Tiana's Bayou Adventure: Disneyland Watch & Discussion

[mickEblu]

Great breakdown. The only thing I disagree with is your last sentence about wanting this ride to be good. I want this ride to tank, for a few reasons.

It replaced my all time favorite attraction, and because of that my interest in Disneyland is significantly reduced.

Princess and the Frog is a great film, and inherently timeless because it's hand drawn. It deserves better than a reskinned flume. It should have gotten an incredible sit down restaurant attached to a world class dark ride.

And, I think Mission Breakout started a dangerous trend. I want this to tank so bad that Disney is scared to retheme any other major attraction for a few decades.

I really wanted TBA to be a success but the bad decisions have compounded to a point where I don't want them to be rewarded for that. It adds insult to injury to see Splash be removed only for them to miss a wide open slam dunk. With all of that said, I think deep down I cant help but want it to be as good as it can be in spite of their missteps. That must be true otherwise I wouldn't continually be disappointed with there decisions when it comes to this ride.

 

[SuddenStorm]

I really wanted TBA to be a success but the bad decisions have compounded to a point where I don't want them to be rewarded for that. It adds insult to injury to see Splash be removed only for them to miss a wide open slam dunk. With all of that said, I think deep down I cant help but want it to be as good as it can be in spite of their missteps. That must be true otherwise I wouldn't continually be disappointed with there decisions when it comes to this ride.

I guess if this ride ends up being world class, newer generations will get to grow up with a great ride.

But if (when) it sucks, or isn't as good and timeless as Splash- newer generations are really gonna miss out on something special, and Disneyland will be worse off for it.

 

[Rich T]

…. But if (when) it sucks, or isn't as good and timeless…. newer generations are really gonna miss out on something special, and Disneyland will be worse off for it.

That pretty much describes most of the Disney parks experience at this point, IMO.

Pay-to-win moneymaking schemes and other greed-driven company choices over the past couple of decades have mangled and twisted the experience far, far more than the act of retheming a log flume based on freakin’ Song of the South into something that—at the very least— will start off with functioning, well-kept animatronics, effects and, y’know, things called “lights.” Just my opinion.

 

[chadwpalm]

—at the very least— will start off with functioning, well-kept animatronics, effects and, y’know, things called “lights.” Just my opinion.

Like the cannons in ROTR that only worked for a couple months or the Kylo Ren animatronic that goes into B-Mode like 20% of its operating time? Or the carnival balloon animatronic in MMRR that hasn't worked for the past 4 months?

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Like the cannons in ROTR that only worked for a couple months or the Kylo Ren animatronic that goes into B-Mode like 20% of its operating time? Or the carnival balloon animatronic in MMRR that hasn't worked for the past 4 months?

I hate liking this post but it’s accurate, Disneys track record with effects consistently working on their new projects hasn’t been stellar.

 

[mickEblu]

Like the cannons in ROTR that only worked for a couple months or the Kylo Ren animatronic that goes into B-Mode like 20% of its operating time? Or the carnival balloon animatronic in MMRR that hasn't worked for the past 4 months?

Is the neon sign working in the MMRR queue again?

 

[TP2000]

I never commented about her hair being gray or not, so your response means nothing to me. The design of the character still looks off model, even in that picture.

My point is that #oldladygate has nothing do with the “gray hair.” I’ve been saying she looks older and never once thought her hair looked gray.

Count me in there too. I never once said anything about grey hair, even if I spelled it gray.

According to a search of this thread, no one used the words "gray hair" or "grey hair" here, except for this post on Tuesday from Disney Irish who was responding to me after I used the phrase "mom-hairdo" in a post talking about Tiana's new mom-hairdo. Mr. Irish brought up the grey hair thing on his own, perhaps referencing another thread or website where it was being discussed there. But not here in this thread.

After searching, I'm now confident none of us accused of such thought her animatronic hair looks grey. Or even gray.

I don't think its as bad as you think, she isn't going to be geriatric. She'll be a few years older than in the movie, that's it. Also that screen grab that is floating around is bad lighting that shows her hair being grey which it isn't suppose to be.

For the record, I never used the word "geriatric" either. I only used the words "older" and "mom" to describe Tiana's new look in this ride, and apparently in the way she is being cast for face performers by Disneyland's Entertainment Department.

I'm now very interested to learn how that AA makes Tiana look old (geriatric even, according to TP) without referencing the color of her hair.

That wasn't me who used the word "geriatric". Again, it was Disney Irish, perhaps referencing discussion on other websites or threads besides this one.

Tiana looks noticeably older and less glamorous with both this ride animatronic and the face character they've now got appearing at Tiana's Palace restaurant at Disneyland. Why is that?

