Tiana's Bayou Adventure: Disneyland Watch & Discussion

[Mac Tonight]

Something that is announced, shown concept art, and heavily advertised to just quietly be forgotten about. Do I think Splash will get a re-theme? Sure. Will it be Tiana and will it happen in the next 3-5 years? Not so sure. The public has a short attention span. Look at Guardians. People hated the new ride, but now the ire is gone except for a few cranky folks like myself. One of the best theme park attractions they created and turned into one of the worst. And nobody has the energy to care a few years later.

Gigantic was "heavily advertised"? I don't remember seeing much.

If Gigantic had been linked with "problematic" source material that became a super hot societal talking point at the time of it's cancellation... you might have something. But I think you have to look at the quiet cancellation of the MK Theatre as a more accurate comparison.

No one has the energy to care about Mission Breakout years later because... what would it accomplish? What's done is done. That's not to suggest we all now think it's good... but it's still a popular attraction for the park.

The continuing "issue" at hand here is, that people still don't seem to want to accept that this re-theme is happening on the sole basis that "news" of it has been relatively quiet. And frankly most of those individuals aren't in favor of the re-theme to begin with, so it makes sense to want to push a "maybe it's cancelled" narrative.

 

[Dear Prudence]

And the merch aspect has been argued too. Plenty of attractions are short of merch and blah over the past six months. My last time there I could not even find a decent Space Mountain Shirt or hardly any attraction specific merch.

It's the same junk in every single store and in every single land. There is nothing unique or special, except for the OG Star Wars stuff in Tomorrow Land. I was just thinking back to when the Winnie the Pooh store was the Teddi Barra arcade, and it had all of these fun, special and unique games, including a Splash Mountain one. I felt like that was just a much better use of space, instead a rehash of the stuff they sell on Main Street.

 

[Brer Panther]

Too funny. Yes. Disney totally cares about social media and what is said on it. The guy everyone slams on social media in no uncertain terms just gave himself a doubling raise to 32 million dollars a year. Get real. Disney does not care about what is said on Social Media, as long as the profits roll in.

Social media is a good chunk of the reason why this retheme was announced in the first place.

 

[Professortango1]

Gigantic was "heavily advertised"? I don't remember seeing much.

If Gigantic had been linked with "problematic" source material that became a super hot societal talking point at the time of it's cancellation... you might have something. But I think you have to look at the quiet cancellation of the MK Theatre as a more accurate comparison.

No one has the energy to care about Mission Breakout years later because... what would it accomplish? What's done is done. That's not to suggest we all now think it's good... but it's still a popular attraction for the park.

The continuing "issue" at hand here is, that people still don't seem to want to accept that this re-theme is happening on the sole basis that "news" of it has been relatively quiet. And frankly most of those individuals aren't in favor of the re-theme to begin with, so it makes sense to want to push a "maybe it's cancelled" narrative.

They had their CEO talk about it publicly, showed production stills and animation, had the songwriters play some of the music. It was openly sold to the public as an upcoming Disney animated feature.

People on Twitter don't seem too concerned with "what does it accomplish?" They just love to complain and create the villain of the week. Things trend. They rarely do anything other than just inspire lazily written articles about something happening on twitter. Complaining about Mission BO being a terrible attraction does as much good as complaining that Splash Mountain is based on a problematic film. Both rides exist. Both rides are popular attractions for the park. What's done is done.

Most people seem to accept that a re-theme will occur eventually. They just think that this specific planned re-theme maybe DOA for a variety of reasons. I mean, I remember when Disney was 100% for sure going to create an Atlantis Expedition to replace the subs. Momentum changes and I don't think Disney is afraid of Twitter. As I said earlier, Twitter trends are based on a collective consciousness and some shock and awe. Splash Mountain being racist adjacent and replacing it with another Disney IP isn't sexy and new anymore. It happened, Disney responded, and people moved on and forgot. Nobody is going to the parks and protesting the ride still being open. Disney knows this. They can take as much time as they care to because they know their general audience doesn't really care.

 

[Professortango1]

Social media is a good chunk of the reason why this retheme was announced in the first place.

Is it? Disney was just cashing in during the BLM protests. They have dozens of potential "replace this ride with new merchandise opportunities" type plans for corporate and Disney knew that if they took advantage of the moment, it would be free advertising and make themselves look compassionate and progressive.

