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

[Disgruntled Walt]

Just spoke with someone in the know...I don't often claim this, but I actually spoke to someone with firsthand knowledge (see discussion of when TRON was going to open if you don't believe my source's track record).

• The missing ingredient is NOT "us" but they wouldn't tell me what it is.
• The story about Iger visiting and not understanding the story of the ride is true and management started scrambling to make changes...even after the attraction had already been have constructed, much to the chagrin of those working on the ride. Some of Iger's confusion had to do with what the secret ingredient is.
• There is no Dr. Facilier on the ride, but there could have been with the plot they have.

Heard this from someone who has connections inside the development process and has no allegiance to Splash or anything like that.

I don't speak to this person often and they cannot share very much.

 

[mickEblu]

Just spoke with someone in the know...I don't often claim this, but I actually spoke to someone with firsthand knowledge (see discussion of when TRON was going to open if you don't believe my source's track record).

• The missing ingredient is NOT "us" but they wouldn't tell me what it is.
• The story about Iger visiting and not understanding the story of the ride is true and management started scrambling to make changes...even after the attraction had already been have constructed, much to the chagrin of those working on the ride. Some of Iger's confusion had to do with what the secret ingredient is.
• There is no Dr. Facilier on the ride, but there could have been with the plot they have.

Heard this from someone who has connections inside the development process and has no allegiance to Splash or anything like that.

I don't speak to this person often and they cannot share very much.

Makes sense that his issue was story related and that the CEO of Disney was smart enough to account for the fact there were no AAs, competed sets etc. He probably walked through that boring drama free story about a missing ingredient and thought “what the heck is this?”

 

[mickEblu]

Maybe they forgot to mention the teaching kitchen?

I’d be willing to wager that more than a few imagineers working on the project aren’t happy about the direction they ended up going.

 

[Nland316]

Just spoke with someone in the know...I don't often claim this, but I actually spoke to someone with firsthand knowledge (see discussion of when TRON was going to open if you don't believe my source's track record).

• The missing ingredient is NOT "us" but they wouldn't tell me what it is.
• The story about Iger visiting and not understanding the story of the ride is true and management started scrambling to make changes...even after the attraction had already been have constructed, much to the chagrin of those working on the ride. Some of Iger's confusion had to do with what the secret ingredient is.
• There is no Dr. Facilier on the ride, but there could have been with the plot they have.

Heard this from someone who has connections inside the development process and has no allegiance to Splash or anything like that.

I don't speak to this person often and they cannot share very much.

See, the added context makes a huge difference in a claim like this.

There is enough time for adjustments to be made.. so it is not worrying to me (yet) — especially if it’s more of a narrative issue which seems easier to correct over designs/scenery.

It was pretty counterproductive when it was first rumored because of how it fuels unsubstantiated hate for the project. There is valid criticism to be had, as we all can agree, but it’s hard to do so with misleading or incomplete information. I know this back and forth is going to follow the attraction throughout its lifespan, but it can get annoying at times when any little thing is said/rumored for it.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

That's a bit more believable at least. And also completely different than what was claimed prior by Mickey Views. Not understanding parts of the story is not remotely the same thing as saying it's boring...

It still doesn't seem very likely that this would make it out in the wild. It would be very easy to trace it back to the source and heads would roll. Especially given how it still spins the attraction in a less than positive light. Then again, I guess it's possible there was a disgruntled person involved who didn't consider the consequences, or didn't care.

But if true, i'd still be wary about them making changes to the ride based on feedback from Iger. Even though I already lack trust in the current crop of imagineers for their storytelling abilities, I trust Iger's judgement on the matter even less. There are ways to overtell a plot and make it too simplified, dumbed down and in your face. Him getting involved and ordering them to change things concerns me.

 

[mickEblu]

Not understanding parts of the story is not remotely the same thing as saying it's boring...

Really? I think it very much sounds like the same sentiment. If he thought whatever he was walking through was fun would he care that he didn’t fully understand the story? I don’t think so.

