News Tiana's Bayou Adventure - latest details and construction progress

[BuzzedPotatoHead89]

A reformatting of the Pecos Bill corner has recently cropped up on this site and i've also heard there's truth in it. I don't have any idea when they'd start working on it though. I guess it's plausible that it could come after the ride opens, given that they're moving pretty quickly with that.

I don't actually mind this idea if they put the proper effort in. As long as the Country Bears show isn't compromised (which is more Tennessee anyway, and also far enough away that it shouldn't cause too much interference with the New Orleans stuff).

Interesting. Looks like they’re going the route they did with MBO>>Avengers Campus at DCA or TSMM>>TS Land at DHS.

I.e. build the ride first then as “phase two” tear down and rebuild/retheme the surrounding area to match the new attraction thereafter.

 

[Mike S]

Or Flight of Passage and we're not fighting the RDA!!

Are you really comparing not having the RDA to not having Dr. Facilier?

Really?

 

[MisterPenguin]

Are you really comparing not having the RDA to not having Dr. Facilier?

Really?

Yes. An example of a fantastic ride not being about dealing with a villain.

So, yeah. Really.

 

[Mike S]

Yes. An example of a fantastic ride not being about dealing with a villain.

So, yeah. Really.

There’s a big difference in quality of those villains. People don’t care so much for the RDA, they do care about Facilier. Same goes for Frozen not having that great of a villain.

Not to mention when this layover was first announced everyone and their mother wanted the same thing: “ARE YOU READY?!?!?!” before the drop.

 

[Kamikaze]

As it was explained to me, it becomes a district of Adventureland. Adventureland already has the area around Pirates which is very different from the area around JC/Carpets. It could accommodate more diversity at this point.

Correct, it is, but there's no reason to call it Adventureland at that point. Just call it NOS like DL.

 

[FettFan]

Correct, it is, but there's no reason to call it Adventureland at that point. Just call it NOS like DL.

 

[Bocabear]

Our Pirates is set in the Caribbean including your departure point...with that being basically Caribbean Square...perhaps if they changed the theming after you passed under the archway heading towards Splash...but not around Pirates...Leave that as it is. That would make a much smaller area to transform...but again, if they are going to be ready for the ride, they are probably already a year late...

 

[HoustonHorn]

I really don't mind a rethemed ride with Tiana and the gang just having a fun time in the Louisiana bayou. I just hope that the socially relevant plotlines don't bog it down.

You aren't looking forward to 9:55 of being preached at/bored to death with 0:05 of plunging into the depths of a salt mine?

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Correct, it is, but there's no reason to call it Adventureland at that point. Just call it NOS like DL.

Our Pirates is set in the Caribbean including your departure point...with that being basically Caribbean Square...perhaps if they changed the theming after you passed under the archway heading towards Splash...but not around Pirates...Leave that as it is. That would make a much smaller area to transform...but again, if they are going to be ready for the ride, they are probably already a year late...

Tokyo Disneyland has a New Orleans Square (including a very similar copy of DL's Pirates and the associated facades, restaurants and shops). Though it's not considered a separate land, it's a part of Adventureland. Perhaps because unlike DL, it's JUST Pirates there, no connecting Haunted Mansion or Riverboat (or soon to be Tiana's ride) like at DL. So there might not be enough content for them to have classified it as a "full" land of its own. Not to mention that Pirates itself is acts as a sort of transitional ride into Adventureland even at Disneyland.

Transitioning into the Caribbean from a small New Orleans themed corner is a probably a fairly reasonable solution, especially compared to just leaving this stuff as-is. Provided they don't do it on the cheap. I would imagine they would leave the entrance archway into Adventureland alone (no reason to mess with it), but there's a decently long walkway with little there aside from the side of Pecos Bill and the Golden Oak Outpost concession stand. There's plenty they can do to aid the transition in that corner.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

You aren't looking forward to 9:55 of being preached at/bored to death with 0:05 of plunging into the depths of a salt mine?

I've said this before, I do not expect to see much of the rightly maligned Salt Mine backstory and such when the actual ride "begins". I would guess that's largely going to be contained to the queue and parts of the exterior. I think that following the first drop, the ride will become almost exclusively a "critters playing instruments" affair.

 

[Kamikaze]

Tokyo Disneyland has a New Orleans Square (including a very similar copy of DL's Pirates and the associated facades, restaurants and shops). Though it's not considered a separate land, it's a part of Adventureland. Perhaps because unlike DL, it's JUST Pirates there, no connecting Haunted Mansion or Riverboat (or soon to be Tiana's ride) like at DL. So there might not be enough content for them to have classified it as a "full" land of its own. Not to mention that Pirates itself is acts as a sort of transitional ride into Adventureland even at Disneyland.

Transitioning into the Caribbean from a small New Orleans themed corner is a probably a fairly reasonable solution, especially compared to just leaving this stuff as-is. Provided they don't do it on the cheap. I would imagine they would leave the entrance archway into Adventureland alone (no reason to mess with it), but there's a decently long walkway with little there aside from the side of Pecos Bill and the Golden Oak Outpost concession stand. There's plenty they can do to aid the transition in that corner.

I mean, they consider Liberty Square its own land and that has one large vehicle, one attraction, and one show. A proposed New Orleans Square would have two attractions. I don't see how it would be any different to just call it its own thing instead of shoehorning them together.

 

[wdwmagic]

Construction photos from today

https://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/tianas-bayou-adventure/gallery/01jun2023-tiana's-bayou-adventure-construction---june-1-2023.htm

 

[Mike S]

Construction photos from today

https://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/tianas-bayou-adventure/gallery/01jun2023-tiana's-bayou-adventure-construction---june-1-2023.htm

When seeing this in person I was utterly shocked at how the removal of a single element completely threw off the carefully designed forced perspective of this ride and how tiny it now looked.

