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

[celluloid]

I must correct myself. In my opinion, the real reason Splash was re themed was because Slash became too expensive to maintain, replacement parts either no longer exist and needed to be custom made which is very expensive.

In my opinion, Disney killed two birds with one stone. They knew Splash was getting too expensive to maintain and in the name of social justice they needed to erase Splash, so here we are.

But I think maintenance costs were the real reason camouflaged by social justice.

It makes sense because that is how business works. Their E-ticket needs the revamp and water rides are notoriously rough to upkeep, in particular because Disney neglects their infastructure.

Toy Story is a property used aplenty, nothing else really force like Cars so this choice fits except a Princess Tiana exposure.

A lot of us probably remember when Big Thunder was in such rough shape and there were proposed plans to utilize The Lone Ranger if it was a hit for synergy and cost benefit of the retracking that needed to be done with a refurb.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Princess and the Frog high merch sales have always been a myth. The property didn’t sell significant merch when the film released in 2009 and has never generated meaningful merch sales.

All one has to do is do the “SKU” count at your local Wal*Mart, Target, or even in the Disney Stores to see the very limited, if any, PATF merch on the shelves.

Successful Tiana merch is limited to mainly the green dress/tiara.

Still sells better than Wish merch lol

Those goats are languishing in Walmart while plush Pokémon continue to fly off the shelves.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Disney never said this was one of the reasons. It was just fan speculation.

I’d encourage you to think about this post from a different perspective.

Back in 2019, Tiana merch was hard to find. She was absent to an embarrassing level.

I distinctly recall being at a Disney Outlet store in December of 2018, and pretty much ALL the rest of the Disney Princess-ish dolls were in stock alongside their male costars, when I overheard a pair of teens LOUDLY complaining that Tiana was missing, as she ALWAYS was (their words).
The store had The Frozen sisters, Pocahontas, Jasmine, Snow White, and Mulan. No Tiana.

The online store also had almost no Tiana dolls/Halloween costumes or Tiana clothing in 2018, 2019, or early 2020.

 

[_caleb]

Princess and the Frog having high merch sales have always been a myth. The property didn’t sell significant merch when the film released in 2009 and has never generated meaningful merch sales.

How many dollars in revenue, do you think, The Princess and the Frog merch has brought in since the film's launch in 2009? And how does that compare to other IP (since you're claiming it didn't sell significant merch).

All one has to do is do the “SKU” count at your local Wal*Mart, Target, or even in the Disney Stores to see the very limited, if any, PATF merch on the shelves.

A SKU represents a single item. It's no indicator of how well that item may/may not have sold. Nevertheless, if you go right now to walmart.com and do a search of "Princess and the Frog," you get 13 pages of results. I know some of these items are not licensed by Disney and many are not carried in any/most stores, but is that not a lot?

Successful Tiana merch is limited to mainly the green dress/tiara.

I'd like to see a source for this, because I don't think you know what you're talking about. Also, what does it matter if the most successful item is the dress? Why is that an indication that PatF doesn't move merch?

I know it's your schtick around here to just sort of mock all things Disney with a bunch of negative assertions, but it doesn't work if you're just making things up.

 

[_caleb]

Back in 2019, Tiana merch was hard to find. She was absent to an embarrassing level.

I distinctly recall being at a Disney Outlet store in December of 2018, and pretty much ALL the rest of the Disney Princess-ish dolls were in stock alongside their male costars, when I overheard a pair of teens LOUDLY complaining that Tiana was missing, as she ALWAYS was (their words).
The store had The Frozen sisters, Pocahontas, Jasmine, Snow White, and Mulan. No Tiana.

The online store also had almost no Tiana dolls/Halloween costumes or Tiana clothing in 2018, 2019, or early 2020.

Are you being serious?

You remember a trip to a Disney Outlet store 5 years ago, and some teens were complaining, so that's an indication that PatF merch doesn't sell?

Maybe there wasn't any Tiana stuff because it was sold out?
Maybe Tiana stuff has been treated by store merch buyers as demographically-oriented and you weren't in the right store to see it?
Maybe demand for one or two PatF costumes is really high, but there is little demand for a broader variety from that IP?

 

[celluloid]

Maybe Tiana stuff has been treated by store merch buyers as demographically-oriented and you weren't in the right store to see it?

Could you elaborate on what you would mean by this?

 

[_caleb]

Could you elaborate on what you would mean by this?

Just pointing out that not seeing much Tiana merch in a particular store or area is not a good indication of its overall popularity or sales.

 

[Brer Oswald]

No work has been done thus far on the Briar Patch gift shop, and I have no idea what they plan to do with it. If anything at all. It even still has the briars sticking out.

