Tiana's Bayou Adventure: Disneyland Watch & Discussion

[Professortango1]

“Well, that makes sense–they designed the ride reimagining for Disneyland and then shoehorned it into Magic Kingdom.”

Definitely fair and how I felt. I'm still a little salty because Splash Mountain at WDW was far superior...and I was like, they absolutely designed this for Disneyland and threw it in here. I'm especially salty now that Paris is getting basically a Lion King version.

This review did kind of lose me when they said Space Mountain is better at DL. For the last time, it's different at both parks. One is not better than the other. Unless you want to point out that the WDW one breaks more...

Disneyland's Space Mountain a d Splash Mountain were superior to WDW's. WDW's Splash was certainly a longer ride though and I did like the Brer Rabbit design in Florida.

 

[SuddenStorm]

I think people are overfocused on the story.

IMHO, the story has a far smaller impact on TBA than you would believe from reading reviews and it has a far smaller impact on Splash than people would lead you to believe.

I made my account named after Splash before I really even knew the story. And that may be a reflection of me, but regardless…

Story on an attraction should exist only to inform creative decisions, strengthen the experience of riding the chosen ride system, and help designers make the experience cohesive and satisfying. We aren't expecting something profound- just something that enhances what riders are experiencing on the flume.

TBA fails to do this. It's an embarrassing and it's baffling.

 

[Epcot81Fan]

 

[andre85]

The fact there aren't story beats here is a problem. On Splash, you would have just gone past Br'er Bear and Fox with the gator- showing their end, and Br'er Rabbit at home back in the Briar Patch. It ties up the whole attraction nicely after the big finale.

Instead it's been reduced to a weird Mama Odie cameo, that doesn't work and feels unnatural. It's a horrible way to end the attraction. Something like this works in a C ticket dark ride like Monster's Inc with Roz. But not here.

Yes!! This is exactly what I've been thinking. Especially because you go through the Special Spice scene so fast (especially at WDW, oddly), which feels out of place considering it's the Grand finale AND the final appearance of Tiana, concluding her story (well what little story there is...).

It worked SO MUCH better in Splash because the story isn't over yet: the celebration is just that, before we see the final fates of Brer Bear and Brer Fox, with the true final thing being Brer Rabbit at peace with everything (and singing that damn catchy tune). It was absolutely brilliant. But in Tiana, we're stuck looking at a hideous animatronic that has nothing to do with the story at all, and wraps up nothing. It's just there because they needed to fill the space

 

[Brer Oswald]

Mama Odie screen still glitching out before the big drop. Guess they'll have to replace it with an AA.

They should’ve done a “giant” figure of the snake character, hanging down from the rafters.

 

[Brer Oswald]

I think people are overfocused on the story.

IMHO, the story has a far smaller impact on TBA than you would believe from reading reviews and it has a far smaller impact on Splash than people would lead you to believe.

I made my account named after Splash before I really even knew the story. And that may be a reflection of me, but regardless…

It’s less about story in a literal sense and more about “the journey” you go on through the ride. Splash followed “Freytag’s Pyramid”, the classic narrative template most of us probably learned in high school. Each section of the ride can roughly be attributed to each “step” of the pyramid. Each section also featured a change in atmosphere/mood that reflected the ride path. You have the exposition of the introduction to the story outside, and the world inside with the geese. You have the inciting incident: Brer Rabbit leaves home to find the Laughing Place. You have the rising action: the hysterics of the Laughing Place, the destination you were looking for, but trouble looms around the corner. You have the climax where Brer Rabbit gets caught by Brer Fox, complete with a spooky atmosphere. You have the falling action: the literal fall into the briar patch with Brer Rabbit. Finally the resolution, the celebration in Zipadeelanding with Brer Rabbit, while the villains get what was coming to them. This created a great payoff and incredibly satisfying experience; whether or not you picked up on the actual story via the dialogue/song lyrics, you still felt what the Imagineers intended based on the atmosphere changes. Your ride experience directly reflected Brer Rabbit’s journey.

Compare this to Tiana that feels like it’s stuck in the exposition stage for almost the entire ride, and then just arrives at the resolution for the finale. No atmospheric change. Nothing to reflect the track layout.

 

[wityblack]

My review having ridden it: It's... fine.

 

[Epcot81Fan]

The novelization of this epic tale has arrived….

