I'm going to preface this by saying that I have been very outspoken about my love for Princess and the Frog, and how happy I am that Tiana and all have become part of Disney Park History. Now having ridden it twice, I can objectively say that while I genuinely enjoy the attraction, and I do think it is on par with its predecessor, it's not the Princess and the Frog attraction of my dreams.
I think if we're talking about edits to the ride to improve it, the number one glaring change for me would be adding more Naveen. At its heart, Princess and the Frog is a love story, and in my opinion tied for the best one they've ever told. I understand wanting to show Tiana as "more than a lover", but the core of the movie is how much she and Naveen love each other, and how incomplete their lives were without each other. Her dream wouldn't be complete without him in it, and neither is her attraction. Also, Princess and the Frog is extremely funny, and I do think the attraction would be stronger by embracing the tone of humor from the movie.
The other main problem is that Tiana's Bayou Adventure tries to wear too many hats. I think it's obvious the original storyline was going into the bayou to find a special spice, and the spice turning out to be the rider. The finale song Special Spice, which most likely started pretty early in the retheme processes, addresses that entire concept. When people quickly put together the storyline and bashed it, Disney got cold feet and pivoted. It seems like all of the critter bands came from the idea of "well, they love the cute singing animals on splash, so we need to have some here too." It feels like the entire band story came about to appease the Save Splashers, and to be able to say there are still xx amount of figures on the ride. They never really let the story be its own thing, and that's the rides biggest fault.
Since nobody asked and the insomnia is really insomning tonight, I'll get into my overly thought out and probably awful version of the attraction. In my perfect world, the ride would simply be a trip to the bayou with Tiana, Louis, and Naveen. Maybe they want to catch up with us and show us what's happened since the movie, or maybe to make sure blind Mama Odie could read her invitation to the party. That wacky Mama Odie could literally be the start of any storyline they want. To me, the reason you go out to the bayou really isn't that important, the real magic happens once you get there.
The first lift and current garden scene would be Tiana, Naveen, and Louis catching us up on what's new in their world. Just light hearted humor to set the tone, and make us connect with the characters.
The current Going Down to the Bayou scene would stay in theory (much more hijinks with the trio, lots of giggles in the scene. This ride should have some of the loudest guest laughs in Magic Kingdom), and it would be re-recorded with Tiana, Louis and Naveen singing with the fireflies. I'm okay* committing to the idea that this story takes place after Shadowman is dead, but then so is Ray. You don't get it both ways.
*as long as Facilier is featured in Villiansland, and Friends on the Other Side be worked into the next nighttime spectacular.
To honor Ray, I'd update the Frog room to a scene of Tiana and Naveen revisiting their dance from the movie, but this time as humans. Naveen would sing My Belle Evangeline, with Louis on the Trumpet. This would be a very emotional moment, with a strong homage to Ray and Evangeline and a special twinkling star effect above them. The movie has so much heart, the attraction should remind you of this.
I truly believe the lift being Dig a Little Deeper works, but it needs to be bigger. I would absolutely add in Mama Odie's birds, and a more exciting lighting package on then climb. The birds could really add the wow factor, and take the lift to the next level. I also would lean into the chaos of Mama and have her push us out of the tree, cause we're going to be late to the party. Kinda like the "short cut" idea, but lean more into the zany unpredictability of Mama Odie. Finale scene is perfect, wouldn't change a thing.
Thank you for joining me on this late night brown butter pumpkin cookie fueled fantasy. I hope it made you smile, or maybe even laugh, even if it's at my expense.
I do hope one day Disney attempts to address the undeniable issues with the story. Even just adding Naveen, a heavy hand of humor, and swapping out Ray's vocals would improve the experience exponentially I think.
