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

[Ayla]

I’ve been trying to figure out why the new song sounds so tired to me and what it reminds me of. Just figured it out.

It’s very similar to the Green Acres theme song.

Not even a little bit.

 

[IMDREW]

Okay, it's definitely fixable.

When we meet Tiana on the log, make her say something in the likes of 'don't get lost in the bayou' or 'watch out for ... in the bayou'. Then swap Mama Odie screen for dr. Facilier. Make him shrink us down like what happens in de movie. Laughing Place becomes a danger scene with some shadow projections. Then have fireflies light the way 'follow us!', second drop into the beauty of being small. Frogs, mushrooms etc. Audio Louis finds us 'there you are!'. Then have Mama Odie appear like the first design (love the first screen with the bottles surrounding that branch arch, hate that second screen with juju). Fill the WHOLE lift hill with bottles please and thank you, idk why there are so few atm. Then we meet her in AA form on the left while singing dig a little deeper and we plunge.

Quick and easy fixes for a more entertaining ride imo.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I’ve been trying to figure out why the new song sounds so tired to me and what it reminds me of. Just figured it out.

It’s very similar to the Green Acres theme song.

Not really hearing it myself. To me, it sounds VERY much like this Mario song though-

 

[DisneyHead123]

The way TWDC funds things really confuses me when you look at their different businesses.

In their movie business Disney has no problem burning through hundreds of millions of dollars with consistently NO ROI, or at the very least, the need to wait decades for a given movie to "be profitable" on paper.

In their theme park business, it seems they look at every penny, and will change, reduce, cut projects as standard operating procedure.

I am sure there were cost cuts made in Tiana.

Having said that, Tiana looks fine and I will ride it if the line is not too long.

Yeah I don't know if it's just different standards for different industries or if they were really hoping to go all-in on movies and digital content. Probably a bit of both. Streaming was definitely a huge focus for awhile there.

I do think that the next couple of decades will bring some really cool changes to the parks. The majority of their earnings come from the parks now. Lightning Lanes build in a motivation to build rides that are really unique and special. There's the whole Epic Universe thing. Movies I am not as hopeful for, but I think we'll see some awesome additions to the parks.

 

[_caleb]

Seems like people who have experienced the ride end up liking it more than those who formed their opinions only by watching the fixed-view POV video.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I do think that the next couple of decades will bring some really cool changes to the parks.

I selfishly hope some of that is in WDW parks.

 

[DisneyHead123]

I'd also be curious if they could actually build a clone of something like Pirates in this day and age. They did so successfully in the early 90s with Paris. That version also had noticeable motion improvements to the entire animatronics population. In terms of set design, I think Disney MIGHT be capable of replicating it. Modern WDI are probably better suited to creating realistic scenery than something like an animated film, something I have noted as a complaint with TBA as its scenery looks too realistic IMO. It's the large AA population that always throws a wrench into everything.

As I said prior, Disney needs to rediscover the concept of "moderate" AA's to help fill out their scenes. Not have everything be either state of the art with hundreds of axes, or simple department store caliber moving props that repeat the same canned animation over and over again. POTC had a couple of figures that were state of the art at the time (Auctioneer and Blackbeard), but most of the others had more of a moderate design. Less advanced than those couple, but with enough dynamic motion of their own that they could still comfortably stand right next to the elaborate ones and still be a natural fit. Many could still talk or at least move in sync with a source of audio, and felt alive and natural instead of just repeating the same stock single motion over and over. Hall of Presidents is another great example of this moderation, with three high end AA's and the remainder being less advanced designs that can still move with a decent range of their own to make them feel alive and natural. In contrast, TBA has about a dozen figures with a good range of motion, but the remainder are all considerably worse than a ton of the figures in its predecessor. But even judged on its own, they also look especially awkward and stiff when positioned right next to the advanced Tiana and Louis figures.

Haunted Mansion seems far more possible for WDI to create a clone of these days given its seemingly smaller AA population. Most of which are relatively far away from the vehicle, rendering excessive movements of A1000s or even A100s completely unnecessary. That said, I wouldn't put it past them to screw it up. Especially since they seem hell-bent on screwing the existing classic Mansions up already.

