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

[CJR]

Tbh, the biggest danger for Disney on this one is if they try and redo the ride on the super cheap, because that opens them up to more accusations of racism--"you could spend all that money on Cinderella's castle, but Tiana got a video on a flat screen tv?"

This is probably my biggest concern. I'm not trusting of Disney on that front. Regardless of the IP I expect most animatronics to be removed with a couple amazing quality/cutting edge ones added, then lots and lots of protection mapping. I would love to be wrong. We'll see I suppose.

More than anything, I'm not happy about Zip going away. Matthew Morisson just did a take on it this spring, so it's still very relevant. So many different versions including one by Louis Armstrong. It's incredibly tragic if they do decide to bury the song, IMO. It's so much bigger to Disney than Splash Mountain or SotS and is linked to Walt himself.

 

[Brer Oswald]

This is probably my biggest concern. I'm not trusting of Disney on that front. Regardless of the IP I expect most animatronics to be removed with a couple amazing quality/cutting edge ones added, then lots and lots of protection mapping. I would love to be wrong. We'll see I suppose.

More than anything, I'm not happy about Zip going away. Matthew Morisson just did a take on it this spring, so it's still very relevant. So many different versions including one by Louis Armstrong. It's incredibly tragic if they do decide to bury the song, IMO. It's so much bigger to Disney than Splash Mountain or SotS and is linked to Walt himself.

The thing about Zip is that it’s such a widely available song. It’s never going to go away. And even though people are painting it a certain way right now, who’s to say it will still be painted that way 10 years down the line.

 

[EagleScout610]

The thing about Zip is that it’s such a widely available song. It’s never going to go away. And even though people are painting it a certain way right now, who’s to say it will still be painted that way 10 years down the line.

Same thing can be said about Splash itself. Even if Disney does retheme it, be it Princess and the Frog, Western River, or whatever, the SotS version will live on, so the retheme really won't erase anything, just the psychical ride

 

[Toad hall 25]

The build up to the big dip in splash mountain is so epic I don't think princess frog characters can top it. And any way when you take the dip and go in the tunnel no one is going to care what is in there. They're going to be thinking we're is my riverboat and why aren't they singing zip.

 

[tanc]

I also am wondering if the music will be arranged as fully orchestrated for the ride or full choir. Splash Mountain's soundtrack was obviously an arrangement of all the songs and they do an excellent job with the theming because of it being more of a country track.

 

[Surferboy567]

The build up to the big dip in splash mountain is so epic I don't think princess frog characters can top it. And any way when you take the dip and go in the tunnel no one is going to care what is in there. They're going to be thinking we're is my riverboat and why aren't they singing zip.

I actually think this is the part of the ride that could be better. “Friends on the other side” plus Voodoo masks could lend itself well to a buildup for a drop.

Not saying it will be better but that part in particular has potential.

That being said, Laughing Place plus the drop sequence they have now is amazing as it is.

EDIT: Living up to Laughing Place will be hard.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

The build up to the big dip in splash mountain is so epic I don't think princess frog characters can top it. And any way when you take the dip and go in the tunnel no one is going to care what is in there. They're going to be thinking we're is my riverboat and why aren't they singing zip.

I'm sure they'll just reuse the showboat with Tiana and Naveen figures waving us on as fireworks burst in the background, aka the standard ending. And if we're lucky we'll get an AA Louis playing his trumpet alongside the showboat band as part of the Mardi Gras celebration finale. (it writes itself) Please Disney be better than that!

 

[Homemade Imagineering]

I'm sure they'll just reuse the showboat with Tiana and Naveen figures waving us on as fireworks burst in the background, aka the standard ending. And if we're lucky we'll get an AA Louis playing his trumpet alongside the showboat band as part of the Mardi Gras celebration finale. (it writes itself) Please Disney be better than that!

Hopefully they’ll place the swamp boys next to Louis. They’ll fit in perfectly, I don’t know if the same can be said for the geese, or other animals within the attraction. I’m sure many will be
re-skinned.

 

[Bocabear]

Why couldn't the Princess and the Frog characters sing Zip? It has no plot action, just a happy wonderful day kinda song. No reason they couldn't do that.
And Zip has ALWAYS been associated with Disney and the parks... So leave the river boat, add some more characters...If you listen to the Splash source recording it is heavy with gospel choir sound already...not original to the movie soundtrack... Would be an easy fix there to just add P &TF character vocals over.

 

[erasure fan1]

Although it would be far less controversial from a thematic perspective than PATF and possibly the only potential replacement many including myself would come remotely close to accepting, Splash being widely considered as one of the park’s quintessential classics means some of the conversations we’re having now would be had no matter what. In fact, as long as cancel culture maintained some sort of perceived influence in its demise, I find it hard to believe much would change about these conversations at all.

Yup. As long as the ride is changing, the conversation will likely stay the same. You don't just change one of the most iconic rides in history, and expect the conversation to be in your favor. The only chance you have would be to bulldoze the mountain and start from scratch. No matter what they put in, it will always feel shoehorned in if it's just an overlay. I can see princess and the frog making a great attraction. Greater than splash? I guess we'll see. But I'm pretty sure we all know the correct answer.

