Tiana's Bayou Adventure: Disneyland Watch & Discussion

[Homemade Imagineering]

Wait what's the story here?

I'm pretty sure that's all there is to it!Someone came in early on in the process of disassembling everything, & the park operations didn't see much of it as anything of significant value nor did they really care what happened to the figures or sets, so someone came in with a mover truck and hauled it all away! I'd highly recommend checking out Albert's channel here, he's involved in everything that's got to do with Bear-Y Tales preservation. Here are just a few of the figures he owns, the rest of everything is with a friend of his. Looks like he's gonna do some more animatronic showcase videos in the future too based on his most recent upload!

 

[Rich T]

My entire family loves Navi - it’s a wonderful escape to another world. Don’t need a plot to appreciate it. Would I wait 45 minutes for it - no, but I wouldn’t wait 45 minutes for any ride unless it was new and I had no other option. Just like with frozen , People do have a choice to ride or not , or visit a park or not for that matter, and they continue to line up .

I’m glad you enjoy it. To each their own: I happen to love Villain Con at Universal, and it’s certainly not the greatest thing ever, but a nice addition to the big picture—just as NRJ is.

 

[Figments Friend]

Heck, @mickEblu and I will join you! Disney wouldn't even have to pay us if it means bringing back Splash in all its glory.

I know nothing about animatronic installation and programming, or designing and building sets, but I'm willing to learn!

#SaveSplash

( raises hand )

I have animatronics experience.
I have also programmed / animated animatronic figures.
I have a lot of experience dumpster diving, too.
I’m also an artist, and can build sets.
Pretty good at painting too….and design problem solving.

Tony can also be our advisor, and we will actually take his great advice and implement it.




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[PiratesMansion]

And it got even worse in 2018ish when they rebuilt the dip drop.

I wonder if Splash would have been more popular had they address the soaking issues.

I 100% would have ridden Splash more if the soaking wasn't quite so aggressive.

Granted, I still wound up riding it more than GRR, but I probably would have ridden it more than once a trip if the wetness level was more to my liking.

 

[SuddenStorm]

I 100% would have ridden Splash more if the soaking wasn't quite so aggressive.

Granted, I still wound up riding it more than GRR, but I probably would have ridden it more than once a trip if the wetness level was more to my liking.

I would always just ride it at rope drop, or later at night where it'd only be my group and I on the log. If I was with more than three or so people, we'd split in to two logs to avoid getting soaked.

Single rider was also great during the day- usually no wait and you'd end up on seat six so no getting wet. Though I think I crashed more than a few family photos...

 

[PiratesMansion]

I would always just ride it at rope drop, or later at night where it'd only be my group and I on the log. If I was with more than three or so people, we'd split in to two logs to avoid getting soaked.

Single rider was also great during the day- usually no wait and you'd end up on seat six so no getting wet. Though I think I crashed more than a few family photos...

I must have had bad luck because the few times I tried Splash single rider, I wound up stuck in a giant line insufficiently differentiated from the DAS line. Then another time they insisted I wedge myself into the very front seat of a full log, and you can imagine what happened next.

My last ride ever was at about 11:45 PM with no one else in the log. I was finally able to enjoy it without being drenched head to toe. I wish I had had more rides like that, but it was a very, very good final ride. Couldn't have asked for a better final Splash experience, really.

 

[TP2000]

Here's a good, short video that shows the AA's on Tiana's ride. I think this HD footage really shows how simple (cheap?) these new animal figures are.

They all basically have only two movement options; a back-and-forth motion at the hips, and an up-down motion for arms. The Tiana and Louis figures are impressive, even if she flails her arms around a bit too much. But these animals defintely look like they came from a Chuck E. Cheese warehouse. They spared a lot of expense on these guys...

 

[SuddenStorm]

I must have had bad luck because the few times I tried Splash single rider, I wound up stuck in a giant line insufficiently differentiated from the DAS line. Then another time they insisted I wedge myself into the very front seat of a full log, and you can imagine what happened next.

This usually happens when someone requests not to sit in the front.

My last ride ever was at about 11:45 PM with no one else in the log. I was finally able to enjoy it without being drenched head to toe. I wish I had had more rides like that, but it was a very, very good final ride. Couldn't have asked for a better final Splash experience, really.

I'm glad you could experience it properly for a last ride, and it's a shame Disney's mishandling of the flume made it so ridiculous for a few years.

It's funny, my last ride we got walked off- which was my first time ever getting walked off and I rode it probably 300 times. So a very different experience than yours- but perfect for me since I got photos with Br'er Rabbit that I keep meaning to get printed and framed.

 

[mickEblu]

Here's a good, short video that shows the AA's on Tiana's ride. I think this HD footage really shows how simple (cheap?) these new animal figures are.

They all basically have only two movement options; a back-and-forth motion at the hips, and an up-down motion for arms. The Tiana and Louis figures are impressive, even if she flails her arms around a bit too much. But these animals defintely look like they came from a Chuck E. Cheese warehouse. They spared a lot of expense on these guys...

