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

[Figments Friend]

Let us all join hands , and pray to the Tiki Gods that at the very least the Disneyland version of this Attraction will be the better version.

( Re-enacts the scene from the ‘Princess & The Frog’ film )

”Pleasepleasepleaseplease please PLEASE….!”





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[tanc]

I guess we know why Disney is still begging OLC to change their ride. If it ever does change, all I can hope is that OLC does it even better. Thing is, that will the same project leaders be in charge of it or will someone else?

 

[TheCoasterNerd]

I'm very glad reading this thread. I'm happy you all don't like it, and think the GP won't either. That means that during my July trip there shouldn't be long lines!! So glad that you hate the ride! Thank you for making it easier for me to ride this, IMO, amazing ride

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

I guess we know why Disney is still begging OLC to change their ride. If it ever does change, all I can hope is that OLC does it even better. Thing is, that will the same project leaders be in charge of it or will someone else?

I definitely think Tokyo’s should change sometime in the future but honestly would love to see it be a different property. Not because I dislike Tiana, love her, but honestly I think TDL needs more of what the other international castle parks get a lot of which is something unique to specifically them.

 

[Dranth]

Just wanted to chime in real quick and mention something that has been on my mind the last few days.

What I think many of us long term fans have to keep in mind is that each passing generation has different ideals and interests. I find a lot of those ideas borderline foreign to me. They make no sense and actively make things worse in my mind. Then I remember that I thought the same thing about generations before me and my parents thought the same thing about generations before them and so on and so on. Obviously no one group is a complete monolith but the general trend still stands.

I bring that up because the general theme park going public of today is a different makeup than it was 20 years ago and has different sensibilities. For example, a ride with no tension or stakes could be perfectly acceptable to many of the millennial and younger groups while Gen X and over will mostly find it boring.

All that to say that yes, the general public will likely really enjoy this and the group coming up that has little, or no memories of Slash will likely love it. I am also sure it will sell a lot of merch and make Disney a good bit of money.

As for TBA itself, this isn't the first time I've looked at something Disney has done and thought I'm just not the target audience anymore. I hope it is better in person but from the videos I have seen it looks boring and devoid of any real character or charm. I'm also not a fan of how disjointed it feels or the need to overexplain everything going on with dialog or signs. All that said, I still want to see it in person before making a final judgement but it hasn't made a good first impression.

 

[lightningtap347]

I guess we know why Disney is still begging OLC to change their ride. If it ever does change, all I can hope is that OLC does it even better. Thing is, that will the same project leaders be in charge of it or will someone else?

Just looking at the size of the facility in Japan, the pristine condition it's in, as well as how extremely popular it is, I couldn't honestly imagine it being changed. Especially not with this. That would be a unanimously unpopular opinion in Japan.

 

[TheCoasterNerd]

I definitely think Tokyo’s should change sometime in the future but honestly would love to see it be a different property. Not because I dislike Tiana, love her, but honestly I think TDL needs more of what the other international castle parks get a lot of which is something unique to specifically them.

OLC is in the process of reimagining everything they have to be unique (nothing that exists OR HAS EXISTED in any other park). That's why Space is getting reimagined, that's why Buzz is getting redone, etc. Splash is on the horizon for a reimagining, although I've heard they're simply considering doing the same as with Space and tearing it down and building a bigger/better version of the same story. Same with the castle, there's a very good chance that it will be reimagined sometime down the road

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Splash Archive said some pages back that OLC won't be changing theirs. Good. Hopefully they hold onto that sanity. They have zero reason to do so.

