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

[Animaniac93-98]

Well, does The Princess and the Frog really qualify as a "franchise"? Doesn't a "franchise" have to consist of more than one movie, or at least one movie and a TV show?

Tiana is one of the 12 official Disney Princesses, a multi-billion dollar franchise.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Well, their plan to remove any trace of Song of the South isn't gonna work. Tokyo refused to retheme their version, and the characters still make cameos in films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Lion King 1 1/2.

Outside of the Tokyo debacle . . . I don't think Disney is worried about those particular uses of the characters. Considering those two films have scorched earth of their own, those brief appearances are pretty negligible.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Alright, let's get pedantic:

"Franchise" would apply to any IP that has more than one thing based on it. Swiss Family Robinson has a movie and a walk-thru attraction. It's a franchise... technically. PatF has a movie, M&Gs, a cruise ship restaurant, and its various characters (both Tiana and Facilier) showing up in a whole bunch of shows and in other franchises, such as The Disney Princesses. So, PatF is a franchise.

"IP" is any intellectual property trademarked or copyrighted. So Frozen and Figment are both IPs.

But in the context of park rides and attractions, the context of "based on an IP" narrows the meaning to exclude Figment because, in general, people really mean "based on a pre-existing TV or Movie IP."

 

[Tavernacle12]

Well, their plan to remove any trace of Song of the South isn't gonna work. Tokyo refused to retheme their version, and the characters still make cameos in films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Lion King 1 1/2.

They’re barely more than cameos in those movies, and in the case of Roger Rabbit they’re contemporary-ish to the setting anyways.

I don’t think a ton of Americans are gonna fly to Japan for Splash Mountain either.

 

[DCLcruiser]

It is an IP. It is not a franchise.

 

[celluloid]

Have you heard anything new?

Nope. Quiet as expected in my opinion. More budget specific cuts. The parks want firework shows and parades/live ent opportunities so badly.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

Nope. Quiet as expected in my opinion. More budget specific cuts. The parks want firework shows and parades/live ent opportunities so badly.

If all else fails, Disney could hand out some Sparklers while a CM hums the tune of One Little Spark.
Joking aside; I take it a drone show or an "edited 50th celebration" castle projection isn't an option?

 

[Brer Panther]

I don’t think a ton of Americans are gonna fly to Japan for Splash Mountain either.

The internet still exists, though. I can already see the articles and videos with headlines like "THIS RIDE WAS BASED ON A FILM SO RACIST THAT DISNEY RETHEMED IT!" and stuff like that.

 

[The Grand Inquisitor]

I have so little interest for this project I haven’t asked.

Oh ok. Thanks Marni

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

The internet still exists, though. I can already see the articles and videos with headlines like "THIS RIDE WAS BASED ON A FILM SO RACIST THAT DISNEY RETHEMED IT!" and stuff like that.

Compared to the reality that the conversation had turned that way about a ride that's still standing, they would so much rather see those headlines - which will fall off over time rather than ramp up.

 

[EagleScout610]

So Phillip Kippel is saying on FB that there's been a change. Any idea how reliable he is?

 

[lazyboy97o]

So Phillip Kippel is saying on FB that there's been a change. Any idea how reliable he is?

He is a special Disney fan and not a reliable source of information.

At this point you just need to stop digging. You’re literally scrounging the bottom of the barrel for anybody who is saying what you want to hear.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

So Phillip Kippel is saying on FB that there's been a change. Any idea how reliable he is?

He is a special Disney fan and not a reliable source of information.

At this point you just need to stop digging. You’re little scrounging the bottom of the barrel for anybody who is saying what you want to hear.

Indeed - this is one of those projects that won't move quietly. If something happens one way or the other word will travel fast.

At this point no news is merely no news.

 

[Brer Panther]

So Phillip Kippel is saying on FB that there's been a change. Any idea how reliable he is?

I know Phillip Kippel. He's obsessed with Disney, thinks they can do no wrong, and has an extreme hatred for Steve Whitmire. So no, I don't think he's very reliable.

 

[Brer Oswald]

I like this idea.

Another idea would be turning Splash into an original attraction featuring another famous Disney rabbit...

Let's face it, Oswald has been woefully underutilized by Disney. (and Runaway Railway could have easily been a Trolley Troubles ride....)

And PatF could still have a great original home on Tom Sawyer Island. Because Tom Sawyer is pretty much dead anyway.

