Tiana's Bayou Adventure: Disneyland Watch & Discussion

[Kirby86]

Okay for the conflicting insiders here's how I look at it. Let's say every one who claims to be an insider is one in this case. It wouldn't be that much of a stretch to say their sources would be different places in the company. Disney is a big company and has lots of divisions in it who would have a different perspective on this project . So if you ask someone from merchandise I can fully belive them saying it's about selling more Tiana stuff. If you ask the diversity and inclusion team they will say it's to make everyone feel welcomed (if you can afford it of course ) if you ask the streaming department of course Disney plus will be brought up. Again this is just me giving the benefit of the doubt that everyone is who they say they are.

 

[Rich T]

In a bayou. By definition the opposite of a mountain. Of which they have zero in New Orleans.

Like retheming the Matterhorn into a Little Mermaid ride.

Like putting the Matterhorn next to a submarine lagoon and running a monorail around it. For Walt, fun took precedence over theming.

Splash Mtn. was originally going to be called Zip-A-Dee River Run. Michael Eisner insisted it be called Splash Mtn. to promote the upcoming movie Splash. The Imagineers hated the name. Even in the ride’s lore, that “Mountain” is just a small hill the fox lives in.

And, as someone who was there, I can say that, while Splash Mtn. was a good ride, it ruined Bear Country, one of the most beautiful and relaxing locations in any Disney park.

So now the hill is a bayou. In a theme park. Where Pooh lives in the American backwoods and grown adults ask college students in cartoon costumes for their characters’ pretend autographs.

 

[Disney Irish]

Okay for the conflicting insiders here's how I look at it. Let's say every one who claims to be an insider is one in this case. It wouldn't be that much of a stretch to say their sources would be different places in the company. Disney is a big company and has lots of divisions in it who would have a different perspective on this project . So if you ask someone from merchandise I can fully belive them saying it's about selling more Tiana stuff. If you ask the diversity and inclusion team they will say it's to make everyone feel welcomed (if you can afford it of course ) if you ask the streaming department of course Disney plus will be brought up. Again this is just me giving the benefit of the doubt that everyone is who they say they are.

Exactly, said the same thing months ago when the topic of conflicting "insiders" came up. Its not like all the "insiders" are talking to the same people from the same division inside the company. Heck even people in the same division have different opinions. All answers can be true and acceptable and not conflicting with each other based on the point-of-view of the individual within the company.

 

[mickEblu]

Not sure who this guy Dave is. He seems to have some clout among theme park fans and is not known as someone who praises Disney easily. I hope he’s right but I’m a little confused by him saying Splash Mountain “fell short.” That’s not giving him much credibility in my book. How could someone get off Splash Mountain in 1989 and think it fell short? How could you get off that ride with that soundtrack, plethora of AAs, thrills etc and think that it fell short? In 1989. Not to mention everything on the attraction was working properly back then.

 

[Dear Prudence]

I am legitimately turning my phone off the entirety of D23 because I cannot handle how much of a 🌪 it's going to be. I cam barely handle people now losing their minds NOW.

 

[Disney Irish]

Not sure who this guy Dave is. He seems to have some clout among theme park fans and is not known as someone who praises Disney easily. I hope he’s right but I’m a little confused by him saying Splash Mountain “fell short.” That’s not giving him much credibility in my book. How could someone get off Splash Mountain in 1989 and think it fell short? How could you get off that ride with that soundtrack, plethora of AAs, thrills etc and think that it fell short? In 1989. Not to mention everything on the attraction was working properly back then.

According to Linkedin he works as an Art Director on various different things including theme park design and has worked at WDW and at WDI at certain points in his career. So possible he still has some contacts inside WDI/TDO.

Also given most of his career is focused in FL, he might be talking about Splash from WDW falling short, but that is just a guess.

 

[mickEblu]

According to Linkedin he works as an Art Director on various different things including theme park design and has worked at WDW and at WDI at certain points in his career. So possible he still has some contacts inside WDI/TDO.

Also given most of his career is focused in FL, he might be talking about Splash from WDW falling short, but that is just a guess.

Maybe but Splash opened at MK only two years later in 1991 and is known for being the superior version of the two (even if I disagree)

 

[Disney Irish]

Maybe but Splash opened at MK only two years later in 1991 and is known for being the superior version of the two (even if I disagree)

Like I said it was a guess.

But really its just a persons opinion, maybe he is aware of some ideas that would have made either version better to push it over the top in some Imagineers minds. Guess we'll never know, unless you really want to log into Twitter and ask lol.