 

[Donaldfan1934]

Yup. As long as the ride is changing, the conversation will likely stay the same. You don't just change one of the most iconic rides in history, and expect the conversation to be in your favor. The only chance you have would be to bulldoze the mountain and start from scratch. No matter what they put in, it will always feel shoehorned in if it's just an overlay. I can see princess and the frog making a great attraction. Greater than splash? I guess we'll see. But I'm pretty sure we all know the correct answer.

Agreed. Even though bulldozing the attraction would still be controversial, I’d much rather have that than what we’re currently slated to be getting because at least its replacement would be able to be judged on its own merits rather than 100% in the shadow of its predecessor.

 

[erasure fan1]

Agreed. Even though bulldozing the attraction would still be controversial, I’d much rather have that than what we’re currently slated to be getting because at least its replacement would be able to be judged on its own merits rather than 100% in the shadow of its predecessor.

Exactly. No one will agree with removing such an icon of a show building. But I truly believe it is the only chance they have to blow us out of the water with a new ride. If you can say, man, splash was such a great ride, but holy cow this new ride is absolutely fantastic. You have a possibility of acceptance. Either way, they are enormous shoes to fill.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Why couldn't the Princess and the Frog characters sing Zip? It has no plot action, just a happy wonderful day kinda song. No reason they couldn't do that.
And Zip has ALWAYS been associated with Disney and the parks... So leave the river boat, add some more characters...If you listen to the Splash source recording it is heavy with gospel choir sound already...not original to the movie soundtrack... Would be an easy fix there to just add P &TF character vocals over.

The why's of this change are in the politics forum. This thread is just about the new attraction. And since we have almost no information on the new attraction, it should theoretically be dormant, much like the Yeti watch thread should theoretically be dormant due to lack of news.

The "why is Zip going?" discussion is here:

Splash Mountain re-theme announced

UPDATE: In the absence of many specific details on the project and due to its polarizing nature, this original thread is mostly a political/social debate, which is best served in the Politics/Social section of the forum. In its original location in News & Rumors it became impossible to moderate...

forums.wdwmagic.com

 

[_caleb]

The why's of this change are in the politics forum. This thread is just about the new attraction. And since we have almost no information on the new attraction, it should theoretically be dormant, much like the Yeti watch thread should theoretically be dormant due to lack of news.

The "why is Zip going?" discussion is here:

Splash Mountain re-theme announced

UPDATE: In the absence of many specific details on the project and due to its polarizing nature, this original thread is mostly a political/social debate, which is best served in the Politics/Social section of the forum. In its original location in News & Rumors it became impossible to moderate...

forums.wdwmagic.com

You KNOW I was about to post something just like this. I had it all typed out and everything!

 

[Donaldfan1934]

Exactly. No one will agree with removing such an icon of a show building. But I truly believe it is the only chance they have to blow us out of the water with a new ride. If you can say, man, splash was such a great ride, but holy cow this new ride is absolutely fantastic. You have a possibility of acceptance. Either way, they are enormous shoes to fill.

Again, totally agreed. Disney may never be able to fully make up for the loss in the eyes of many, but they can at least create something in its place that could be accepted as its own unique attraction.

Personally, I think it would be better for them to lean into new builds for attraction replacements in general. While I don’t feel all attractions that reuse the infrastructure of a previous attraction are necessarily bad or worse than other attractions, most ideas in the theme park medium benefit from not being held to the specific limitations of a previously existing idea.

 

[Toad hall 25]

Alright my thoughts on the re theme of splash mountain is the princess frog should be a seasonal overlay because I don't think it will be as popular as a year round attraction but if you put it in from September to earlyJanuary and then turn it back to the original for the rest of the year. It might have a chance because the haunted mansion and space mountain are better in their original version but have longer lines in their holiday version. And in crowded parks in holiday time if you can make another ride with long lines it helps relieve the crowds on other lines.

 

[Homemade Imagineering]

I'm sure we won't have to worry about getting figures similar to Mermaid too much, since Mermaids figures, to my best belief, are all pneumatically controlled, and I believe that some of them were outsourced from Garner Holt Productions. From Disney's recent track record of producing only electrically controlled figures, I bet you we will see A-1000s in this re-theme. Now, I also wouldn't want to see any projection face based animatronics like FeA, but I'd rather have the projection faces on an A-1000, than the plastic looking figures from Mermaid. Plus, if they keep most of the original America Sings AAs, and carefully implement the new figures into the scenery with them in the place of the Brer AAs, I think we could end up have something not as lackluster as some may think. Now there is the argument that the music alone is the biggest loss coming from this re-theme, and while I do somewhat agree with that sentiment, I do feel that we'll get a revised PatF soundtrack in the jazzy style of Disneyland's Splash Mountain, and maybe even a bluegrass rendition of the PatF songs for WDW's. This, in my opinion, is the best way to implement new music into the attraction, all while being respectful towards the original feel of Splash Mountain's soundtrack.

 

[Toad hall 25]

At the risk of getting political, I suppose the Headhunter Tribe in the Jungle Cruise could be considered offensive? I don't think the whole ride is offensive but I could see why that specific scene could be considered racist.

The murdering wife in the haunted mansion could be considered offensive because she might encourage little girls to grow up and become a black widow.

 

[Brer Panther]

Say, what do you think they're gonna rename the Briar Patch store?

 

[Toad hall 25]

Say, what do you think they're gonna rename the Briar Patch store?

It depends if they are trying for a new Orleans or bayou concept.