Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
If the ride is dull/doesn’t make sense…the queue isn’t gonna change that
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News Tiana's Bayou Adventure - latest details and construction progress
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
mightynine
Well-Known Member
Guess they'll need to Dig A Little Deeper to fix these constant issues. Hopefully they are Almost There in finding the Special Spice.
HairyLegPirate
Active Member
I have actively withheld judgment on this ride until it came out because any criticism beforehand, besides unproductive, would frequently be lumped in with bad-faith actors who wanted the ride to fail for personal/political beliefs.
Now that it's actually out and I have watched the Disney company approved ride through video I can say - seriously, what a snooze fest.
Some positives: The animatronics, what few there are, look spectacular. The finale actually seems populated and to have some life in it.
And now the bad: The whole thing feels like it was designed by committee - a committee that never saw Princess and the Frog other than looking at the poster. There's nothing about this ride that feels remotely like the style or feel of the movie to me. And beyond that, just more screens. Like I said, the animatronics, what few there are, look nice. But the laziness of screens continues to pervade the theme park industry. And the story? Is there a story? I mean I know ostensibly it's we need to find a band...for 10 minutes. I believe Jenny Nicholson said on the For Your Amusement podcast when talking about the ET ride at Universal: whatever happened to peril in rides? Removing the threat of Brer Fox or any antagonist gives this whole ride absolutely zero narrative tension! Not that I need Shakespeare out of a theme park ride to keep me engaged but I think I can sum it up like this:
Narrative tension is the difference between a ride full of singing and dancing animals feeling like an entertaining story for the whole family and a ride full of singing and dancing animals feeling like a kiddie ride. Splash Mountain was for everyone because there was a story to keep everyone in the log engaged. This feels like a kiddie ride...that little ones won't be able to ride because of the drop, so truly, who was this for?
This whole ride feels like another example of a subpar product made by a company that's too busy analyzing spreadsheets to actually understand what their brand is about. I forget where I heard this take, but it's relevant: Disney World continues to become the very thing people who were averse to Disney World always thought it was.
Now that it's actually out and I have watched the Disney company approved ride through video I can say - seriously, what a snooze fest.
Some positives: The animatronics, what few there are, look spectacular. The finale actually seems populated and to have some life in it.
And now the bad: The whole thing feels like it was designed by committee - a committee that never saw Princess and the Frog other than looking at the poster. There's nothing about this ride that feels remotely like the style or feel of the movie to me. And beyond that, just more screens. Like I said, the animatronics, what few there are, look nice. But the laziness of screens continues to pervade the theme park industry. And the story? Is there a story? I mean I know ostensibly it's we need to find a band...for 10 minutes. I believe Jenny Nicholson said on the For Your Amusement podcast when talking about the ET ride at Universal: whatever happened to peril in rides? Removing the threat of Brer Fox or any antagonist gives this whole ride absolutely zero narrative tension! Not that I need Shakespeare out of a theme park ride to keep me engaged but I think I can sum it up like this:
Narrative tension is the difference between a ride full of singing and dancing animals feeling like an entertaining story for the whole family and a ride full of singing and dancing animals feeling like a kiddie ride. Splash Mountain was for everyone because there was a story to keep everyone in the log engaged. This feels like a kiddie ride...that little ones won't be able to ride because of the drop, so truly, who was this for?
This whole ride feels like another example of a subpar product made by a company that's too busy analyzing spreadsheets to actually understand what their brand is about. I forget where I heard this take, but it's relevant: Disney World continues to become the very thing people who were averse to Disney World always thought it was.
davis_unoxx
Well-Known Member
Wow!
So they plan on keeping SOTS theming with the characters and just rebuilding and pausing the story?
TheCoasterNerd
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
As long as TDT agrees, which, with enough $$$, they will.
davis_unoxx
Well-Known Member
Who’s TDT?
So Disney doesn’t have any say in them rebuilding splash mountain with same theme?
TheCoasterNerd
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Team Disney Tokyo. The Disney people in Japan. And they'll probably sign off if OLC signs over enough money, as we both know that's what TWDC cares about over anything else. They might try to fight it for a bit, but they'll likely concede to this rebuild eventually. It will probably be built in such a way it can be rethemed if need be, also
ChewbaccaYourMum
Well-Known Member
I agree. I love going to D23 because of my fandom and passion to Disney. I know I said in my post "maybe it's time we did" in response to booing them on bad announcements, I don't think that would ever happen. And reflecting on my comment I agree it shouldn't. What's the point really?
