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

[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.

 

[Tha Realest]

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!!

“Merch sales” is an almost impossible to know data point externally.

In the short term, let’s look at what attendance and bookings look like. It’s a bit of a lagging indicator, but the quarterlies should show us how much attendance compares to these points last year.

Surely a new water attraction coming online that didn’t exist last summer will boost and juice summer 2024 attendance as compared to summer 2023?

 

[ChewbaccaYourMum]

Clearly the execs and creatives in this company are living in their own little echo chamber.

The last hope I have is the hardcore Disney fans.

When Iger takes the stage at D23 he needs to be met with an ear shattering chorus of boos, that is sustained until he is forced to leave the stage.

At some point if we as the hardcore fans don’t stand up for what we love, we are going to lose It all.

It’s time to send a message.

No one is going to do that...

I was at the last D23 in 2022, and when they started building up Figment and it was obvious they were going to say something about it, I got so hyped up. I let out the loudest groan when it was just a dumb meet and greet. I looked around and was bewildered at all the people clapping and standing up... Most of Disney's hardcore fans eat all this up no matter what it is. I even admit I do a lot more than I don't as well. Something to the level you're asking for will just never happen even though it is about time it maybe should.

 

[Trauma]

No one is going to do that...

I was at the last D23 in 2022, and when they started building up Figment and it was obvious they were going to say something about it, I got so hyped up. I let out the loudest groan when it was just a dumb meet and greet. I looked around and was bewildered at all the people clapping and standing up... Most of Disney's hardcore fans eat all this up no matter what it is. I even admit I do a lot more than I don't as well. Something to the level you're asking for will just never happen even though it is about time it maybe should.

I wonder how much it would cost to buy every seat in the auditorium and make sure it’s filled with big time Iger fans.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

No one is going to do that...

I was at the last D23 in 2022, and when they started building up Figment and it was obvious they were going to say something about it, I got so hyped up. I let out the loudest groan when it was just a dumb meet and greet. I looked around and was bewildered at all the people clapping and standing up... Most of Disney's hardcore fans eat all this up no matter what it is. I even admit I do a lot more than I don't as well. Something to the level you're asking for will just never happen even though it is about time it maybe should.

The people who are spending hundreds or thousands of dollars to attend the D23 Expo are not doing it to boo Iger, they're doing it because of their love for Disney and what it has produced before.

I'm sure many people walked out of that presentation and said "Really? THAT'S all we're getting for Figment? I got so hyped for a second . . ." but in the moment most aren't set to attack, they're trying to enjoy what is happening so that their money feels well spent. That's generally how people are conditioned.

Once they're out of the throng of people who were also clapping along it's easier for most to download and process the information on its own merits. Which is why you don't see hour long lines to meet Figment despite a warm reception for the D23 Announcement.

Point being that generally an event like D23 isn't the kind to attract a mass of people who will engage critically in real-time, it's a destination for people whose optimism carry them over the paywall and keep them clapping over the breadcrumbs tossed between scattered actually-nice announcements.

 

[sw_charlie]

 

[BrerFoxesBayouAdventure]

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

What's the source for this? An insider? Because TWDC isn't happy in the slightest that Splash still exists at Tokyo.

 

[montyz81]

I watched the video before I read any of the comments. I used to get a positive vibe even from the video when watching the Splash Mountain ride. I simply got confused as I went through this ride. The video should say, "I want to ride this attraction." I didn't get that feeling. I will hold out for a ride on it to pass full judgment, but my initial speculation is that Disney has messed up... a lot! Disney, you should start listening to your majority customers!

 

[Ayla]

I am genuinely happy that Drew loves it.

 

[lightningtap347]

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.”

I'm not sure. I would hope that people discussing in good faith would internalize that they may just not be the target audience anymore or that tastes have just changed. I'm trying to do this myself regardless, as I haven't really liked much of the recent output by WDI. But at the same time, this attraction isn't resonating with me at all when I feel like it's right up my alley. I LOVE Jazz and Zydeco music. I've listened to PJ Morton long before he was attached to this attraction, and I'm a sucker for AA's. Yet, watching these POV's, I just feel gutted and that it's missing a certain something that I will never truly figure out. Even if this was a new build, I think I'd feel the same way. A lot of the heart and spice the ride speaks to appears to be missing in the feeling of it. Hopefully this changes when I get to ride it next week, otherwise this'll just be another thing to do if the wait is low, which is a shame.

 

[lightningtap347]

I am genuinely happy that Drew loves it.

I so very much hope I elicit the same response when I get to ride it.

 

[JohnD]

Here’s another video

Some takeaways:

• Lazy use of firefly screens in-between scenes where AAs could have been.
• You're not guaranteed to get potential narrative.
• In this video, it seems Mama Odie gets short shrift. The boat missed the part of the video that Mama Odie shrinks you. Before the final drop, the video hadn't yet reset to where Mama Odie says she's making you large again. And the final time you see Mama Odie before you exit, the boat in front gets Mama Odie talking to you. But as this boat passes, she's stationary.
• More AAs could have been used beyond the final celebration scene, not just two stationary frogs and view of NO. I think Splash had Brer Fox there. Might have been a good placement for Louis playing the Sax or something.
• At least, since the same ride system, you still get the same enjoyment of the log flume ride with it's lifts and drops.

 

[TheCoasterNerd]

What's the source for this? An insider? Because TWDC isn't happy in the slightest that Splash still exists at Tokyo.

A higher-up within OLC

 

[HauntedPirate]

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.

Quoting this because it is DAMN spot on.

It may not be what it once was, but WDI still has talent, I do believe that. I've been told by others I trust that WDI still has talent. But there is something seriously wrong right now. I don't know if it's WDI management, Burbank, a mix of those two, or whoever is putting people in charge of projects and greenlighting plans.