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

[monothingie]

Then came Splash Mountain. She said and I quote, "it looked like it was falling apart". The animatronics were broken everywhere and the boats were in very rough shape as bits and pieces were coming off. She then said that she was glad it closed so they could finally "fix it".

 

[monothingie]

I am confident they’re not keeping it VQ because they’re worried the waits will be lower than Splash was.

Why?



A VQ can hide a lot of that and allows Disney to strictly control admittance to the attraction.

Also keep in mind that just because there is a VQ doesn't mean guests are not waiting in line. A VQ at Tron or GOTG often means at least an hour or more wait just to ride. I'd be curious to know how long guests with a VQ have to wait in the physical queue. Granted it's a higher capacity attraction, but if the prevailing wait time is less than 30 minutes, then either Disney is artificially holding back capacity by limiting the number and size of the boarding groups or they're really good at cycling guests through the attraction. (I don't think it's the latter)

 

[Tuvalu]

I'd be curious to know how long guests with a VQ have to wait in the physical queue. Granted it's a higher capacity attraction, but if the prevailing wait time is less than 30 minutes, then either Disney is artificially holding back capacity by limiting the number and size of the boarding groups or they're really good at cycling guests through the attraction. (I don't think it's the latter)

I’ve ridden via VQ four times.

First VQ wait was 10 minutes (AP preview)
Three times last week, which were all between 15-20 minutes. I have had to wait in about 2/3 of the exterior outdoor queue and the wait was still 20 minutes. It is a high capacity ride and it loads/unloads quickly.

I am also fortunate not to have experienced any downtime. One day the ride did not open on time but when it opened, we only waited 15 minutes with our Group 21.

 

[monothingie]

I’ve ridden via VQ four times.

First VQ wait was 10 minutes (AP preview)
Three times last week, which were all between 15-20 minutes. I have had to wait in about 2/3 of the exterior outdoor queue and the wait was still 20 minutes. It is a high capacity ride and it loads/unloads quickly.

I am also fortunate not to have experienced any downtime. One day the ride did not open on time but when it opened, we only waited 15 minutes with our Group 21.

That seems very low. My take is that they are holding back VQ capacity to account for reliablity issues.

 

[DCBaker]

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has officially been added to the available attraction list during Extended Evening Hours and will be available via a Virtual Queue:

An Extra Opportunity to Join the Virtual Queue
Guests staying at a Disney Deluxe Resort, Disney Deluxe Villa Resort or other select hotels will have additional opportunities to join virtual queues.

At 6:00 PM on nights with extended evening theme park hours at Magic Kingdom park, these Guests can request to join the virtual queue for:

• Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
• TRON Lightcycle / Run

Update as of 7-18-24:

Poof. As of last night, Disney removed mention of Tiana's Bayou Adventure on the available attraction list during Extended Evening Hours from both MDX and the website.

View attachment 801805

 

[Tha Realest]

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has officially been added to the available attraction list during Extended Evening Hours and will be available via a Virtual Queue:

An Extra Opportunity to Join the Virtual Queue
Guests staying at a Disney Deluxe Resort, Disney Deluxe Villa Resort or other select hotels will have additional opportunities to join virtual queues.

At 6:00 PM on nights with extended evening theme park hours at Magic Kingdom park, these Guests can request to join the virtual queue for:

• Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
• TRON Lightcycle / Run

View attachment 801204

*YMMV

 

[SuddenStorm]

I was kinda perplexed what she meant by this. She said the boats on Small World and Pirates were dirty. You can see mold and icky stuff on the rides. Then came Splash Mountain. She said and I quote, "it looked like it was falling apart". The animatronics were broken everywhere and the boats were in very rough shape as bits and pieces were coming off. She then said that she was glad it closed so they could finally "fix it".

I was very surprised by this viewpoint, especially coming from a first time visitor. I guess this just goes to show how maintenance is important and how it can skew guest's viewpoints and opinions on rides. That even a masterpiece of a ride Splash was can really damper guest's views when not properly maintained.

I've heard the "the retheme was good since Splash was rundown and broken" argument a few times- but it doesn't make sense. Any attraction could get run down over time without proper maintenance, that just means it needs some TLC, not outright replacement.

It's a darn shame Disney doesn't follow their maintenance standards from the past. the parks would be a much richer experience.

 

[JoeCamel]

I've heard the "the retheme was good since Splash was rundown and broken" argument a few times- but it doesn't make sense. Any attraction could get run down over time without proper maintenance, that just means it needs some TLC, not outright replacement.

It's a darn shame Disney doesn't follow their maintenance standards from the past. the parks would be a much richer experience.

They have a track record for letting an attraction deteriorate before they replace it

 

[bwr827]

So I was at the dentist today for a cleaning, and the dental hygienist saw my Disneyland shirt which sparked a long conversation.

Their family and her went on their very first WDW trip sometime in late 2022 and she said that MK was her least favorite park they visited. Reasoning being that there were many "old" rides.

