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

Earlie the Pearlie

Well-Known Member
I think it’s in part because we’re seeing the tail end of the fans who grew up at the same time as Disney.

Mickey and Minnie will be known to all but my adult kids probably couldn’t pick out Big Al. They have different characters that mean Disney to them.
I’m not quite sure that’s true. I think that there’s a decent amount of young fans who know a lot of obscure characters, especially because their millennial and gen x parents are introducing them to the now obscure content they grew up with. I might never have gotten into classic EPCOT if my dad had never introduced me to Horizons. And the internet got me hooked on that stuff. This is all very off topic, but I don’t think that Big Al is that obscure. He’s very meme-able.

I digress, but if you name a Disney character I bet I could give you their entire backstory and place of origin.
 

pigglewiggle

Well-Known Member
I’m not quite sure that’s true. I think that there’s a decent amount of young fans who know a lot of obscure characters, especially because their millennial and gen x parents are introducing them to the now obscure content they grew up with. I might never have gotten into classic EPCOT if my dad had never introduced me to Horizons. And the internet got me hooked on that stuff. This is all very off topic, but I don’t think that Big Al is that obscure. He’s very meme-able.

I digress, but if you name a Disney character I bet I could give you their entire backstory and place of origin.

There's always exceptions to every rule. You would be one.
 

JohnD

Well-Known Member
Yes. It was a chance to rest your feet, cool off (it's a relatively long ride), listen to a song and then enjoy the drop. It's all for the drop.

I will never understand the love affair with Splash. I can understand geeking out over the animatronic technology, but not much more.
I'll miss Splash. I may even think Splash was better than TBA. That doesn't mean I won't enjoy TBA just the same.
 

pigglewiggle

Well-Known Member
Yeah... I'm getting the impression that it's going to be an attractive looking ride with some great AA's, but I'm not getting the impression it's going to be much more than that.

I'm not being facetious, but isn't that basically what Splash was? It's lore grew over time, of course, but that's what it started out as.

Time will tell, but I think this ride will be considered a classic at some point.
 

Professortango1

Well-Known Member
That surprises me, because your feelings about the ride seem essentially unchanged from what they were before the new footage. And that goes for just about everyone who’s posting here (myself included). I don’t recall anyone indicating that the footage shifted their opinion one way or the other.
I can understand that response as I have always been torn between what I think of Disney's past rethemes and being cautiously optimistic for this new attraction. I think if we had received the fan-made version of the retheme it would be a stronger attraction and I was hoping Disney had some surprises in store for us.

I will say I was swayed positively by the footage of the Animatronics. That got me whistling a slightly better tune as the new figures are high quality. But when the recent footage of how they are staged and the whole finale...its taken away that hope of Disney delivering something that surprises me in a good way.

TLDR: I think Disney has been lazy, but I was hoping it wouldn't be with this. AA's made me think Disney understood the assignment. Recent footage confirms my earlier fears and optimism is squashed.
 

DCLcruiser

Well-Known Member
That’s a very low bar indeed, and not at all representative of how many of us feel. The drop was only a minor part of what made me love the previous ride.
I am a kid of the 90s. EPCOT's futurism was more my style.

I never had an attachment to the Splash characters (for obvious reasons) and the overall ride is slow and uninteresting. To me, it is a flume ride (and I don't love being soaked after rides). I think as a kid we skipped it on most trips. My mother doesn't do drops, and my father and I were into roller coasters.
 

DCLcruiser

Well-Known Member
Perhaps you’re not a fan of dark rides. Those of us who are appreciated the ride-through at least as much as the drop.
I do like dark rides...when they are interesting. But, we had almost zero connection to the story/characters of Splash. I think in college I went on Splash again and I had completely forgotten about the interior scenes.
 

Professortango1

Well-Known Member
Yes. It was a chance to rest your feet, cool off (it's a relatively long ride), listen to a song and then enjoy the drop. It's all for the drop.

I will never understand the love affair with Splash. I can understand geeking out over the animatronic technology, but not much more.
So none of the thematic elements mattered to you? The characters, music, set dressing, 3-act structure to our experience? It was simply about beating the heat?
 

DCLcruiser

Well-Known Member
So none of the thematic elements mattered to you? The characters, music, set dressing, 3-act structure to our experience? It was simply about beating the heat?
It's a flume ride.

Barely remembered the characters from the cartoon shorts. I was a kid/teen so I didn't care about set, or act-structure. I don't think at 39 I even care about how many acts there are.

Since going on vacations as an adult with my wife, we do always ride Splash, and I do enjoy the meandering river scenes. But the animatronics were aged, and outside of Zip and the drop, it was relatively uneventful.

....Which is how it is for most people going on the ride. Again, it is a flume ride. It's advertised for the drop. It's Splash, not Br'er. (Yes, I know it is named due to the unrelated movie of the time).
 

Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
That surprises me, because your feelings about the ride seem essentially unchanged from what they were before the new footage. And that goes for just about everyone who’s posting here (myself included). I don’t recall anyone indicating that the footage shifted their opinion one way or the other.
I will say I was holding out hope that the ride would be more populated with figures and might dodge the pitfalls of Disney’s recent dark rides. The video has me pretty firmly convinced that’s not the case (the Laughing Place looks particularly dispiriting). Merlin, a pretty strong, honest, and informed voice for optimism, had a lot to do with giving me some hope, and they seem to have changed tone in response to recent developments. We’ll see what the whole thing looks like.
 

BrerFoxesBayouAdventure

Well-Known Member
One thing I am still curious about is whether any side critters are being included. Obviously none were shown in the promotional footage released, so I have to wonder if we’ll end up seeing those spoonbills, turtles, etc… they’d really help add some filler between scenes
I would be sad because they would not be invited to the party at the end of the ride.
 

_caleb

Well-Known Member
Oh so PJ Morton is from New Orleans huh? Just looked him up. Ok so that’s why he was hired to continue the “authentic” motif. Wish they would have just hired the person most qualified to give us a grand finale song for an attraction. It’s different having someone brought into this project thinking “ I’m going to bring my flavor to a Disney attraction” as opposed to someone saying “I’m going to make the best song possible for this grand finale.” Especially considering what it replaced. Been saying it from the beginning. Priorities have been all wrong.
Why can't it be both? And why are you assuming it's one and not the other?
 

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