Tiana's Bayou Adventure: Disneyland Watch & Discussion

[Brer Oswald]

I was unsure of whether to 'like' this post since likes contribute to your reaction score, or do the 'sad face' since suicidal thoughts and depression in general are serious and not something I 'like'. I hope you're doing better now.

No it’s okay. I go through waves. Right now, I’m okay. And I’m looking for strategies to deal with things in a way that I don’t keep getting those feelings.

That aside, I was just trying to give a perspective on why that discussion makes sense to some people. It’s not going to change. It’s Haunted Mansion, their best selling park IP.

I’m glad I first went on the ride when I was 6. If I was just going on the ride for the first time just before the Pandemic, I’m not sure how I’d feel about it.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Just wanted to say that I do not have a clue as to what you experience every day, but I empathize with you.

Thank you.

 

[BasiltheBatLord]

What Would TROR Do?

 

[Californian Elitist]

Does anyone think they’d bother putting in a new snack location?

 

[PiratesMansion]

Does anyone think they’d bother putting in a new snack location?

Probably just change up Pooh Corner and Hungry Bear, especially since they're cash strapped.

Combined, it feels like there's more than enough space for any PATF F&B they could conceive of.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Probably just change up Pooh Corner and Hungry Bear, especially since they're cash strapped.

Combined, it feels like there's more than enough space for any PATF F&B they could conceive of.

I hope neither go away, though Hungry Bear’s food is nothing to write home about. If they can turn it into a nicely decorated and themed Creole spot, I’d be for it.

 

[TP2000]

I wonder how many suicides we can attribute to the Haunted Mansion?

Are we sure that hanging corpse is a suicide victim? I guess I never really thought about it too much, but I always assumed that guy was killed by someone else by being hanged up there in the rafters.

If it is suicide, why did he kill himself? Is there some plot element of that ride where the mansion owner or resident wants to commit suicide by hanging himself? Like the place was scary he just couldn't take living there anymore?

I'm trying to remember the script that the Ghost Host says in that stretching room without pulling up some fawning fan website, but does it reference or allude to the fact the hanging body is a suicide victim and not just a murder victim?

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

He couldn't stand living in Woke Culture.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Are we sure that hanging corpse is a suicide victim? I guess I never really thought about it too much, but I always assumed that guy was killed by someone else by being hanged up there in the rafters.

If it is suicide, why did he kill himself? Is there some plot element of that ride where the mansion owner or resident wants to commit suicide by hanging himself? Like the place was scary he just couldn't take living there anymore?

I'm trying to remember the script that the Ghost Host says in that stretching room, but does it reference or allude to the fact the hanging body is a suicide victim and not just a murder victim?

The Ghost Host says: "This chamber has no windows and no doors (laughter). Which offers you this chilling challenge...to find a way out! (laughter) Of course, there's always MY way...(reveal)."

I feel it's definitely implied. Unlike, say, Phantom Manor, which has two figures above the room, there's no real sense that someone else may have done it.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Are we sure that hanging corpse is a suicide victim? I guess I never really thought about it too much, but I always assumed that guy was killed by someone else by being hanged up there in the rafters.

If it is suicide, why did he kill himself? Is there some plot element of that ride where the mansion owner or resident wants to commit suicide by hanging himself? Like the place was scary he just couldn't take living there anymore?

I'm trying to remember the script that the Ghost Host says in that stretching room without pulling up some fawning fan website, but does it reference or allude to the fact the hanging body is a suicide victim and not just a murder victim?

"Which offers this chilling challenge... to find a way out! Of course, there's always my way"

Lightning flashes, you see the body, there's a scream (which is supposed to be the body falling) and the sound of the body hitting the ground.

 

[TP2000]

The Ghost Host says: "This chamber has no windows and no doors (laughter). Which offers you this chilling challenge...to find a way out! (laughter) Of course, there's always MY way...(reveal)."

I feel it's definitely implied. Unlike, say, Phantom Manor, which has two figures above the room, there's no real sense that someone else may have done it.

Ah yes, of course. Once I started reading "This chamber has no windows..." it all came flooding back to me. Thank you; I just couldn't bring myself to seek out some Haunted Mansion fan website, for fear I'd be swept up in a flood of conspiracy theories on why the dinner plates are arranged the way they are in the ballroom, etc., etc.

