Tiana's Bayou Adventure: Disneyland Watch & Discussion

[Disney Irish]

Hence why I’d argue given these financial constraints and varying degrees of unknowns at the time it was unwise to announce this in summer 2020 to begin with unless it was specifically designed as a way to give a boost to certain resumes of retiring executives at an opportune time and/or chasing cheap social media hits in the aftermath of a man’s murder.

And I say this as someone who supports the retheme since I do not personally think SoTS can survive as a “legacy family franchise” since the sum societal benefit of keeping the film and its characters in circulation is not greater than its (arguably strong) individual parts.

But is there ever a "right time" to announce something such as this? I'd say probably not. You were always going to have the divisive debate that has happened in this thread, no matter when it was announced. Better to get ahead of it, allow the divisive conversations to happen, and then when the ride actually closes its less of a "story" as its old news.

 

[BuzzedPotatoHead89]

But is there ever a "right time" to announce something such as this? I'd say probably not. You were always going to have the divisive debate that has happened in this thread, no matter when it was announced. Better to get ahead of it, allow the divisive conversations to happen, and then when the ride actually closes its less of a "story" as its old news.

Honestly I would have announced this entirely differently. I think this way clearly only prolongs the “divisiveness”.

I would have handled this send off similar to how DCA’s ToT, Maelstrom and GMR were handled. If I recall those all got a “proper send off” with fanfare but with probably a little less than a years notice. But I would have waited til it was more ready to go (after to the pandemic) to quell some of the rampant speculation and online fights in the fan community.

I also don’t see the point in immediately burying the Brers or calling an existing property “problematic” in public releases before the ride even closes since I think some kind of a send off which would go a long way in building a bridge to garner support from the loyalists. Particularly since TWDC ultimately created the IP and literally manufactured memories around the characters/soundtrack for decades up until just two years... it’s still their responsibility to give it a swan song as part of fixing their own mess.

 

[Mac Tonight]

Even if we agree on nothing else in this thread, I think we can all agree that Disney handled this announcement very poorly.

 

[Midwest Elitist]

So if anyone is wondering, the book from a page back is called "Build Your Own Disneyland" by Igloobooks. It's a pop up book.

 

[EagleScout610]

Even if we agree on nothing else in this thread, I think we can all agree that Disney handled this announcement very poorly.

I think if they had worded it as simply that SotS was getting old and they wanted to update the IP it would've gone over better

 

[Dear Prudence]

Again just because they may "seem" to have money doesn't mean they do.

Having sold mortgages at one point in my life I can tell you that people can "seem" wealthy while hiding they are a paycheck or two away from losing it all.

One of the biggest issues with Disney came to light during the Pandemic, they have too much exposure to "in-person" entertainment. While we Parks and Studio Fans think that is a good thing, its a bad thing when a Pandemic hits and forces everyone to stay home. Disney's literal money making machines were shutdown for an extended period of time. No theme parks, no movies, nothing, they had nothing in those businesses bringing in money. It is literally a house of cards that would have fell. Had it not been for Disney+ its very possible the company wouldn't have survived.

You're trying to poverysplain to the wrong person about this. Our ideas of "not having money" are completely different, and I am afraid are are not going to agree on this--as someone who spent most of their life living in abject poverty. (As for my friend, her parents absolutely had money, they just told her they didn't because they didn't want to give it to her.)

Good thing Disney laid off all of those cast members than then gave themselves huge bonuses and raises!

 

[Disney Irish]

You're trying to poverysplain to the wrong person about this. Our ideas of "not having money" are completely different, and I am afraid are are not going to agree on this--as someone who spent most of their life living in abject poverty. (As for my friend, her parents absolutely had money, they just told her they didn't because they didn't want to give it to her.)

With all that said it doesn't change the fact Disney wasn't doing well financially in 2020 and most of 2021. So they couldn't just spend money on new projects at the time.

Also I can understand, especially given how you state you grew up, how you think Disney just "HAS" money. So yeah maybe we aren't going to agree here.

Lastly my mortgage comment wasn’t reflective of your friend's parents as I don't know them. For all I know your friend's parents are Bill and Melinda Gates, I don't know. It wasn't about them specifically, it was just to show that the outward appearance of wealth doesn't show the whole picture. As I said I sold mortgages at one time, so I've seen the bank statements of people that appear to be wealthy on the outside, but their bank statements show a different picture. And if you look at Disney's bank statements for 2020 and most of 2021 it shows they weren't as wealthy as they appear.

Good thing Disney laid off all of those cast members than then gave themselves huge bonuses and raises!

And they've been hiring or have hired most of those CMs back.

 

[Dear Prudence]

As we have seen so many times on this thread, it's amazing what people who tout themselves as "progressive" or whatever consistently talk down to actually marginalized people.

 

[chadwpalm]

This re-theme IS happening. Full stop.