So if my math is right and assuming the DL version has the same amount of AAs / figures, we’re losing at least 6-7 dozen solid, charming Marc Davis designed AAs + the Br’er AAs for about 10 high quality AAs and two dozen figures that rock back and forth?

Also I made the mistake of watching a Splash Mountain POV for the first time since TBA was released. Big mistake. You wanna talk vignettes? Splash had vignettes. Not two static frogs on a log and a static armadillo that Tom Corliss was losing his mind over. The staging, set design and vignettes were light years better than TBA. They really replaced all that with rocking figures in the grass and trees?

The new laughing place sequence is passable with a few tweaks. The finale is Ok. IMO it’s the old “How Do You Do”, “Burrows Lament” (end of LP scenes at MK) and final lifthill scenes that need the most work.

 

[Brer Oswald]

So if my math is right and assuming the DL version has the same amount of AAs / figures, we’re losing at least 6-7 dozen solid, charming Marc Davis designed AAs + the Br’er AAs for about 10 high quality AAs and two dozen figures that rock back and forth?

Also I made the mistake of watching a Splash Mountain POV for the first time since TBA was released. Big mistake. You wanna talk vignettes? Splash had vignettes. Not two static frogs on a log and a static armadillo that Tom Corliss was losing his mind over. The staging, set design and vignettes were light years better than TBA. They really replaced all that with rocking figures in the grass and trees?

The new laughing place sequence is passable with a few tweaks. The finale is Ok. IMO it’s the old “How Do You Do”, “Burrows Lament” (end of LP scenes at MK) and final lifthill scenes that need the most work.

It’s a travesty what happened to this ride. How any Disney Parks fanatic worth their two cents could defend it is beyond my comprehension.

 

[mickEblu]

It’s a travesty what happened to this ride. How any Disney Parks fanatic worth their two cents could defend it is beyond my comprehension.

Somehow @lentesta came to the conclusion that TBA has more characters.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Somehow @lentesta came to the conclusion that TBA has more characters.

Did nobody teach him how to count?

 

[mickEblu]

Did nobody teach him how to count?

Maybe he’s counting the fireflies?

 

[Too Many Hats]

Then another time they insisted I wedge myself into the very front seat of a full log, and you can imagine what happened next.

This happened to me once. The other riders were heavier-set adults. Never ever ever again. I now ask to wait for the back every single time.

My last ride ever was at about 11:45 PM with no one else in the log. I was finally able to enjoy it without being drenched head to toe. I wish I had had more rides like that, but it was a very, very good final ride. Couldn't have asked for a better final Splash experience, really.

I’ll miss solo late-night rides on Splash.

 

[Too Many Hats]

Apparently the critters are performing on random items they found floating in the bayou? I’ve watched the POV several times and admittedly I never noticed they aren’t playing typical instruments. Maybe it’s more obvious in person.

The animated critter figures aren’t full AAs and they aren’t Marc Davis designs, but they ain’t half-bad either. It does these potentially fun characters a disservice to cluster them so close together. It’s too late for Magic Kingdom, but maybe WDI can find a way to space the characters out a bit more on the Disneyland version. Give each critter their own moment to shine. Would help make the ride feel less empty too.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

Agreed. There's not much to be gained by comparing wait times at DAK to Disneyland because of the massive difference in those two park's roster of attractions.

For those keeping score at home:

Animal Kingdom = 14 Million annual visitors; 8 rides, 5 are E Tickets (Navi River Journey is a D Ticket imho)
Disneyland Park = 18 Million annual visitors; 47 rides, 13 are E Tickets

Disney considers navi a C ticket

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

( raises hand )

I have animatronics experience.
I have also programmed / animated animatronic figures.
I have a lot of experience dumpster diving, too.
I’m also an artist, and can build sets.
Pretty good at painting too….and design problem solving.

Tony can also be our advisor, and we will actually take his great advice and implement it.




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I'm in as well. I'm in Chicago, but I'll take a sabbatical from my teaching job and join you. I have lots of experience designing theme park rides on paper!

 

[mickEblu]

WDI in 2024 = We'll Destroy It.

 

[TP2000]

Disney considers navi a C ticket

That doesn't surprise me.

By calling it a D Ticket, I was just trying to be as kind and gracious as possible to those poor WDW parks.

 

[BuzzedPotatoHead89]

Here's a good, short video that shows the AA's on Tiana's ride. I think this HD footage really shows how simple (cheap?) these new animal figures are.

They all basically have only two movement options; a back-and-forth motion at the hips, and an up-down motion for arms. The Tiana and Louis figures are impressive, even if she flails her arms around a bit too much. But these animals defintely look like they came from a Chuck E. Cheese warehouse. They spared a lot of expense on these guys...

If the mechanical animals in the jungle cruise aren’t considered AAs (since according to WDI, the first AA wasn’t until 1963), I’m not even sure if some of these qualify as AAs.

Tiana and Louis, obviously do. But even some of the critter band seem to have simple movements.