“You guys this is looking excellent. Kudos. The kids are going to love this. But I’m going to need you to rework some of these scenes so I can understand it better.”

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Really? I think it very much sounds like the same sentiment. If he thought whatever he was walking through was fun would he care that he didn’t fully understand the story? I don’t think so.

“You guys this is looking excellent. Kudos. But I’m going to need you to rework some of these scenes so I can understand it better.”

That isn't a ridiculous thing to say at all, and yes it is wildly different than saying something is boring. For instance, I visited Disneyland Paris when I was a child, with no understanding of the French language at the time. Several of its attractions conveyed the stories almost fully in French, and I didn't fully grasp everything that was going on (though the excellent visual storytelling admittedly helped a lot). I still found them to be extremely enjoyable regardless of anything that went over my head.

In addition, and to reiterate my prior comments, I don't put any stock in what Iger thinks. Assuming it's true. Have you considered that Iger is simply an idiot? Because he is. Or in a different context, perhaps he meant that guests would be too stupid to understand and need things dumbed down and explained to them like infants. Also on brand for Iger.

Given how much negativity there is here towards Iger (including from myself in particular), I don't really know why anyone would use his supposed negative comments as evidence of the ride being poor. I am more worried that his interference comes with the significant danger of making the ride's story worse rather than better.

 

[Homemade Imagineering]

Just spoke with someone in the know...I don't often claim this, but I actually spoke to someone with firsthand knowledge (see discussion of when TRON was going to open if you don't believe my source's track record).

• The missing ingredient is NOT "us" but they wouldn't tell me what it is.
• The story about Iger visiting and not understanding the story of the ride is true and management started scrambling to make changes...even after the attraction had already been have constructed, much to the chagrin of those working on the ride. Some of Iger's confusion had to do with what the secret ingredient is.
• There is no Dr. Facilier on the ride, but there could have been with the plot they have.

Heard this from someone who has connections inside the development process and has no allegiance to Splash or anything like that.

I don't speak to this person often and they cannot share very much.

Did you hear any additional information regarding the amount of AA figures that are supposedly going into the attraction?

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

The other thing that people need to consider with regards to Iger's rumored comments is that he's "ridden" the ride already multiple times in The DISH.

Previsualization for attractions like this is more advanced than ever, and that tech has been developed specifically for the purpose of avoiding major construction issues. You get the ride experience designed, tourable, and working upfront in the digital realm so that potential complaints like "it's boring" can be fielded before you start building for real.

If Bob had big issues with this ride he would have had multiple opportunities to voice them before the jackhammers started. Almost everything he'd have encountered in the physical ridespace sometime in the past month or two would either have been installed based off of what he'd already seen or would be an unfinished space where something he okayed is preparing to go.

But as I've said before, if there somehow *were* some major recent shakeup that wasn't accounted for by the above (despite how unlikely that would be) Disney wouldn't be sitting on their hands about it. They know full well that this ride needs to impress.

 

[mickEblu]

That isn't a ridiculous thing to say at all, and yes it is wildly different than saying something is boring. For instance, I visited Disneyland Paris when I was a child, with no understanding of the French language at the time. Several of its attractions conveyed the stories almost fully in French, and I didn't fully grasp everything that was going on (though the excellent visual storytelling admittedly helped a lot). I still found them to be extremely enjoyable regardless of anything that went over my head.

In addition, and to reiterate my prior comments, I don't put any stock in what Iger thinks. Assuming it's true. Have you considered that Iger is simply an idiot? Because he is. Or in a different context, perhaps he meant that guests would be too stupid to understand and need things dumbed down and explained to them like infants. Also on brand for Iger.

Given how much negativity there is here towards Iger (including from myself in particular), I don't really know why anyone would use his supposed negative comments as evidence of the ride being poor. I am more worried that his interference comes with the significant danger of making the ride's story worse rather than better.

Aren’t you making my point with your first paragraph? You’re saying you didn’t fully understand the stories on some of those attractions but still had a lot fun.

If you don’t put stock into Iger is one thing. I just don’t think the logic checks out on what I quoted earlier.

