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

celluloid

Well-Known Member
Is it me or do these T1000 AAs always have a thing of waving their arms around? I see Kylo and Holdo do the same or is it just how they are programmed and the movement can be so fluid?

Not just you.There is a trend. So often their arms are up and out as if orchestrating a symphony. I think it is in part to show off what they can do and give more animation. While fluid, it is often not particularly in character.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
So... just reaffirmed in a Disney Blog post....

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MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
So... just reaffirmed in a Disney Blog post....

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That hasn't been in question, despite what a certain clickbait blogger tried to claim. The question is how many dozen. To the layperson, that could mean anything from as little as 24. Or it could mean 36, 48, 60 etc. Cupofchai for instance claimed "48+" based on older information that may or may not still be accurate. I was told it would have "at least as many" as Splash Mtn. Whereas Splash Archive claims the opposite and that it will be extremely sparse compared to Splash Mtn.

Disney also constantly lumps in barely moving props that have zero business being counted as AA's in their marketing. Like the aforementioned stormtrooper mannequins.

While i've been told it will have a lot of AA's and shouldn't disappoint when compared against Splash, it's ultimately just rumors and heresay. That "official" number is completely worthless for the reasons stated and should be disregarded entirely until we see for ourselves.
 

Magenta Panther

Well-Known Member
This is the first time I’ve seen him described in these terms. I view him very much as a classic out-and-out baddie.

I remember a scene in PatF where Facilier is lurking in an alley and glaring resentfully at Tiana's friend Charlotte's big fat rich oblivious daddy getting in a fancy conveyance. Maybe it's just me, but I felt a stab of sympathy for the Doctor then. A man without power, and without much chance of obtaining any through respectable means because of his skin color.

But again, maybe it's just me.
 

Drew the Disney Dude

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
When is the next likely time/moment for an actual date announcement?
April 3! Annual Meeting of Shareholders. I'd say the date is almost guaranteed to be announced then.
It sounds like the May opening claim didn't end up happening at least, which was something I was given reason to suspect was incorrect especially recently (it sounds like Drew also heard something similar to contradict a May opening, and others here also suspected it was too aspirational).
FWIW, I knew we were getting an announcement today, but not if we were getting summer confirmed or a specific date. As you said, the May 24th date always seemed extremely optimistic, and at the very best, that's when previews will start. CMs who closed Splash have already got their assignments for when they'll be returning.
Before County Bears Opens? After Country Bears opens? Or about the same time? Usually, I'd think they'd want to keep the opening of two attractions in the same park as far apart as possible, but given how long of lines Frog Mountain may likely get, I feel like it would be smart to open the two right around the same time so the relatively high capacity Country Bears can absorb some of the excess crowds...
Looking back at HEA and TRON last year, it would only make sense for them to be at the same time - one big media push with everyone here at once, and as some have mentioned, I'm sure the goal is to have both open capacity wise.


Now, in terms to the date itself, this is 100% speculation, but I keep coming back to July 1.

April 3, the Shareholders Meeting, to July 1, is 89 days, which lines up with the booking window they have done in the past.

July 1 stands out to me for a few reasons: the start of Q4 FY24, it would increase capacity for the 4th of July crowds, and it would allow Disney to promote the opening all week at the Essence Festival in New Orleans.

We already know they used the Essence Festival in 2022 as the biggest promo at the time for this thing, so I could easily see a similar strategy now, except to promote its opening.


In regards to the construction currently, there's a couple VERY good signs for log testing, which lines up with the summer opening confirmed today.

100% of the scaffolding has been removed from the top of the drop to the splashdown area, even at the bottom of the drop itself. There were crews repairing the bottom where the scaffolding was set up, I believe DCBaker posted a photo of this, but now it's done and ready for testing.

At the millhouse, the flowers were purposely installed on the right side and completed first, also clearing the flume for testing. There is still scaffolding up for the left side, BUT, that is behind the wall with the gumbo mural, and can be completed after testing starts, if needed. It's very clear this work was done to clear the flume and that lift hill in the millhouse.

