Just got back from a one-day Disneyland trip with my wife and kids. First time trying Tiana's Bayou Adventure, and I have to say everyone was pretty underwhelmed as far as first impressions.
My daughter - who loves the Princess and the Frog movie -- thought it lacked story, was disappointed that they had new songs instead of some of the cooler ones from the movie, and ignored the Shadowman character completely. My wife, who also loves the Princess and the Frog movie, was also very disappointed.
Everyone thought it felt fast and rushed instead of a slow trip where you could take things in.
They thought the old Splash Mountain was tied with Space for "best mountain" but now believe this version is the worst of the three.
Of course, it was quite cold by the time we were on the ride and everyone got wet which also may have influenced it.
Also: I got a Disneyland survey today and it had a lot of questions about Tiana's Adventure and whether things were totally working or not.
So:
- What do others think of the Tiana ride ??
- Is it better on repeated rides ??
- Are there cool elements that we missed somehow or may not have been working ??
- Is the Florida version better/worse/the same ??
I have not ridden Tiana's bayou adventure, do take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I believe that it's not as terrible as people think. As a replacement, sure, it sucks. But the animatronics look good, the queue is fun, and the scenery is interesting at the very least. The only real problem I see is the lack of cohesive story besides "gather up critters for the whole party" and no villain to tie it together. Just because it isn't perfect doesn't mean it's better than most dark rides that universal has to offer.
I got to experience this one last month, and here's an excerpt from a review I wrote for it that summarizes my thoughts pretty well:
If Splash Mountain never existed, I think Tiana's Bayou Adventure would be a perfectly adequate D-ticket attraction. It's not really a great fit for a thrill ride, but were it done as a slow moving dark ride with the exact same scenes I think it would have worked well. As a replacement for Splash Mountain, though, it was honestly pretty disappointing. I really wanted to like the ride more than I did, but instead of something I'd make a point of riding every visit, this is probably one that will be like "eh, I'll ride it if I can but won't regret missing it if I don't."
Most disappointing to me is that it probably wouldn't have taken a lot to make it a markedly better ride, as about 80% of the ride is at least decent. The problem is a major element of the film is completely missing, and if that were incorporated instead of, well, Mama Odie's nonsense, I think it would have worked much better as an overlay on what is arguably Disneyland's most thrilling attraction.
Personally, I wouldn't say it's worth a special trip to check this one out. Next time you wind up visiting Disneyland/Walt Disney World, take the time to experience it and form your own opinions (it's definitely been polarizing among fans), but if you aren't currently planning a visit, you're fine waiting until you go to see Tiana's Bayou Adventure.