Splash had a story that really succeeded at meshing the drops and the narrative into something that really worked. You started out with hints and warnings that you might be heading for trouble, and it steadily built throughout the ride until you reached the villain’s lair and “escaped” via a big drop over a cliff. The celebration at the end felt earned.
Tiana’s ride, despite being based on a very fun and thrilling film, is, for me, very flat, one-note (Happy happy happy!) and perplexingly timid about… just about everything. They treat the big drop almost like it’s not there, and this is not the first time Disney has recently taken a great animated film and removed every bit of peril and excitement from the source material.
I love the look and sound of the finale, but what are we celebrating? We’re special? We’re special because we completed the preschool-level task of recognizing what animals look like?
They could make Tiana say at the start, “Hey, everyone! Can you spot things that starts with the letter ‘E’?” and I honestly think it wouldn’t make any difference.
Just my take. I’m glad people are having fun—it’s still an excellent water flume—but they could have done so, so, soooooo much more with the PatF characters than this.