You can argue the merits of it all you want, but can we please end this narrative that since Disney hasn't released an in-depth video walk-through of the new version yet, that somehow translates to, "it's cancelled"?

Honestly, I'm still waiting for Rocket Rods to come back.

 

[celluloid]

This re-theme IS happening. Full stop.

You can argue the merits of it all you want, but can we please end this narrative that since Disney hasn't released an in-depth video walk-through of the new version yet, that somehow translates to, "it's cancelled"?

People can only go by the past experience and history with how the company operates.

 

[Mac Tonight]

Honestly, I'm still waiting for Rocket Rods to come back.

View attachment 615259

Keep hope alive!

 

[chadwpalm]

Indefinitely shelved is certainly possible but it will always be a back burner WDI project. And Splash in its current form will thus continue to operate with minimal merchandising or PR fanfare as an attraction in dire need of repairs/TLC, possibly on an even more limited schedule as a seasonal attraction.

If it wasn't down for refurb right now I'd almost think the goal was to stop all maintenance on Splash and make it look so bad people will be screaming for the Tiana redo.

 

[Mac Tonight]

People can only go by the past experience and history with how the company operates.

I mean, sure. But the company hasn't exactly had to weather a pandemic and limited resources before.

 

[celluloid]

I mean, sure. But the company hasn't exactly had to weather a pandemic and limited resources before.

There you go. That is more or less what I meant. It is ok to give people that. It is not irrational to go based on past experience of the company as well as how they currently operate.

The rest of your post means very little when you take how the company works into account. As they are shoving the entrance frame of Guardians of the Galaxy on instagram left and right. They are still damaging controlling the hotel they are still pushing to open on their wanted time in this pandemic climate.

 

[chadwpalm]

In the end I really don't think Disney will generate enough revenue off of increased PatF merch sales or whatever to justify the cost of retheming this attraction, or at least the cost of retheming it well. They could not touch the rockwork / major foundational parts and change out AAs, put in screens, and change parts of the scenes and call it a day. Obviously that's an oversimplification but you guys have voiced the same concern about the quality of the retheme, you know what I'm getting at. For them to properly redo the interior of the mountain to look good as a bayou environment that will take so much work and money that I hope eventually they just put it on the backburner for a very long time. But Disney tends to spend too much money on lackluster projects and try to convince the world along with themselves that they knocked it out of the park and created something better than anything Walt Disney could have ever created.

Except for the ending Zippity-do-da boat scene, none of the actual show scenes take place in the mountain. They are in the show building behind the mountain.

They can completely gut the show building and even redo the flume layout in it as long as the entry point on the second floor (red arrow) and the lift hill start on the first floor (blue arrow) are in the same place.

Same with the end scene. It's a large show room that can be gutted and have things be replaced. Thinking about losing that scene makes me sad.

 

[Mac Tonight]

There you go. It is ok to give people that. It is not irrational to go based on past experience of the company as well as how they currently operate.

The rest of your post means very little when you take how the company works into account. As they are shoving the entrance frame of Guardians of the Galaxy on instagram left and right. They are still damaging controlling the hotel they are still pushing to open on their wanted time in this pandemic climate.

But keep in mind, this is more than just a vanity project re-theme. This has to also account for the "problematic" source material of the attraction (not debating it, just stating the fact). So in that sense, it would be harder to walk back than say, the MK Theatre on Main Street. To simply cancel the re-theme would not go over well.

 

[celluloid]

But keep in mind, this is more than just a vanity project re-theme. This has to also account for the "problematic" source material of the attraction (not debating it, just stating the fact). So in that sense, it would be harder to walk back than say, the MK Theatre on Main Street. To simply cancel the re-theme would not go over well.

For some. That is why you let it go quietly for longer. None of that opinion means that is still happening. People are going by previous experiences with the company.

People get over many things with Disney. The majority could forgive and move on...and most of them still ride splash mountain while spending more than ever.

 

[Mac Tonight]

For some. That is why you let it go quietly for longer. None of that opinion means that is still happening. People are going by previous experiences with the company.

People get over many things with Disney. The majority could forgive and move on...and most of them still ride splash mountain while spending more than ever.

And that's fine. But, it is still happening. Just... trust me.

 

[celluloid]

And that's fine... But, it is still happening. Just... trust me.

Ok. But based on experience, it is not. And if it still does, not soon at all.

If it happens it happens.

 

[Dear Prudence]

If it wasn't down for refurb right now I'd almost think the goal was to stop all maintenance on Splash and make it look so bad people will be screaming for the Tiana redo.

I know I've said this before, but, like, why are guests okay with the decrepit state of not only this attraction, but any of them!? Tokyo has more 'extreme' weather conditions than any of the US parks, and everything in their parks is immaculate. Aren't guests supposed to be annoying whiners who are hot to complain about everything? Why is no one complaining that half of DLR is falling apart, Splash included? Like, are we missing something.....?