Finally rode TBA today. I’m going to try not to repeat a bunch of things I’ve said in the past. Overall I’d say TBA is just not fulfilling. It’s like you know that you just ate a big meal (as in a long ride with thrills, indoor/ outdoor scenes etc) but for whatever reason you don’t feel full or satisfied.
Some of the positives or let’s call them “not so bads.” I think most of the exterior blends in with the Critters/Bayou country and the West side of the park better than I thought it would when they first unveiled the concept art years ago when that was the biggest thing we had to worry about. The yellow barn, Tiara water tower, the murals while not ideal are not offensive and didn't really hurt the place making for me. I didn’t even notice the murals on my way onto the attraction. In fact that awful “main entrance” sign and ugly font bother me more. I saw the murals later at night and they are pretty small. Still don’t care for them but compared to the WDW version we lucked out. I may even go as far to say that Critter/Bayou Country probably blends in better with Mansion/ NOS than it has in a long time but the fact they added that monstrous HM shop makes it a wash. I may be a bit desensitized as I’ve been seeing these photos between WDW and DL for months but that’s also kind of the point. I think if you can get “used to” something then it’s probably not that bad. The exterior of the attraction unlike the ride experience is something I can or already have gotten used to.
The biggest loss and downgrade from Splash I feel is by far is the iconic music and sound design. Anything we take in through our ears is a huge downgrade. I’ll throw in the awful dialogue here as well. With that said, I think the soundtrack from the start of the ride through the first the first drop work fine enough. The next biggest issue I have is how damn one-note TBA feels. No journey. No adventure. No emotional arc. Just one note the whole time… and that note is flat.
When it comes to the old HDYD scenes the pace at DL’s version I think helps. It all goes by so fast but that’s also partly because it’s my first ride. It didn’t feel empty as much as it felt underwhelming. The figures aren’t as bothersome as you don’t have enough time to just stare at rocking moving back and forth. Splash felt rich and full of life.
The Mama Odie dip drop effect didn’t work as well for me it did on video. Not sure if everything was working there or if the fog was working.
The old HDYD scenes are underwhelming but what they did to the old Laughing place through burrows scenes is criminal. You were right @toomanyhats. Just criminal. You went from the bees buzzing to the soundtrack, multiple vignettes and two dozen high quality AAs or so to 4 limited motion figures, a screen with awful 2002 CGI animated Tiana and Louis and a screen wall with fireflies? And that’s without mentioning the build up and change of tone Splash had. Did they run out of money here? Is this where they chose to skimp? Is this some 1.0 version that they already know they’ll be plussing? You had all these vignettes with Splash. A rabbit getting caught in the honey, different charming scenes with multiple AAs, a family of rabbits mourning, ominous vultures overhead etc and they literally replaced all of that with 4 frog figures and a couple screens? Here is Frog playing drum. Here is Frog playing flute… Are you freakin kidding me? And they took out the suspense!?
The lifthill is a joke as is the old Laughin place through Burrows lament that precede it. They need to just chop the frog scene in half and get Dr. Facilier and/ or his friends in there through the top of the lift hill asap.
The finale is OK. It feels full but man, does it fall short from Splash’s finale. The way the staging, music and set design on Splash’s was finale was just special. The charming anthropomorphic critters. The steamboat rocking back and forth. The colors. The foliage hanging from the ceiling. All to the sound of Zip a dee doo dah playing. That was a quintessential Disneyland scene. Tough one to lose.
Nothing happens on this ride. There’s no story. Nothing happens. No suspense. If i wasn’t a nerd that visits sites like this everyday I wouldn’t even know that we’re looking for band. The one thing that happens - us getting shrunk - is also very poorly executed and inconsequential. Today, more than ever can I believe those Bob Iger “this is boring” rumors. At the very least, I have to believe something happened with Laughin Place through the lifthill. They were indecisive or maybe they went back to the drawing board too late for some reason but didn’t have time to finish. I refuse to believe they are happy with those scenes.
Man, those Tiana AAs are huge. I wasn’t prepared for how big they would feel. She seems as tall as Brer Bear to me. Speaking of AAs it all happens so fast I’m not even sure those high tech AAs are really appreciated. They would have been better off spreading that budget amongst more mid tier quality AAs.
The interior queue was nice. Didn’t feel corporate-y or out of place. They really need to chill with those awfully written park blogs. Was worried about the queue when they leaned to hard into the “office” stuff. Not crazy about what they did with the “Salt mines” though. I like the music coming from the “radio station.” I miss the old Splash soundtrack of course but this is one of those changes that just seems to work and feels right.
Rays Berets is nice. Not quite as enamored with it in person. It’s charming and I have no issue with it. It’s basically nice lighting and that one animated window… which wasn’t working today.
I like that Bayou Country sign. I’ll like it more when Pooh is gone. Haha
