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

[FettFan]

Most popular ride? Did anyone ever rope drop Splash? Did Splash’s lightning lanes sell out before all the other rides on Genie+?

Before 7DMT, the rope-droppers were part of either the “Race for Space” or the “Dash for Splash”.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

But they did add a lot of new and expensive things to this attraction. Even those of us who don’t like the end result can acknowledge as much. Whatever else is wrong with it, it is not a cheap (or cheap-looking) overlay.

But it was shoehorned into an old facility…which is always more expensive and cuts things out.

One of the complaints is the lack of AAs/scenes compared to splash? Budget would affect that.

First rule of construction: it’s ALWAYS much more expensive lb for lb to retrofit over building new. Guaranteed.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Before 7DMT, the rope-droppers were part of either the “Race for Space” or the “Dash for Splash”.

Rode mine train for the first time in several years last week…

It’s not close to space…or splash

 

[ToTBellHop]

I'm curious to know the exact budget myself, but even moreso what funds went where exactly. I assume those A1000's were pricey, not sure how much they cost precisely. That's the only thing I could see significantly eating up even a large budget. There's a lot of foliage used for the ride, but much of it looks very store bought and not the hand-sculpted stylized sort seen in Splash. Then again, perhaps going with that kind of scenery actually cost more money than something more handmade in-house by Disney artists.

But it just seems like the people who worked on this ride have to be both wasteful and incompetent. There is indeed a great deal of obscene stupidity behind bringing Tony Baxter on (presumably paying him a sizable figure in the process) only to immediately anger him by telling him they don't want his ideas. Especially given the fact that he's not afraid to go around and tell everyone that he dislikes something. Sometimes on stage right to your face in a large audience.

I will be interested to hear Baxter’s take on this.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I will be interested to hear Baxter’s take on this.

…what’s the point?

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

7DMT is not only far newer than Splash, but is also significantly lower capacity. Always factor capacity in when gauging waits and LL availability. Prior to closing, I believe Splash Mountain was consistently at the top of guest satisfaction reports. It was extremely popular.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

…what’s the point?

Well hearing his take would probably be more entertaining than riding Tiana...

Seriously though, it's always a pleasure to see him rip into horrible decisions that are made nowadays.

 

[FettFan]

But they did add a lot of new and expensive things to this attraction. Even those of us who don’t like the end result can acknowledge as much. Whatever else is wrong with it, it is not a cheap (or cheap-looking) overlay.

The animatronics themselves look good…aside from the fact that Louis’ skin is obviously a fuzzy cloth, which makes him look like a Muppet.

But they decided to depopulate everything else. One would think that the flock of fishing “How Do You Do” storks would have meshed well into “Going Down the Bayou”, or have the Swamp Boys jamming on their log….anything to prevent the long stretches of foliage-gazing between the major set pieces.

And then there’s the travesty of the former Laughin’ Place that used to have such kinetic energy from multitudes of fountains and animated characters….now turned into Alice In Wonderland with three AA frogs and Ray’s family on a screen while you’re being gawked at by CGI Tiana and Louis.

 

[LittleBuford]

But it was shoehorned into an old facility…which is always more expensive and cuts things out.

One of the complaints is the lack of AAs/scenes compared to splash? Budget would affect that.

First rule of construction: it’s ALWAYS much more expensive lb for lb to retrofit over building new. Guaranteed.

Others (I can’t recall who) were saying the very opposite earlier.

Does anyone here have definitive information on this matter?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Well hearing his take would probably be more entertaining than riding Tiana...

Seriously though, it's always a pleasure to see him rip into horrible decisions that are made nowadays.

Like every warhorse put out to pasture…he would tow the line and give false praise…convincing no one

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Others (I can’t recall who) were saying the very opposite earlier.

Does anyone here have definitive information on this matter?

I respect everyone’s right to be completely wrong…and never move off that.

It’s in our dna here

 

[Incomudro]

I doubt they are because their reasons for why they wanted Splash to go were not really dependent upon whatever replaced it.

The fact of the matter is Splash Mountain made a lot of people uncomfortable and has for years, but until that conversation gained traction, they weren't comfortable talking about it for fear of the exact kind of response it ended up getting. I'm much happier knowing that something that actively made people feel uncomfortable is gone from Disney. There's no place for something like that in the parks.

Like I said above, that isn't to say that you have to be satisfied with Tiana's. If you don't like it, then you don't like it. If you think Splash shouldn't be gone, then think that. But please don't diminish the feeling that people of color had in regards to an attraction that is based upon something that was incredibly insensitive to the point that it caused a stir all the way back in the 1940s when it came out.

I think we can all agree that nobody deserves to feel uncomfortable at Disney because of something their attractions present that hasn't aged well..

I hope they continue to fix some other attractions in their portfolio that inspire those same feelings. Som don't even require rethemes or redoes, just removing certain elements such as that alarmingly racist Chinese puppet from the Pinocchio ride at Disneyland

What is most concerning to me here is that this wasn’t done on the cheap, so they had enough money to do a lot. How do so many people get together and decide THIS is the storyline? Further, they’ve lost a lot of talent recently, but many of those departed Imagineers still love the parks and would gladly provide advice. It is DEEPLY concerning to me that current Imagineers have the hubris to have Tony f-in’ Baxter in a room, hear his advice, and say, “thanks, but I think we are gonna go in another direction.”

