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

[aladdin2007]

They are really going to make sure this is chuffed down peoples throats. A water tower itself like that wouldn't look so bad and would be sort of fitting to the area, but between the tacky tiara and the blatant fast food chain sign on it,,,, I cant believe how low they are going.

 

[Disstevefan1]

If you look close, it is already pre-weathered.

Tiana used only recycled materials when building her water tower.

Besides, it's been there since 1927, it's holding up very well.

 

[Bocabear]

No miracle about it, Jungle Cruise only received an update because they were in desperation mode trying to purge the perceived "problematic" elements of the attraction.

Big Thunder has little to nothing that would be found to be problematic. Perhaps someone might harp on the backstory a bit involving the Native American legends, but that would still be a pretty major stretch even for their absurdly obsessive committees (it's really just one small line of dialog on the riverboat as well).

I doubt WDW's Big Thunder will ever be updated at this point. The ride is in pretty horrible shape too and desperately needs a massive at least 1+ year overhaul. Nothing has moved in the flooded town scene for a few years now. Last i rode it, almost all of the bats were either static or missing, and the waterfall at the top of the first lift was broken. And yeah obviously the complete lack of anything in the third lift for well over a decade now. The ride has also become outright painful due to desperately needing a full track replacement. Something I believe every other version of the ride has already received over the past decade (at least California and Paris, not sure about Tokyo).

It did have major track work done that closed it for a prolonged period some years back... not that long ago...

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I was going to say … Imagineering never stated reducing the intimidation factor was the intent, did they? People were bringing it up so much that I started to doubt my own memory with regard to what was said.

I don’t think they’ve ever said it, it’s just an observation, the forced perspective of the tree made the mtn feel much taller than it actually is and drew your eye directly to the drop, the removal of the tree and placement of the water tower make the hill look much shorter and draws your eye away from the drop.

Whether it’s intentional or not it looks much smaller, and less intense now, and since it’s themed to Tiana it’s going to be much more appealing to small kids.

Even the name is less intimidating, Splash Mountain was about the drop, Tianas Bayou Adventure sounds like a pleasant boat ride.

 

[aladdin2007]

I don’t think they’ve ever said it, it’s just an observation, the forced perspective of the tree made the mtn feel much taller than it actually is and drew your eye directly to the drop, the removal of the tree and placement of the water tower make the hill look much shorter than it is and draws your eye away from the drop.

Whether it’s intentional or not it looks much smaller, and less intense now, and since it’s themed to Tiana so it’s going to be much more appealing to small kids.

Even the name is less intimidating, Splash Mountain was about the drop, Tianas Bayou Adventure sounds like a pleasant boat ride.

preschool princess with a corporate political push

 

[Scuttle]

They are really going to make sure this is chuffed down peoples throats. A water tower itself like that wouldn't look so bad and would be sort of fitting to the area, but between the tacky tiara and the blatant fast food chain sign on it,,,, I cant believe how low they are going.

This is one I’ll never get over.

 

[Brer Panther]

I still think the "food co-op" plotline is stupid.

 

[Incomudro]

They are really going to make sure this is chuffed down peoples throats. A water tower itself like that wouldn't look so bad and would be sort of fitting to the area, but between the tacky tiara and the blatant fast food chain sign on it,,,, I cant believe how low they are going.

They're so heavy handed .
They quite literally feel the need to spell everything out for us lately.
I know it was said that the structure couldn't support the tree and boat as depicted in the early concept art, but...
Didn't that look so much better?
Even if they couldn't do that, they could have done so much better.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

It did have major track work done that closed it for a prolonged period some years back... not that long ago...

None of which have helped with the issue of it being a painful rickety mess. "Track work" is not the same as full track replacement. Both BTM's at California and Paris have had full track replacements in the past decade from what I understand.

Hell, I was lucky to have ridden Paris' BTM within a couple years of its opening. It was night and day how much smoother and more comfortable it was than the WDW variant even back then. WDW has only continued to deteriorate over the following three decades since.

They were so quick to change Jungle Cruise and Splash for PR reasons while the Country Bears still sing about shooting little Beauford

Country Bears already had a hatchet taken to it back in 2012, slashing about 5 minutes worth of dialog and songs. Unfortunately, there are still quite a few people at Disney who consider the attraction innately offensive and want rid of it entirely. Whether they eventually get their way, I don't know. I was told that the unforeseen backlash over Splash Mountain's closure has scared some of Disney's leadership away from messing with anything else at the moment. They played with fire and got burned.

 

[mickEblu]

None of which have helped with the issue of it being a painful rickety mess. "Track work" is not the same as full track replacement. Both BTM's at California and Paris have had full track replacements in the past decade from what I understand.

Hell, I was lucky to have ridden Paris' BTM within a couple years of its opening. It was night and day how much smoother and more comfortable it was than the WDW variant even back then. WDW has only continued to deteriorate over the following three decades since.


Country Bears already had a hatchet taken to it back in 2012, slashing about 5 minutes worth of dialog and songs. Unfortunately, there are still quite a few people at Disney who consider the attraction innately offensive and want rid of it entirely. Whether they eventually get their way, I don't know. I was told that the unforeseen backlash over Splash Mountain's closure has scared some of Disney's leadership away from messing with anything else at the moment. They played with fire and got burned.