I hadn't looked at those types of websites in years and years, and I'm sure by now some undergrad at Florida Central University has written a thesis on how Master Gracey is actually a Transwoman trying to pass over to the other side of ethereal gender. Or something.

But as I think back on all the dozens of times I must have been on that ride, I guess I just never equated that scene with "Violent Suicide". It was just death. I'm not sure what I thought it was specifically beyond death; the guy was pushed, the guy was killed elsewhere in the mansion then hung out to dry until his body fell to the floor, the guy was forced to commit his own hanging, or the guy was so terrified that he committed suicide himself.

Whatever it was that did in the guy at the Haunted Mansion stretching room, it wasn't happy. Which I think is the point. It's death. Because it's a haunted mansion, which they allude to in the title of the ride; The Haunted Mansion.

Are there folks who really think Disneyland should cancel that ride too?

 

[TP2000]

Does anyone think they’d bother putting in a new snack location?

If they created a hipster new snack to sell, sure.

1982 = If you can dream it, you can do it.

2020 = If you can Instagram it, you can do it.

 

[SplashGhost]

One of the things that makes The Haunted Mansion work so well is that the first half is a genuinely spooky ride and the hanging corpse is one of the moments that the entire experience depends on to really work since it shows that there is a significant threat. If the entire Mansion experience was happy like the graveyard scene, the attraction would not have endured for so long. The genius of The Haunted Mansion is that it gives something for horror fans as well as those that just want a silly family ride, and it manages to pulls this off masterfully.

 

[smooch]

I would hope they would keep Big Thunder, but I feel like in some ways it's the most minor of the mountains, which could theoretically make it easier to change. I do believe that Disney has at least toyed with making a Big Thunder movie, which could ensure its survival in the worst possible way.

If the hanging corpse is removed from the stretching room, it would be less because it's too scary and more because of suicide-related sensitivity concerns. There is a cavalier, humorous attitude towards suicide in many older works that has disappeared over time as people have come to understand more about suicide, and many people may no longer find such jokes funny.

I understand the suicide concerns especially since we have gotten a lot better as a society in regards to mental health, but I'm not sure what it would be replaced by? I guess it could go something like when he says "Of course there's always my way..." the doors could just open up? Like he's just presenting you with his hidden path? But I'm not sure.

Also I would really hope Disney doesn't attempt to make a Big Thunder movie. I haven't liked many Disney movies recently and I am not hopeful that the Jungle Cruise movie will do well either. They're trying to pull a Pirates with all the classics if they do a Big Thunder movie. Take a ride that has existed for decades and is a classic because the ride itself is so charming and enjoyable, make a movie based on it that will all most likely be bad movies with celebrities as main actors, then add those actors as animatronics into the ride and create the "ride based off a movie that was based off a ride" situation. I don't think the Jack Sparrow additions in Pirates are as bad as some will argue but I would have preferred if they were never added. It's okay to have a separation between a ride and a movie based on a ride, we don't need to replace the natives in Jungle Cruise with The Rock even though I'm sure that's what's going to happen. My main gripe with the Jack Sparrow additions is that every other character animatronic in the ride is stylized and they all have a certain caricature but realistic look to them and then the Jack Sparrow ones look hyper realistic and don't mesh well. Heck even the paintings on the wall at the entrance of the building have that problem, the paintings of the other pirates are a caricature sort of style and then the Jack Sparrow one is a realistic painting that doesn't match the others in terms of art style. They just don't mesh well. And they couldn't really add a Jack Sparrow animatronic to the ride in the same style as the original pirate designs, or people would complain it doesn't look like him and it looks like someone else. It should have never been added to create the problem of meshing styles in the first place.

 

[BasiltheBatLord]

We need some new variant of Rule 34 for our current age. If it exists, someone is offended by it.

 

[smooch]

I will point out again that people have been complaining about classics being removed, and nostalgia being lost for 30 to 40 years now, and the places has still performed exceptionally well and gained even more fans and follows in that time.

This may be hard to hear or understand, but there is a huge gap in the concept of what Disneyland is between the fan community and between the broader group of people who like going to Disneyland but don't usually think about it all that much. The fan community will always weigh the value of the experience in the minute details of the tangible experience: how many rides a park has, how many animatronics a show has, which imagineer worked on which ride and which ones are connected to Walt. But the broader audience, the one that Disneyland was really built for, doesn't care about any of that at all. They go because they want to spend time with their family. They go because their kids like meeting the characters and they can post the pictures on Facebook. They go because the rides are fun to go on. Because the rides are thrilling or have cool effects or some character the kids like.

