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

[SplashMountainArchives]

Splasharchive on twitter also said something is going to happen in the next couple of days that will verify their claims about the finale. So I guess we'll find out very soon whether the info is legit.


Oh good, I didn't realize you had an account here.

If the renders are from 2021, can you be certain they're still up to date and accurate? As far as i'm aware, they didn't have a fully finalized plan figured out until fairly close to D23 last year. And from what I was told from my own source (and some of this is fairly recent), the ride received multiple substantial budget increases and drastic evolutions to the scenery/figures over the last couple of years since it was first announced. I was also told that the ride would have a lot of animatronics, both a substantial amount of new ones (which seems to be backed up by the art, the source also claimed to have seen several of the new animal figures) as well as reusing the America Sings figures. The gist of what I was told is that the ride is going to satisfy people who value classic style rides with lots of AA's.

The renders that we obtained are up to date, I was referencing the very first CGI ride thru that was, let me reiterate, very very bare at the time. Also you are correct that Bayou did in fact receive some funding. Most of that funding has gone into the "dozen" AA figures that Disney flaunted in that one blog post. America Sings figures will be reused but only a certain amount, what I heard was about 7 or 8, they are quite old but money is being put into them to restore them. I can confirm that the storks will be staying as well as a few frogs, baby possums in How Do You Do and possibly, still haven't confirmed this fully, the upper portion of the giggling Brer Rabbit figure will be salvaged for that Rabbit you saw in an art release. As for the show boat, I did see someone on here mention that it would be a giant reminder of what was, and that's exactly what WDI doesn't want. They don't want to remind guests that Tiana's was once Splash so they axed it which is quite stupid as that was the one element everyone expected to remain and actually fit in with the new theme. Also this scene is very heavy on lighting and projections which is why the Palace facade's structure is similar to what you might see on Small World, very flat with painted details. WDI is striving for Bayou to be it's own thing which is why they aren't going heavy on the easter eggs. I'm still working on getting more renderings of other portions of the attractions but I'd keep an eye on my page

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

The renders that we obtained are up to date, I was referencing the very first CGI ride thru that was, let me reiterate, very very bare at the time. Also you are correct that Bayou did in fact receive some funding. Most of that funding has gone into the "dozen" AA figures that Disney flaunted in that one blog post. America Sings figures will be reused but only a certain amount, what I heard was about 7 or 8, they are quite old but money is being put into them to restore them. I can confirm that the storks will be staying as well as a few frogs, baby possums in How Do You Do and possibly, still haven't confirmed this fully, the upper portion of the giggling Brer Rabbit figure will be salvaged for that Rabbit you saw in an art release. As for the show boat, I did see someone on here mention that it would be a giant reminder of what was, and that's exactly what WDI doesn't want. They don't want to remind guests that Tiana's was once Splash so they axed it which is quite stupid as that was the one element everyone expected to remain and actually fit in with the new theme. Also this scene is very heavy on lighting and projections which is why the Palace facade's structure is similar to what you might see on Small World, very flat with painted details. WDI is striving for Bayou to be it's own thing which is why they aren't going heavy on the easter eggs. I'm still working on getting more renderings of other portions of the attractions but I'd keep an eye on my page

The initial budget I heard back when it was first announced was $30-$40 million. Which would be an automatic death sentence (the pathetic Frozen overlay of Maelstrom cost a lot more than that). I wasn't given an exact final amount approved, just that it was "extremely healthy" (though not some absurd number like Cosmic Rewind's $500 mil). I was told the budget gradually and substantially increased multiple times during development to the point where it has strongly impressed the person I spoke with. Which is why I would make sure the details you have are current.

The budget alongside a lot of other new details this source learned after D23 last year made them do a complete 180 on their opinion of the retheme. Like went from saying it would be one of their worst rides ever and embarrass Splash, to literally "this is insanely impressive and should be a huge hit, a worthy replacement for Splash".

The comment I was told about the America Sings figures seemed to imply they would be reusing a lot of them. Didn't seem like just 7 or 8. That would be disappointing if that's the extent of them. I don't expect the Brer characters to appear of course.

Have you heard a ballpark number for how many AA's the ride will have in its entirety? I wasn't given a specific numbers myself, but the impression I got was that it would at least compare favorably to the quantity that Splash has, possibly get an increase. Which would be crazy given that Splash already has well over 50 figures (Disneyland has an additional dozen or so over WDW). Like I said, the two pieces of art that Disney released later last year looked quite well populated compared to the scenes they're replacing.