Unforeseen? How stupid are they? I have a hard time believing it was unforeseen.

 

[Musical Mermaid]

They're so heavy handed .
They quite literally feel the need to spell everything out for us lately.
I know it was said that the structure couldn't support the tree and boat as depicted in the early concept art, but...
Didn't that look so much better?
Even if they couldn't do that, they could have done so much better.

Difficult when they're trying to fit something into a preexisting space rather than build something from the ground up. I think Princess and the Frog would've been better suited to a Gran Fiesta Tour or Navi River style boat ride than a flume. It'd be a better ride system for all ages and seem more like a boat ride in the bayou. But Splash Mountain was considered one of the top rides and they want people to rave about how great this ride will be because it's a flume (I've seen so many comments saying how theme and story don't matter), so here we are. I hope this tiara topped water tower wasn't their best idea for decoration. It looks out of place in that area.

 

[Epcot82Guy]

Have you seen it in person today?

I did pop in briefly and saw it. To be very clear - the water tower itself looks better than anticipated (especially once fully planted). It's the crown only that really, really bothers me.

 

[J4546]

I did pop in briefly and saw it. To be very clear - the water tower itself looks better than anticipated (especially once fully planted). It's the crown only that really, really bothers me.

i think with some greenery it will look really good. The tiara doesnt bother me at all, I think its a nice disney touch. If there was no tiara then people would complain about it being a boring water tower imo. I think its a nice touch thats not too overbearing. Cant wait to see the nighttime lighting for it

 

[UNCgolf]

Assuming the AK stuff ends up actually happening, Dinosaur isn't being removed over problematic elements. It also isn't as classic or popular as Splash and arguably even Country Bears. There may be a backlash over Dinosaur closing, as there is with any ride, but it won't come close to the backlash that Tiana got them. And it won't come in the same form either.

Any significant backlash over Dinosaur closing will be more likely to come from Zootopia as the replacement than Dinosaur itself closing, beyond the fact that Disney shouldn't be replacing attractions in general when they need significantly more capacity. There might be a little about about the removal of dinosaurs from the park too.

I've never gotten the impression that Dinosaur has a large, passionate fanbase that will be upset to see it go -- not to say there won't be anyone who will be upset that it's closing (of course there will be) but it won't be comparable to Splash.

 

[RSoxNo1]

A giant tiara breaks the historic theming of Frontierland.

Bring back talking and singing cartoon animals trying to find ways to kill and eat each other to restore the historicity of Frontierland!!

This amused me.

It's possible we take theme parks too seriously.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

While I don't love the way it looks, I prefer it to the quotation on the water tower for two reasons. First, I don't think it's meant to be understood as diegetic; it ties into the ride but doesn't pretend to be part of the characters' own world, whereas the water-tower text is masquerading (unconvincingly) as something within the story of the ride itself. Second, it's smaller in scale and relegated to the queue, which means I don't hold it to the same thematic standard as something inscribed on the ride's new centrepiece.

Yes, part of the reason I found it interesting to compare is that, when looking at the 'painted' signs around the queue, they also didn't look exactly painted freehand. Then again, I don't think the queue ever looked particularly 'authentic'. The framed Brer portraits always looked like obviously printed images, for example.

You wouldn't think it would be that hard to do. Indeed, I'm sure they could find someone in Louisiana who paints signs and get them to do it for them. Disneyland Paris just got in a company that restores actual historical monuments to refurbish their castle, so why not also go for authenticity here!

 

[HMF]

I still think the "food co-op" plotline is stupid.

Especially from a corporation.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Localish | Celebrating Black Music Appreciation Month with a Look Behind the Scenes of Tiana's Bayou Adventure

A behind-the-scenes look at the new upcoming Disney attraction, Tiana's Bayou Adventure.

abc.com

 

[MrPromey]

Yes, part of the reason I found it interesting to compare is that, when looking at the 'painted' signs around the queue, they also didn't look exactly painted freehand. Then again, I don't think the queue ever looked particularly 'authentic'. The framed Brer portraits always looked like obviously printed images, for example.

You wouldn't think it would be that hard to do. Indeed, I'm sure they could find someone in Louisiana who paints signs and get them to do it for them. Disneyland Paris just got in a company that restores actual historical monuments to refurbish their castle, so why not also go for authenticity here!

If Joe were still here, he'd have traced the lineage of creole sign painters back to their origins in provincial France, gone over there to negotiate pricing and be sailing back on the same ship as his new signs while folks on site got the their torture tools and flamethrowers ready to age them all.

What we're left with today feels like people doing a mock-up on their laptops and then making a quick run to the FexdEx store to have it realized.

I joke (a little) but it seems like there should be some happy medium possible in there, somewhere.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

I get that we're supposed to be in 1927 (or I guess just after that), so the water tower is relatively new and wouldn't logically show much wear and tear at that point.

But it honestly just looks cheap, uninspired, and tacky. I mean, look at what those cast members are so excited about:

I don't go to Disney World to see this. This isn't iconic. It's like something I see on my way to work every day. Except there's a tiara on top.

PS: This guy secretly hates this whole thing.