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

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MythBuster

MythBuster

Active Member
GoofGoof said:
OK, you have me on the ropes...but I’m not done yet. I still think some backstage stuff could be reimagined, but I’m no expert. Another option is to leave the backstage buildings alone and have a New Orleans Square type mini-land build into the existing Queue, restroom and gift shop area (yellow below) and extend back into part of the area circled in blue. They couldn’t fit a lot in there but possibly a restaurant, shop and meet and greet area. The transition to New Orleans could be under the train overpass so it’s not intrusive to Frontierland and it helps the new ride fit into a land. Cheaper and easier to do that.
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To re-theme the area in yellow could work and wouldn't affect much, but the area in blue is the Big Thunder Maintenance area including the roundhouse, so that wouldn't work.
 
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spresso81

Well-Known Member
The more we learn about the budget and possibility of only 3 characters appearing, this whole conversion sounds like a dumpster fire.

Let's say the budget even is $50 mil (per coast) - how much of that will do to demo and track modifications/poss changes? Knowing Disney that could prob be half the budget.

I am really scared one of Disney's greatest rides will turn into a lesser version of Frozen. What makes that even worse is Maelstrom paled in comparison to SM in length and overall quality. We do not need an 8 minute SM ride filled with a handful of AAs and empty sections!
 
jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
Jedijax719 said:
This.

But of course a lot will probably have to do with the hopeful turnaround. If they want to get it done in 2 years, they will probably have to rush. There will obviously have to be a lengthy time SM will be closed. It's not the same kind of refurbishment as POTC with the red-headed lady. This is obviously a complete overhaul.

However, they can probably get away with not having to do massive overall structural work (just animated characters) if they keep the bayou theme intact for much of the ride. But I probably have NO idea what I am talking about and just throwing spitballs.

As for HM, it is ironic that this comes up here. The whole notion of haunted houses was something created in the early 1900's. Houses built in the 1600's, 1700's, and 1800's were still standing and were becoming increasingly dilapidated. Kids and teens would hang out there and vandalize them. So towns people would spook them to keep them out. That actually took place not far off from the time period that Tiana lived.

That said, though, it's too far from where Splash is to make a seamless turn of the century theme.
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You don't have to have the HM and the Splash area placed in the same era. To the contrary. As you travel through you are not only changing geographically but you are also traveling through the decades. This is part of the magic of Liberty Square.

By utilizing the Rivers of America in this timeline Imagineering could also pay homage to the Underground railroad. They could also add the old North church to liberty square in keeping with the original design.
 
jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
spresso81 said:
The more we learn about the budget and possibility of only 3 characters appearing, this whole conversion sounds like a dumpster fire.

Let's say the budget even is $50 mil (per coast) - how much of that will do to demo and track modifications/poss changes? Knowing Disney that could prob be half the budget.

I am really scared one of Disney's greatest rides will turn into a lesser version of Frozen. What makes that even worse is Maelstrom paled in comparison to SM in length and overall quality. We do not need an 8 minute SM ride filled with a handful of AAs and empty sections!
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3 characters seems very unlikely. Perhaps they are considering 3 characters with speaking roles. I'm doubtful 3 total is accurate.
 
C

celluloid

Well-Known Member
spresso81 said:
The more we learn about the budget and possibility of only 3 characters appearing, this whole conversion sounds like a dumpster fire.

Let's say the budget even is $50 mil (per coast) - how much of that will do to demo and track modifications/poss changes? Knowing Disney that could prob be half the budget.

I am really scared one of Disney's greatest rides will turn into a lesser version of Frozen. What makes that even worse is Maelstrom paled in comparison to SM in length and overall quality. We do not need an 8 minute SM ride filled with a handful of AAs and empty sections!
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Be prepared for just that. A lot of wonderous projection filters and music inbetween.
 
WDW Pro

WDW Pro

Well-Known Member
spresso81 said:
The more we learn about the budget and possibility of only 3 characters appearing, this whole conversion sounds like a dumpster fire.

