesn’t fit the ride format. See SGE.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

They are aware of the pushback and I'm sure they know how important it is to get this right.

This is only true if they are capable of getting it right. I'm not sure they are right now after all the changes at WDI in the last 24-36 months.

 

[erasure fan1]

I'll withhold judgment and eat my words if it turns out great, but it's shocking how they'd get rid of one of their best rides ever built and then make it dead on arrival due to the direction of the project.

I think this is how most of the people who are questioning this feel. If it's as good as splash... Great, we're all happy. But there is zero reason to think this won't be a step backwards. If it's not, than like I've said many times, I'll be happy to eat crow.

 

[WondersOfLife]

More animatronics don't automatically equal a better ride. The Great Movie Ride was full of them yet fell flat as an experience (at least for me).

Uhhhh..... Well your opinion on what attractions are considered "flat" are completely irrelevant now. lol

 

[LittleBuford]

Uhhhh..... Well your opinion on what attractions are considered "flat" are completely irrelevant now. lol

As I said, I’m certainly not alone in my view. The ride was not a hit with guests when they scrapped it.

 

[Kirby86]

Uhhhh..... Well your opinion on what attractions are considered "flat" are completely irrelevant now. lol

I liked the Great Movie Ride but in its later life it was a walk on.