 

[chadwpalm]

Is the neon sign working in the MMRR queue again?

I doubt it, but in looking through recent videos, someone posted 5 days ago a clip of the Goofy video screen not working on one of the trains. So add that to the list.

I won't count the fact that entire ride being down all the time for both MMRR and ROTR will factor with Tiana since it is a log flume and Splash rarely went down during the day due to ride system, but how long before animatronics or lights go down on that ride after it opens?

Disney's maintenance has been very subpar all around and new rides are not exempt from lack of maintenance. Just because something is new doesn't mean it won't have issues.

 

[TP2000]

Okay, so now that the grey/gray hair accusations have been sorted out, that begs the question...

Are the designers of this ride/restaurant/story for Disneyland and WDW in fact aging Tiana and her plotline by at least 10 years? Her animatronic and face character look at least 15 years older, but is the story in fact being placed 10+ years in the future? And why?

Just off the top of my head, that would now set Tiana and her story in the mid to late 1930's, the Great Depression in the rural South. If not heading towards the start of World War II in 1939. Is that fun for kids? And why did they do that for the ride and restaurant? Why not keep her a year later after the movie ended, married to the hunky prince and running a jazzy restaurant in the Roaring 20's?

I'm confused, as I haven't been following this thread closely for the past few months. Is there an official update from WDI to Tiana's story that now places this environment as taking place during the Great Depression of the 1930's? Anything official to go on here?

 

[LittleBuford]

I’m quoting this from the Magic Kingdom thread because it helps to illustrate how the figure’s hair and outfit contribute to her (in my view) slightly older look:

A bit of a taller order, so forgive the imperfections, but:

View attachment 768487

And then with the modifications I made to her face in the ealier post:

View attachment 768488

It’s not like the face itself has any signs of aging.

 

[Rich T]

Like the cannons in ROTR that only worked for a couple months or the Kylo Ren animatronic that goes into B-Mode like 20% of its operating time? Or the carnival balloon animatronic in MMRR that hasn't worked for the past 4 months?

I’m hoping more like the effects on Hagrid’s that have worked flawlessly the dozens of times I’ve ridden it over the last two y— oh, never mind, that’s Universal.

But I’ll try to be optimistic here. Maybe it will be more like 7 Dwarfs, Frozen EA or… well, can’t think of a third new one just now… that have operated with functioning AAs and all effects working fairly well (and I don’t like either of those rides much).

I’ll give TBA a chance and criticize it if it sucks or falls quickly into substandard mode. But Splash, at least at WDW, had deteriorated to a point where it gave me the most dismal ride experience I’ve ever had at a major theme park. Newer Generations deserve better, and I’m confident they’ll find it… at least at Epic Universe…

 

[Disney Irish]

Count me in there too. I never once said anything about grey hair, even if I spelled it gray.

According to a search of this thread, no one used the words "gray hair" or "grey hair" here, except for this post on Tuesday from Disney Irish who was responding to me after I used the phrase "mom-hairdo" in a post talking about Tiana's new mom-hairdo. Mr. Irish brought up the grey hair thing on his own, perhaps referencing another thread or website where it was being discussed there. But not here in this thread.

After searching, I'm now confident none of us accused of such thought her animatronic hair looks grey. Or even gray.



For the record, I never used the word "geriatric" either. I only used the words "older" and "mom" to describe Tiana's new look in this ride, and apparently in the way she is being cast for face performers by Disneyland's Entertainment Department.



That wasn't me who used the word "geriatric". Again, it was Disney Irish, perhaps referencing discussion on other websites or threads besides this one.

Tiana looks noticeably older and less glamorous with both this ride animatronic and the face character they've now got appearing at Tiana's Palace restaurant at Disneyland. Why is that?

I used the word "geriatric" due to your following postulation of future attractions that infers Tiana is an old woman.

But I'm also now thinking of similar character updates to other attractions and shows they could do...

Buzz Lightyear's Retirement Home Takeover!, Presented by Jitterbug Phones
Ariel's Joint Friendly Water Aerobics Adventure, Presented by LifeAlert
Clarabelle Cow's Low Impact Choreography Dance Party, Presented by Depends

 

[TP2000]

I used the word "geriatric" due to your following postulation of future attractions that infers Tiana is an old woman.

Buzz Lightyear's Retirement Home Takeover!, Presented by Jitterbug Phones
Ariel's Joint Friendly Water Aerobics Adventure, Presented by LifeAlert
Clarabelle Cow's Low Impact Choreography Dance Party, Presented by Depends

Sometimes I just make myself laugh and laugh, even if I'm the only one laughing!

But on a serious note, is this the first time that Disney has taken an existing animated character and aged them for the theme park ride? I can't think of any other instance like this.

