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

[MerlinTheGoat]

Based on what they've done to the exterior of the ride, it's likely that aspect of the ride will degrade quicker and more noticeably than Splash. For Splash, the degradation largely affected the paint. But with Tiana, there's a ton of fake greenery adorning the mountain now. Weathering has the potential of making it look pretty worn down and faded quite quickly. That will probably be more expensive and difficult to repair than painted red clay. Plus Tiana's mossy rockwork will ALSO still need to be touched up every few years to keep it looking decent.

These AAs in a water ride will be very costly to maintain. And ride system maintenance will be the same.

The AA maintenance cost is going to depend on a few things-

1- The quantity of expressive figures. As of yet, no one seems to know exactly how many AA's there are going to be. I highly doubt it will have more than Splash. And there have been a few concerning claims indicating that they would be reducing the number. Especially with the rumors about the finale scene.

2- Whether the new technology going into these is more or less problematic to maintain than what they're replacing. I believe the figures in Splash were the old school hydraulic type, whereas the new figures are probably going to be full electric.

 

[wdrive]

You may be right, but again, what would you expect from an article documenting a tour of what's being built? They're just straight up describing what's there. Should they have just not brought it up at all? Genuinely asking

Probably.

Disney would have arranged this, it’s not like the reporter would have approached Disney and asked to be shown around a ride. And they choose to discuss relatively mundane parts of the new ride. The whole promotion of this attraction has been strange and a departure from what they usually do. I just find it curious.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Of all things to complain about, this is a bit much. All of the details released today are consistent with the story we already were told about (and, frankly, need to deal with) but reveal the quality will be better than many expected.

It seems some will only be satisfied if they say, “they are secretly rebuilding Splash Mountain on the inside!”

The only thing the details of today revealed was the placements of the animatronics we already knew about it. Based on the account, they seem to be much further spaced apart than the Splash ones were (roughly one main one per scene). Not sure how this addresses any of the concerns?

 

[MisterPenguin]

I’m pretty certain anything a reporter puts out there is approved by Disney. He certainly wasn’t given free reign and free to report on anything he felt like.

I just find it all a bit odd

He very carefully pointed out what they could show him and what they didn't.

He just mentioned in passing what he saw in the queue.

The conspiracy theory that Disney tells them what to write and what not to write would crumble under the first person to balk at that and report Disney is basically writing their copy.

You could have said, "Oops, I forgot that that was the reporters remarks and not Disney PR." But, instead you chose to back pedal, double down, and add in a conspiracy theory.

This thread is full of people assuming the worse. Then complaining bitterly about what they assumed was true whether it was true or not.

 

[wdrive]

You could have said, "Oops, I forgot that that was the reporters remarks and not Disney PR." But, instead you chose to back pedal, double down, and add in a conspiracy theory.

There’s no way Disney isn’t very very careful what on what info is released. All I’m saying is it’s very strange what they’ve released so far on this. It’s like promoting Expedition Everest before it opens and not mentioning the yeti but the office in the queue

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Based on what they've done to the exterior of the ride, it's likely that aspect of the ride will degrade quicker and more noticeably than Splash. For Splash, the degradation largely affected the paint. But with Tiana, there's a ton of fake greenery adorning the mountain now. Weathering has the potential of making it look pretty worn down and faded quite quickly. That will probably be more expensive and difficult to repair than painted red clay. Plus Tiana's mossy rockwork will ALSO still need to be touched up every few years to keep it looking decent.

This isn't necessarily true - part of the issue with Splash's exterior maintenance was the real foliage, which required irrigation systems and landscaping effort both to look good and avoid deteriorating the rockwork around it. This has now mostly been replaced with faux foliage, which is not the flimsy plastic kind you'll find at your local craft store but rather metal and fiberglass construction made to look natural while still surviving Hurricane winds. Same kind of methods used in New Fantasyland and Pandora on their rockwork, neither of which are showing any real signs of fading. Heck, when a Firework started a fire on the roof of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train 10 years ago the fake foliage was fully replaced in a matter of days.