 

[mickEblu]

Like I said it was a guess.

But really its just a persons opinion, maybe he is aware of some ideas that would have made either version better to push it over the top in some Imagineers minds. Guess we'll never know, unless you really want to log into Twitter and ask lol.

I guess what I was trying to politely say was… it’s a bad guess. Lol

Lol maybe I’ll do that

 

[LittleBuford]

I’m a little confused by him saying Splash Mountain “fell short.”

I noted this over in the WDW thread:

I read it as expanding on his immediately preceding sentence: “I don't think they can do anything that can match the genus of Walt Disney.” By this standard, anything post-Walt falls short.

 

[mickEblu]

I noted this over in the WDW thread:

Not a bad take but I don’t think that’s entirely it. He’s just trying to insinuate that Splash Mountain, even in its 1989 glory had room for improvement and the way he casually mentions it almost implies that this was a common opinion amongst theme park heads/fans. He goes on to praise what he’s seen from the PatF redo plans which is basically saying that this is the improvement there was room for.

Or in other words, “we’re not exactly mourning a Walt Disney classic. The PatF retheme will make Splash Mountain better.”

 

[Disney Irish]

I guess what I was trying to politely say was… it’s a bad guess. Lol

Lol maybe I’ll do that

Not really since neither of us know for sure so any guess is perfectly fine, especially when thinking of it from WDI time lines. Just because WDWs opened several years after DLR doesn't mean he isn't privy to information that is from years prior during the design phase.

 

[Disney Irish]

Not a bad take but I don’t think that’s it. He’s just trying to insinuate that Splash Mountain, even in its 1989 glory had room for improvement and the way he casually mentions almost implies that this was a common opinion amongst theme park heads/fans. He goes on to praise what he’s seen from the PatF redo plans which is basically saying that this is the improvement there was room for.

Or its possible that this is just his opinion because he had an idea for it that got shot down back in the day, so will always fall short in his mind, but now they are implementing his idea as part of the refurb so its an improvement in his mind.

I think we're really reading too much into this tweet lol.

 

[mickEblu]

Or its possible that this is just his opinion because he had an idea for it that got shot down back in the day, so will always fall short in his mind, but now they are implementing his idea as part of the refurb so its an improvement.

I guess it’s possible but not what I’d put my money on.

 

[LittleBuford]

Not a bad take but I don’t think that’s it. He’s just trying to insinuate that Splash Mountain, even in its 1989 glory had room for improvement and the way he casually mentions it almost implies that this was a common opinion amongst theme park heads/fans. He goes on to praise what he’s seen from the PatF redo plans which is basically saying that this is the improvement there was room for.

I don’t interpret him to be singing the redo’s praises to quite that extent. I guess that’s the problem with short and cryptic tweets—it’s impossible to know exactly what he means!

 

[Disney Irish]

I guess it’s possible but not what I’d put my money on.

Well if you do go on Twitter and ask him to explain himself, make sure to post his replies here so we can all know.

 

[mickEblu]

I don’t interpret him to be singing the redo’s praises to quite that extent. I guess that’s the problem with short and cryptic tweets—it’s impossible to know exactly what he means!

No we can’t know for sure but I’d be willing to put my money on this which you kind of mentioned as well…

“We’re not exactly mourning the loss of a Walt Disney classic attraction here (POTC/ HM). The PatF retheme will improve upon Splash Mountain.”

This is what I think he’s trying to say.

 

[mickEblu]

I think to many people 40 and under Splash Mountain is pretty much on the same level as POTC and HM as being the quintessential, classic Disney attraction. More classic than even Space and BTMRR due to the music, theming, AAs, ride time etc that obviously make it a richer experience than a 2 minute simple themed coaster.

 

[LittleBuford]

No we can’t know for sure but I’d be willing to put my money on this which you kind of mentioned as well…

“We’re not exactly mourning the loss of a Walt Disney classic attraction here (POTC/ HM). The PatF retheme will improve upon Splash Mountain.”

This is what I think he’s trying to say.

Is that one of his tweets? I can only see the ones that have been shared here (when I try to read the rest of the exchange, Twitter tries to make me sign up!).

 

[mickEblu]

Is that one of his tweets? I can only see the ones that have been shared here (when I try to read the rest of the exchange, Twitter tries to make me sign up!).

Lol no sorry. What I had in quotes is a summation of what I think he’s trying to say. Yes I completely misused quotation marks.