 

[IanDLBZF]

OLC is in the process of reimagining everything they have to be unique (nothing that exists OR HAS EXISTED in any other park). That's why Space is getting reimagined, that's why Buzz is getting redone, etc. Splash is on the horizon for a reimagining, although I've heard they're simply considering doing the same as with Space and tearing it down and building a bigger/better version of the same story. Same with the castle, there's a very good chance that it will be reimagined sometime down the road

So my guess is that Tokyo will be getting Tiana‘s Bayou adventure after all

 

[TheCoasterNerd]

So my guess is that Tokyo will be getting Tiana‘s Bayou adventure after all

As I literally just said, they're at the moment planning to redo Splash. Same story as it was, just bigger and better. Still Splash, just a different ride. They know the popularity of it, they're not gonna get rid of the story, they're just going to make the overall experience better with updated technology, a bigger drop, etc. Also, AFAIK, the plan for this is to wait until 2027 when Space is back open to close their Splash, as they don't want two iconic rides torn down at the same time

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Splash Archive said some pages back that OLC won't be changing theirs. Good. Hopefully they hold onto that sanity. They have zero reason to do so.

Here's the post-

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

did they use less experienced imagineers and artists for this? it just seems like such a bungle resource and story wise for something with a lot of promise. PatF is an amazing story with rich characters , scenery and a perfect villain. also what’s with her wearing safari clothes?

forums.wdwmagic.com

I warned you guys, OLC will NOT budge on changing their Splash Mountain. Hope to make it out there soon

 

[Trauma]

What is to say that TBA isn’t going to be just as popular? It isn’t open yet. The majority of people who’re going to get on it aren’t watching a YouTube POV just as they haven’r been following construction.

If it proves to be a flop with guests then I’ll be the first to admit it. But, and I’m genuinely asking, what are you all going to say if it does prove to be successful? What’s gonna be your argument then?

Since your measure of success will be the ride has a long line I won’t have an argument.

Since every big ride Disney builds always has a long line everything they do is perfect.

It will also sell more merch since they basically pulled all Splash merch years ago.

What a stunning achievement of imagineering!!

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

Since your measure of success will be the ride has a long line I won’t have an argument.

Since every big ride Disney builds always has a long line everything they do is perfect.

It will also sell more merch since they basically pulled all Splash merch years ago.

What a stunning achievement of imagineering!!

Please drop the sarcasm and try and give a serious response. I’m attempting to have a genuine conversation and legitimately get your thoughts.

I’m not talking about just the line being long. I’m talking about guests riding it and liking it and that being reflected in the guest experience data that was earlier getting used in favor of Splash. I’m talking about it developing its own fans who it means a lot to. I’m talking about ALL the metrics of success that we use to determine if something hits or doesn’t.

If Tiana’s proves to be successful in those ways, then what? What’s going to be the argument then? What are those saying its a colossal failure before it’s even open going to move to if it shows that it isn’t?

What I’m getting at is sometimes you just gotta divorce personal opinion from the reality of the situation rather than insisting that your opinion is going to be the winner and then getting frustrated when it isn’t. Sure you may never like the ride (though I would hope you’re going to do your due diligence and try it in person rather than basing this all on photographs and a crappy POV video), but are you even going to be willing if the time comes to just finally say “its not for me, but I’m glad people are enjoying it.”

 

[tanc]

OLC is in the process of reimagining everything they have to be unique (nothing that exists OR HAS EXISTED in any other park). That's why Space is getting reimagined, that's why Buzz is getting redone, etc. Splash is on the horizon for a reimagining, although I've heard they're simply considering doing the same as with Space and tearing it down and building a bigger/better version of the same story. Same with the castle, there's a very good chance that it will be reimagined sometime down the road

They could turn it into a Duffy ride, PATF, Zootopia, ect. There's really a lot of material for them to work with. No one knows the ins and out of the contract, maybe OLC can keep it, maybe they can't. I don't imagine anything happening for a while though if it does.

 

[TheCoasterNerd]

They could turn it into a Duffy ride, PATF, Zootopia, ect. There's really a lot of material for them to work with. No one knows the ins and out of the contract, maybe OLC can keep it, maybe they can't. I don't imagine anything happening for a while though if it does.