I don't know why you'd assume the mossy paint job would need any different level of maintenance than the red clay paint scheme. If anything the technology has gotten better over time at creating lightfast exterior paint. It does seem to require a little more artistic skill to paint, if that's what you mean, but the character paint department is fully capable of replicating their treatments more than once.

 

[retr0gate]

The only thing the details of today revealed was the placements of the animatronics we already knew about it. Based on the account, they seem to be much further spaced apart than the Splash ones were (roughly one main one per scene). Not sure how this addresses any of the concerns?

This also has me feeling a bit hesitant.. the concept art of the critter band was speculated to be the area right after that first drop, where the geese are now. The article also clearly states this. That art also shows Louis and Tiana in the same scene, which didn't seem very clear in this article. So now it's just a matter of who / what is exaggerating details. The art or the reporter?

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

There’s no way Disney isn’t very very careful what on what info is released. All I’m saying is it’s very strange what they’ve released so far on this. It’s like promoting Expedition Everest before it opens and not mentioning the yeti but the office in the queue

Expedition: Everest very famously kept the Yeti a closely guarded secret all through promotions, only once showing the figure very carefully lit in silhouette so that it would only be fully revealed once guests were riding the ride. It was known there would be *a* Yeti, but they very purposefully kept him mysterious despite being so impressive.

The article from today announces clearly that they're keeping the latter half of the ride secret due to "magic" they're waiting to reveal. We know Mama Odie will be present in that portion of the ride near the top of the drop because of the artwork they've already released. And we have a general sense of the attraction's progression before that - we start at the Tiana's Foods headquarters and head off into the Bayou where we encounter Tiana, Louis, and a bunch of critters on our journey.

It really isn't so uncharacteristic of Disney to be coy about their new rides. Cosmic Rewind had like 5 pieces of concept art ever released before the ride was open. Sometimes they play things close to the vest. And sometimes it's nice to have surprises left to discover when the thing actually opens.

 

[mickEblu]

You walk through *main offices* on the Men in Black ride which is one of the most immersive rides ever.

Completely appropriate for a MIB ride. Not so much what people expect from a ride based on the PatF nor the setting the ride is located.

 

[Notes from Neverland]

Good riddance to animatronics with rear-projected faces.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Completely appropriate for a MIB ride. Not so much what people expect from a ride based on the PatF nor the setting the ride is located.

I had a similar thought, the discontent over the office isn’t because it’s an office, it’s still a result of the ride being based on a co-op.

Walking through a skippers office, full of maps and navigational tools, sounds fun.

Walking though Indiana Jones office, full of artifacts, sounds fun.

Walking through the offices in Flight of Passage and MIB, full of aliens and technology, sounds fun.

Walking through a co-op office sounds boring, when I envision a restaurant or grocery store office I picture work schedules, invoices, bills… none of that sounds fun.

It’s not that the office is a bad idea, it’s basing a ride on a co-op that’s a bad idea, it just doesn’t sound fun or exciting.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

This isn't necessarily true - part of the issue with Splash's exterior maintenance was the real foliage, which required irrigation systems and landscaping effort both to look good and avoid deteriorating the rockwork around it. This has now mostly been replaced with faux foliage, which is not the flimsy plastic kind you'll find at your local craft store but rather metal and fiberglass construction made to look natural while still surviving Hurricane winds. Same kind of methods used in New Fantasyland and Pandora on their rockwork, neither of which are showing any real signs of fading. Heck, when a Firework started a fire on the roof of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train 10 years ago the fake foliage was fully replaced in a matter of days.

The reason I didn't mention the real foliage on Splash is that there wasn't all that much of it, at least on the front of the mountain. The bulk of real foliage was placed along the flume bend between the mill lift and first drop. As well as a smaller amount used after the big drop near the cavern entrance to the finale. Over the past several decades, most of this foliage was also abandoned and left to die. Even in the otherwise fantastic 2013 refurb that got the ride mostly back to opening day condition again, they still didn't bring back a lot of the real plant life adorning those areas during the 90s. Nor did they attempt to replace it with fake foliage either.

