Tiana's Bayou Adventure (Now Open)

[rhino4evr]

Mardi gras only happens once a year, so maybe that’s why it’s no mentioned . It also hold religious implication .

 

[GA-MBIT]

Happy Pride Month to Ryan's Dad and his Gay Gator Animatronic husband!!

 

[boomerthom]

Yeah I think there needed to be some element of peril with the drop. For a refresh of a ride that once had posters in the queue with FIFTY FOOT PLUNGE AHEAD! in bright red letters, it just kinda...happens?

The omission of Facilier and Friends on the Other Side blaring ARE YOU READYYYY during the lift hill is just such an insane missed opportunity that I can't believe it's not there.

 

[HandsomePete]

When do CMs get to start riding? This week? Looking forward to hearing their reactions.

Today. Guessing it will be the typical no photos sort of thing (although maybe not if they just posted a full ride through) but the oh my gosh it’s amazing posts will probably start soon.

 

[Jake S]

Looks great! Beautiful sets, impressive animatronics and a good vibe.

 

[Wigglepebbles]

I don’t find the lack of peril as a detriment, it’s a family ride and a happier tone eases children better for a big drop. Maybe the pov dosent show it but some yellow projection mapping at the start of the lift would help a lot.
It’s cute, catchy music and better than the rotting and archaic animatronics from Splash and the integration of screens is balanced IMO. I can understand why some may not vibe with it as the storyline is ok.

 

[HandsomePete]

Maybe they’re going for an element of surprise with the drop. Or as surprising as a drop that has existed for 32 years can be.

 

[Paulio]

So I watched the whole thing. I have to say in simple terms that the narrative in the ride is weak and there’s simply no villains in the ride that makes you pump up and tense. If we are replacing something that works we better make sure what we replace it with is as good or better than what we are replacing. Seems like Disney has forgot that very small detail.

 

[OrlLover]

I’m glad they released this POV early to get ahead of all the bloggers, vloggers and other Internet personalities.

Screen usage was well balanced with animatronics throughout the ride. I feel the transformation to the Bayou setting was really well done.

 

[GA-MBIT]

I've been talking about this for a long time now, but I always felt like the drop in the Tiana version would feel much different than the Splash Mountain version. Without even seeing the POV, the song choice and general upbeat tone of the lighting and ride up to that point will lead to a thrilling, but not scary experience. I think that's fine, at least in theory, and for younger visitors might help them get more used to bigger thrill attractions that are more scary like ToT or Everest. Kids will still be scared of the drop itself before their first ride. Kids are often freaked out by big drops no matter what the theme or tone. The final drop is an incredibly prominent element of the facade and all of the little drops build up anticipation for it, same as they did for Splash. It's just got a different, more accessible vibe now.

I can understand not liking the new tone, or preferring the old version, I'm sure I will feel a similar way to a certain extent once I get around to riding it myself. But this was always the way the drop was going to be handled, so long as Facilier wasn't in the mix.

 

[Ridesandstuff]

The scenes that are present are really good but I feel like theres a lot of empty space where theres only foliage to look at. There def could be a lot more life in between major show scenes even if they were static figures or more simple animatronics. Like some herons bobbing for fish or something

 

[SeventyOne]

Granted, basing this off a POV, but a certain je ne sais quoi is missing. Visually, it's definitely an upgrade.

The bayou scene, which draws heavily from the film, is undoubtedly the best scene.

Tension, as has been mentioned repeatedly, but also whimsey, The original found the right balance of both, these feels like the creators deliberately sought to avoid both.

Screenz on screen are always the worst, but the CGI animation stands out more than even a Universal ride in this video as well. What animatronics there are seem great tho, at least in A-mode.

 

[Trumen882]

This is just so boring unfortunately. There's no tension or storytelling.

Some nice animatronics, but this is a giant miss for me and big downgrade from Splash(which was a must-ride for me).

 

[OrlLover]

Unfortunately this was the plussed up version we got versus the original plans.

The budget according to insiders was much smaller until Iger demanded more and this is the final result.

