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

[Professortango1]

None of us yet knows what the story of the ride is beyond its bare outlines. Whether it does justice to the IP or not is simply impossible to say at present.

True, none of us can know. But there is enough information available to speculate, which is what most do on these forums, either positively or negatively.

 

[LittleBuford]

True, none of us can know. But there is enough information available to speculate, which is what most do on these forums, either positively or negatively.

“It certainly doesn't do justice to the PatF IP” is not speculation; it’s a statement of fact.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

“It certainly doesn't do justice to the PatF IP” is not speculation; it’s a statement of fact.

Nope, it's a statement of opinion! My entire post was my opinion based on what we know. And in my opinion, when they literally could have done any storyline about Tiana, this one that they chose doesn't seem to me to do justice to the IP.

 

[LittleBuford]

Nope, it's a statement of opinion!

That’s fair, but it’s an opinion stated as a certainty. It’s as if you’ve already made your mind up without so much as having seen the finished ride, let alone experienced it.

 

[Professortango1]

“It certainly doesn't do justice to the PatF IP” is not speculation; it’s a statement of fact.

We all know that this is conjecture and subjective based on the fact that it is criticism of art and of a project who we have not witnessed fully as of yet. Nobody is claiming to have experienced the attraction and is giving their opinion as fact.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

That’s fair, but it’s an opinion stated as a certainty. It’s as if you’ve already made your mind up without so much as having seen the finished ride, let alone experienced it.

Nope, it's a statement of opinion! My entire post was my opinion based on what we know. And in my opinion, when they literally could have done any storyline about Tiana, this one that they chose doesn't seem to me to do justice to the IP.

If this ride opens with major portions of the story being substantially different from what has been revealed, or if there is a major twist that somehow renders all of my pessimism moot, I will take the L on this. Until then, it's just my opinion based on what I have heard.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I really wish they’d announce an opening date so we could move on to complaining about being unable to get a preview.

 

[headintheclouds]

I really wish they’d announce an opening date so we could move on to complaining about being unable to get a preview.

Those complaints will be a breath of fresh air.

 

[Incomudro]

“It certainly doesn't do justice to the PatF IP” is not speculation; it’s a statement of fact.

I don't know... I have to agree with that sentiment.
The ride may indeed - and hopefully turns out very good.
But by leaving out what they left out, yes - they didn't do justice to the ip.

 

[LittleBuford]

I don't know... I have to agree with that sentiment.
The ride may indeed - and hopefully turns out very good.
But by leaving out what they left out, yes - they didn't do justice to the ip.

I just don't think we can know that. They could have left in all the characters and still fallen short (see Under The Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid). I'm not sure what's gained by assuming the worst (or indeed the best) rather than waiting to see.

 

[Brer Panther]

Okay, let me start off by saying positive things. I like the new characters they've come out with. The Louis animatronics look good (Tiana still looks a bit off-model to me, for some reason?). The Critter Co-op sign looks nice.

I think my main problem with this attraction (besides the fact that it replaced Splash Mountain and the amount of fighting and dischord it's caused) is how weak the story is. I think @imagineer97 summed it up best...

In a thread discussing the new Tokyo Frozen ride, we were talking about "book report" rides (which is what Frozen Journey is) VS "setting" rides, which rely less on strength of story and more on embracing the setting or place of the ride. I think the same discussion applies here.

PatF is a great story, with a great villain, a great setting, great music, etc. It is the ideal choice for a book report ride, particularly one that is overlaid on another ride with storytelling built into the track layout itself. Frozen (the movie, not the franchise), on the other hand, is not conducive to a book report attraction. The setting is great, but it's hard to structure a ride around the story (as we've seen from their multiple attempts).

While the setting of PatF is great, it's not necessarily enough to create a Navi River Journey-style ride that merely takes you around a cool place. A PatF ride should tell a story that leans into the setting. Some of you might say, "That's exactly what they did with TBA!" Well, they tried. While a PatF storytelling ride based on the film would have been epic, as many thought this retheme would be when it was announced, there were serious roadblocks to this ever happening, mainly related to how long Tiana spends as a frog as opposed to a human. So, they can't use the story that is tailormade for an attraction like this. So they set out to make a new story that really leans into the setting. The problem I see here is that they are leaning TOO hard on the setting while forgetting about what makes good attraction storytelling. The interiors might be beautiful, but why are we going down waterfalls? Why is the only option for party musicians an eclectic group of critters? What even is the point of all of this?

It didn't have to be this way, either. They could have come up with any excuse for Dr. Facilier to come back and cause a little mayhem. We didn't have to be chasing after ambitious beaver drummers. There is a kids book about one of Mama Odie's magic stones being stolen, and Tiana has to find it. Even that would have been more appealing.