The greenery used on the direct front facade and peak of Splash was always fake. And it did indeed very noticeably fade and wear down with age and had to be addressed when they gave the exterior a good overhaul. The difference however is that this grass was also still used in a more sparse manner than the curtains of vines and flowers they're covering TBA with.

The foliage they've been installing on the facade of Tiana mostly hasn't been that rigid durable type you've described either. There are closeup videos of the foliage in recent months, and it flutters even with a small breeze.

Fire damage is naturally going to be addressed much more quickly than something that has faded from age. It also helps that 7DMT is much shorter and with easier access to the roof, and the greenery is adorned in a somewhat uncomplicated manner compared to what they're doing for TBA. My concern is that they're going to just give up on maintaining this ride once it's open, similar to a great many other attractions at WDW. And with so much more foliage, its wear and tear is going to be all the more apparent than even Splash when it does start to show its age.

I don't know why you'd assume the mossy paint job would need any different level of maintenance than the red clay paint scheme. If anything the technology has gotten better over time at creating lightfast exterior paint. It does seem to require a little more artistic skill to paint, if that's what you mean, but the character paint department is fully capable of replicating their treatments more than once.

I said nothing of the sort, quite the opposite. I said it will require both that same level of care on the paint as Splash, but that the new foliage would add to its maintenance demands. The added foliage will also complicate things when they do need to touch up the paint because it will get in the way and either need to be carefully worked around or perhaps even removed. Probably the latter, because again that foliage is also going to need replacing after a time.

 

[mickEblu]

I had a similar thought, the discontent over the office isn’t because it’s an office, it’s still a result of the ride being based on a co-op.

Walking through a skippers office, full of maps and navigational tools, sounds fun.

Walking though Indiana Jones office, full of artifacts, sounds fun.

Walking through the offices in Flight of Passage and MIB, full of aliens and technology, sounds fun.

Walking through a co-op office sounds boring, when I envision a restaurant or grocery store office I picture work schedules, invoices, bills… none of that sounds fun.

It’s not that the office is a bad idea, it’s basing a ride on a co-op that’s a bad idea, it just doesn’t sound fun or exciting.

But the fact that I have to even mention that tells me I hold people in too high of a regard around here. I have to wonder just how many times I’ve unknowingly debated an 11 year old. We’re anonymous and on the Internet after all.

 

[Suspirian]

It's the same way that the HM area blends into the HOP and then blends to Frontier land. It's done so gradually and with attention to the transition.

If you say so. I personally don't think an Arabic Market with a Polynesian building behind it is gradual but I also don't really have a problem with that.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

If you say so. I personally don't think an Arabic Market with a Polynesian building behind it is gradual but I also don't really have a problem with that.

Nor would many other people. The Arabian theme is an intrusion to that area that many people dislike. One that didn't exist prior to 2001. That area used to look like this-

There's also no gradual blending or transition with placing Aladdin in that area. It's just a random Arabian area plopped down in the middle of an otherwise Polynesian themed location. Also made what used to be a nice spacious plaza into a very claustrophobic mess.

 

[aladdin2007]

Nor would many other people. The Arabian theme is an intrusion to that area that many people dislike. One that didn't exist prior to 2001. That area used to look like this-

There's also no gradual blending or transition with placing Aladdin in that area. It's just a random Arabian area plopped down in the middle of an otherwise Polynesian themed location. Also made what used to be a nice spacious plaza into a very claustrophobic mess.

couldn't agree more, its a bottleneck and ruined that area. There is no reason why they couldn't take that out and move it elsewhere, I don't know where at the moment but they did it with dumbo it can be done here. Heaven forbid we have a nice open plaza or fountain or walking space etc..

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

The reason I didn't mention the real foliage on Splash is that there wasn't all that much of it, at least on the front of the mountain. The bulk of real foliage was placed along the flume bend between the mill lift and first drop. As well as a smaller amount used after the big drop near the cavern entrance to the finale. Over the past several decades, most of this foliage was also abandoned and left to die. Even in the otherwise fantastic 2013 refurb that got the ride mostly back to opening day condition again, they still didn't bring back a lot of the real plant life adorning those areas during the 90s.