In short: they do not think about things in any detail and as soon as they leave, they are done thinking about Disneyland for another year.

I think we all generally understand that, as long as the Frog ride is good, people will ride it and not care that Splash was removed. As long as the ride is still evoking the same feelings as the original (being fun, thrilling, innovative, etc), people can still feel nostalgic when riding it, because it's the feelings it evokes that they are pining for, not the specific animatronics, the paint, or the art direction. And to expand that to the broader concept: as long as the core reason people visit Disneyland remains the same (the nostalgia for being with your family and friends) then it doesn't really matter which attractions they end up removing or replacing.

I agree but I feel like modern Disney additions don't evoke these same feelings. I love Disneyland because it reminds me of when I went with a kid, as my family, thought the rides were real (when I was just tall enough to ride Space Mountain I thought you actually went to space so I refused to go on it cause I couldn't hold my breath very long and thought I would run out of air holding my breath the whole time ) and didn't have a care in the world. When I visit the parks as an adult I am able to go back to that mindset for a little bit. I can remember these feelings and have them again, and I can also appreciate the behind the scenes of the parks and appreciate impressive ride effects and fun ride systems and things like that. But with most modern Disney rides aside from RSR I don't get these feelings. I don't have nostalgia for the rides, and I can pretend the rides are real for a little and feel immersed but the rides aren't as impressive for the most part.
The biggest thing for me was ToT, I used to be terrified to ride it as a kid and finally conquered my fear and it became my favorite ride. The abandoned hotel lobby was eerie but beautiful, the building looked dang awesome, and the ride was fun and tied to an IP I didn't know at the time but got me hooked to my favorite TV series. When I ride Guardians the nostalgia is gone now but it isn't fun. I don't like the "Put your hands up! Have fun! Isn't this fun?!" elements, the screens replacing practical sets is far less impressive and convincing, and it looks plain ugly in the park. I lost that bit of nostalgia and it was replaced by a ride I don't find impressive or nearly as fun. RSR is a modern ride that I never had nostalgia for but enjoy because it feels like old school Disney, the dark ride part is incredibly immersive and impressive and the ride system is super fun and has physical thrills in the racing portion. Heck even California Screamin' while being a generic coaster invoked nostalgia with the soundtrack on the ride. The little melody when you go on the wavy up and down section over the boardwalk buildings gets stuck in my head often, the riffs and music when you finally descend from the lift hill all invoked nostalgia for a generic rollercoaster. But with Chase-A-Baby that nostalgia is gone and it was replaced by a retheme that is incredibly poorly done with babies on sticks and completely static props with a few light fixtures and a new soundtrack. These are just some examples of while I understand new crowds will come to the park and make memories and have fun it is still not an excuse to remove / retheme rides poorly and say "Well people who didn't know the rides before will like it" when the new rides are almost always inferior and lose the charm they have. If more classics get altered or replaced I will have a very hard time justifying going to the parks and enjoying them when the things I have grown to love will be gone in exchange for Instagrammable moments that new visitors will eat up when they take far less effort than creating something that will become a classic. I'd rather get something akin to New Orleans Square as an addition than Disney focusing on making new food items and painting a new Purple Wall like in WDW.

 

[PiratesMansion]

I understand the suicide concerns especially since we have gotten a lot better as a society in regards to mental health, but I'm not sure what it would be replaced by? I guess it could go something like when he says "Of course there's always my way..." the doors could just open up? Like he's just presenting you with his hidden path? But I'm not sure.