I don't think Tiana is a big merch pusher either. Though there are some people at Disney who haven't put any further thought into it other than princess=profit. I've almost never seen any kids wearing her dress. We even saw several black kids dressed up as Belle and other princesses during our last several visits (though not Ariel either ironically). We'll see if the ride changes that.

I'd bet Louis is probably a bigger merch pusher than any other character though. Facilier as well, but I dunno if they'll even have anything for him, plus he's not in the ride. Maybe some of the new original critters will have plushies...

The bolded point is one that I think gave this the push above all else from just an idea to reality. In their minds, their 4-5 “core” brands trump all else, and spreading them throughout the 4 parks is the smartest business decision.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Are you being serious?

1. You remember a trip to a Disney Outlet store 5 years ago, and some teens were complaining, so that's an indication that PatF merch doesn't sell?

2, Maybe there wasn't any Tiana stuff because it was sold out?
3. Maybe Tiana stuff has been treated by store merch buyers as demographically-oriented and you weren't in the right store to see it?
4. Maybe demand for one or two PatF costumes is really high, but there is little demand for a broader variety from that IP?

1. Yes, I remember it quite clearly, because the girls were upset and hurt. Disney did not stock much PatF in 2018-early 2020. I regularly looked for her in stores, online, and at WDW. Sadly, the teens were correct.

Otherwise, eyeroll.
2. No. As I said, I continued to look for Tiana online, at WDW, and in stores. Disney didn't stock Tiana merchandise.
3. No. Just, no.
4. Egads. I didn't say anything about how well it sold. What I said was Disney didn't OFFER much in the way of PatF merchandise in 2018-early 2020.

 

[Honeycomb]

It’s almost like they picked the wrong land for this.

Made me picture if they put Mardi Gras music into Westard Whoa!.

 

[celluloid]

Made me picture if they put Mardi Gras music into Westard Whoa!.

Oh Shanando oaiko oaiko ande.

 

[LittleBuford]

Having now seen it in real life, I can confirm that the mountain still looks decidedly imposing. If, as many here claimed, they were indeed trying to make it look shorter (an idea I myself never bought), they haven’t succeeded. It remains an impressive sight.

 

[celluloid]

Having now seen it in real life, I can confirm that the mountain still looks decidedly imposing. If, as many here claimed, they were indeed trying to make it look shorter (an idea I myself never bought), they haven’t succeeded. It remains an impressive sight.

Interesting. I have seen it in person many times and find it looks much smaller than it did. Well, partly because, it is physically smaller.

I also find the water tower assists in this.

 

[ddisneyd]

Anyone got any more photos? They are the best bit of this thread.

 

[PK2]

I have to say, I'm very impressed with the moss/foliage/swampy exterior overhaul. They've done a very good job and there's a lot of detail and care. It looks very different just on that alone, and it's something to applaud (regardless of the weird new top it's got, which the overhanging plants and flowers help with a bit). I legitimately can't wait to see it finished and uncovered.

 

[Honeycomb]

I have to say, I'm very impressed with the moss/foliage/swampy exterior overhaul. They've done a very good job and there's a lot of detail and care. It looks very different just on that alone, and it's something to applaud (regardless of the weird new top it's got, which the overhanging plants and flowers help with a bit). I legitimately can't wait to see it finished and uncovered.

I have to give credit where it's due and say the moss makes it look a lot better than it did when they first removed the tree stump.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Having now seen it in real life, I can confirm that the mountain still looks decidedly imposing. If, as many here claimed, they were indeed trying to make it look shorter (an idea I myself never bought), they haven’t succeeded. It remains an impressive sight.

Having seen it in real life with the tower installed, I have to disagree. I was actually shocked at how small and compact the structure was. Of course, it’s always been this way, but they really had me convinced for 20 years that the mountain was taller (with the forced perspective of the tree) and had more depth (with the layering of briar patch thorns).

 

[LittleBuford]

Having seen it in real life with the tower installed, I have to disagree. I was actually shocked at how small and compact the structure was. Of course, it’s always been this way, but they really had me convinced for 20 years that the mountain was taller (with the forced perspective of the tree) and had more depth (with the layering of briar patch thorns).

I suppose it’s subjective. Perhaps a consensus will emerge one way or the other when it opens and more people see it. We’ll know it looks too small if a lot of parents complain that that their children were lured onto something that turned out to be a lot scarier than it seemed.

 

[Epcot81Fan]

Having seen it in real life with the tower installed, I have to disagree. I was actually shocked at how small and compact the structure was. Of course, it’s always been this way, but they really had me convinced for 20 years that the mountain was taller (with the forced perspective of the tree) and had more depth (with the layering of briar patch thorns).

Amazing what skilled Imagineers can do….

 

[ToTBellHop]

What’s more impressive is that ‘90s Imagineers made a bayou look natural in Frontierland.

This time around, they are making no such attempt.

It should look great snuck in next to Haunted Mansion in DL, though.