Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
So he can come all the way to Orlando for a RetroWDW event but can’t make time for the grand opening of a new attraction he worked on?
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News Tiana's Bayou Adventure - latest details and construction progress
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
𝕴𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖗97
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Not so grand an opening. Especially considering he left the project. They either didn't want him there or he didn't want to be there. I imagine he can do whatever he wants!
Figments Friend
Well-Known Member
He did not work on ‘Tiana’s Bayou Misadventure’, and was not a part of the team that delivered what is now in that location.
From my understanding, there was some consultation in his advisory role with the ‘Bayou’ team in the early stages of development, but his involvement was brief and he departed.
The RetroWDW event you mention is a fan event he has been invited to several times over the years as a presenter.
He also rather enjoys the event from what I gather.
So as an invited guest to something you rather enjoy partaking in, naturally one would appear.
Has it perhaps been considered that maybe he WAS invited to the Orlando Opening of ‘Tiana’s Bayou Misadventure’ but declined due to his strong opinions regarding the matter?
There is always three sides to every story.
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bwr827
Well-Known Member
What nonsense.
No one who would otherwise defend the new ride’s design is going to defend a malfunctioning technical mess.
It has zero to do with the number of defenders or their meekness.
Epcot81Fan
Well-Known Member
Was not commenting on the fact the mess they built doesn’t even work, but thanks for the passionate reply.
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
Tony's adept at distancing himself from projects that are doomed from the start. I don't think he's attributed to anything that has to do with DCA, for example.
Tomorrowland '98 is the stark exception to this of course, but by and large Tony's done a good job of making sure that when his name is attached to a project, it's good.
bwr827
Well-Known Member
Might consider the context, for clarity.
Figments Friend
Well-Known Member
‘Soarin’ Over California’ was a Tony idea.
I have seen his original concept drawings, and heard him tell the tale regarding how it was developed along with that gent who built the Erector Set model.
So the ONE decent thing about DCA when it opened…was a Baxter inspired creation.
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WorldExplorer
Well-Known Member
I'm very curious about how Disney's creative process works. I don't work in this industry and don't pretend to know how it works, but there are things in here that seem like such a blatantly bad idea I really don't understand how they got past multiple people who are supposed to know what they're doing. Imagine standing in front of people and pitching those three repetitive, badly staged scenes and everyone nodding along that that sounds great.
Especially when they have a blueprint for what they're supposed to be doing in the form of the ride they're replacing. I don't care how they feel about it, there had to be people working on this that went on Splash and knew what was in there. No one noticed that, say, Splash's decades old side characters looked better and moved more than the new ones (critters) they were putting in the center of the scene?
I really don't understand. One person being incompetent? It shouldn't happen, but I can see how it might. A few? Same. EVERYONE? How does that happen?
Are they all just not allowed to say something is a terrible idea?
BagOfGroceries
Well-Known Member
I do not think the ride is “doomed” or “cursed” or “being rejected by nature”. I just think it was opened too soon. Let them fix things.
Ayla
Well-Known Member
Logical, measured responses are not allowed in this thread. Only hyperbolic hysteria and pearl-clutching.
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
Even if the ride was in perfect mechanical condition, that doesn't help the poor set design, story design, and sound design.
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
I think maybe you missed the subtext of my original post.
When the project was announced, I and others viewed Baxter’s supposed buy in as window dressing and cover to push back against the expected antagonism towards the change.
As time went on, and people kept implying the ride had Tony’s seal of approval, I kept expressing my skepticism. It’s telling that he’s nowhere to be found when it had its grand opening. And I agree that he chose to distance himself as much as he could publicly.
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
Someone needs to do a proper retrospective on the development of this ride. Go over what was advertised, and what actually was built and delivered by Disney.
I don't believe for a second this was in serious development prior to the 2020 announcement.
I don't believe for a second that Tony was involved in any meaningful way.
The insider rumors that the ride initially had a much lower budget but Disney had to beef it up when they received more backlash than praise for this decision makes complete sense.
All of the research trips, 'authentic art', etc turned out to be meaningless and unrelated to the final product.
But this whole project reeks of people in way over their heads- I'm sure Carmen and Charita were genuinely enthusiastic about the project, but it's clear they didn't have the creative chops needed to actually design a successor to Splash Mountain.
I don't believe for a second this was in serious development prior to the 2020 announcement.
I don't believe for a second that Tony was involved in any meaningful way.
The insider rumors that the ride initially had a much lower budget but Disney had to beef it up when they received more backlash than praise for this decision makes complete sense.
All of the research trips, 'authentic art', etc turned out to be meaningless and unrelated to the final product.
But this whole project reeks of people in way over their heads- I'm sure Carmen and Charita were genuinely enthusiastic about the project, but it's clear they didn't have the creative chops needed to actually design a successor to Splash Mountain.
𝕴𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖗97
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Even if everything on the attraction were functioning as it's supposed to, it still wouldn't be good.
@ToTBellHop did you end up getting on?
@ToTBellHop did you end up getting on?
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
Ya know, the sound design on Splash was so strong you could probably ride it with your eyes closed and still feel like it was a great experience. The set design was so strong you could ride it with no sound and while it'd be much less, it'd still be great.
I don't even know what Tiana's does. The sound is grating and elementary. The sets are bland and confusing, and reminiscent of elementary school shoebox dioramas.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
Yes, twice, as we also had Lightning Lane. It was…charming, I suppose. My wife said she felt the AAs (except broken Odie at the end) were impressive but the story was very thin and it was ridiculous to not include Facilier. She is not a member of these boards and is a reasonably casual Disney fan, so I’d imagine others feel similarly.
The kids loved it.
At least the ride system is still a blast!
What’s with the motionless armadillo statues?
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
That's Lari! An important part of the attraction, this armadillo necessitated his very own blog post!
Who is Lari the Armadillo? | Disney Parks Blog
You’ve seen him on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, and he’s seen you, too. Learn more about Lari the Armadillo and his love of umbrellas and beignets.
disneyparksblog.com
My goodness WDI is lost.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
He’s supposed to be alive? They did better in 1950s Disneyland.That's Lari! An important part of the attraction, this armadillo necessitated his very own blog post!
Who is Lari the Armadillo? | Disney Parks Blog
You’ve seen him on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, and he’s seen you, too. Learn more about Lari the Armadillo and his love of umbrellas and beignets.
My goodness WDI is lost.
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
Well, yeah. 1950s Disneyland was designed by the best of the best.
Sure it was undeveloped, and didn't have a lot of the inherent knowledge that goes into developing themed attractions today- but the bones were strong.
Peter Pan's Flight as it was in 1955 is better than just about anything WDI has done in the last 10 years.