The last big thing is the tarps blocking the view of the finale from the railroad. They recently put up much thicker tarps secured by wood and nails to 100% block the view of the testing, and I'm assuming it's also a soundproofing measure to keep the music muted. I posted a video of it on my Twitter, but these new tarps are extremely secure, and the fact they just got installed says all we need to know in regards to testing and that finale being in "show mode."

I know that's a very long post, but I have been looking forward to today for a long time, so to see summer confirmed, get an incredible video of the Tiana Animatronic, and see work on-site line up with all of it is very exciting.

Now we wait for April 3! :)

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MrPromey

Well-Known Member
Not just you.There is a trend. So often their arms are up and out as if orchestrating a symphony. I think it is in part to show off what they can do and give more animation. While fluid, it is often not particularly in character.
It also has to do with a practical issue regarding the costumes/character design and OPs.

More subtle movements closer to the body cause the material to rub against itself in a repeated pattern. This specific continual motion happening again and again in the exact same way thousands of times a day, day after day causes those ares to wear much, much quicker than the rest of it be it fabric or artificial "skin".

They end up having to replace stuff a whole lot more often which they don't like to do so they favor movements that don't have things rubbing against each other when possible.
 
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MrPromey

Well-Known Member
Tiana AA is impressive. Eyes are a little lifeless but it's to be expected. Finishing touches and show lighting will address that. Interestingly, it looks as if Tiana is a little larger than life. Although when factoring in the America Sings AAs and the slightly scaled up critters it makes sense.
The size thing is common. A really great example of that is Buzzy from the closed Cranium Command.

He's depicted as this cute tiny little fellow but in the main theater area, the actual animatronic is frighteningly large.

You don't notice it because he's up on a pole being swung above you and if they'd actually made him small, he'd have been hard to see so it's a perspective trick since everything he's around up there is also larger than you think.

There was a picture someone posted to one of these threads that showed a woman on a riser making adjustments to his costume prior to original opening and with his cute smile, he looked ready to eat her whole. 🤣
 
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allgiggles

Well-Known Member
The logical part of my brain says they open this June 28.
Of course it will. We check out on the 23rd. We missed Toy Story Land by 5 days as well (we hung around the entrance to that area a lot that week just in case they were doing unannounced previews. They weren't.) We did manage to be at Disney the week the Frozen ride and new Anna & Elsa meet & greet opened. We managed to get a FP for day 2 (I had no desire to be in the madhouse of people on day 1) and we managed to see Anna & Elsa with about a 5 minute wait (back when the normal wait time at MK had been 2 hours) the evening we arrived.
 
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McMickeyWorld

Well-Known Member

MrPromey

Well-Known Member
I remember a scene in PatF where Facilier is lurking in an alley and glaring resentfully at Tiana's friend Charlotte's big fat rich oblivious daddy getting in a fancy conveyance. Maybe it's just me, but I felt a stab of sympathy for the Doctor then. A man without power, and without much chance of obtaining any through respectable means because of his skin color.

But again, maybe it's just me.
In a way he's a fun house mirror of her, basically trying to reach a not entirely dissimilar end through drastically different means.

We see early on what hard work and a positive mindset gets her with her own approach, too.

I think it's fair to say a lot more people in that situation would be likely to see things through his eyes than hers.

... not to say most people would use the powers of the afterlife and otherworldly beings to try to steal what they want but I think the anger and contempt he feels would be the more natural choice for many.

This isn't a guy trying to keep anyone down. He's someone who feels aggrieved for being kept down, himself.
 
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Homemade Imagineering

Well-Known Member
The size thing is common. A really great example of that is Buzzy from the closed Cranium Command.
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Even the old Chuck E Cheese figures are much larger in person! When I first picked this guy up he was much lager than I’d expected. Oftentimes and especially with older models, figures need that extra space for larger air cylinders or hydraulics, whereas nowadays those smaller industrial servos are packed into tiny animated figures (Pascal, Rocket, etc…).
 

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