And I'm sorry to say it, but I have a very low opinion of Mark Twain. When I was a teenager, I was devouring Wells, Asimov, King, and Crichton on a weekly basis. But Twain bored me to tears. I didn't really give a crap about Tom Sawyer. By the time he was in the church rafters watching his own memorial service, I was wishing the little creep would have died for good.

No.

 

[Tavernacle12]

The internet still exists, though. I can already see the articles and videos with headlines like "THIS RIDE WAS BASED ON A FILM SO RACIST THAT DISNEY RETHEMED IT!" and stuff like that.

That feels like a nonissue because there’s nothing stopping someone from doing THIS RIDE IS BASED ON A FILM THAT IS RACIST videos as-is.

 

[Archie123]

So Phillip Kippel is saying on FB that there's been a change. Any idea how reliable he is?

Zero reliability.

 

[FettFan]

What if: In order to "save" Splash Mountain at WDW (and Frontierland as a whole) Imagineering decided to rework the attraction to feature the Country Bears? (Nah, I'm serious!)

I was thinking about this the other night. Based on the information gathered in this thread it seems apparent that Disney is looking to shed some of it's more problematic attractions. I can't think of any-one-land that has more "issues" than those presented in Frontierland. Given that "Country Bears" has been on/off rumored for closure (Anyone know the latest?) and with Splash presumably on the chopping block for it's subject matter; the solution for change could very well be a massive overhaul of Frontierland; a complete retheme of the entire land.
It's been armchaired here numerous times. Seems a good solution but would we lose Fronterland's identity in the process?

I might have a compromise. What if Imagineering in their quest to salvage Fronterland could somehow combine the Country Bear AAs with Splash creating an entirely new Splash Mountain attraction? In the likelihood (because I do think it likely) that Country Bears is shuttered; it would be a great disservice to see the AA bears gone forever. The same could be said for much of Splash Mountain's AAs.

Excluding for a moment that WDW's Splash Mountain will likely receive a Princess and the Frog overlay, doesn't it make more sense to create a two-birds, one-stone fix for Frontierland by developing a new Splash story one that keeps most of it's AAs? One that keeps the Country Bears in Frontierland? One that keep "Fronterland" Fronterland? That's what I stay up a night thinking about. :/

In doing this however, Disney will have merged two attractions down to one. Not a great idea but it beats an outright closure of Country Bears. (But there's a fix for that hypothetical too!) So then... what to do with the now vacant Country Bears building? Enter another often-suggested armchair idea of converting that little area (a no-man's land comprised mainly of footpaths) between Frontierland and Liberty as WDW's own little New Orleans District. Guests can get their PatF fix via a subtle N.O. Riverboat retheme, an AA show or more budget conscious M&G (vacated Country Bears building) and a new Tiana's Palace restaurant retheme.

The idea of this however all hinges on Disney's ability to address the problem areas in Frontierland while still keeping it's core themes. Is any of this doable? :shrugs: Would such a re-theme and land overhaul be possible? And more importantly is the idea Satisfactual for everyone?

my only concern is that it still matches the Frontierland aesthetic. The New Orleans bayou during the jazz age doesn’t do that.

Heck, ‘Home on the Range’ would be a better thematic fit than PatF, and that was the movie so bad it practically killed Disney Feature Animation.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

my only concern is that it still matches the Frontierland aesthetic. The New Orleans bayou during the jazz age doesn’t do that.
Heck, ‘Home on the Range’ would be a better thematic fit than PatF, and that was the movie so bad it practically killed Disney Feature Animation.

I think a New Orleans area could transition into Liberty easy enough. As far as transitioning the opposite direction from the hypothetical N.O. District to Frontierland that'd be more of a "swampy/hillbilly" aesthetic A.K.A. Lester's Possum Park or a just a greater focus on critters and swamp theming. Transitioning from that to Fronterland would be the more difficult task but I bet WDI could come up with something to make it work. With regards to the Jazz Age; that would be overlooked with the exception of Tiana's restaurant interior.

 

[FettFan]

I think a New Orleans area could transition into Liberty easy enough. As far as transitioning the opposite direction from the hypothetical N.O. District to Frontierland that'd be more of a "swampy/hillbilly" aesthetic A.K.A. Lester's Possum Park or a just a greater focus on critters and swamp theming. Transitioning from that to Fronterland would be the more difficult task but I bet WDI could come up with something to make it work. With regards to the Jazz Age; that would be overlooked with the exception of Tiana's restaurant interior.

I still maintain that Tom Sawyer Island being transformed into a new incarnation of New Orleans Square would be the best use of PatF at the magic kingdom.