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
Thank you—this makes sense.
dig311dug
Well-Known Member
I was thinking @Drew the Disney Dude was a little overly positive... I'll wait until Jenny NIcholson gives me a 4 hour video on the topic.
Bill Cipher
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
Alright, I have officially ridden the attraction and have a lot of thoughts. Not sure how novel any of this is because the page count of this thread jumped by 70+ pages since I ducked out to avoid spoilers so I apologize for retreading any ground.
Where to begin? Perhaps a goods vs bads to lay everything out and then some final thoughts. I would also like to state that I was coming into the ride with moderate expectations leaning positive and attempted to view the attraction on its own merits separate from its history as Splash Mountain (but then found that harder and harder to commit to).
The queue is nice and I quite enjoy the radio loop playing. The radio in particular gives a vibe that a tiny slice of New Orleans Square has come to WDW and does a good job at establishing Tiana as an important public figure. I absolutely love the lush greenery of the interior sets and dark lighting. The critter bands are very cute and add a great bit of liveliness to the spots they appear. The A1000s of Tiana and Louis are all a treat to see in full motion. Upon first hearing the rumors that there would be a shrinking/transformation portion to the ride I was highly skeptical it would be a good choice, but I think it turned out well and was a fun way to display the animatronic frogs much larger, as well as call back to the film. The primary thing to praise here is the finale scene and original song. The energy in that scene is great and really delivers the most complete part of the experience.
I generally don’t think the screens in this ride are too egregious or overbearing - they are actually quite minimal - but the shot of giant Tiana and Louis looking at the riders in the shrunken portion is the worst visual offender of the ride. It genuinely feels out of place and their dialogue could have been delivered with audio only to convey the same thing. As many have mentioned, there are quite a few empty stretches along the ride between characters. Not every ride has to be filled with animatronics to be good, and not every animated figure has to have complex motion to be effective at conveying what it needs to, but there is still a lot to be desired from the emptier scenes. The space between the 2nd band and the transformation dip drop is particularly empty, so much so that while on the ride you just instinctively look to watch the boat ahead of you complete the dialogue with Tiana right before the dip drop, only to immediately hear it again directed at your own boat. Though the A1000s are lovely, they are mainly used to just look at the ride vehicles and gesture at things. The finale is the only scene where it feels like the any A1000s are actually doing something within the narrative like dancing or playing music. Perhaps the greatest flaw of the ride though is that it lacks any poignant stakes, dramatic tension, or low beats. When designing a linear narrative experience a writer will typically create a graph laying out where the emotional high and low points of a story will be so they can fluctuate in a logical and satisfying manner. It feels to me that if you were to make something like that for this attraction it would be super flat and monotone with a lone spike at the finale. And while it’s true that not every attraction needs a well executed narrative or complex emotional arc to be really good, the issue lies in the nature of the attraction being a replacement.
I really tried to let this ride live on its own merits separate from Splash Mountain, but the positive elements of this ride come at the expense of another attraction, and they extract a heavy toll. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is by no means a bad attraction and far from the worst retheme in WDW, but it does not live up to the narrative, emotional stakes, and technical feats of its predecessor. It’s very much like Runaway Railway in that sense; it’s quite enjoyable and a decent ride on its own, but it should not have been a replacement in a park desperate for additional ride-through capacity. Even with the social issues surrounding Splash Mountain and Song of the South, there could have been tactful methods of updating the plot and concept with different characters to deliver the same strengths of the experience.
TL;DR: Don’t give in to the hysterics of people saying this is the worst attraction WDI has ever produced because it is a decent ride; but it does not evoke the spectacle of its predecessor, making it hard to enjoy for those that know what came before.
Where to begin? Perhaps a goods vs bads to lay everything out and then some final thoughts. I would also like to state that I was coming into the ride with moderate expectations leaning positive and attempted to view the attraction on its own merits separate from its history as Splash Mountain (but then found that harder and harder to commit to).
The queue is nice and I quite enjoy the radio loop playing. The radio in particular gives a vibe that a tiny slice of New Orleans Square has come to WDW and does a good job at establishing Tiana as an important public figure. I absolutely love the lush greenery of the interior sets and dark lighting. The critter bands are very cute and add a great bit of liveliness to the spots they appear. The A1000s of Tiana and Louis are all a treat to see in full motion. Upon first hearing the rumors that there would be a shrinking/transformation portion to the ride I was highly skeptical it would be a good choice, but I think it turned out well and was a fun way to display the animatronic frogs much larger, as well as call back to the film. The primary thing to praise here is the finale scene and original song. The energy in that scene is great and really delivers the most complete part of the experience.