Also I would really hope Disney doesn't attempt to make a Big Thunder movie. I haven't liked many Disney movies recently and I am not hopeful that the Jungle Cruise movie will do well either. They're trying to pull a Pirates with all the classics if they do a Big Thunder movie. Take a ride that has existed for decades and is a classic because the ride itself is so charming and enjoyable, make a movie based on it that will all most likely be bad movies with celebrities as main actors, then add those actors as animatronics into the ride and create the "ride based off a movie that was based off a ride" situation. I don't think the Jack Sparrow additions in Pirates are as bad as some will argue but I would have preferred if they were never added. It's okay to have a separation between a ride and a movie based on a ride, we don't need to replace the natives in Jungle Cruise with The Rock even though I'm sure that's what's going to happen. My main gripe with the Jack Sparrow additions is that every other character animatronic in the ride is stylized and they all have a certain caricature but realistic look to them and then the Jack Sparrow ones look hyper realistic and don't mesh well. Heck even the paintings on the wall at the entrance of the building have that problem, the paintings of the other pirates are a caricature sort of style and then the Jack Sparrow one is a realistic painting that doesn't match the others in terms of art style. They just don't mesh well. And they couldn't really add a Jack Sparrow animatronic to the ride in the same style as the original pirate designs, or people would complain it doesn't look like him and it looks like someone else. It should have never been added to create the problem of meshing styles in the first place.

None of the "based on the Disney theme park attraction" movies are any good (up to and including the first Pirates movie), and I have no illusions that they will start to become good.

I do not know what would replace that moment in the stretching room if they replaced it, and I hope it stays. But given what has been happening, especially over the past few years, it would not shock me if at some point that particular element is changed. The hidden path idea isn't bad and wouldn't require any dialogue changes at least. The "sound alike" safety spiel is awful, and we don't need more things like it. Another idea: replace the corpse with a heavy object that appears ready to drop on the audience and then have the scrim come back into view briefly before it would seem ready to land on the guests. That way, we keep the sense that we may not be able to fully trust our host, and we keep the idea that the house could menace us at any moment, and simultaneously its no longer a suicide reference. Probably too good for what Disney would do, but you never know.

When I was in Paris in 2015, they still hadn't changed their Pirates over yet. It was a revelation, and I was amazed at how much better it was without the movie changes, at least for me personally. None of this "Captain Jack Sparrow!!!!" ad infinium nonsense. Regrettably, they've changed over since, of course, but even if the park itself and even parts of the ride were in rough shape then, I'm happy I got to experience POTC one last time in its unaltered state.

 

[smooch]

None of the "based on the Disney theme park attraction" movies are any good (up to and including the first Pirates movie), and I have no illusions that they will start to become good.

I do not know what would replace that moment in the stretching room if they replaced it, and I hope it stays. But given what has been happening, especially over the past few years, it would not shock me if at some point that particular element is changed. The hidden path idea isn't bad and wouldn't require any dialogue changes at least. The "sound alike" safety spiel is awful, and we don't need more things like it. Another idea: replace the corpse with a heavy object that appears to drop on the audience and then have the scrim come back into view briefly before it would seem ready to land on the guests. That way, we keep the sense that we may not be able to fully trust our host, and we keep the idea that the house could menace us at any moment, and simultaneously its no longer a suicide reference. Probably too good for what Disney would do instead, but you never know.

When I was in Paris in 2015, they still hadn't changed their Pirates over yet. It was a revelation, and I was amazed at how much better it was without the movie changes, at least for me personally. None of this "Captain Jack Sparrow!!!!" ad infinium nonsense. Regrettably, they've changed over since, of course, but even if the park itself and even parts of the ride were in rough shape then, I'm happy I got to experience POTC one last time in its unaltered state.

I like that stretching room idea! I just hope whatever they do they don't try to add new dialogue, and your idea keeps the entire spiel the same. But like you said I don't trust Disney to come up with an idea as good as someone on a Disneyland fan forum

 

[BuzzedPotatoHead89]

I like that stretching room idea! I just hope whatever they do they don't try to add new dialogue, and your idea keeps the entire spiel the same. But like you said I don't trust Disney to come up with an idea as good as someone on a Disneyland fan forum

That’s the issue for me. I actually wouldn’t mind a change to the hanging scene, but based on the lackluster creation we have with Redd’s auction, I have little hope the execution will be well nothing less than a jarring and lackluster dumpster fire.

At least with HM most of the changes are largely non-objectionable to me. I don’t mind the Constance change that much. I also thoroughly enjoy both the Hatbox ghost and the occasional HMH (though the latter does overstay it’s welcome).

 

[Californian Elitist]

I think it would be nice they would retell the story like mermaid. Instead of scuttle, Louis can tell the story how Tiana and naveen met and so on.

It’s picking up after the film ends. I’m actually happy it won’t be a re-telling. I’m not a fan of what they did with Mermaid.