Let's say the budget even is $50 mil (per coast) - how much of that will do to demo and track modifications/poss changes? Knowing Disney that could prob be half the budget.

I am really scared one of Disney's greatest rides will turn into a lesser version of Frozen. What makes that even worse is Maelstrom paled in comparison to SM in length and overall quality. We do not need an 8 minute SM ride filled with a handful of AAs and empty sections!
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The budget is small and it's coming out of the Epcot capex monies.
 
Disgruntled Walt

Disgruntled Walt

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Screamscape mentioned retheming the front half of Frontierland (up to Splash Mountain) as New Orleans Square and eliminating CBJ in order to create some more thematic integrity. Given that I can't stand this idea in the first place, I want them to make the theming work, BUT I cannot justify getting rid of CBJ for this. As much as Disney probably wants to.
 
MythBuster

MythBuster

Active Member
MerlinTheGoat said:
I don't know the exact budget for the Frozen ride. Photodave again said Frozen at Epcot was $75 mil back in 2014 (apparently after receiving a massive budget cut). I believe this included the restrooms and meet n greet next door, though i'm not 100% sure. I was just posting the $50 mil number as a ballpark figure for what seemed to make sense.

As I said, the other number I heard for PATF (which again didn't come from WDW Pro) was SIGNIFICANTLY lower than $50 mil. Even if the ride system doesn't really need any work, we're still probably looking at a gutting and replacement of at least 90% of the interior scenes and animatronics. The only scene I could see not really needing too much alteration is the Riverboat finale (the animatronics there will still probably be removed though).

Splash Mtn is much longer and contains far more scenes than Maelstrom ever did. The scenes are also way more detailed and packed with AA's than Maelstrom's. So it'll look even worse by comparison if the overhaul doesn't add back in a similar level of physical detail and figures to what it currently holds. Something that I feel is reasonable to say isn't possible with a $50 mil budget (let alone a lesser amount). Heck I think it's extremely unlikely they could do it on a $100 mil budget.
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The budget for the Norway pavilion included everything including Meet and Greet, restrooms, Maelstrom refurb. The main reason for the refurb was safety and to improve guest movement and prevent clogs and make everything a smoother transition. They removed the load area and combined into load/unload area and installed access areas through out the ride where they can evacuate every boat in place, whereas they couldn't do before, so it would shorten the amount of downtimes during 101's. The show portion was low on the priority list

I'm afraid this will be the same policy for Splash Mountain, safety items and new ride systems to update the outdated controls will be the priority, the show portion of the ride will suffer. Just add plenty of projectors and screens that will be easier to maintain and saves money in the long run.
 
ᗩLᘿᑕ ֊ᗩζᗩᗰ

ᗩLᘿᑕ ֊ᗩζᗩᗰ

Hᴏᴜsᴇ ᴏʄ  Mᴀɢɪᴄ
Premium Member
SirLink said:
The only 3 named characters in the ride will be Louie, Tianna, and Mama Odie - there is a reason why Disney had quotes on standby from the VA to go ahead with the announcement. And out of all 3 of those the one you will see the most is Louie.
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Jedijax719 said:
Not much of a PATF ride if there's only those 3 characters.
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I suspect there will be more, though not all in AA form.

Characters like Naveen, the La Bouffs and possibly even the Fenner Bros could make an appearance. For what it's worth, there's those bumbling frog-hunting brothers that practically sub-in for the original Song of the South br'er trio. And with that, you have the attraction's main antagonists and a "Louis's Mission" plot that essentially writes itself.
 
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UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
MythBuster said:
I'm afraid this will be the same policy for Splash Mountain, safety items and new ride systems to update the outdated controls will be the priority, the show portion of the ride will suffer. Just add plenty of projectors and screens that will be easier to maintain and saves money in the long run.
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This is both what I'm expecting and what I'm afraid of.
 
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