They won’t do a thing, because that would mean admitting failure.
Humbleness is not a quality trait at WDI.
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Tiana’s Bayou Adventure SPOILER Thread
- Thread starter Surferboy567
- Start date
Humbleness is not a quality trait at WDI.
Brer Oswald
Well-Known Member
I think they will change the story sometime in the next 10-15 years, with minor adjustments like adding more thrill to the lift hill and filling in some dead zones. In 30 years, it will probably get a new theme entirely.
Tru dat.
It could only be improved. TBA is very much a rough draft as-is. The bones are there but the story needs to be expounded. It needs greater ties to Tiana Foods and a better understanding of why and how we're venturing into the bayou. Is it a tour that detours? A grand opening celebration? The plot would likely benefit from a mcguffin or antagonist as well. Juju? He's not doing much right now. Maybe he could be the would-be foil since Facilier is a no-go. Or that key we see in the shrink room... maybe it could be retconned around that? Perhaps the hollow log is Juju's house and he's projected on the screen? That would add some needed tension. It wouldn't be difficult to concoct a deeper story seeing as how there isn't much of one in the first place. Heck, Louis losing his trumpet (should have been a b-plot) would be a welcomed addition at this point.
RoysCabin
Well-Known Member
Finally saw a POV of this, and I'll start with what looks nice: it really does seem like genuine effort went into this. At a time where it's very easy to rip on Disney for quick-fixes and "just slap a preexisting property on it" band-aid solutions, or rides that feel empty compared to what was there before, this at least comes off like they knew they had massive shoes to fill and gave it a good faith try. Some nice looking theming and details, modern animatronics, and I got the vibe that the general atmosphere of the ride once you're indoors seems pretty nice.
That said...
Ok, yes, the dialog...but not exactly the dialog, it's what's its in service of. I just mentioned this in another thread, but I really, really don't enjoy the "the main characters are trying to do something, and only YOU can help them!" ride story approach, unless a ride directly involves rider interactions (e.g. Buzz, Mario Kart, MiB, Smugglers Run); it honestly just feels patronizing to me. I am a passive observer, not an active participant, so why are you treating me like I'm doing anything besides sitting in a log and looking at stuff?
And yeah, I'm one of those guys who always enjoyed the tension and buildup in Splash - going from How Do Ya Do to Laffin' Place always felt like a gradual descent into madness, and by the time you're on the last lift hill you've got the dramatic music (heck, operatic music in Anaheim), Brer Fox being intimidating, the briar patch below, and then the cathartic release of Zip a Dee Doo Dah at the final scene. If you remove that...I don't know, this is a part I'll have to experience for myself, but it feels like you remove a core component of any log flume ride. Because without the buildup, tension, etc.? It's a 45 degree drop. All the story work and atmosphere is meant to contribute to it being scarier than it actually is (worked like a charm on little kid me back in the day!), but that's kind of erased here. Just a very strange choice.
That said...
Ok, yes, the dialog...but not exactly the dialog, it's what's its in service of. I just mentioned this in another thread, but I really, really don't enjoy the "the main characters are trying to do something, and only YOU can help them!" ride story approach, unless a ride directly involves rider interactions (e.g. Buzz, Mario Kart, MiB, Smugglers Run); it honestly just feels patronizing to me. I am a passive observer, not an active participant, so why are you treating me like I'm doing anything besides sitting in a log and looking at stuff?
And yeah, I'm one of those guys who always enjoyed the tension and buildup in Splash - going from How Do Ya Do to Laffin' Place always felt like a gradual descent into madness, and by the time you're on the last lift hill you've got the dramatic music (heck, operatic music in Anaheim), Brer Fox being intimidating, the briar patch below, and then the cathartic release of Zip a Dee Doo Dah at the final scene. If you remove that...I don't know, this is a part I'll have to experience for myself, but it feels like you remove a core component of any log flume ride. Because without the buildup, tension, etc.? It's a 45 degree drop. All the story work and atmosphere is meant to contribute to it being scarier than it actually is (worked like a charm on little kid me back in the day!), but that's kind of erased here. Just a very strange choice.
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Bocabear
Well-Known Member
In Tokyo Disney Seas they have the Sinbad attraction... In several parts of the ride, the Sinbad character directly addresses the boat riders...much like Tiana does in this attraction... The thing they seem to be missing at the end is her addressing us directly like she has done a few times before...She appears to just be singing a song and we float on by... It would have been interesting to have had a final Tiana where the Mama Odie is, to thank us for the help or something...that to me would feel a little more complete... In the Sinbad attraction they have a final Sinbad animatronic that speaks dirtectly to the audience and wishes us well on our journey...waves goodby... it is such a sweet ending....In TBA we float through the big party finale so quickly and then...Mama Odie is next to a table of beignets...and that is it....