 

[Jedi14]

It’s less about story in a literal sense and more about “the journey” you go on through the ride. Splash followed “Freytag’s Pyramid”, the classic narrative template most of us probably learned in high school. Each section of the ride can roughly be attributed to each “step” of the pyramid. Each section also featured a change in atmosphere/mood that reflected the ride path. You have the exposition of the introduction to the story outside, and the world inside with the geese. You have the inciting incident: Brer Rabbit leaves home to find the Laughing Place. You have the rising action: the hysterics of the Laughing Place, the destination you were looking for, but trouble looms around the corner. You have the climax where Brer Rabbit gets caught by Brer Fox, complete with a spooky atmosphere. You have the falling action: the literal fall into the briar patch with Brer Rabbit. Finally the resolution, the celebration in Zipadeelanding with Brer Rabbit, while the villains get what was coming to them. This created a great payoff and incredibly satisfying experience; whether or not you picked up on the actual story via the dialogue/song lyrics, you still felt what the Imagineers intended based on the atmosphere changes. Your ride experience directly reflected Brer Rabbit’s journey.

Compare this to Tiana that feels like it’s stuck in the exposition stage for almost the entire ride, and then just arrives at the resolution for the finale. No atmospheric change. Nothing to reflect the track layout.


View attachment 822483

I believe the inciting incident is that Louis forgot to book a band for the party. Which leads to the need to find a band on short notice in the bayou.

 

[mickEblu]

I believe the inciting incident is that Louis forgot to book a band for the party. Which leads to the need to find a band on short notice in the bayou.

Well I guess everybody is special except Louis since now every animal in the bayou can apparently PLAAYYYY.

 

[EagleScout610]

Here's how I would fit PatF into DL's Splash:

Beginning the ride in the Tiana's Foods loading bay, Tiana calls out to us on the intercom that with how busy she's been she forgot to book music for the party that night, and that we need to go into the Bayou to find some critters that Louis claims to know.

The first two loops are more realistic bog with limited movement frogs, fireflies, and even a gator. An instrumental of Goin' Down the Bayou plays, similar to the more subdued one on the ride currently. Approaching Slippin' Falls, Mama Odie stands where Br’er Bear’s house was. She says, "You ain't gonna find no music in this Bayou! You gotta dig deeper! Ha-ha!" Before sending us down Slippin, into the heart of the bayou.

Inside the show building, we find a bright and sunny day in the marsh. The Zydeco Band is spread out around the sets where the geese and Br’er Frog were. Rounding the corner where Br’er Fox and Bear in the rabbit trap were, we find Tiana and Louis with some of the limited movement frogs/possums from Splash with lines like "See Tiana? I told you these critters could play!", with Tiana responding, "They sure can Louis, let’s get back to the party!”

Rounding the corner, we pass the Rara Band where the overlook at the hitch hiking Crocodile was and enter the darker part of the Bayou. The lights change to a more purple/blue scheme and the lights go down. Between the Rara band and the next scene is Lari the Armadillo, clutching Tiana’s map.

Where Brer Rabbit and Turtle were, Tiana and Louis stand looking afraid, clearly lost "Louis I thought you said this was the right way! Oh no, now we're gonna miss the party!" "Well Tiana, when we were going the other way it seemed like the right way!"

Going down the smaller dip, we see fireflies on the ceiling and sets, lighting the way up ahead, however some are purple and leading in a different direction. Unfortunately we seem to be following the purple fireflies.

The purple fireflies lead us to a hollowed out tree, with a hand written sign reading "Way out". As we start to fall, Mama Odie calls out, "No! Don't go that way! That's diggin' too deep!" before the laugh of Dr. Facillier cuts her off.

At the bottom of the dip drop, in the bee tunnel, there’s spiders, masks, giant bugs, and spooky snakes, all bathed in a purple/green glow. The critters all chanting “Are ya ready? Are ya ready? Are ya ready? Are ya….”

After the small Laughin’ Place dip, Louis is thrashing around on his back, just covered in pricker bushes (a nod to the original plot and to Br’er Bear) as Tiana stands next to him, shining a flashlight around. Mama Odie appears on a screen and tells Tiana that she knows a spell that will get her home safely.

Before she can perform it, the screen flickers and Odie is replaced by Dr. Facilier, who laughs and sends us deeper into the darkness. When we reach where Br’er Fox snuck up on Br’er Rabbit, we find absolute chaos in front of us!

Mama Odie and Dr. Facillier are locked in an intense magic battle around the underground salt dome. Lights and water shoot all around us as the two fight for our fate. Between screens and animatronics it's certainly a chaotic scene. Wind blows around, giving the illusion of spells just missing us.

Where the mother rabbit and her babies were, Mama Odie appears on a screen again to tell us that we're almost safe and we just need to make it out of the dome.

As we reach the bottom of the hill, Facillier pops out on a screen where the boothill boys were. He says “You're not leaving! You're going to the other side!” Before Mama Odie's magic begins dragging us up the hill.

A more somber and unsettling version of Dig a Little Deeper plays as we climb the lift hill but gradually becomes a more cheerful version as Odie’s magic prevails over Facilier.

At the top, an animatronic of Odie stands where Brer Fox’s cave used to be and says “You're almost there! Hang on!” as she waves her arms and performs spells to counter the shadow man.