I’m not a big fan of Iger but calling someone who managed to become CEO of Disney an “idiot” doesn’t make any sense.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Did you hear any additional information regarding the amount of AA figures that are supposedly going into the attraction?

Not about the amount, just that they are NOT screen-faced. Those are not happening for this ride.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Aren’t you making my point with your first paragraph? You’re saying you didn’t fully understand the stories on some of those attractions but still had a lot fun.

What Mickey Views claimed initially was that Iger said the ride is "boring". What imagineer97 is claiming is that Iger said the plot of the ride isn't clear. Those are definitely not the same things.

It's possible to find something entertaining without understanding everything that is going on. Likewise, it is also possible for something to have a 100% clear plot but to also be dull as dirt. Boring and confusing are two completely different types of criticism.

I’m not a big fan of Iger but calling someone who managed to become CEO of Disney an “idiot” doesn’t make any sense.

As far as creativity goes, Iger is in fact a dolt. But even on the business side of things, he's not nearly as intelligent as a lot of his supporters try to paint him. Discussing this further will inevitably lead to this post being deleted however as it veers offtopic.

The other thing that people need to consider with regards to Iger's rumored comments is that he's "ridden" the ride already multiple times in The DISH.

Previsualization for attractions like this is more advanced than ever, and that tech has been developed specifically for the purpose of avoiding major construction issues. You get the ride experience designed, tourable, and working upfront in the digital realm so that potential complaints like "it's boring" can be fielded before you start building for real.

If Bob had big issues with this ride he would have had multiple opportunities to voice them before the jackhammers started. Almost everything he'd have encountered in the physical ridespace sometime in the past month or two would either have been installed based off of what he'd already seen or would be an unfinished space where something he okayed is preparing to go.

But as I've said before, if there somehow *were* some major recent shakeup that wasn't accounted for by the above (despite how unlikely that would be) Disney wouldn't be sitting on their hands about it. They know full well that this ride needs to impress.

This is a good point and it's what makes me a bit leery of this information. If it were the scenery he had a problem with, then I could buy that being a thing that came up in the discussion. What is shown in CGI ridethroughs isn't always accurately replicated in real life, so perhaps he might say "this doesn't look as good as I expected". But as the CEO, he SHOULD already know full well what the story is and how it relates to each scene without needing to step foot inside the building.

That said, it's important to point out that it isn't a certainty that Iger has bothered to actually keep an eye on the attraction's development. He has a general lack of any interest in the parks. It's not out of the realm of possibility that he had in fact been mostly ignoring the specifics of its development before that supposed on-site tour.

That said, I was also told that Iger supposedly cares about the success of this ride on some significant level. He was a key figure in the decision to remove Splash in the first place. And I gather he even had a hand in raising the budget for the replacement after public reaction towards TBA was much more negative than expected. So while he's usually very disinterested and hands-off with projects like this, I could see this being a rare exception.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

What Mickey Views claimed initially was that Iger said the ride is "boring". What imagineer97 is claiming is that Iger said the plot of the ride isn't clear. Those are definitely not the same things.

It's possible to find something entertaining without understanding everything that is going on. Likewise, it is also possible for something to have a 100% clear plot but to also be dull as dirt. Boring and confusing are two completely different types of criticism.


As far as creativity goes, Iger is in fact a dolt. But even on the business side of things, he's not nearly as intelligent as a lot of his supporters try to paint him. Discussing this further will inevitably lead to this post being deleted however as it veers offtopic.


This is a good point and it's what makes me a bit leery of this information. If it were the scenery he had a problem with, then I could buy that being a thing that came up in the discussion. What is shown in CGI ridethroughs isn't always accurately replicated in real life, so perhaps he might say "this doesn't look as good as I expected". But as the CEO, he SHOULD already know full well what the story is and how it relates to each scene without needing to step foot inside the building.

That said, it's important to point out that it isn't a certainty that Iger has bothered to actually keep an eye on the attraction's development. He has a general lack of any interest in the parks. It's not out of the realm of possibility that he had in fact been mostly ignoring the specifics of its development before that supposed on-site tour.