Dan Deesnee
Well-Known Member
Brilliantly said.
Even as an adult that gradual increase in seriousness was there...and it worked.
Without it, the ride just leaves your emotions stuck in neutral. I have only seen the point of view ride videos but I wonder if this ride will end up being a less popular version of Frozen Ever After. It seems like similarities are there. Empty spaces (ice palace interior), not much emotion outside of happiness, not much of a story, no real build up of any kind.
Tianas will get a big enhancement at some point in the next 5-8 years. Added animatronics, etc to fill in emptiness, a reworked story, and other enhancements. Honestly when they do this I can see the ride becoming a new classic, if done right.
Disney does not have the luxury of ignoring feedback and sitting on their hands with this one. It is far too in the spotlight for many different reasons and will remain so. It was Magic Kingdoms flagship ride. It will get flagship treatment and get reworked / enhancements much faster than a lower profile ride.
RoysCabin
Well-Known Member
Honestly, FEA was the vibe I got from it, and that's not a good thing. FEA sells us on the idea that "we've" been invited to Elsa's castle and...no? No, "we" haven't? It sounds like such an obvious thing to point out, because, duh, we don't personally know a bunch of fictional characters, but it completely alters the dynamic of the attraction to have characters talking to us like we got on this ride because we are actively trying to keep an appointment with someone, rather than because we are simply interested in exploring what this ride contains.
I said it in the other thread, but it'd be one thing if it was a story like in Dinosaur or Spider-man over in IoA: in those, we're technically part of the story, but again our role is a passive one: Spider-man warns us we're making a mistake following him on such a dangerous night and ends up bailing us out, no help from us, and in Dinosaur it's Seeker roping us into his scheme, not us actively "helping" him. An even more direct example of when this works is when you have a shooting gallery ride; at least in those instances, the riders ARE playing an active role.
Instead, this, FEA, Cosmic Rewind, et. al. are acting like we've gone out of our way to sign up for some kind of activity or are being enlisted to do something significant, but then they place us in a ride where we just sit there and things happen around us; we played no active role, but the narrative is telling us we did. It's a very, very strange dynamic and disconnect.
But yeah, the lack of build up is something I can't begin to comprehend; one of my personal traditions sometimes in the WDW Splash was to bang on the rubber surface in front of me like a war drum, because as you climb to the top you're supposed to be getting a feeling of "oh crap, here it comes!", which makes you want to scream that much louder on the big drop, which in turn makes you that much more giddy when you splash down and then celebrate in the final room. Turning it into a good guy character just saying "Oh, here, let me get you to the party, have fun!" before the drop is like, I dunno, turning Tower of Terror into a wacky cartoon gag with an elevator that goes up and down at random, maybe? I don't know, I'm having a hard time thinking of an equivalent, because it runs so counter to just about any instinct I'd have about ride storytelling.
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mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Sometimes I really do try to give the imagineers the benefit of the doubt. I think maybe they steered clear of replacing Facilier with a different antagonist as it would just remind people that the fan favorite one from the movie and his song are not there. But I feel like there were so many work arounds to the problematic voodoo thing. You could have just played the music with no lyrics. Just had the shadows etc. He didn’t have to be there in physical form practicing voodoo like the Wicked Witch in front of her cauldron. They re future proofing the ride for the 3 people that might say it’s problematic in 15 years. It’s ridiculous. Clearly the people have spoken and the overwhelming majority do not find Facilier problematic. And by that I mean 99.9%. I can’t find one comment of someone saying “they re so glad Facilier wasn’t included.” But you can find thousands stating the opposite. Can we just go back to common sense?
And let’s assume in 15 years the world changes so much that they have to remove Facilier’s presence from the ride. What will they have lost? How much could it cost to project some shadows and play a song?
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RoysCabin
Well-Known Member
I won't even comment on all that; I don't know who's out there saying what, I don't know what perspectives are out there I might not have considered, for all I know there are perfectly reasonable, fair takes on which such and such a character or whatever feels wrong, etc.
But none of that means some kind of tension couldn't be created in the buildup to the finale, full stop. Whether that involve voodoo, a natural disaster, or using an entirely different IP that doesn't have any potential concerns like that, whatever, going for "no tension before the climactic moment and denouement" was an active choice that was made regardless of what the IP or characters involved are or could have been.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
You don’t have to comment on it. Thousands of people already did on the YouTube Disney POV alone.
But I’d agree that any sort of suspense, different antagonist or tonal variety would be better than what they did on the final lifthill. Makes no sense on any level.
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Dear Prudence
Well-Known Member
They still also just played the film soundtrack in parts. Wish they had done a little more is what I am saying.