Its the same reason our theatre produced "The Haunting of Hill House" the same year Netflix came out with theirs. Strike while the iron is hot.

 

[Mac Tonight]

They had their CEO talk about it publicly, showed production stills and animation, had the songwriters play some of the music. It was openly sold to the public as an upcoming Disney animated feature.

People on Twitter don't seem too concerned with "what does it accomplish?" They just love to complain and create the villain of the week. Things trend. They rarely do anything other than just inspire lazily written articles about something happening on twitter. Complaining about Mission BO being a terrible attraction does as much good as complaining that Splash Mountain is based on a problematic film. Both rides exist. Both rides are popular attractions for the park. What's done is done.

Most people seem to accept that a re-theme will occur eventually. They just think that this specific planned re-theme maybe DOA for a variety of reasons. I mean, I remember when Disney was 100% for sure going to create an Atlantis Expedition to replace the subs. Momentum changes and I don't think Disney is afraid of Twitter. As I said earlier, Twitter trends are based on a collective consciousness and some shock and awe. Splash Mountain being racist adjacent and replacing it with another Disney IP isn't sexy and new anymore. It happened, Disney responded, and people moved on and forgot. Nobody is going to the parks and protesting the ride still being open. Disney knows this. They can take as much time as they care to because they know their general audience doesn't really care.

OK.

Frankly I’m at the point where I don’t even know (or care) what we’re “arguing” about anymore. Twitter is a cesspool occupied by people who have too much time on their hands and not much else going on in their lives that they can put their energies into. Sometimes, this place isn’t far off that mark too

The bottom line for me, and all I’ve ever really been trying to say, is that Disney is working on this re-theme, despite the lack of updates . It’ll take as long as it takes. If for some catastrophic reason it doesn’t happen, I’ll happily Venmo you $50.

 

[celluloid]

The bottom line for me, and all I’ve ever really been trying to say, is that Disney is working on this re-theme, despite the lack of updates . It’ll take as long as it takes. If for some catastrophic reason it doesn’t happen, I’ll happily Venmo you $50.

It would be better to Venmo me now and I will pay you back if it does happen and open. I don't want to wait that long for it.

 

[Mac Tonight]

It would be better to Venmo me now and I will pay you back if it does happen and open. I don't want to wait that long for it.

 

[chadwpalm]

I came across a podcast yesterday regarding the Splash retheme. It was an interview with the VP of Magic Kingdom. So yes, I know this is the DL side of the forums, but it could still be relevant. The interview was in August 2021, so only 5 months ago. Here are a couple of quotes from it:

“I’m in a lot of meeting right now regarding Splash Mountain, and of course, our Guests haven’t seen any changes yet, that’s going to take some time. The sequence of these things is that the decision can be made many many months even years before any of that will be seen on stage. So it’s going to be a little bit of time to reimagine Splash Mountain.”

“But I can tell you behind the scenes terrific work has been done, including some selections around music, around animatronics, and it is really an inspiring story. Now, I happen to be from Louisiana, originally, and so the Princess and the Frog has always been a special movie for me. Not only because princess Tiana is our first Black princess, which I think is extraordinarily special, but also because it is kind of the story of my roots. It was really important to me as I have been meeting with the Imagineers that this story gets portrayed honestly.”

So it sounds like at least in the MK things appear to still be rolling forward behind the scenes. How that pans out for DL is anyone's guess.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podca...s-show-50-golden/id1462473428?i=1000531734100

It's an Apple podcast. The Splash talk starts at 25:20.

 

[smooch]

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.

View attachment 615263

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.

Oh I know the ride takes place almost entirely in a show building, I just mean the theming within the show building. I could see them trying to cut costs and take out the fake rockwork tunnels and then not spend the money to properly replace the environment within the building and try to just go with screens and a few physical props around them rather than taking the time to physically build an environment to immerse you in the ride, if that makes sense. Screen tech just isn't there yet to look realistic, maybe if they used OLEDs to get true blacks so you don't see the screen glow in the dark like you do in Pandora but then they would have screen burn in issues and would have to replace them relatively often.

