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

[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.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

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.

I say it’s “D”

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

With who this is my question. I am a WDW guest mainly. I only visited DLR for the first time this year. For the several years leading up to my trip, I’ve seen nothing but positive things in Disney spaces and other non-Disney specific faces about it. The consensus I’ve seen is that it’s an improvement on the ride system of ToT and makes it more exciting with a more intense and fun drop sequence, even if the IP isn’t everyone’s favorite. The only contentious point I’ve seen after it opened and people experienced it was its outside appearance.

Umm…have a good day…I don’t want to get into an abstract debate with you.

 

[Ayla]

Something that was mentioned in the spoiler thread has me thinking...it was said there is a lot of lead-up in plot to the actual ride in the queue, and as someone that criticized the ride for not making a lot of sense based on the info we already had, this makes a lot of sense to me. Not going through the queue loses a lot of background information for what you're going to see.

 

[EagleScout610]

Bayou Adventure is 101 again.

 

[Trauma]

Splash is one of the greatest rides built by WDI.

Not breaking news

Yes but Tiana’s is as good or better!

Don’t believe your own eyes, you need to see it thru the lens of the general public.

If the general public rides this ride and thinks it’s as good as Splash humankind is in deep trouble, making the posters of this forum the last hope for humanity.

How exciting we are like super heroes or something !!

 

[Trauma]

Something that was mentioned in the spoiler thread has me thinking...it was said there is a lot of lead-up in plot to the actual ride in the queue, and as someone that criticized the ride for not making a lot of sense based on the info we already had, this makes a lot of sense to me. Not going through the queue loses a lot of background information for what you're going to see.

How much of this essential queue does the G+ line skip?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Yes but Tiana’s is as good or better!

Don’t believe your own eyes, you need to see it thru the lens of the general public.

If the general public rides this ride and thinks it’s as good as Splash humankind is in deep trouble, making the posters of this forum the last hope for humanity.

How exciting we are like super heroes or something !!

That was my mistake…I don’t realize the audience I was addressing in that discussion. No recollection prior to Iger makes any objective Disney parks debate impossible