Dear Prudence
Well-Known Member
They're putting more actual effort into getting influencers to praise it. They are making content in droves. they've paid people to be overly effusive in their praise,,which, sorry, doesn't match with the actual quality of the ride. I don't need to be told by someone whose job is to pressure people to buy stuff to enjoy something that clearly does not match their descriptions. They could have just put more work into the ride.
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RoysCabin
Well-Known Member
...ok? Nothing to do with what I commented about.
Of note, the only "influencer" review of the ride I've watched has been from Poseidon Entertainment, who gave it a good review but who's also not exactly known for positive takes about current Disney (his most recent video before that one was calling the EPCOT overhaul "Five years and millions of dollars to move some dirt around"). I didn't agree with his take based on what I saw in the video, as I felt he underplayed how important the lack of stakes/tension in the build to the final drop is, but I had no reason to believe he wasn't being honest in saying he liked the general atmosphere of most of the new ride, given he's never been one to hold back negative opinions when he feels they're warranted and is *clearly* not on Disney's Christmas gift list.
But my point here is that recent years have given us a whole lot of new IP based rides that are pretty lazy in content and execution, but this one at least feels like there was some effort put into thematic cohesion and creating an overall mood. Doesn't change that the lack of tension in the build to the finale and the "we need YOU to help us!" preschool level of storytelling seems very unappealing to me.
CntrlFlPete
Well-Known Member
I really can't judge a ride such as this w/o at least three rides through, or at least those are my thoughts ATM.
Generally, my wife, my daughter and I all enjoyed the experience! First thoughts from me are that it is still a fun experience. I was surprised that there are still these rough areas where the logs can be painful. When it was Splash, I do not recall water dripping on my legs for a good part of the ride, I was in the 2nd row and I think water was dripping down from the padding in front of me.
I tried to keep away from spoilers (including this thread). Anyway, if there is a story, I need a few rides through to follow, I guess I was more into the atmosphere on this ride through. I loved seeing the hill/mound from the longs, the color of the floral looked cool to me. I did recall rumors of being shrunk down, I did pick up on when we became frog size.
The animatronics are impressive (the ones w/ a ton of movement). I believe everything on our ride through was working (today).
Something I did not like when thinking about Splash is that I enjoyed the cartoon feel of things I got from the color scheme on the rocks and such, just seemed to paint a brighter picture for me while I found things darker (but it was a bright day and my eyes do not adjust too quickly, more why I need a few rides before I really form an opinion).
Generally, my wife, my daughter and I all enjoyed the experience! First thoughts from me are that it is still a fun experience. I was surprised that there are still these rough areas where the logs can be painful. When it was Splash, I do not recall water dripping on my legs for a good part of the ride, I was in the 2nd row and I think water was dripping down from the padding in front of me.
I tried to keep away from spoilers (including this thread). Anyway, if there is a story, I need a few rides through to follow, I guess I was more into the atmosphere on this ride through. I loved seeing the hill/mound from the longs, the color of the floral looked cool to me. I did recall rumors of being shrunk down, I did pick up on when we became frog size.
The animatronics are impressive (the ones w/ a ton of movement). I believe everything on our ride through was working (today).
Something I did not like when thinking about Splash is that I enjoyed the cartoon feel of things I got from the color scheme on the rocks and such, just seemed to paint a brighter picture for me while I found things darker (but it was a bright day and my eyes do not adjust too quickly, more why I need a few rides before I really form an opinion).
Dear Prudence
Well-Known Member
This is a very thoughtful and honest review, and I appreciate it.
Although, honestly, I did fear that they'd not fix some of the track issues from its predecessor. I fear for the folks who aren't familiar with final drop at Disneyland.
Dear Prudence
Well-Known Member
Oh, sorry, I misread your mention of effort, my mistake.
I don't disagree with you, though, especially on that last paragraph about preschool level of narrative and storytelling (although Bluey seems to manage a nice balance that doesn't insult kids the way a lot of other media does).
Brer Oswald
Well-Known Member
This group was committed to liking the attraction before it opened.
Dear Prudence
Well-Known Member
See, that's the problem. I had said in the beginning, it's going to be impossible to get a good assessment of this overlay.
There are people committed to hating it, and people who will shill it at all costs (a lot of whom are being paid to do so).
I wish they had put more effort into things like Tiana's hands not already coming off or more personality into the critters that for some reason have Narnia-level backstories, but look like Disney knock offs. This has reportedly been in the works since 2010, so why is it so lazy?
A good attraction is a good attraction. I *detest* Beauty and the Beast, and I was floored by what TDR did. I think that was their problem with pushing it into the YT algorithm, because you have people who have no interest or stake in these things making honest assessments.
I don't think excessive praise is helpful, and I don't think that thoughtful criticisms/critiques are bad.
Although, my comments about the Santa Cruz Cave Train still stand.