Instead, they focused almost all their energies on immersing us in the bayou setting, which feels incomplete to me. It certainly doesn't do justice to the PatF IP.

I would also add that the story still seems to be completely devoid of conflict (seriously, has Joy from Inside Out been designing these new dark rides?). Even if they didn't want to use Facilier, why not have us travel into the dark side of the bayou and encounter a Disney-style Rougarou that pursues us and Louis up to the top of the lift hill? That could be cool.

Instead, I feel like this will probably just wind up being Frozen Ever After 2.0 - good animatronics, nice special effects, not much of actual substance.

 

[LittleBuford]

I'm genuinely baffled that people keep analysing and reviewing a story that none of us yet knows! It would be instructive for our Clairvoyant Critics if they cast their minds back to the reveal of the critters several weeks ago, before which the story was assumed to be going in a quite different direction. Maybe, just maybe, we still have some significant plot points to discover . . .

 

[Professortango1]

I'm genuinely baffled that people keep analysing and reviewing a story that none of us yet knows! It would be instructive for our Clairvoyant Critics if they cast their minds back to the reveal of the critters several weeks ago, before which the story was assumed to be going in a quite different direction. Maybe, just maybe, we still have some significant plot points to discover . . .

It is possible, but the narrative has been fairly consistent and mirrors the plot of other recent Disney attractions..

They release this information because they know it will excite people. Even if they don't know the entire story. Is it wrong for people to react that way? Would you tell them that it's strange to get excited about something they haven't experienced yet?

 

[Tha Realest]

I'm genuinely baffled that people keep analysing and reviewing a story that none of us yet knows! It would be instructive for our Clairvoyant Critics if they cast their minds back to the reveal of the critters several weeks ago, before which the story was assumed to be going in a quite different direction. Maybe, just maybe, we still have some significant plot points to discover . . .

This is the official description on the website. It’s framed as a preparation for a “spirited celebration” that’s part of “Tiana’s inspiring story”

 

[LittleBuford]

Would you tell them that it's strange to get excited about something they haven't experienced yet?

That's not the equivalent of what's going on here, though. The equivalent would be, "I really love the story they've come up with for this ride! It builds really nicely to a very satisfying conclusion that truly does justice to the IP." And yes, I would ask someone who posted such a statement to explain how they could possibly know this.

I have zero issue with people not being excited for the ride. There are plenty of things I'm personally not excited about either (Epic Universe, for example). I do not, however, pretend to know things about them that I don't or can't.

 

[LittleBuford]

This is the official description on the website. It’s framed as a preparation for a “spirited celebration” that’s part of “Tiana’s inspiring story”

View attachment 782892

You'll note it says nothing about the critters that, only a few weeks ago, were revealed to be a major element of the plot. No mention either of Mama Odie or the magical send-off she'll presumably give us at the top of the lift. So again, why assume we know everything there is to know about the story?

 

[Disstevefan1]

I wouldn't be so sure about nothing happening on a Friday.

DtDD knows something???????

 

[Tha Realest]

You'll note it says nothing about the critters that, only a few weeks ago, were revealed to be a major element of the plot. No mention either of Mama Odie or the magical send-off she'll presumably give us at the top of the lift.

“you’ll see familiar faces and make new friends”

And where does it say they’ll be a “major element” of the plot?

So again, why assume we know everything there is to know about the story?

No one ever said we’d know every detail. But this tracks so far with the guesses once they started trickling out the backstory details.

 

[Incomudro]

I just don't think we can know that. They could have left in all the characters and still fallen short (see Under The Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid). I'm not sure what's gained by assuming the worst (or indeed the best) rather than waiting to see.

Well, we don't know for sure until the ride opens.
The ride may - and hopefully turns out to be great.
But for me, leaving out what I consider to be the best parts of the film - and every indication we have says they did - does a disservice to an excellent movie.

 

[EagleScout610]

Since we seem to be listing what we like/dislike, here's mine:

Pros-
- The ride is very pretty at night.
- What we've seen of the interior looks decent. Yes its redressed Splash sets, but this could have been a full gut down to the show walls.
- Critter Co Op signage looks decent and certainly evokes the feeling of Splash
- Human animatronics look great. Hoping the critters can match and that the beaver has more movement than a tail.
- The critters designs seem to be a nice blend of Marc Davis/modern.
- The videos of the Cast meeting their animatronic counterparts are extremely wholesome.

Cons-
- Parts of the exterior. I said a few pages back it reeks of "Too many cooks" syndrome.
- The cutting of Dr. Facillier.
- The story seeming to be aimed at the younger crowd.

Personally for me it's how the pull off after the dip drop to the big plunge. The upper HDYD scenes we've seen and can guess they'll be moderately redressed, the finale we've seen the renders of (Minus where the Br’ers were. The Laughin Place is the biggest mystery