That’s appalling.

And it makes me concerned for other projects. Will they ignore Rohde’s advice on Tropical Americas?

You have these members of your creative team that you elevate to god-like status in your fan communities and then toss them aside? It makes no sense. You can’t start every freakin’ DPB article with “Because Walt Disney once said, ‘…’” if you have no intention of upholding the old standard.

Kind of sums up the attitude of many of today's people in creative areas who think they know better.

 

[monothingie]

Right. And this is what they went with?

Seems like a case of different interests and groups wanting a piece of the design and story and in the end they got a muddled mess.

Lots of "studio notes"....

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

One thing i've been wondering. I know A1000's are quite expensive. And they're clearly trying to move away from hydraulic and go all electric. But during the hydraulics era of AA's, they seemed to have a better variety for how complex the figures could get.

Mr Bluebird for example was probably the simplest true AA in Splash, as he was somewhat similar to the Tiki Birds in complexity. And yet he still had more dynamic audio-synced motion than the new critter figures (despite their larger size) that just pivot back and forth on a couple of axes in a very repetitive motion. Then you had figures like the squatting frogs which were a little step above him. And then above him were the minor critters such as the geese, chickens, alligators, etc used in the intro and finale scenes (with a lot more like these at Disneyland). And then lastly the main Brers who had a handful of figures that were the most complex in the ride.

With Tiana however, the moving characters seem to occupy two extremes. The 14 legitimate animatronics for the returning film characters are very intricate and complex. However, again all of the remaining critters are very simple moving props. Like the kinds you'd often see in old dark rides such as the old Dwarf cottage band from Snow White and 7DMT. And there's nothing really in between those two extremes. Pretty much all of these new critters should have been proper AA's. They shouldn't all need to have the insane range as an A1000, but something similar to Splash's geese, alligators and chickens would seem reasonable. Do they just not have any less expensive all-electric designs for these?

Moving props have their place as well. Splash also had plenty of those in addition to the 55ish genuine animatronics. These sorts of props are what they could have used to fill out all of the empty dead space people have noted. As yensidtlaw1969 suggested in his mockup with regular storks, spoonbills, turtles, frogs etc etc.

 

[Incomudro]

I don’t think how they spent the budget was the (main) issue. I can see where the money went—the attraction doesn’t look cheap to me, the screens notwithstanding. The biggest problem is the dull storyline, and that wouldn’t have taken a big budget to get right.

I agree.
It certainly doesn't look cheap to me.
Even given the expanses with less going on, I can see where the money went elsewhere.
Superficially, it looks nice.
As I assumed, it makes Splash look dated and I'm afraid that may be enough for the majority of visitors.

 

[PREMiERdrum]

So is the Tianna retheme of the "problematic" Pecos Bill on hold now until things shake out with TBA?

Shelved indefinitely. There was a window to get it done with the least amount of disruption, but that's long passed. No NO Square East... until maybe after the little bit BBTM is finally up?

Do they make changes to DLR's version to address the negative reaction to the MK version?

As it sounds right now? Absolutely not. High on hubris.

 

[monothingie]

Seems like a case of different interests and groups wanting a piece of the design and story and in the end they got a muddled mess.

Lots of "studio notes"....

And there wasn't effective project leadership at any level to say "no". Likely why Baxter walked, because he said "no" and no one listened.

 

[Trauma]

I guess in future ride build threads we should focus less on our thoughts about the attraction and instead focus on how it will look to the “general public”.


What’s interesting is that we have hardcore fans at all, since we would have all originated from the general public.

I guess we developed special abilities to find fault in what Disney offers and once we could see all the problems, we decided to spend insane amounts of money on it every year.

 

[SamusAranX]

What is most concerning to me here is that this wasn’t done on the cheap, so they had enough money to do a lot. How do so many people get together and decide THIS is the storyline? Further, they’ve lost a lot of talent recently, but many of those departed Imagineers still love the parks and would gladly provide advice. It is DEEPLY concerning to me that current Imagineers have the hubris to have Tony f-in’ Baxter in a room, hear his advice, and say, “thanks, but I think we are gonna go in another direction.”

That’s appalling.

And it makes me concerned for other projects. Will they ignore Rohde’s advice on Tropical Americas?

You have these members of your creative team that you elevate to god-like status in your fan communities and then toss them aside? It makes no sense. You can’t start every freakin’ DPB article with “Because Walt Disney once said, ‘…’” if you have no intention of upholding the old standard.

It sure worked out for them though when they did the same to George Lucas

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I guess in future ride build threads we should focus less on our thoughts about the attraction and instead focus on how it will look to the “general public”.

It seems it’s safe to assume the general public has poor vision, poor hearing and limited cognitive ability.

These people are an inspiration to me since despite all their limitations they are still able to afford a 10k vacation.

It’s interesting that we have hardcore fans at all, since we would have all originated from the general public.

I guess we developed special abilities to find fault in what Disney offers and once we could see all the problems, we decided to spend insane amounts of money on it every year.

The race to find the lowest common denominator…in parks as they have with films…

…will be chiseled on the grave stone of the Iger era. They take good things and intentionally make them bad…it’s insane