So Google tells me there are 109 animatronics in the Haunted Mansion - presumably all or almost all of them are large, full sized people. Ghost people - but size wise the same. Googles says 120 for Pirates - presumably almost all of those are full sized people as well, plus a handful of animals. I don't see an official count for Tiana but from what I can surmise it's somewhere under 30. So I mean think about that - those older rides likely have about 4 times the animatronics of Tiana!

I think that's why the older rides look so "filled in" while it's really hard to get past the "driving by department store windows" effect on the new ones. I actually think Tiana did a pretty good job with what they had - they wrap the scenery around much more completely than Frozen or Little Mermaid, and I actually like the modest use of screens to add in a few extra elements. But imagine if they had legit 120 animatronics on that ride, plus the budget for background scenery.

I agree with you that more moderately priced animatronics probably need to be a focus. In some rides, like FoP or Rise or GotG, there is a big payoff (in terms of rider experience) with all the new technology. For animatronics - I mean super fans love them and they do look a bit better than lower tech ones - but do they add hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of coolness to the experience, when compared to a less costly version? I really don't think so.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Yeah I don't know if it's just different standards for different industries or if they were really hoping to go all-in on movies and digital content. Probably a bit of both. Streaming was definitely a huge focus for awhile there.

I do think that the next couple of decades will bring some really cool changes to the parks. The majority of their earnings come from the parks now. Lightning Lanes build in a motivation to build rides that are really unique and special. There's the whole Epic Universe thing. Movies I am not as hopeful for, but I think we'll see some awesome additions to the parks.

I'm very curious to see how Inside Out 2 is. I loved the first movie and the trailers make this one look like it SHOULD have the goods. If, for some reason, it ends up terrible, I'll be VERY concerned for the future over at Pixar.

Hoping for the best. And I do think, if it does well, we are likely to end up with some Inside Out at Epcot. They're desperate for new, hit films.

 

[DisneyHead123]

I'm very curious to see how Inside Out 2 is. I loved the first movie and the trailers make this one look like it SHOULD have the goods. If, for some reason, it ends up terrible, I'll be VERY concerned for the future over at Pixar.

Hoping for the best. And I do think, if it does well, we are likely to end up with some Inside Out at Epcot. They're desperate for new, hit films.

I do think it looks good, but my guess (totally my speculation,) is that Disney is quickly reprioritizing parks over streaming. Inside Out 2 will have been made before this change, if indeed such a change happens. (I don't think they're going to abandon their movie business by any means but money talks, and money is coming from parks and cruises. I could also see other 'experience based' offerings - hotels in other places like Aulani - on the rise as well.)

 

[ToTBellHop]

So Google tells me there are 109 animatronics in the Haunted Mansion - presumably all or almost all of them are large, full sized people. Ghost people - but size wise the same. Googles says 120 for Pirates - presumably almost all of those are full sized people as well, plus a handful of animals. I don't see an official count for Tiana but from what I can surmise it's somewhere under 30. So I mean think about that - those older rides likely have about 4 times the animatronics of Tiana!

I think that's why the older rides look so "filled in" while it's really hard to get past the "driving by department store windows" effect on the new ones. I actually think Tiana did a pretty good job with what they had - they wrap the scenery around much more completely than Frozen or Little Mermaid, and I actually like the modest use of screens to add in a few extra elements. But imagine if they had legit 120 animatronics on that ride, plus the budget for background scenery.

I agree with you that more moderately priced animatronics probably need to be a focus. In some rides, like FoP or Rise or GotG, there is a big payoff (in terms of rider experience) with all the new technology. For animatronics - I mean super fans love them and they do look a bit better than lower tech ones - but do they add hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of coolness to the experience, when compared to a less costly version? I really don't think so.

Well, we've seen what they can do in the 21st century with the SDL Pirates. It's very impressive and technologically advanced, but there are no where near 120 AAs. They just don't do that any more. The advanced ones cost too much and we complain about animated figures.

They need to develop a middle tier.

