Tiana's Bayou Adventure: Disneyland Watch & Discussion

[BasiltheBatLord]

Guys, at a certain point you need to get offline and let things go.

I hate Web Slingers. Guess how many times I’ve thought of or brought up Web Slingers in the last three years?

I agree with your general sentiment (train has left the station), but the difference is they didn't replace their best ride ever with Web Slingers.

 

[Epcot81Fan]

I think Tony has been pretty low key and sensitive with criticism about his former employer. Maybe it is out of professionalism or since he has many friends that still work there.

I'm sure the end product speaks for itself and that Tony is seeing the public's reaction. Simply put Splash is a masterwork of showmanship and themed entertainment and this is just decent/ok.

As long as “decent/OK” means complete crap, than yes.

 

[Brer Oswald]

The story and script are so bad, and I’ve complained about it since opening day.

“Hermione did it! They’re flying!”

“Look out! The dragon!”

“Watch out for the Whomping Willow!”

“Dementors!”

It’s a super fun ride and I love it, but it falls short of perfection because of the lazy writing and collage-approach to storytelling. Compare these quotes to the excellent writing on Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man or Rise of the Resistance.

I don’t have a vendetta against Tiana; happy to call out subpar writing on any theme park attraction.

I can accept FJ’s poor story and writing because it’s putting you in the middle of several iconic Harry Potter moments and has great placemaking. You get to fly through a castle, escape a dragon attack, float through a dark forest filled with giant spiders, and ward off demons in a dungeon. To top it off, the ride is appropriately grand in scale and super ambitious.

TBA shares none of these strengths. It doesn’t recreate/recontextualize any of the iconic visuals from the film. There isn’t much in the way of environment variety; you're in a bland blue-lit “weed entanglement” for most of the ride. And it certainly isn’t ambitious.

If you’re committed to starting fresh in order to “tell a story”, then it better be a darn good one.

 

[mickEblu]

I can accept FJ’s poor story and writing because it’s putting you in the middle of several iconic Harry Potter moments and has great placemaking. You get to fly through a castle, escape a dragon attack, float through a dark forest filled with giant spiders, and ward off demons in a dungeon. To top it off, the ride is appropriately grand in scale and super ambitious.

TBA shares none of these strengths. It doesn’t recreate/recontextualize any of the iconic visuals from the film. There isn’t much in the way of environment variety; you're in a bland blue-lit “weed entanglement” for most of the ride. And it certainly isn’t ambitious.

If you’re committed to starting fresh in order to “tell a story”, then it better be a darn good one.

Agree. The writing in FJ has never come off as juvenile to me. It helps that they re not talking to US the whole time. And considering we’re in the middle of all those action sequences you mentioned, the dialogue has always felt appropriate.

 

[mickEblu]

Entire dramatic, compelling E ticket plot of attraction:

Scene 1: We need to find a band!!! (Insert flailing)

Scene 2: Hey, look, there’s a band. (More flailing)

The end.

Lol. You forgot…

Scene 3: You’re Special (Flailing continues, Louis does not play)

I repeat Louis, the music loving gator from the movie does not play any music on the entire ride. You could write a book about everything they did wrong with this attraction. But for some reason the people that like it can’t put together two sentences.

 

[Disney Irish]

But for some reason the people that like it can’t put together two sentences.

I find it funny that people can write multiple sentences on what they like in this very thread and you don't accept them.

So here goes for my multiple sentences for what I like -

I like the overall vibe of the attraction, as it still is a flume ride after all so the vibe of floating through the Bayou works for me. I like the overall music, despite some people in here not liking the final song, I think it works for the vibe they were going for here. I like the use of AAs here, I know many here lament the loss of the old ones and think there should be more, but I like what they did with the ones they used. I actually like the story, as I don't need an attraction to have an overly complex story. Even though some here call it a lack of a story, hunting for x is a perfecting fine storytelling device for me.

Call me simple or whatever, but the attraction works for me and I like what they did. Is it better than Splash, no, but I honestly don't think that is what they were going for. Now many here will jump all over that and say they should have been trying for something better than Splash, but I think that is an unachievable task and I think they know it. So they built something that while will get ripped apart by the fanboi's for not living up to Splash's standard will work for the average guest and be liked by them. As I said before, the average guest doesn't care about the same things as many here do. They care about having a good time, and by all accounts that appears to be happening. So its a success in the regard.

So there is your two sentences (more actually) on why and what I like. See it can be done.

 

[EagleScout610]

Walls are down in front of the mountain

 

[Disney Irish]

View attachment 822360

I think it turned out nice. A nod to the past but also a reference to what it is now.