I generally don’t think the screens in this ride are too egregious or overbearing - they are actually quite minimal - but the shot of giant Tiana and Louis looking at the riders in the shrunken portion is the worst visual offender of the ride. It genuinely feels out of place and their dialogue could have been delivered with audio only to convey the same thing. As many have mentioned, there are quite a few empty stretches along the ride between characters. Not every ride has to be filled with animatronics to be good, and not every animated figure has to have complex motion to be effective at conveying what it needs to, but there is still a lot to be desired from the emptier scenes. The space between the 2nd band and the transformation dip drop is particularly empty, so much so that while on the ride you just instinctively look to watch the boat ahead of you complete the dialogue with Tiana right before the dip drop, only to immediately hear it again directed at your own boat. Though the A1000s are lovely, they are mainly used to just look at the ride vehicles and gesture at things. The finale is the only scene where it feels like the any A1000s are actually doing something within the narrative like dancing or playing music. Perhaps the greatest flaw of the ride though is that it lacks any poignant stakes, dramatic tension, or low beats. When designing a linear narrative experience a writer will typically create a graph laying out where the emotional high and low points of a story will be so they can fluctuate in a logical and satisfying manner. It feels to me that if you were to make something like that for this attraction it would be super flat and monotone with a lone spike at the finale. And while it’s true that not every attraction needs a well executed narrative or complex emotional arc to be really good, the issue lies in the nature of the attraction being a replacement.
I really tried to let this ride live on its own merits separate from Splash Mountain, but the positive elements of this ride come at the expense of another attraction, and they extract a heavy toll. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is by no means a bad attraction and far from the worst retheme in WDW, but it does not live up to the narrative, emotional stakes, and technical feats of its predecessor. It’s very much like Runaway Railway in that sense; it’s quite enjoyable and a decent ride on its own, but it should not have been a replacement in a park desperate for additional ride-through capacity. Even with the social issues surrounding Splash Mountain and Song of the South, there could have been tactful methods of updating the plot and concept with different characters to deliver the same strengths of the experience.
TL;DR: Don’t give in to the hysterics of people saying this is the worst attraction WDI has ever produced because it is a decent ride; but it does not evoke the spectacle of its predecessor, making it hard to enjoy for those that know what came before.
Brian
Well-Known Member
Any design work at TDR has to be done by WDI. WDI is controlled by TWDC which very much wants Song of the South wiped off the face of the earth. There is no circumstance in which OLC is able to tear down Splash Mountain and rebuild it 'bigger and better' without WDI's involvement, and WDI will certainly not be permitted to do anything based on SoTS, barring a seismic shift in culture in Burbank. No amount of money will cause them to give up on this position.
If Splash Mountain were to be torn down and replaced at TDR, it would be based on another IP, maybe Princess and the Frog, but if they're being pragmatic, they'd utilize an IP that the Asian market better identifies with (because PaTF isn't one). But as trusted insiders with proven track records have shared, Splash Mountain at TDR isn't going anywhere.
Bill Cipher
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
An aside about operations: I rode the attraction June 2nd around 10am and had to be evacuated right before the unload station. They were offering re-rides for those evacuated but I had already seen all of the show scenes before the ride needed to be evacuated and I have another preview scheduled for June 7th so I decided against waiting for the attraction to come back up. Needless to say there are still many kinks to work through before the grand opening.
I guess Walt didn't like Tiana stealing his quotes so he smited her banner out of existence
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Talking about OLC and their relationship with Burbank is way above all of our parades
“Hearing things” stateside sometimes play…this is rather nonsensical
davis_unoxx
Well-Known Member
Wow they already took it down? Lol
If Walt had the power to do that Iger would be missing also.
Bill Cipher
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
Generally more of a “Superfan” but less so of Disney’s brand identity or characters and moreso of the themed entertainment medium/industry and what it can accomplish. I work for Disney but I still have the freedom to say they are far from perfect. I am critical because I want the company to create the best that it can.
That last line sums up what a lot of us around here believe. And under Iger, it has done far, far less than its best, for the most part. Unless you're talking revenue extraction from the guest, then it's excelled.
Apparently Disney Legal was afraid of a class action lawsuit being filed from unhappy riders who challenged the assertion that TBA was a "Happy Place" based on their poor ride experience.