I was also under the impression that for a while now all of these types of effects sort of stopped being as effective as I grew older and grew a more discerning eye.

Nope.

 

[Brer Panther]

I have a new theory.

What if this project was indeed "in the works for a year" before the announcement - but it wasn't specifically a Splash Mountain retheme, rather just a simple Princess and the Frog dark ride concept they were still figuring out? And then the uproar and petitions for Splash Mountain to be rethemed to The Princess and the Frog caused them to turn the idea into a Splash Mountain replacement? I dunno, I think that sounds plausible.

• There will be original animation created by Walt Disney Animation Studios that will be used on screens within the attraction.

Hand-drawn or CGI?

• The attractions overall story will touch on some new themes
  • Tiana’s father being a WWI veteran and what’s it like for an African American man to fight for his country back then
  • Tiana’s mom made dresses not only for Charlotte but for other clients in the community which served as an inspiration for Tiana’s entrepreneurship
  • New representation of the other nationalities that make up New Orleans including Philippines, Mexico, Caribbean, nations of Africa and China

Aaaaaaaaaaaand here we go. In addition to food co-ops and how Tiana being an entrepreneur is inspiring girls of all races, the ride is also going to talk about World War I. What?

And the "new representation of other nationalities" stuff... this is just more of Disney trying so hard to show how "inclusive" and "woke" they are and it feels so insincere. Like they're trying to compensate for the fact that this attraction is replacing the "eeeeeeeeeeeevil racist ride about a cartoon rabbit".

Was the original "Louis can't find his trumpet" plotline going to have all this, or was it created when the backlash made them rework the ride?

• Prince Naveen will play humorous role in the story

Oh, goody. Has the "Louis can't find his trumpet, everybody laugh at the dopey alligator" plot been reworked into "Naveen can't find his ukulele, everybody laugh at the clueless male"?

I’m sure the queue loop will be lovely but they are really making it harder by the day for this to fit in Frontierland.

Well, that's why they're turning Frontierland into New Orleans, Coco, Encanto and Villains Land.

If it would be a tiny detail in a queue, why talk about it in a press release?

Like I said, it's Disney bragging about how "inclusive" they are.

Actually the backstory of the ride was that Bre'r Rabbit was tired of his life and was setting out on new adventures...

Yeah, but when everyone suddenly decided that Splash Mountain was racist, a lot of people also started looking way too far into the attraction for specific things to be offended about. For example, I've heard people say that Brer Rabbit's story was meant to be a metaphor for slavery... I sincerely doubt the Imagineers meant to include any racist messages.

 

[harrisonm]

Construction photos from today

https://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/tianas-bayou-adventure/gallery/01jun2023-tiana's-bayou-adventure-construction---june-1-2023.htm

Interesting, did they remove the water tower scaffolding?

 

[Figments Friend]

For those who have not yet seen this….

A little momento passed out to the closing Cast on the final night of operation.
Printed on authentic old Fastpass paper, too!

 

[HoustonHorn]

I've said this before, I do not expect to see much of the rightly maligned Salt Mine backstory and such when the actual ride "begins". I would guess that's largely going to be contained to the queue and parts of the exterior. I think that following the first drop, the ride will become almost exclusively a "critters playing instruments" affair.

And the experience of a black soldier fighting for America in WWI and the multicultural experience of 1920s New Orleans that, according to another's research, was 74% white and 26% black and a negligible % other races at the time. PARTY TIME!

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

It doesn’t really say anything about the number of animatronics though. Just that the main characters and 17 other animatronics. Could literally be 22 total based on her statement.

It's more than 22.

17 new characters is consistent with what I was told in October last year. Specifically, I was told "over 15 new characters". Some of which are supposed to appear in the D+ series.

And to elaborate, no this doesn't mean there are only 17 animatronics (nor 22). I'm not even sure if 17 is the true extent of new ones when counting all of the animal characters. It's probably including the "focal point" critters who are playing instruments, but my guess is that there are also going to be additional "incidental" animals that will appear (like regular frogs, birds and turtles who have been seen in the art without instruments). The returning PATF characters will add a decent chunk to the roster as well. Tiana, Naveen, Eudora, Charlotte, Big Daddy La Bouff (I think), Mama Odie, Louis, Ralphie and the King and Queen I believe have all been said to be appearing.

And keep in mind that quite a few of the characters will get multiple figures. Brer Bear had 5 figures in WDW's Splash, Brer Fox had 6, and Brer Rabbit had 7. JUST Tiana, Naveen and Louis will probably have at minimum 4+ figures each. Tiana and Louis have already been seen twice in two different pieces of art showing two different scenes, and it's safe to say they'll be in the finale scene as well and likely others. Some of the other characters will no doubt have multiple figures too. I've also seen that new Otter character in two different pieces of art located in different show scenes.

The information shared with me last year thus far has turned out to be true. The one claim i'm still waiting to see pan out is whether they're going to reuse/reskin any of the older America Sings figures.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

And the experience of a black soldier fighting for America in WWI and the multicultural experience of 1920s New Orleans that, according to another's research, was 74% white and 26% black and a negligible % other races at the time. PARTY TIME!

Very much doubt this is going to feature much (if at all) in the actual ride. Maybe a photo on the wall at the end of the ride or something. Everything they're sharing about the backstory sounds like queue stuff.

 

[Kirby86]

For those who have not yet seen this….

A little momento passed out to the closing Cast on the final night of operation.
Printed on authentic old Fastpass paper, too!

View attachment 720591

That's neat to bad WDW didn't do that for their splash crew