The greenery used on the direct front of Splash was always fake. And it did indeed very noticeably fade with age and had to be addressed when they gave the exterior a good overhaul. The difference however is that this grass was also used in a more sparce manner than he curtains of vines and flowers they're covering TBA with.

The foliage they've been installing on the facade of Tiana mostly hasn't been that rigid durable type you've described either. There are plenty of closeup videos of the foliage in recent months, and it flutters like real greenery even with a small breeze.

And fire damage is naturally going to be addressed much more quickly than something that has faded from age. It also helps that 7DMT is a much smaller and easier to access structure than TBA, as well as using less complex greenery to begin with. My concern is that they're going to just give up on maintaining this ride once it's open, similar to a great many other attractions at WDW. And with so much more foliage, its wear and tear is going to be all the more apparent than even Splash when it does start to show its age.

Sorry, but I don't think this is as accurate as you suggest - basically all of the foliage on the front of Splash Mountain was real until sometime around a decade ago when they finally gave up on many of the facade's live plants and started replacing them with fake ones. Trying to pin down an exact date for when the fake grass replaced the real plants on the front of the ride.

Here are some pictures showing many of the plants dead or dying, as well as the damage being caused to the facade as a result of them being real:

Photo from 2006:

From 2009:

From 2013:

And from 2015, showing a mix of real plants and Fake Grass on the facade:

It is, of course, true that Splash used less faux foliage on its exterior than TBA does. Also please note I didn't describe the foliage as "rigid", though it is durable. Pandora features fake vines and petals that sway in the wind but are still constructed of materials like metal and fiberglass which are resilient enough to withstand the weather events all WDW buildings need to be prepared for. TBA is no exception in this regard.

Whether they maintain TBA properly over time remains to be seen. But like I said, similar plants in New Fantasyland and Pandora have held up quite well.

I said nothing of the sort, quite the opposite. I said it will require both that same level of care on the paint as Splash, but that the new foliage would add to its maintenance demands. The added foliage will also complicate things when they do need to touch up the paint because it will get in the way and either need to be carefully worked around or perhaps even removed. Probably the latter, because again that foliage is also going to need replacing after a time.

I think I may have misread your last paragraph a little bit, apologies for that.

I don't think the combination of Paint and Foliage on Tiana's Bayou Adventure will prove more complex to maintain than any of the other attractions on property, past and present, who have combined painted rockwork with faux foliage on their facade. It's very easy to mask off elements that are at risk of overspray.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

I had a similar thought, the discontent over the office isn’t because it’s an office, it’s still a result of the ride being based on a co-op.

Walking through a skippers office, full of maps and navigational tools, sounds fun.

Walking though Indiana Jones office, full of artifacts, sounds fun.

Walking through the offices in Flight of Passage and MIB, full of aliens and technology, sounds fun.

Walking through a co-op office sounds boring, when I envision a restaurant or grocery store office I picture work schedules, invoices, bills… none of that sounds fun.

It’s not that the office is a bad idea, it’s basing a ride on a co-op that’s a bad idea, it just doesn’t sound fun or exciting.

Yeah, I'm sure than it'll be way less fun and exciting than Splash Mountain's legendarily fun and exciting queue:

(^Admittedly, I enjoyed that vignette)

*Clutches pearls* is THAT a CRANE??!?

 

[mickEblu]

Nor would many other people. The Arabian theme is an intrusion to that area that many people dislike. One that didn't exist prior to 2001. That area used to look like this-

There's also no gradual blending or transition with placing Aladdin in that area. It's just a random Arabian area plopped down in the middle of an otherwise Polynesian themed location. Also made what used to be a nice spacious plaza into a very claustrophobic mess.

If we re talking ugly spinners that create unnecessary pinch points I give the prize to Astro Orbitor at DL. Every time they disassemble that thing for refurb I pray we never see it again. At least not in that location.

 

[JustInTime]

To be fair, our Frontierland has conflated the Deep South with the Old West since 1971. TBA makes as much sense as Splash and CB(M)J, although those attractions get external details that feel like the Old West even if the interior didn’t.

To be fair, NOLA is also Deep South.