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

[flynnibus]

Fact sheets are bog standard (pun intended) media support and have been for decades.

Where it's a page long explanation of the story though? Key facts, key phrases, the take-aways marketing wants media to regurgitate... yes, typical PR type stuff. But the synopsis isn't even making a point of highlights or key takeaways to prime the media blitz with. It's basically providing all the filler and explaining all the story.. which no one is going to bother wasting so many lines on except a two or three line synopsis of going through the bayou to locate members for the band and mentioning the shrinking and finale.

I mean, contrast that with the PR piece for Cosmic Rewind - https://wdwnews.com/releases/its-sa...nd-debuts-may-27-at-walt-disney-world-resort/

Contrast those two in terms of what they spend the energy focusing attention on...

When you look at this.. and then look at how much they put into the queue... and then belabored the media side with this 'tiana foods' backstory.. the whole thing feels completely like investing in the wrong things.

 

[Raineman]

If I were there I would have pulled a Vader

“Don’t be too proud of that technological terror you constructed”

"The ability to please Katiebug and her little princess is insignificant next to the power of the Laughing Place."

 

[ToTBellHop]

That's the thing, changing the dialogue and adding a few more AAs in empty spaces (even more limited motion ones) would potentially make it a lot better for a fairly modest cost. A lot of the decisions they made were kinda baffling really.

Agreed. It doesn't really need expensive AAs. Just the cheaper fillers. And you could pretty easily transition that final portion of the old Laughing Place (with the weird Tiana/Louis screen until the Odie screen) into a brief "Friends from the Other Side" segment that the impressive Odie AA could get guests away from. It doesn't need to be a prolonged, scary scene and the "friends" can largely be done with projection mapping. Easy-peasy.

 

[TomboyJanet]

Where it's a page long explanation of the story though? Key facts, key phrases, the take-aways marketing wants media to regurgitate... yes, typical PR type stuff. But the synopsis isn't even making a point of highlights or key takeaways to prime the media blitz with. It's basically providing all the filler and explaining all the story.. which no one is going to bother wasting so many lines on except a two or three line synopsis of going through the bayou to locate members for the band and mentioning the shrinking and finale.

I mean, contrast that with the PR piece for Cosmic Rewind - https://wdwnews.com/releases/its-sa...nd-debuts-may-27-at-walt-disney-world-resort/

Contrast those two in terms of what they spend the energy focusing attention on...

When you look at this.. and then look at how much they put into the queue... and then belabored the media side with this 'tiana foods' backstory.. the whole thing feels completely like investing in the wrong things.

I missed the whole effect of the story unfolding as you go deeper into the ride, like in Splash. You would just see some birds singing (or trying to play instruments) in the bird houses then overhear the frog telling the setup, and then you'd see the character portraits telling you who you will meet, and where you will go, and then the frog tells the setup to you and slowly you follow Brer rabbit etc SINGING the events of the story as they unfold before you. Then tension builds slowly first mockingly, then partying too hard, and not paying attention to the danger. Finally we have the really scary Vultures, the famed boot hill boys, taunting you as you are held for the ascend into darkness. Finally the big twist, Is our hero ok? The happy music says we made it and there you go, Brer Rabbit tricked them into throwing him home again! And they face the consequences from a mad Brer Gator (who I guess is the one from the beginning with the frog) as everyone celebrates! Now that is a plot! This plot has like 3 things in it and boom you're done. Nothing really happened.

In my opinion the shrinking breaks up the continuity of the flow of the river (to be fair burrows lament kinda did too but It was taken out in the later versions. I assume that was just a flash vision and not in the laughing place) But this is a bit jarring.

 

[AndyS2992]

Disney has shared a group photo from the ceremony this morning:

Still hate that outfit on Tiana, just put her back in her iconic princess dress already..

 

[flynnibus]

This plot has like 3 things in it and boom you're done. Nothing really happened.

I boil it down even further...

"we're throwing a party" - This in itself is uninspiring and flat. Party for what? For who? The fact sheet makes it out that they are celebrating Mardis Gras - but does that come across in the attraction at all? They have a few props in the queue (like the newspaper on the table)... and the horrible sign above the lift hill.. then its right into 'lets find some musicians for our party'. Mardis Gras isn't really conveyed in the conventional sense at all before this that I can tell.. This whole thing is like we get is like a 3yr old version of a story book "Tiana is throwing a party!" -- It does nothing to get you emotionally attached.