True. Even if they do retheme it (they won't) it's not gonna be PatF. That movie flopped in Japan. And again, nothing until at least 2027 AFAIK

 

[UNCgolf]

As a Disney fan(?) you may believe that, but most guests rode Splash to cool down. While I appreciated the scenery and effort into the story, at it's core it was a water ride. Also outside of the story issues, I think visually (inside & out) the attraction is an upgrade to Splash.

If this was the case, Kali River Rapids would also be an incredibly popular ride. It's not, though -- it gets busy on really hot days, but despite being in a park with fewer attractions than the MK and a lower capacity than Splash, it usually had a shorter wait. The water rides at Universal were never anywhere near as popular as Splash Mountain either.

There was clearly something about the design of Splash that elevated it for the general public beyond simply being a log flume ride where you might get wet.

 

[Homemade Imagineering]

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.

This

 

[JohnD]

And, quite frankly, I hope they realize that making changes for knee jerk reasons and being more concerned about optics over quality storytelling is not the best way to run a theme park or entertainment company in general.

It may be awhile. They're quite invested.

Reimagine Tomorrow - Disney+ places ‘negative depictions’ disclaimer on historical content.

Learn about Disney+ advisory warnings being placed on heritage content containing ‘negative depictions’ of people or cultures.

reimaginetomorrow.disney.com

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

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

Does anyone here have definitive information on this matter?

Okay, so this takes some nuance.

Pound for pound, yes, the Show Set Installation for Tiana's Bayou Adventure cost more for an install in an existing facility than it would for install in a facility that's being built new for the ride. Being able to control the workflow from scratch and not having to build everything essentially like a Ship in a Bottle is cheaper in the abstract for that specific line item. It is fair to say that's generally true for basically any sort of construction project. Here, things like the Finale structures could be constructed in place and have the building built around them as needed, rather than having to be designed to fit in pieces into the existing envelope without damaging either what's already there or what's going in and being as strong once assembled as they would be if it hadn't had to fit through predetermined openings. Generally that line item is cheaper for a new ride than for a retrofit.

The Riverboat for Splash was constructed in place and the building finished around it - it would have been more expensive to build the building and then build the Riverboat within it, which is why they didn't do that. That's just one example of being able to dictate the order of your work processes for optimal expenditure. Lots of choices like that were off the table for Tiana because the building was already there.

HOWEVER, the Splash Mountain facility is extremely complex and is itself expensive to build - so the separate line item for building such a facility structurally is not insignificant. Same with the ride system within it, and anything that already exists and was held over - foundations, hardscaping, landscaping, rockwork, queue buildings, gift shops, restrooms - not having to build those things from scratch IS an overall saved cost from Tiana's. Beyond the work that went into general refurb of those elements, that stuff was gifted to the new ride by being there already.

Say Disney were to built Tiana's Bayou Adventure from scratch somewhere else, without an existing Splash Mountain to overlay onto. Yes, there would be parts of the budget that could be shrunk by the ability to follow a more natural order of operations for construction and installation of all the equivalent show and control elements that were just installed in WDW's TBA. But it's not like that savings it so great it outweighs the cost of having to build the building from the ground up, you know? So the distribution of the money within the overall budget would shift, but the overall budget would still have to be larger.

You're not getting TBA from scratch for less than it cost to retrofit into Splash. You'd just find that some parts of the budget could be streamlined.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

As I literally just said, they're at the moment planning to redo Splash. Same story as it was, just bigger and better. Still Splash, just a different ride. They know the popularity of it, they're not gonna get rid of the story, they're just going to make the overall experience better with updated technology, a bigger drop, etc. Also, AFAIK, the plan for this is to wait until 2027 when Space is back open to close their Splash, as they don't want two iconic rides torn down at the same time

Is this satire? I can't tell. The OLC handles funding for their projects and can approve or veto things that are pitched to them by Disney. But WDI are still the ones who design what gets built at Tokyo Disneyland. Unless there is a major shakeup from the top-down at Disney, the powers that be are almost certainly not going to allow WDI to design a new from-scratch attraction based on that IP.