That said, I was also told that Iger supposedly cares about the success of this ride on some significant level. He was a key figure in the decision to remove Splash in the first place. And I gather he even had a hand in raising the budget for the replacement after public reaction towards TBA was much more negative than expected. So while he's usually very disinterested and hands-off with projects like this, I could see this being a rare exception.

I think we're somewhat in agreement. To be clear, I don't think Iger has made any point to be intimately involved with the development process on this attraction. He is typically very hands-off as things come together (as well he *generally* should be, he has much bigger fish to fry and Disney pays other people to be creative) and I'm sure that has continued here.

However, I don't believe for a second that he would have given approval to the pre-vis of this attraction those creatives would have presented UNLESS he really felt it was strong. That, or then he would have offered the sort of "it's boring" comment being bandied about and sent them back to work. It is definitely true that Iger recognizes this project as significant and is not interested in risking that it fall short. Disney has enough bad press these days, and screwing this up would not go over quietly.

It is also true that Iger has seen enough attractions in progress to know that it ain't finished until it's finished, so unless something is, like, SHOCKINGLY different from what he gave approval to, this would be an odd stage to offer direction-altering criticism. At the current juncture, "riding" the thing in The DISH would give a more accurate sense of the finished ride than walking through the empty flume with worklights on, sets in various states of completion, and no Animatronics.

 

[Brer Panther]

I’m not a big fan of Iger but calling someone who managed to become CEO of Disney an “idiot” doesn’t make any sense.

According to @Inspired Figment, he only became CEO by manipulating and forcing Roy Disney.

 

[GhostHost1000]

I may be in the minority here, but does anyone else think they are wasting money redoing so much of the outside and queue when that money could be spent on things inside the attraction or even others that need some tlc?

 

[LittleBuford]

But the rest is a visual culinary abortion.

Other than the contentious mural, what are you referring to?

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

I may be in the minority here, but does anyone else think they are wasting money redoing so much of the outside and queue when that money could be spent on things inside the attraction or even others that need some tlc?

We don't know what's going on inside. But based on what we can see outside, it's a mess. And they've certainly wasted time and money on it when the results are mostly anachronistic and visually-muddled. It's a hodgepodge of whatever and it looks it. You can't just throw random ingredients in a pot and call it gumbo. There's been little to convenience me that Carter and company know what they're doing. The greens are nice. And the water tower is palatable. But the rest is a visual culinary abortion. I think they could have used their finances and talents to better results.

Other than the contentious mural, what are you referring to?

The queue work, the tiara (which to be fair was in the concept art - still hate it) the mural (as mentioned) the colors, the signage. Most all of it.

 

[ddisneyd]

Boring or not, when will it open?

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

Splash didn’t have a giant princess tiara out in front.

Nothing says “Frontierland” more than a giant princess tiara!

Yep. A deft hand would have gone a long way in making the exterior satisfactual. Less is more. Even the greenery is becoming a bit heavy-handed. The tiara and mural though, yeah those shouldn't have made it past the blue sky phase. Imagineering's biggest challenge remains their inability to budget and to say No. Everyone wants to put their dash of seasoning on it. The results speak for themselves.

 

[mergatroid]

My point is that the WDI team isn’t too concerned if it fits. Or at least not as concerned as the primary reason for it existing. I’m about 99% sure that it TBA was built 6 years ago that mural wouldn’t exist.

I think the art looks fine. It has its place. Its place just isn’t at Frontierland and part of an attraction that’s supposed to be set in 1920’s New Orleans. The one with Louis looks out of place but the other one with those faces (that I’m not sure I saw until recently) really looks out of place. I do believe things can be objectively ugly or beautiful.

When they built Everest all those years ago they designed the line based on areas in Tibet. "It looks raggedy" I remember some saying whilst others marvelled at the authenticity of the research and design. They're never going to please everyone but it's not a new thing to travel to different places to decide how to theme a queue.