I hope you're wrong about the finale, because that sounds insanely disappointing. That room in Splash was an exceptionally themed space with a ton of physical depth and detail. And the sheer quantity of AA's made it feel very alive and dense. Trading all of that for 20 fewer AA's (I don't care how "impressive" the remaining 6 are) and a flat wall projection is nauseous to think about.

 

[Brer Panther]

I don't know why they'd bother demolishing the riverboat, which again is more fitting with PATF than SOTS anyway. There was no riverboat in SOTS, whereas it's a prominent part of many PATF scenes.

Oh, but this isn't based on The Princess and the Frog. They just took a few characters from the movie and used them to craft this weird storyline about a food co-op owner and her salt mine or whatever this ride's storyline is.

They don't want to remind guests that Tiana's was once Splash

WDI is striving for Bayou to be it's own thing which is why they aren't going heavy on the easter eggs.

No matter what they do, there's no way they'll be able to make people forget that this attraction was once Splash Mountain. Not just because of what a popular attraction it was, but because of how they're using the exact same track, structure, and apparently a couple of the animatronics.

 

[𝕴𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖗97]

Did your acquaintance share any details?

They saw it during the late summer 2022 and said it would exceed my VERY MINIMAL expectations for the ride (i.e. that it would be screen-based). But this person and I disagreed on the merits of replacing the ride, so their opinion may have skewed their interpretation of the ride-thru.

 

[𝕴𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖗97]

splash mountain archive here! i would assume so. there was one that was extremely bare that was ready by the time disneyland reopened
in 2021. im sure its been updated over time but im planning on "releasing" the renderings ive obtained.

Thank you for posting everything you have—it's helped a lot with dealing with this craziness and it's made me appreciate what we lost much more than before.

 

[Nland316]

The renders that we obtained are up to date, I was referencing the very first CGI ride thru that was, let me reiterate, very very bare at the time. Also you are correct that Bayou did in fact receive some funding. Most of that funding has gone into the "dozen" AA figures that Disney flaunted in that one blog post. America Sings figures will be reused but only a certain amount, what I heard was about 7 or 8, they are quite old but money is being put into them to restore them. I can confirm that the storks will be staying as well as a few frogs, baby possums in How Do You Do and possibly, still haven't confirmed this fully, the upper portion of the giggling Brer Rabbit figure will be salvaged for that Rabbit you saw in an art release. As for the show boat, I did see someone on here mention that it would be a giant reminder of what was, and that's exactly what WDI doesn't want. They don't want to remind guests that Tiana's was once Splash so they axed it which is quite stupid as that was the one element everyone expected to remain and actually fit in with the new theme. Also this scene is very heavy on lighting and projections which is why the Palace facade's structure is similar to what you might see on Small World, very flat with painted details. WDI is striving for Bayou to be it's own thing which is why they aren't going heavy on the easter eggs. I'm still working on getting more renderings of other portions of the attractions but I'd keep an eye on my page

Thank you for being so thorough in your postings! Really generous of you to be so informative.

I understand the desire to make this attraction be its own thing apart from Splash, and it most definitely should be, but do they not realize it will always be compared to Splash? If a steamboat makes perfect sense for the finale, then who cares if the same idea is reused? I would argue that this excuse is pretty hypocritical considering the new exterior will largely still resemble Splash. Good design is good design.

Granted, I have no clue what they have planned for the attraction/finale, but I really do not agree with this style of creative approach/reasoning.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

It's replacing another ride, and still retaining most of the same facade and all of the track layout and basic room layouts. So by its nature they will never be able to divorce themselves from comparisons to what preceded it. They also have a long history of knowing how fans of attractions feel about having their beloved rides gutted and replaced.

Splash was/is an amazing ride and always will be. The more similar this is to Splash Mountain, the better.

They saw it during the late summer 2022 and said it would exceed my VERY MINIMAL expectations for the ride (i.e. that it would be screen-based). But this person and I disagreed on the merits of replacing the ride, so their opinion may have skewed their interpretation of the ride-thru.