That is, of course, if WDI is purposely aging and mom-ifying Tiana for her new Disneyland environment? Any official word on that, which would also move her story into the Great Depression 1930's? Or is this just speculation based off of an unflattering animatronic debut and a casting decision by Disneyland Entertainment that couldn't find a younger Black woman to play Tiana in the park?

 

[Disney Irish]

Buzz Lightyear's Retirement Home Takeover!, Presented by Jitterbug Phones
Ariel's Joint Friendly Water Aerobics Adventure, Presented by LifeAlert
Clarabelle Cow's Low Impact Choreography Dance Party, Presented by Depends

Sometimes I just make myself laugh and laugh, even if I'm the only one laughing!

But on a serious note, is this the first time that Disney has taken an existing animated character and aged them for the theme park ride? I can't think of any other instance like this.

That is, of course, if WDI is purposely aging and mom-ifying Tiana for her new Disneyland environment? Any official word on that, which would also move her story into the Great Depression 1930's? Or is this just speculation based off of an unflattering animatronic debut and a casting decision by Disneyland Entertainment that couldn't find a younger Black woman to play Tiana in the park?

The time period I believe is meant to still be in the 20s, albeit late 20s, just based on the clothes and other images from the concept art.

And so if you use the above image the AA doesn't look that much different, at least to me.

 

[LittleBuford]

Buzz Lightyear's Retirement Home Takeover!, Presented by Jitterbug Phones
Ariel's Joint Friendly Water Aerobics Adventure, Presented by LifeAlert
Clarabelle Cow's Low Impact Choreography Dance Party, Presented by Depends

Sometimes I just make myself laugh and laugh, even if I'm the only one laughing!

But on a serious note, is this the first time that Disney has taken an existing animated character and aged them for the theme park ride? I can't think of any other instance like this.

That is, of course, if WDI is purposely aging and mom-ifying Tiana for her new Disneyland environment? Any official word on that, which would also move her story into the Great Depression 1930's? Or is this just speculation based off of an unflattering animatronic debut and a casting decision by Disneyland Entertainment that couldn't find a younger Black woman to play Tiana in the park?

As you know from the other thread (because I tagged you there), Naveen’s brother is still a child in the attraction, meaning it takes place not too long after the film.

 

[TP2000]

As you know from the other thread (because I tagged you there), Naveen’s brother is still a child in the attraction, meaning it takes place not too long after the film.

The film was set in 1926. If the ride is now set in 1928, why did Tiana age a decade or more?

I can't remember any other Princess that gets aged like this, especially in a theme park ride (or show, or parade). It's weird.

 

[Dr.Cheeto]

I'm confused, as I haven't been following this thread closely for the past few months. Is there an official update from WDI to Tiana's story that now places this environment as taking place during the Great Depression of the 1930's? Anything official to go on here?

Is that Tiana 2D animated show still being made for Disney+? I am wondering now if there's a possibility that the show will attempt to set up the ride. Who knows, Bob Iger might be cutting it into a feature for a summer theatrical release to coincide with the ride as we speak!

To be clear, that last sentence is a Moana 2 joke.

 

[Consumer]

The time period I believe is meant to still be in the 20s, albeit late 20s, just based on the clothes and other images from the concept art.

And so if you use the above image the AA doesn't look that much different, at least to me.

The AA looks a lot like the concept art, but I also don't think the concept art looks much like Tiana.

 

[LittleBuford]

The film was set in 1926. If the ride is now set in 1928, why did Tiana age a decade or more?

I can't remember any other Princess that gets aged like this, especially in a theme park ride (or show, or parade). It's weird.

As you well know, not all character actors look all that close to their animated counterparts. Here's another, more youthful-looking, actress playing Tiana at the same location:

 

[PiratesMansion]

Yep- something that appeals to a narrow demographic shouldn't be a major headliner for the park. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and Pixie Hollow are perfect examples of building something that appeals to a narrow demographic (elementary aged girls) without taking up an insane amount of space.

Splash, Space, Matterhorn, Thunder, Incredicoaster, MB, Soarin', etc appeal to both boys and girls of all ages, assuming they meet the height requirement.

Eh, this falls into the standard trap of assuming that things that appeal to men inherently appeal to everyone (i.e. Indy, SW attractions), but things that appeal to women are only for women or children. There's a whole trope about it: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GirlShowGhetto

Nothing wrong with wishing that Tiana or PATF had been represented in a different way or attraction, but assuming that just because it features a princess it must only be for little girls? That at the very least neglects the fact that the ride profile is staying exactly the same. I assure you that there will be people all ages and even some-gasp-grown men enjoying this ride, on summer days at the very least. More than that, if the ride is good.