 

[mickEblu]

I find it funny that people can write multiple sentences on what they like in this very thread and you don't accept them.

So here goes for my multiple sentences for what I like -

I like the overall vibe of the attraction, as it still is a flume ride after all so the vibe of floating through the Bayou works for me. I like the overall music, despite some people in here not liking the final song, I think it works for the vibe they were going for here. I like the use of AAs here, I know many here lament the loss of the old ones and think there should be more, but I like what they did with the ones they used. I actually like the story, as I don't need an attraction to have an overly complex story. Even though some here call it a lack of a story, hunting for x is a perfecting fine storytelling device for me.

Call me simple or whatever, but the attraction works for me and I like what they did. Is it better than Splash, no, but I honestly don't think that is what they were going for. Now many here will jump all over that and say they should have been trying for something better than Splash, but I think that is an unachievable task and I think they know it. So they built something that while will get ripped apart by the fanboi's for not living up to Splash's standard will work for the average guest and be liked by them. As I said before, the average guest doesn't care about the same things as many here do. They care about having a good time, and by all accounts that appears to be happening. So its a success in the regard.

So there is your two sentences (more actually) on why and what I like. See it can be done.

Lol ok thank you for the sentences. Most of your paragraphs aren’t really a review of the ride though. And when you are talking about the ride it’s not very detailed.

“Overall I like the music”
“I like the vibe”
“I like the story”

When I say “two sentences” I’m not just talking about two literal sentences. I’m asking for some specifics. The types of specifics that those of us who don’t like this retheme can’t fill up a novel with. The reason I believe we don’t get these specifics from people who “like” the retheme is because there really isn’t much good/ great to stuff talk about or one is easy to please and has lower standards. So we end up with comments that boil down to “I like it.” Let’s hope Disney doesn’t start playing down to those lower standards as you’ve indicated before.

 

[Disstevefan1]

But for some reason the people that like it can’t put together two sentences.

It is what it is.

RATS! That’s only one sentence. Oh well.

 

[Professortango1]

It takes time to write a song and then go into the studio to record it.

I truly believe this is an indication that an earlier plot line for the attraction was to look for missing ingredients. In fact, wasn't that said in an earlier Disney Blog post? My guess is that the attempts to find ingredients failed and the finalé song was meant to convey that.

PJ Morton probably got early draft notes and moved forward with the song and was too far into it (or already had it written and recorded) before the plot line changed to finding a band.

It also might indicate why all of the non-main characters are such limited movement "animatronics". They were built later in the development process and they didn't have time to make them more articulate than they are.

Would love to see a full documentary some day on this entire fiasco.

I now wonder if the HDYD section simply had Tiana, Louis, and Naveen in the three scenes and they realized it was too barren and boring, so they cut Naveen and replaced him with simple animal figures for the first two scenes.

Honestly, the search for Louis' trumpet sounds like the best concept of the three. Its still really stupid, but I could see a cartoon where Louis is getting into one blunder after another as he searches for his trumpet and things escalate to him careening down waterways and such. But that idea would only work with DLR's faster paced flume, not with WDW at all.

 

[Disney Irish]

Lol ok thank you for the sentences. Most of your paragraphs aren’t really a review of the ride though. And when you are talking about the ride it’s not very detailed.

“Overall I like the music”
“I like the vibe”
“I like the story”

When I say “two sentences” I’m not just talking about ll two literal sentences. I’m asking for some specifics. The types of specifics that those of us who don’t like this retheme can’t fill up a novel with. The reason I believe we don’t get these specifics from people who “like” the retheme is because there really isn’t much good/ great stuff talk about or one is easy to please and has lower standards. Let’s hope Disney doesn’t start playing down to those lower standards as you’ve indicated before.

You want specifics, ok.

I haven't actually ridden it yet, I will next month. So maybe I'll give a more detailed review then. But I'm not sure what more specifics you're looking for.

But let me try more -

I like the look of Tiana, I know you don't. But I like her look for the period and think that they did a fine job for trying to translate a 2d character into 3d. I like Louis, he is a very impressive AA. I like the set dressing, I know that many here don't like it and find it sparse but I like it and it works for me to put me into feeling like I'm floating through the Bayou. I don't need a lot of busy sets, so even the areas that seem to be dead spots to many work for me because the Bayou isn't full of activity all the time. So it gives me the vibe of the Bayou as I mentioned. As I mentioned I like the story, as simple as it is, I'm fine on the hunt for the band story. When I'm on an attraction I want my brain to turn off, I don't want to have to think about the story and try to rationalize it, I just want to get lost in it, and this does that for me.