The person I spoke with seemed to see it pretty close to the same time. I believe September to early October not long after D23. They were quite certain the attraction would be horrible, and are completely against the retheme to this day. But whatever they saw (including a ton of other details shared with them) caused a dramatic shift in opinion on the quality of the replacement. They're still just as against Splash closing as ever, but they're now of the opinion that the replacement will likely be a "worthy" of Splash. We'll see though. Like I said, a huge factor in my interest will depend on the quality of the scenery and the quantity/quality of the animatronics. Of course, there's other factors like the narrative and music.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

Can they afford to keep spending 100s of millions of dollars on movies (Lightyear, Strange World) and ride rethemes (Tiana, Pixar Pier, Mission Breakout) that lose money or don’t move the needle?

Movies aside… there’s no evidence that Disney lost money on any of the aforementioned attractions. Mission Breakout was part of their larger (eventual plan) to build Avengers Campus. TBA will further the Disney Princess brand and sell more merch than the Brers did. Pixar Pier is debatable.

 

[mickEblu]

Movies aside… there’s no evidence that Disney lost money on any of the aforementioned attractions. Mission Breakout was part of their larger (eventual plan) to build Avengers Campus. TBA will further the Disney Princess brand and sell more merch than the Brers did. Pixar Pier is debatable.

The attractions would go under the “don’t move the needle” label.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

The attractions would go under the “don’t move the needle” label.

I got that from your post… my point was that there’s no evidence that they didn’t “move the needle”. On the other side of the token, there’s no evidence they did as we have no access to Disneys internal books.

 

[SuddenStorm]

There aren't even any Brer characters on the boat. The point of this ride is to purge SOTS, pretty much nothing about the riverboat evokes that film or it's characters.

While I agree with the point, the Riverboat in Anaheim was basically the only place in the park that actually mentions Song of the South.

 

[Nland316]

Something similar like to this Thomas Kinkade piece — with more characters and Tiana’s Palace in the background instead — would have been perfect for the finale scene..

 

[BrerFoxesBayouAdventure]

Something similar like to this Thomas Kinkade piece — with more characters and Tiana’s Palace in the background instead — would have been perfect for the finale scene..

View attachment 728864

This is what made me believe they'd keep the riverboat. I think this was a piece being touted as concept art for the ride.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

If they only reason they are removing the river boat is so people aren't reminded of Splash that is silly

People who remember Splash will remember it whether the river boat is there or not .... And over time new people will come and not remember Splash and seeing the river boat for them won't be a car connection to Splash, it will be part of the New Orleans theme/Tiana's Bayou Adventure

 

[𝕴𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖗97]

This is what made me believe they'd keep the riverboat. I think this was a piece being touted as concept art for the ride.

No this piece has existed since 2009, but it's very similar to some of the concept art.

 

[Brer Oswald]

The initial budget I heard back when it was first announced was $30-$40 million. Which would be an automatic death sentence (the pathetic Frozen overlay of Maelstrom cost a lot more than that). I wasn't given an exact final amount approved, just that it was "extremely healthy" (though not some absurd number like Cosmic Rewind's $500 mil). I was told the budget gradually and substantially increased multiple times during development to the point where it has strongly impressed the person I spoke with. Which is why I would make sure the details you have are current.

The budget alongside a lot of other new details this source learned after D23 last year made them do a complete 180 on their opinion of the retheme. Like went from saying it would be one of their worst rides ever and embarrass Splash, to literally "this is insanely impressive and should be a huge hit, a worthy replacement for Splash".

The comment I was told about the America Sings figures seemed to imply they would be reusing a lot of them. Didn't seem like just 7 or 8. That would be disappointing if that's the extent of them. I don't expect the Brer characters to appear of course.

Have you heard a ballpark number for how many AA's the ride will have in its entirety? I wasn't given a specific numbers myself, but the impression I got was that it would at least compare favorably to the quantity that Splash has, possibly get an increase. Which would be crazy given that Splash already has well over 50 figures (Disneyland has an additional dozen or so over WDW). Like I said, the two pieces of art that Disney released later last year looked quite well populated compared to the scenes they're replacing.

I hope you're wrong about the finale, because that sounds insanely disappointing. That room in Splash was an exceptionally themed space with a ton of physical depth and detail. And the sheer quantity of AA's made it feel very alive and dense. Trading all of that for 20 fewer AA's (I don't care how "impressive" the remaining 6 are) and a flat wall projection is nauseous to think about.