 

[Bocabear]

So Google tells me there are 109 animatronics in the Haunted Mansion - presumably all or almost all of them are large, full sized people. Ghost people - but size wise the same. Googles says 120 for Pirates - presumably almost all of those are full sized people as well, plus a handful of animals. I don't see an official count for Tiana but from what I can surmise it's somewhere under 30. So I mean think about that - those older rides likely have about 4 times the animatronics of Tiana!

I think that's why the older rides look so "filled in" while it's really hard to get past the "driving by department store windows" effect on the new ones. I actually think Tiana did a pretty good job with what they had - they wrap the scenery around much more completely than Frozen or Little Mermaid, and I actually like the modest use of screens to add in a few extra elements. But imagine if they had legit 120 animatronics on that ride, plus the budget for background scenery.

I agree with you that more moderately priced animatronics probably need to be a focus. In some rides, like FoP or Rise or GotG, there is a big payoff (in terms of rider experience) with all the new technology. For animatronics - I mean super fans love them and they do look a bit better than lower tech ones - but do they add hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of coolness to the experience, when compared to a less costly version? I really don't think so.

But if TBA had 120 animatronics it would still be the same storyline...It would not make it a better ride, just more crowded.... The mastery of the old rides was in the staging and overall storytelling... the new ones really are, as you said, like driving by department store windows...

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

So Google tells me there are 109 animatronics in the Haunted Mansion - presumably all or almost all of them are large, full sized people. Ghost people - but size wise the same. Googles says 120 for Pirates - presumably almost all of those are full sized people as well, plus a handful of animals. I don't see an official count for Tiana but from what I can surmise it's somewhere under 30. So I mean think about that - those older rides likely have about 4 times the animatronics of Tiana!

I think that's why the older rides look so "filled in" while it's really hard to get past the "driving by department store windows" effect on the new ones. I actually think Tiana did a pretty good job with what they had - they wrap the scenery around much more completely than Frozen or Little Mermaid, and I actually like the modest use of screens to add in a few extra elements. But imagine if they had legit 120 animatronics on that ride, plus the budget for background scenery.

I agree with you that more moderately priced animatronics probably need to be a focus. In some rides, like FoP or Rise or GotG, there is a big payoff (in terms of rider experience) with all the new technology. For animatronics - I mean super fans love them and they do look a bit better than lower tech ones - but do they add hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of coolness to the experience, when compared to a less costly version? I really don't think so.

It's important to be a bit wary of Disney's official animatronic counts, which is what Google sources for their numbers. They heavily inflate their own numbers by counting literally every little prop that has even the tiniest bit of motion. Like how they would tout Splash Mountain as having over 100 AA's, when in reality they were counting a lot of things like the spinning beehives and such. They also tried to claim all barely moving stormtrooper mannequins in Rise of the Resistance were AA's in marketing. In that sense, Disney would likely attempt to classify those okra plants in Tiana's garden as AA's...

The only ride i'm aware of that genuinely has well over 100 legitimate animatronics is Tokyo Disneysea's Sinbad ride. I forget my count, but I think I came up with something over 130 or so. Not including simpler props either, these were only the more intricate and dynamic human and animal figures.

I don't think Haunted Mansion has close to 100 genuine AA's, nor Pirates. They have a lot no doubt, but probably closer to something like 60-70 for POTC, less for Mansion. To arrive at the 100+, they again would be counting basic props such as the floating candelabra, 13-hour clock, bulging door etc. Or in POTC's case, stuff like the skeleton drinking endless amounts of rum, cannons and such. I was checking out some of Royce Alcoser's videos where he described some of his experience touching up some of the old Fantasyland dark rides. And he said that they indeed do classify any sort of moving prop as an animatronic. Even something like a crate danging from a rope in Mr Toad, which has a slight bit of motion to it.

I'll have to do a count sometime of my own for POTC and Haunted Mansion to see what the true count really is. Excluding these simple props.

 

[DisneyHead123]

But if TBA had 120 animatronics it would still be the same storyline...It would not make it a better ride, just more crowded.... The mastery of the old rides was in the staging and overall storytelling... the new ones really are, as you said, like driving by department store windows...

That I'm not sure about. Potentially it would have been a different storyline if they knew they had the cash for a Mardi Gras parade scene that wrapped around on both sides, with 20 full sized animatronic dancers, still with about 100 animatronics to spare after that. And even if they had kept the same story - riding through a forest of 20 frogs jumping and playing instruments is different than seeing 4 or 5.