The amount of animatronics we got wasn’t even in the original iteration with screens being predominantly used.

 

[BatCom]

Unfortunately this was the plussed up version we got versus the original plans.

The budget according to insiders was much smaller until Iger demanded more and this is the final result.

The amount of animatronics we got wasn’t even in the original iteration with screens being predominantly used.

Depends who you talk to.

The most repeated story I’ve heard is that Disney was genuinely surprised by the intensity of the backlash against removing Splash, and the budget was significantly increased from the original plan as a result.

There’s a separate story that floated around that Iger called the ride “boring” after a ride check during construction. Insiders have been divided amongst each other over whether that really happened or not.

 

[OrlLover]

Depends who you talk to.

The most repeated story I’ve heard is that Disney was genuinely surprised by the intensity of the backlash against removing Splash, and the budget was significantly increased from the original plan as a result.

There’s a separate story that floated around that Iger called the ride “boring” after a ride check during construction. Insiders have been divided amongst each other over whether that really happened or not.

Which is unbelievable considering it was a really popular ride.

 

[Freak]

Just watched the POV Disney posted. Here are my thoughts on what I watched:

**Yeah, I know. Watching a POV isn't the same as actually riding it. But the POV gives me a good idea as to what to expect.

I'll start with the good. Those animatronics are stunning. I'm sure they'll look even better in person. Louis and Tiana move very fluidly, but will they actually last? Also, some of the bayou scenic in general is a bit of an upgrade. It looks nice though it looks a bit Nav'i River Journey-ish.

But overall, this is a huge downgrade from Splash Mountain. There are a lot of dead spaces on this ride. What's even more egregious is that there are multiple scenes where they replaced the plethora of (albeit outdated) AAs with screens. It feels bland. It feels "safe". It feels bare. It feels insincere. Also, the overall tone is just too happy. There is no sense of ominous tone or peril when we're about to go down the drop.

I'm convinced that Iger had a creative meeting with Imagineering and asked them, "Okay, let's brainstorm. What will make this retheme great?" After throwing out said ideas, Iger just said, "Okay, we're not gonna do that." They put way, way, way, way, way too much thought into the research and story (Or lack thereof) when all they could've done was just retell the Princess and the Frog from the bayou portion on from the movie.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure had a lot to live up to with what Splash had. They really needed to go all-in on this. They had to make this great. They had to incorporate some of the ques that Splash Mountain did (i.e. the tone of dread going over the final drop, the book report format, etc)...but they didn't. They just got by (At least from what I see) with just "that's good enough". I don't care if your budget is tight. You have to live up to your replacement.

Disney could have made a great overlay. Hearing Friends from the Other side before the drop and seeing Facilier at the top would have been amazing. But nope, we got this instead. This is one of the biggest fumbles Disney has done IMO. They had an opportunity to make something actually great, and they didn't.

 

[Cwoolboy]

Well, at least it's better than the Frozen re-theme Maelstrom got. That said, yeah, the story really should have been better. We are recruited to find musicians in the Bayou for Tiana's celebration...and that's really about it. There is absolutely no story progression whatsoever from when you start the ride to when you disembark your log. Disney claimed they had this idea for years before they closed Splash, but I don't buy it. The ride looks cute enough, and I don't hate what I see...but it's nowhere near the level Splash was (Incredible AAs aside).

 

[saint.piss]

It's honestly so awesome to hear nothing but positive things so far from people about the ride, I haven't seen many negative comments regarding the ride footage and a lot of people are excited.

....

 

[belloq87]

Wasn’t there supposed to be some sort of incredible mist effect never seen in a theme park before at the top of the lift hill before the big drop? Either it wasn't turned on... or it's definitely stuff we've seen before. I don't think such an effect would "fix" the very low-key buildup to the drop, but something really dazzling up there couldn't hurt.

Anyway, on first viewing of the ride-through, it didn't immediately jump out at me that there were some dead areas, but now having watched it synchronized with a ride-through of Splash Mountain... I see the complaint. By modern Disney/Universal standards, Tiana's has a quite large cast of AAs and figures, but it's dwarfed by what Splash had.