Budget honestly means very little in terms of quality. Ratatouille, Runaway Railway, Navi River, and Tron all had massive budgets. Cosmic Rewind has the highest reported budget of any Disney ride and, while a fun coaster, isn’t worth what they paid for it as far as show quality goes. For all we know, most of TBA’s budget could have been spent on the A1000 figures rather than the sets themselves and background cast of animatronics.

Spoiler

Also, he’s not wrong about the finale . But you’ll see that soon enough.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

The budget wasn't the only reason the retheme was touted as quality. But it would have been impossible to do anything decent with only $30-$40 million. A healthy budget is still a bare minimum necessity to even be able to create a decent ride in this modern era of Disney. It doesn't guarantee a good ride, but it at least allows an opportunity to create something good if the talent and motivation is there. I did not bring up the budget as the only reason to believe this ride would be decent, there were a number of other reasons provided.

Rat, Tron, Avatar and GOTG were new builds. While they still had no business costing as much as they did, it's understandable why they would require a lot more money than a retheme. Even Mickey, despite reusing an existing building, still had the entire ride system gutted and replaced with a new one. An expensive one.

Tiana is reusing the existing track and vehicles. It should have a much more targeted budget that can be better allocated to the show scenes. I also expect the show scenes to be vastly better than any of the above mentioned rides. Or Frozen for that matter (which you could tell was going to be poor even from the art).

The standard to beat however is the ride it's replacing. Even if it turns out to have the best quality scenes in any of Disney's American rides from the past 30 years, it still has to face up against Splash Mountain. I'm much more skeptical about this than the source I spoke with, who was/is again extremely confident they're going to pull it off.

 

[Brer Oswald]

The Splash show scenes were vastly better than the attractions I listed, so if TBA reuses them, it’ll be better by default. If they demo/scrap most of them, all bets are off.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

The Splash show scenes were vastly better than the attractions I listed, so if TBA reuses them, it’ll be better by default. If they demo/scrap most of them, all bets are off.

I'm well aware of that. But as I said, a lot of the budget here is likely going to target the show scenes and figures. There's no new building or expensive new ride system to deal with. Even most of the exterior rockwork is being kept with some new paint/foliage. I'm a lot less worried about where the budget is going on this project than something like Cosmic Rewind, Rat or even Mickey. Whether it ends up trading blows with Splash's scenes, I don't know. I've been told it should, but it's hard to imagine they can pull something like that off. I do expect Tiana's scenes to at least be immensely more physically detailed and well populated than Rat, Mickey, GOTG etc.

I'm guessing they won't be reusing most of the Splash sets at WDW. Unlike Disneyland's, our version doesn't take place in a bayou. I'd also venture a guess that they're going to give DL's sets an overhaul as well since they were never as detailed as ours either (though DL has a larger quantity of AA's than the others). Though we'll see, you can actually do a lot to drastically change the appearance of a scene by keeping a lot of the more solid objects and just altering minor things such as lighting, paint and foliage. But my guess is still a more extensive replacement to the scenery. The America Sings figures i'm still puzzling over. I was told last year that most/all of them would be reused for Tiana. Whereas SplashArchive is saying only about 7-8 will be reused.

Tiana's art released so far appears promising, there's lot of detail in the scenery and seemingly a large quantity of animatronic figures (an increase over Splash in those specific scenes if accurate). Granted, concept art isn't always accurate to the final product, but it's generally the early blue sky type attractions (like Cosmic Rewind, Slinky Dog and 7DMT) that exhibit some of the more drastic alterations in the final product. Frozenstrom's art was created based on a finalized plan close to when construction began, and it showcased a bland empty flat scene with a single AA and flat wall projections, pretty much spot to what we got. They've shown off several pieces of interior artwork for Tiana since July last year, and it looks a lot more impressive than Frozen, with seemingly dense lush scenery and plenty of animatronics (an increase over Splash if accurate). I expect them to be somewhat accurate and likely based on pretty much finalized plans given when they were created and released.

 

[Brer Panther]

No this piece has existed since 2009, but it's very similar to some of the concept art.

Yeah, both that and the first piece of concept art used that same stock art of Louis.

Spoiler

Also, he’s not wrong about the finale . But you’ll see that soon enough.

How do you know that? Or are you not allowed to tell?