 

[DisneyHead123]

It's important to be a bit wary of Disney's official animatronic counts, which is what Google sources for their numbers. They heavily inflate their own numbers by counting literally every little prop that has even the tiniest bit of motion. Like how they would tout Splash Mountain as having over 100 AA's, when in reality they were counting a lot of things like the spinning beehives and such. They also tried to claim all barely moving stormtrooper mannequins in Rise of the Resistance were AA's in marketing. In that sense, Disney would likely attempt to classify those okra plants in Tiana's garden as AA's...

The only ride i'm aware of that genuinely has well over 100 legitimate animatronics is Tokyo Disneysea's Sinbad ride. I forget my count, but I think I came up with something over 130 or so. Not including simpler props either, these were only the more intricate and dynamic human and animal figures.

I don't think Haunted Mansion has close to 100 genuine AA's, nor Pirates. They have a lot no doubt, but probably closer to something like 60-70 for POTC, less for Mansion. To arrive at the 100+, they again would be counting basic props such as the floating candelabra, 13-hour clock, bulging door etc. Or in POTC's case, stuff like the skeleton drinking endless amounts of rum, cannons and such. I was checking out some of Royce Alcoser's videos where he described some of his experience touching up some of the old Fantasyland dark rides. And he said that they indeed do classify any sort of moving prop as an animatronic. Even something like a crate danging from a rope in Mr Toad, which has a slight bit of motion to it.

I'll have to do a count sometime of my own for POTC and Haunted Mansion to see what the true count really is. Excluding these simple props.

Ok, fair point. But even then, Google claims there are 75 people (animatronics) in Disneyland's Pirates. Plus some animal animatronics. So again, not even in the same ballpark as what Imagineers today have to work with.

 

[IronRod]

I don’t think the number of animatronics is the issue. Is anyone actually counting? I think it needs more environment and detail. That’s where splash excelled. Not everything has to move.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I don’t think the number of animatronics is the issue. Is anyone actually counting? I think it needs more environment and detail. That’s where splash excelled. Not everything has to move.

I didn't specifically count them the first time I watched it, but it was exceedingly clear just by casual viewing that the ride was considerably more empty than Splash. And that outside of the 14 PATF figures from the film, the rest of the new critters have significantly more limited and repetitive motion than a great many in Splash. I did count them on subsequent videos just to have a precise number that I could cite in evidence.

And yeah it matters to some of us. Splash excelled in BOTH cartoonish environmental detail (key detail being cartoonish as most of TBA's scenery has a realistic appearance) AND animatronic quality/quantity. Some of us value classic rides above more modern ones for that reason.

It is obviously far from the ONLY issue with the ride though. There's just a whole lot wrong with it across the board.

 

[Ice Gator]

I’ve been thinking, and it’s kind of wild how the figures found in the Justice League ride at Six Flags and some of the Cedar Fair parks have better moving animatronics than the Bayou critters.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I don’t think the number of animatronics is the issue. Is anyone actually counting? I think it needs more environment and detail. That’s where splash excelled. Not everything has to move.

Yes. Someone is counting. I am certain someone on this website has a spreadsheet quantifying the number of eyes that don’t blink on “it’s a small world” each day.

I’m watching, Disney.

 

[Trauma]

Seems like people who have experienced the ride end up liking it more than those who formed their opinions only by watching the fixed-view POV video.

The people who have experienced the ride work for Disney or are lifestylers.

Shocking they would say positive things.

 

[monothingie]

Yes. Someone is counting. I am certain someone on this website has a spreadsheet quantifying the number of eyes that don’t blink on “it’s a small world” each day.

First I was counting the empty parking spots at the resort parking lots.
Then I was counting the empty parking spots at the park parking lots.
Then I was counting the number of popcorn lightbulbs out at the Grand Floridian.
Now this? Do you know what brown brominized water does to my skin?

I'm already surviving on discarded half empty bottles of Desani water and remnants of popcorn from special limited time popcorn buckets left by guests before getting in the cars.

Please have mercy!