I know they could also redo the layout, I am just saying I have a feeling Disney would deem something like that too expensive and only try to change the theming and even then I'm worried how much money / effort they'll put in so the executives don't deem it too expensive compared to the revenue they think it will generate. Heck even then I wonder how much effort will go in to changing the mountain itself, I don't want it to change too much but it kinda needs to get some serious work and not just like a recolor if they want it to fit in thematically with the ride setting.

 

[Brer Panther]

I'm a bit skeptical. It's going to "be a little bit of time to reimagine Splash Mountain" and yet they're completing animatronics and music already?

 

[Midwest Elitist]

I'm a bit skeptical. It's going to "be a little bit of time to reimagine Splash Mountain" and yet they're completing animatronics and music already?

It's literally just PR Spin. Such a shame Disney can't be honest and have to resort to treating their fans like dumb children.
Microsoft is also a massive conglomerate and they don't have that same distain for their customers.

 

[Brer Panther]

And if they really have been able to build animatronics etc. for the retheme despite being in a pandemic and supposedly having financial troubles, I think it's pretty safe to say that stuff like them getting rid of Magical Express and cancelling the Mary Poppins attraction was to fund the retheme. Call me paranoid, but that's what I'm thinkin'.

 

[EagleScout610]

I'm a bit skeptical. It's going to "be a little bit of time to reimagine Splash Mountain" and yet they're completing animatronics and music already?

Who said they already built the AAs and such? Isn't everyone involved saying it's years out still?

 

[Disney Irish]

I'm a bit skeptical. It's going to "be a little bit of time to reimagine Splash Mountain" and yet they're completing animatronics and music already?

What that indicates to me is that they have a plan on what music they will use and how they want the AAs to look, but nothing is ready to go. Its not shovel ready as they say, meaning construction is probably not in the next couple months. They are still fully in the design phase of this project.

Again I suspect we'll hear more about current progress of this project at D23 in September, with maybe a closure date. Just a guess but Jan 2023 would be my pick for closure on both coasts at the earliest.

 

[Dear Prudence]

They can take all the time they want, as long as they do a good job.

The real question is whether or not they finally install seatbelts.

 

[Brer Panther]

Aren't there rumors flying around that they're gonna reskin a couple of the Brer Bear animatronics as Louis?

 

[PiratesMansion]

They can take all the time they want, as long as they do a good job.

The real question is whether or not they finally install seatbelts.

They shouldn't put anything on the logs that isn't already there. The WDW and Tokyo Splash Mountains don't have lap bars there for safety-they have them so that guests don't climb out of the boats when they're not supposed to.

You don't want restraints on water rides that could impede a guest's ability to get out in the event of some sort of emergency.

Admittedly a log flume is different from other water attractions, but I can't help think back to the Adventureland River Rapids tragedy from last summer when some guest drowned because they weren't able to get out of their restraint (in that case, a velcro seatbelt).

It also is pretty much impossible to add any restraint that wouldn't also make the ride less accessible than it currently is, which is also bad news.

So really, the only benefits would be psychological (and to stop idiot guests from getting out of the boat when they shouldn't be), but that would pale in the event that an actual emergency occurred and people needed to get out of the boats immediately.

 

[Disney Irish]

They shouldn't put anything on the logs that isn't already there. The WDW and Tokyo Splash Mountains don't have lap bars there for safety-they have them so that guests don't climb out of the boats when they're not supposed to.

You don't want restraints on water rides that could impede a guest's ability to get out in the event of some sort of emergency.

Admittedly a log flume is different from other water attractions, but I can't help think back to the Adventureland River Rapids tragedy from last summer when some guest drowned because they weren't able to get out of their restraint (in that case, a velcro seatbelt).

It also is pretty much impossible to add any restraint that wouldn't also make the ride less accessible than it currently is, which is also bad news.

So really, the only benefits would be psychological (and to stop idiot guests from getting out of the boat when they shouldn't be), but that would pale in the event that an actual emergency occurred and people needed to get out of the boats immediately.

Although, and I know this isn't a popular opinion among DLR fans, but I wouldn't mind them changing DLRs to have the two seater boats.

 

[EagleScout610]

Aren't there rumors flying around that they're gonna reskin a couple of the Brer Bear animatronics as Louis?

From Jim Hill ya