Is that the specifics you're looking for?

 

[mickEblu]

You want specifics, ok.

I haven't actually ridden it yet, I will next month. So maybe I'll give a more detailed review then. But I'm not sure what more specifics you're looking for.

But let me try more -

I like the look of Tiana, I know you don't. But I like her look for the period and think that they did a fine job for trying to translate a 2d character into 3d. I like Louis, he is a very impressive AA. I like the set dressing, I know that many here don't like it and find it sparse but I like it and it works for me to put me into feeling like I'm floating through the Bayou. I don't need a lot of busy sets, so even the areas that seem to be dead spots to many work for me because the Bayou isn't full of activity all the time. So it gives me the vibe of the Bayou as I mentioned. As I mentioned I like the story, as simple as it is, I'm fine on the hunt for the band story. When I'm on an attraction I want my brain to turn off, I don't want to have to think about the story and try to rationalize it, I just want to get lost in it, and this does that for me.

Is that the specifics you're looking for?

Ok thank you for trying.

 

[Disney Irish]

Ok thank you for trying.

Sorry if that is not what you're looking for.

 

[Too Many Hats]

Personally I actually don’t think “too few AAs” is among the Disneyland version’s shortcomings. Yes, it has way fewer than Splash, and that’s tragic. But (based on the POV, at least) the HDYD section and the finale feel very full. Laughing Place could use more things happening, but that doesn’t necessarily mean more AAs.

MK’s version, however, feels like it needs more AAs because of (again, based on POVs) all the dead space.

 

[DavidDL]

I wonder why some kind of frog wasn't included on the Bayou Country sign? Nitpick and dislike of the new name aside, sign looks good. I wonder if the newly added bird could be seen as a reference to the former Mr. Bluebird? Probably not but fun to think about.

 

[mickEblu]

Personally I actually don’t think “too few AAs” is among the Disneyland version’s shortcomings. Yes, it has way fewer than Splash, and that’s tragic. But (based on the POV, at least) the HDYD section and the finale feel very full. Laughing Place could use more things happening, but that doesn’t necessarily mean more AAs.

MK’s version, however, feels like it needs more AAs because of (again, based on POVs) all the dead space.

I guess that depends on how you look at it. Does there have to be 110 AAs on Disneylands faster paced version to be successful? No, but they can only help if staged properly. The biggest thing I think is they were replaced with inferior figures with low articulation that shouldn’t be anywhere near center stage. So they kind of get a pass on the finale because there is so much going on but for me they don’t work on the HDYD scenes because they are the focal point and there just isn’t enough going on. On Splash you had fully functioning AAs as side characters filling in the gaps and in the background. With TBA you have figures with low articulation taking center stage with a Spotlight on them to boot!

 

[Rich T]

Boy, oh, boy, I can’t wait to see the next storyline Imagineers come up with for an attraction! Gee willikers, I hope it’s another story where everyone smiles and grins like an idiot nonstop (just like on that great Disney ride parody on Phineas and Ferb), nothing much happens, and everyone celebrates because riders are special paprika. May all your enchanted dreams be magical sparkle wishes, everyone! Oh, look, prices went even higher!

 

[Trooper Looper]

I'm honestly shocked how the narrative for the ride is so... lacking, best way to put it.

I'm not going to call Splash Mountains story Oscar worthy haha, but at least it had different tones, charm, humour, fear, whimsicalness, etc. The story's tone was appropriate for the rides layout.

Even if the drop for Tina's couldn't (for some weird reason) include Dr Facilier, they could've had a different antagonist/negative force. Why not use those evil alligators that tried to eat Tiana and Navine shortly after they became frogs, like maybe they were stalking us riders and when we shrunk, it was a perfect opportunity for them to strike, cornering us (the lift hill tunnel) but Mama Odie saves us just at the last minute. I don't know, just a random idea. It could've been neat, and we'd get more critters. Win, win!

Even then, it's not just the story that's lacking, it's pretty much everything personally. The scenery on Splash had a lovely flair to it with lots of colour to it, but in Tiana's, it's just...

 

[Model3 McQueen]

Haven't experienced the ride so my opinion won't be passionate for the time being..

From what I have seen, the first half looks fun, the second half (after the drop & rise) is more of the same that just drags on. It was stupid, period, not to include Dr Facilier or any sort of adversity. I think our boat should've taken a wrong turn and accidentally stumbled upon the shadow man's layer or something, instead of us "shrinking".

The ending song is what a downgrade from zippadeedoodah.