"we need to find some band members" -- A conflict .. but setup where? What tension? Where did this come from? Then they solve the problem in the very first indoor scene... hey, here's a band... yet, it's not really solved.. so we need what.. to find more band!! It's insultingly dumbed down.

The whole thing plays out like a story book you read a 1yr old.

And while attraction plots do need to be simple because of the speed and audience... that doesn't mean they should be aimed only at toddlers... and the whole point of using established familiar IP is you can leap frog off existing notions and characters. They do none of that to play into why any of these characters matter except for Mama.

I mean.. if you aren't the type that goes 'oh wow, look its tiana!' or 'look it's louis!' -- does anything in the story or setting resonate at all? What will be the memorable moment people take away from this ride?

Cool lights in the drops? They like the background music?

Literally every short Disney ever made had more character and story than this thing... and this thing has a decade of history behind it, and a 15+min experience to deliver it.

 

[Ice Gator]

Still hate that outfit on Tiana, just put her back in her iconic princess dress already..

She looks like a Jungle Cruise skipper.

 

[DCBaker]

Video of Jenifer Lewis singing Dig a Little Deeper while waiting for logs to move on Tiana's Bayou Adventure:

 

[monothingie]

I boil it down even further...

"we're throwing a party" - This in itself is uninspiring and flat. Party for what? For who? The fact sheet makes it out that they are celebrating Mardis Gras - but does that come across in the attraction at all? They have a few props in the queue (like the newspaper on the table)... and the horrible sign above the lift hill.. then its right into 'lets find some musicians for our party'. Mardis Gras isn't really conveyed in the conventional sense at all before this that I can tell.. This whole thing is like we get is like a 3yr old version of a story book "Tiana is throwing a party!" -- It does nothing to get you emotionally attached.

"we need to find some band members" -- A conflict .. but setup where? What tension? Where did this come from? Then they solve the problem in the very first indoor scene... hey, here's a band... yet, it's not really solved.. so we need what.. to find more band!! It's insultingly dumbed down.

The whole thing plays out like a story book you read a 1yr old.

And while attraction plots do need to be simple because of the speed and audience... that doesn't mean they should be aimed only at toddlers... and the whole point of using established familiar IP is you can leap frog off existing notions and characters. They do none of that to play into why any of these characters matter except for Mama.

I mean.. if you aren't the type that goes 'oh wow, look its tiana!' or 'look it's louis!' -- does anything in the story or setting resonate at all? What will be the memorable moment people take away from this ride?

Cool lights in the drops? They like the background music?

Literally every short Disney ever made had more character and story than this thing... and this thing has a decade of history behind it, and a 15+min experience to deliver it.

It's an infantile story concept that's shoehorned into the existing ride system, which it's clearly not designed to take advantage of it, so it just muddles through it.

Developing a Tianna story with its own attraction built from the ground up would have done the character so much more justice, rather than doing what they did.

 

[solidyne]

The only real winner in all this mess is Randy Newman.

 

[Incomudro]

The screens on Guardians Tower also have that depth effect but they occasionally blur and lag. Its not as bad as say the Six Flags Metropolis Ride screens, but It still looks wonky to me. I do remember being impressed by the depth effect though. It is a new feature when compared to say, Rio Del Tiempo, or If you had wings, but those were made before I was born so I'm not surprised. One thing I must say for the ride, Is that the animatronics at the begining look more Baxtery with the large eyes and goofy expressions and all, and I do like them. I just wish there were more of them. I mean It's not interesting to me to look at an oversized bottle and a key that look like they belong in a disney store play area, or part of heimleck's chew chew train in DCA. Overall this is very DCA level and not the RSR DCA but the 00s DCA. Like how some of the rides have Joe Rhode level theming and then taper off. Like I said before this ride is C or D ticket quality but needed to be an E. It's not the worst thing I ever saw, but It's not splash mountain and that's the issue. It needed to be on par or greater and it wasn't. Maybe they will learn from their mistakes in Anaheim.


Maybe they will just be stubborn.

I see another main issue with this ride being it's core audience crying because they aren't tall enough to ride.

Lots of sad little princesses will be created from here on in....