As we begin the drop we hear the enraged yells of Dr. Facillier as we race down the dome and escape his magic spells. We splash down and Mama Odie’s voice echoes out, “Not bad for a 197-year-old blind lady! Let’s get you to that party!”

Outside, the instrumental of Special Spice plays as we float through the marsh and then re-enter the show building. The finale is relatively unchanged from how it is in BA, and we return back to the load station and disembark.

 

[Brer Oswald]

I believe the inciting incident is that Louis forgot to book a band for the party. Which leads to the need to find a band on short notice in the bayou.

So even with that said, where is the climax or falling action? There is nothing that happens to make the final celebration feel rewarding, and this has been a common complaint with the majority that rode the attraction. Perhaps if the critters were spread out, and you were gathering them into one band, but then something threw you off course, and you took a wrong turn into the dark side of the bayou. But no. The bands are already together. Nothing happens. There’s no reason for anyone to go on this “adventure” that barely qualifies as one.

The bunny children side quests in Epic Mickey have a more adventurous narrative than this ride.

 

[britain]

Any implementation of Dr F would be an improvement. Can anyone confirm the rumor that they didn’t want to be disrespectful of Hoodoo beliefs? If so… sigh.

Unrelated (or is it?): Why was Dig a Little Deeper stripped of its Gospel arrangement?

 

[mickEblu]

Probably obvious but it occurred to me recently that the decision to go with nighttime bayou scenes with spotlights on the bands was cost cutting decision. Set dressing doesn't matter as much when everything is dark, you throw a spotlight on the little clutter of figures and throw some projections on the wall. I have no idea what the budget was for this retheme. I've seen 150 million thrown around. If thats true, they also suck with money. Structure was there, ride system, ride vehicles etc. Im guessing they spent a huge chunk of the budget on the finale and some high tech AA's that so far don't even work and aren't even implemented to their full potential.

 

[mickEblu]

Any implementation of Dr F would be an improvement. Can anyone confirm the rumor that they didn’t want to be disrespectful of Hoodoo beliefs? If so… sigh.

Unrelated (or is it?): Why was Dig a Little Deeper stripped of its Gospel arrangement?

As in from an official source or insider? I don't think Ive seen anything but seems pretty obvious to me. The one glimmer of hope is unlike Splash, they have never come out and said that Dr. Facilier (or his voodoo) is problematic. So they wouldn't be putting their foot in their mouths if they added him in the future.

 

[chadwpalm]

I believe the inciting incident is that Louis forgot to book a band for the party. Which leads to the need to find a band on short notice in the bayou.

And how are we supposed to know this? Through audio and visual cues while in the queue......and also some Disney Parks Blogs that 99% of guests didn't read.

Why don't people know this? Because most people spend their time in the queue conversing with other guests in their party or on their phones.

Why? Because people are accustomed to the bulk of the attraction's narrative to be on the actual attraction. If you can't fit the full narrative on the attraction and have to put the entire setup, reasoning, and major plot points for the attraction in the queue, then you probably shouldn't be calling yourself an Imagineer.

 

[chadwpalm]

Probably obvious but it occurred to me recently that the decision to go with nighttime bayou scenes with spotlights on the bands was cost cutting decision. Set dressing doesn't matter as much when everything is dark, you throw a spotlight on the little clutter of figures and throw some projections on the wall. I have no idea what the budget was for this retheme. I've seen 150 million thrown around. If thats true, they also suck with money. Structure was there, rinse system, ride vehicles etc. Im guessing they spent a huger chunk of the budget on the finale and some high tech AA's that so far don't even work and aren't even implemented to their full potential.

That's the issue. People that shouldn't have been in charge of a major theme park attraction were in charge of a major theme park attraction.

 

[mickEblu]

Someone help me out with the whole Ray thing. Ok so Facilier is dead or problematic or whatever so he’s not on the ride. On top of this they double down and don’t include fan favorite character Ray because he is also dead? But then they have him singing a song on the attraction? Not to a mention a highly themed store right outside of the attraction. The leadership on this project. SMH

 

[mickEblu]

I mean, no matter what, the critter musicians are a huge downgrade from even the worst Marc Davis AAs on Splash. But I'm trying to set Splash aside and assess TBA on its own merits. At this point I probably just need to ride it in person before critiquing any further. Maybe the minimal-movement critters "work" better in person; maybe they don't.

Yeah I guess we’ll see soon. I might be riding next week if get a VQ.

 

[SplashJacket]

Story on an attraction should exist only to inform creative decisions, strengthen the experience of riding the chosen ride system, and help designers make the experience cohesive and satisfying. We aren't expecting something profound- just something that enhances what riders are experiencing on the flume.

TBA fails to do this. It's an embarrassing and it's baffling.

I think we’re arguing the same thing. Splash wasn’t great because it had a great story, it was great because it was a complete, cohesive, and well-themed immersive experience with good music.