I was kinda perplexed what she meant by this. She said the boats on Small World and Pirates were dirty. You can see mold and icky stuff on the rides. Then came Splash Mountain. She said and I quote, "it looked like it was falling apart". The animatronics were broken everywhere and the boats were in very rough shape as bits and pieces were coming off. She then said that she was glad it closed so they could finally "fix it".

I was very surprised by this viewpoint, especially coming from a first time visitor. I guess this just goes to show how maintenance is important and how it can skew guest's viewpoints and opinions on rides. That even a masterpiece of a ride Splash was can really damper guest's views when not properly maintained.

The other thing was that they were somewhat
regular Disneyland park-goers, but after their first WDW visit, they prefer and love World more. They like the many parks to see/visit and how it feels like an enclosed-city, especially if you stay at the on-site resorts. Their favorites were Animal Kingdom (Avatar) and Hollywood Studios (Star Wars). They want to go back sometime soon also.

Anyways, it was nice talking to someone who isn't always "in the know". But it did give me a fresh viewpoint on the parks that I often don't see or hear.

Edit: just realized that this may be off-topic for this thread, so it can be deleted if deemed so.

Not surprised by this at all — but then I’m also an outsider, someone who’s only visited MK a handful of times in the past 30+ years.

I love the magic of MK, but a good portion of the attractions are museum pieces.

 

[bwr827]

I've heard the "the retheme was good since Splash was rundown and broken" argument a few times- but it doesn't make sense. Any attraction could get run down over time without proper maintenance, that just means it needs some TLC, not outright replacement.

Sure it makes sense — as long as you take it for what it is, ie the opinion of a family who visited WDW.

They weren’t bringing it as an argument to change your mind.

Agree re: maintenance, let’s have less downtime and more fully functional features please.

 

[monothingie]

UPDATE: Tiana's Bayou Adventure Will Not Be Available During Extended Evening Hours at Magic Kingdom

After announcing that Tiana's Bayou Adventure would be available during Extended Evening Hours, Disney has provided an update

blogmickey.com

@DCBaker IDK if you saw it to update your previous post?

 

[DCBaker]

UPDATE: Tiana's Bayou Adventure Will Not Be Available During Extended Evening Hours at Magic Kingdom

After announcing that Tiana's Bayou Adventure would be available during Extended Evening Hours, Disney has provided an update

blogmickey.com

@DCBaker IDK if you saw it to update your previous post?

Missed editing that post - thanks! I posted the change in the Extended Evening Hours thread:

Poof. As of last night, Disney removed mention of Tiana's Bayou Adventure on the available attraction list during Extended Evening Hours from both MDX and the website.

View attachment 801805

 

[Starship824]

I think at this point the question has to asked. What can or will be done about this ride? It has seen an overwhelmingly negative reception online, there's been constant downtime and operational issues. And it seems based on what insiders have stated that in person guest satisfaction isn't as high as they thought it would be. This is also reflected in the fact the Peco Bill retheme to Tiana's (although all rumour) seems to have been cancelled and instead changed to the Hungry Bear retheme that Disneyland has announced. So will do anything about it? As in possibly change the attraction. Maybe add in Dr. Facilier and "Friends in the Other Side" on the lift hill.

 

[UNCgolf]

They're not going to make any significant changes to the attraction. It may not be performing as well as they'd like in guest satisfaction (I have no idea if that's true), but it hasn't been a disaster. They aren't going to close it and redesign/rebuild whole swathes of the ride.

 

[Drew the Disney Dude]

 

[GhostHost1000]

It’s sad how much they botched this attraction. In many ways

 

[TDLFan]

I just attended a media event for a high profile tourist experience with celebrities and several political big wigs in attendance ( not naming it to protect the individual) but the invited Headliner comic met someone from Disney management in the crowd and proceeded to slay them on Epcot's fumbled redo and he then ripped Tiana's calling it Tiana's Barnfire A*ortion saying that it was thrown together from left over Chucky Cheese props and Spirit Halloween effects. The crowd all laughed and cheered when he roasted it. It seems Disney's fumbling of this is pretty universal at this point.

 

[JoeCamel]

I just attended a media event for a high profile tourist experience with celebrities and several political big wigs in attendance ( not naming it to protect the individual) but the invited Headliner comic met someone from Disney management in the crowd and proceeded to slay them on Epcot's fumbled redo and he then ripped Tiana's calling it Tiana's Barnfire A*ortion saying that it was thrown together from left over Chucky Cheese props and Spirit Halloween effects. The crowd all laughed and cheered when he roasted it. It seems Disney's fumbling of this is pretty universal at this point.

I'm not understanding why they would do that. Cheap laughs by making someone who had little control over the product feel uncomfortable is just cheap shots. An internet message board is OK by me but at an industry function it is just mean.

 

[TDLFan]

 

[Incomudro]

They're not going to make any significant changes to the attraction. It may not be performing as well as they'd like in guest satisfaction (I have no idea if that's true), but it hasn't been a disaster. They aren't going to close it and redesign/rebuild whole swathes of the ride.

I wish they would, but they won't.
This is it for at least ten years.