Either way it's going to be trippy bringing my Plushie Brer Rabbit on it and having that be the only Brer Rabbit in splash mountain.

If it's any consolation to those sad little Princesses, the movie they know and love isn't in the ride anyway.

 

[Incomudro]

I boil it down even further...

"we're throwing a party" - This in itself is uninspiring and flat. Party for what? For who? The fact sheet makes it out that they are celebrating Mardis Gras - but does that come across in the attraction at all? They have a few props in the queue (like the newspaper on the table)... and the horrible sign above the lift hill.. then its right into 'lets find some musicians for our party'. Mardis Gras isn't really conveyed in the conventional sense at all before this that I can tell.. This whole thing is like we get is like a 3yr old version of a story book "Tiana is throwing a party!" -- It does nothing to get you emotionally attached.

"we need to find some band members" -- A conflict .. but setup where? What tension? Where did this come from? Then they solve the problem in the very first indoor scene... hey, here's a band... yet, it's not really solved.. so we need what.. to find more band!! It's insultingly dumbed down.

The whole thing plays out like a story book you read a 1yr old.

And while attraction plots do need to be simple because of the speed and audience... that doesn't mean they should be aimed only at toddlers... and the whole point of using established familiar IP is you can leap frog off existing notions and characters. They do none of that to play into why any of these characters matter except for Mama.

I mean.. if you aren't the type that goes 'oh wow, look its tiana!' or 'look it's louis!' -- does anything in the story or setting resonate at all? What will be the memorable moment people take away from this ride?

Cool lights in the drops? They like the background music?

Literally every short Disney ever made had more character and story than this thing... and this thing has a decade of history behind it, and a 15+min experience to deliver it.

"Here's a band!"
Yes, that part really bothers me.
We're supposed to go into the bayou to find critters to form a band- which in itself makes NO sense especially in New Orleans.
But allowing for that 'cause Disney I guess... Why do we happen upon them fully assembled as a band?
It would play out better if we found a critter here, a couple there etc., saw that they played - and somehow got them together to play.

 

[Disney Analyst]

This is the first POV I've noticed where Tiana is waving at the incoming log before it gets to her, unsure if this just because they are the first log in the cycle , or what.



(but also noticing moments not triggering, Louis didn't react at all in first scene).

 

[tongaloosh]

So "turbocharge" is just the new hidden Mickey, right?

 

[Big Ben]

"The ability to please Katiebug and her little princess is insignificant next to the power of the Laughing Place."

Well said!

 

[Ice Gator]

This is the first POV I've noticed where Tiana is waving at the incoming log before it gets to her

Ngl I think this is the best animatronic in the whole ride. That second lift has always felt empty when it was Splash. Disneyland’s version had a little owl but it didn’t add much. This was a good move to include an animatronic in a portion of the ride that was previously empty.

 

[Serpico Jones]

It’s sorely missing the somewhat sinister atmosphere that SM had before the big drop at the end.

 

[TP2000]

The Photopass folio is labeled "Celebrating Mardi Gras With Princess Tiana" and it has a thank you note in it from Tiana where her first line to us is "Thank you for coming to our Mardi Gras celebration!"

What the heck? We were celebrating Mardi Gras? That's never mentioned on the ride in dialogue or lyrics, and the words "Mardi Gras" never appear on any of the banners or signage in the ride.

This was a Mardi Gras party in February? You never told us that, Tiana.

Why is this ride so messy and incoherent?

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

My guess is that the general reaction to the ride will be fine, because the ride itself is fine.

Most people familiar with both versions will feel like Splash was better and the new version is just... fine.

Years ago I worked the log flume at our local amusement park and it was incredibly popular despite having very basic theming, TBA is going to be popular because it’s a log flume, I agree the vast majority of riders will get off thinking it’s not as good as Splash though.

Does anyone think that all of this negative backlash will cause them to rework the ride?

My gut reaction is no but I never thought they’d change Harmonious after a year either and they did that.

 

[tongaloosh]

Another nit-pick: they may need to adjust the lighting given this is a high quality AA that I assume they want the audience to fully appreciate. From the view of the rider the shadow cast from her hand appears to be blocking her face a significant amount of the time in this scene.

To me, the shadow from her hand during her idle animation makes it look like she's, er, trying to "dig a little deeper" herself (right up her nose)