Tiana's Bayou Adventure: Disneyland Watch & Discussion

[CaptinEO]

When was the last time Disney made an attraction filled with animatronics? Voyage of
Sinbad in Tokyo Disney Sea?

 

[mickEblu]

Did the second (mute) Naveen figure in the boat with Tiana, seen in the concept art, actually make it into this version? I'm guessing no based on the scans of photos and some vids I've seen, but thought I'd check.

I feel all that went wrong with this has been covered and I basically agree 100% with what others said - I'll add (and maybe this has also been noted), that the relationship/romance between Tiana and Naveen in the film was one of many things about the movie I loved and that appears nonexistent here too. Wasted opportunities all around.

Tiana don’t need No Man. She’s a successful entrepreneur.

 

[Jedi14]

Did the second (mute) Naveen figure in the boat with Tiana, seen in the concept art, actually make it into this version? I'm guessing no based on the scans of photos and some vids I've seen, but thought I'd check.

I feel all that went wrong with this has been covered and I basically agree 100% with what others said - I'll add (and maybe this has also been noted), that the relationship/romance between Tiana and Naveen in the film was one of many things about the movie I loved and that appears nonexistent here too. Wasted opportunities all around.

That scene didn’t end up happening, but you can hear them talking to each other in the queue.

 

[Parteecia]

Pressed Refresh at 06:59:59 this morning but the virtual queue was already full.

 

[Too Many Hats]

Right this is why it just can’t be about budget or constraints. The talent flat out wasn’t there. They put the interns on this project.

This is the only explanation. They hired some recent college grads who’ve never been to a theme park and forbade them from watching Splash POVs.

Seriously though, since when is anyone at WDI okay with visible un-themed speakers? Their standards for Web-Slingers were higher than for this attraction.

 

[Emmanuel]

Pressed Refresh at 06:59:59 this morning but the virtual queue was already full.

Yesterday I pressed refresh directly at 7am and got group 6

 

[el_super]

Bad / Decent / Poor = 7/10

Got it. Makes sense.

It's not a bad ride at all. Bare minimum it's on par with Splash. People just didn't want to give it a chance.

It's easy to pick a ride apart if you want to. I could go off on how thin the "story" of Small World is, or the blank walls on Haunted Mansion or "dead" space on Pirates. Really just comes down to how accepting someone can be of new ideas and change.

This is the only explanation. They hired some recent college grads who’ve never been to a theme park and forbade them from watching Splash POVs.

Let's see what befalls this terrible crime against the arts. I'm sure it will be another THEA award.

 

[mickEblu]

It's not a bad ride at all. Bare minimum it's on par with Splash. People just didn't want to give it a chance.

It's easy to pick a ride apart if you want to. I could go off on how thin the "story" of Small World is, or the blank walls on Haunted Mansion or "dead" space on Pirates. Really just comes down to how accepting someone can be of new ideas and change.



Let's see what befalls this terrible crime against the arts. I'm sure it will be another THEA award.

How many examples or objectively Bad changes do you need? At the very least you can’t admit that it’s a downgrade to Splash in nearly every way?

 

[Too Many Hats]

You know why. We all know why. Becasue of all of their self imposed constraints and having the wrong priorities. The same reason they closed Splash is the same reason they dropped the ball here. Walking on egg shells worrying about who they might offend. So no Facilier, Tiana can’t be a frog etc. So now priorities have been shifted. The focus isn’t how do we deliver the most entertaining attraction. It’s how so we do something that’s not offensive and then the obsession of being authentic arises not to make the ride more fun or entertaining but to preach on how Good Disney is and how much research they did. Throw in the fact that WDI can’t write an original script to save their life right now (looking at you POTC auction scene), a bunch of rookies and an ex accountant leading the way with way too many cooks in the kitchen. Add All of that up and you get Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.

Idk, I can understand why they closed Splash (even if I disagree); I cannot understand the exposed speakers.

Regarding the show writing, I completely agree. Who in Imagineering is writing this lowest-common-denominator drivel? Rise of the Resistance has a very focused, economical script that keeps the story moving forward. Tiana’s script is a first draft with zero effort. Don’t tell me there’s no difference between “Been there, done that!”/“They can play!”/“Let’s get you to the party!” and writing like “Your cadaverous pallor betrays an aura of foreboding" guests can hear right next door.

It really feels like WDI just doesn’t care. They’re #1, the company is making money hand over fist, they don’t need to adhere to even the standards of a decade ago (let alone the Baxter era). I hope Epic Universe is wildly successful and knocks Imagineering’s ego down a peg. But I’m not confident that will happen. I don’t think the critiques of TBA will even reach WDI. It sucks.

 

[el_super]

How many examples or objectively Bad changes do you need? At the very least you can’t admit that it’s a downgrade to Splash in nearly every way?

There has been no objectivity really in most of the critiques. You want to believe that having fewer AA's by the numbers is a downgrade, but if you don't care for AA's at all, then subjectively it's an upgrade. It's all subjective.

 

[mickEblu]

There has been no objectivity really in most of the critiques. You want to believe that having fewer AA's by the numbers is a downgrade, but if you don't care for AA's at all, then subjectively it's an upgrade. It's all subjective.

 

[el_super]

 

[mickEblu]

Yea my thoughts exactly. Frog. If only this attraction resembled anything from Princess and the Frog.

 

[el_super]

Yea my thoughts exactly. Frog. If only this attraction resembled anything from Princess and the Frog.

There's plenty in the ride that comes from Princess and the Frog. You just gotta dig a little deeper to find it I guess...

You think the ride is going to be popular when it opens up?

 

[PiratesMansion]

There has been no objectivity really in most of the critiques. You want to believe that having fewer AA's by the numbers is a downgrade, but if you don't care for AA's at all, then subjectively it's an upgrade. It's all subjective.

If you don't like animatronics, why are you even going to Disney?

Six Flags exists, you know. And theming that you'd probably better appreciate, where every new ride is themed after a character that's hip and marketable but theming stops past the entry sign. You know, everything you value in a theme park! And it's much, much cheaper too!

 

[el_super]

If you don't like animatronics, why are you even going to Disney?

Maybe dislike is too strong a description. I was around in the 70s and 80s though and definitely feel they were overplayed for a long time. There was a distinct period in Disney history where (More AA's = Better attraction) was just understood to be true... until it wasn't. Case in point: the spectacular failure of America Sings.

It's the realization that quantity isn't as important as quality. That Mr. Lincoln really is a better presentation than the Hall of Presidents. Or that having two singing animal shows in one park (Tiki Room and Bear Band) was one too many. That Disney SHOULD be something more than just Showbiz Pizza/Capt Andy/Chuck E Cheese.

Tiana's employs a more modern philosophy when it comes to the use of animatronics: it has to be purposeful to the story being told. You build an animatronic because you want a specific character to appear in the ride in a way that makes that character a centerpiece. One yeti in Everest or one Hopper in bug's life is equal to all the unnamed geese that used to sit in Splash Mountain.

 

[BrerFoxesBayouAdventure]

Tiana's employs a more modern philosophy when it comes to the use of animatronics: it has to be purposeful to the story being told. You build an animatronic because you want a specific character to appear in the ride in a way that makes that character a centerpiece. One yeti in Everest or one Hopper in bug's life is equal to all the unnamed geese that used to sit in Splash Mountain.

Ok than explain all of the animals that appear in Tiana's playing instruments. The geese that were in Splash Mountain were our first taste at the animated world that resided inside the show building and they were greeting us as our log dropped in.

 

[Misted Compass]

This is the only explanation. They hired some recent college grads who’ve never been to a theme park and forbade them from watching Splash POVs.

Pretty much this. They essentially focused on building another Runaway Railway with only the smallest regard to its ride system.

 

[mickEblu]

There's plenty in the ride that comes from Princess and the Frog. You just gotta dig a little deeper to find it I guess...

You think the ride is going to be popular when it opens up?

I think by sheer virtue of it being “new” and being a thrilling log ride in the second most attended theme park on earth it will have good ridership and then end up somewhere around the same numbers of Splash with people skipping at night or when it’s cold. I don’t think it will be anywhere near as beloved as Splash Mountain.

 

[el_super]

The geese that were in Splash Mountain were our first taste at the animated world that resided inside the show building and they were greeting us as our log dropped in.

Exactly: they were set dressing. Scenery. They had no relevance to the story. They weren't even purpose built for the attraction. Just recycled from America Sings.