We are getting some more details on what Disney has in store for guests on its new "Th Princess and the Frog" rides at Disneyland and Walt Disney World this year.
Walt Disney Imagineering's Ted Robledo took a New Orleans newspaper writer on a construction tour of the Walt Disney World construction site for Tiana's Bayou Adventure. You can read their report at, Here's a sneak peek at Disney World's New Orleans-inspired attraction, Tiana's Bayou Adventure.
To summarize the main take-aways, much of what the writer saw has been revealed by Disney already. We know that the former Splash Mountain is now a salt dome outside New Orleans, where the Tiana's Food cooperative is working to produce beignets and other delights for hungry New Orleans diners. But Tiana is missing a secret ingredient, which we will be asked to find on our Bayou Adventure ride.
The barn through which guests entered the former Splash Mountain queue is still there, but Disney has painted it yellow and commissioned Louisiana artist Malaika Favorite to paint a mural on its facade. The barn is now the Tiana's Foods offices. An old-timey radio show will be playing on speakers in the queue, featuring period-style music performed by New Orleans musicians led by Grammy Award-winner Terence Blanchard. [See our previous post, Here's how Disney is cooking up the story for Tiana's Bayou Adventure.]
The flume ride on Tiana's Bayou Adventure will be physically the same as on Splash Mountain, but Disney has stripped the mountain of its foliage, replacing it with plants native to Louisiana.
Guests on the new ride will encounter multiple Tiana animatronics, which will be of the same class as the new Frozen Ever After ride, which we rode when it opened in November at Hong Kong Disneyland. [See Disney does it again with Hong Kong's new 'Frozen' land for an on-ride POV.]
The WDI construction tour did not continue through to the final show scene from Splash Mountain - the Laughin' Place riverboat scene - so we do not yet know what Disney has planned for that. All Robledo would say is that the scene will involve "magic" - which is WDI's go-to term for pretty much anything it does not wish to publicly discuss.
Tiana's Bayou Adventure will debut at Disneyland and Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom on a date to be announced sometime in the back half of the year.
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I still say and was hoping for Splash Mountain to become UP or Coco..
Both movies were great and could have been rethemed there. I know the Disney fans will say something like 'it is in whatever land and has to fit with the theming.'
bla bla bla
For me, I'm still skeptical about this retheme. I think what they do with the "Laughing Place" scenes will determine the success of the revamped attraction. Those scenes are the most exciting part of the ride aside from the main drop, so if WDI can figure out a way to integrate some tension into the ride there (Dr. Facillier PLEASE), it might work. However, if they go all ham-handed and lean too hard into the "secret ingredient" nonsense WDI's been pushing, it will undermine the feel and natural flow of the ride system/layout.
I agree with Fattyackin, the idea of an underground grocery store / food preparation area is gross and weird. I mean, would you eat food prepared underground by opossums and rats? The missing ingredient is dysentery.
The way they keep repeatedly leaning into "local art" also raises my suspicions. It's like they think they're going to shield themselves from criticism if they rely on enough "local artisans." Gee, that weathervane sure is mediocre, but it was created by a local artisan so I guess we're not allowed to criticize it!
The reference to the Frozen ride is also telling, it's like they're trying to temper expectations by referencing mediocrity.
The original ride was built around the story. Now it sounds like a ride in search of a story. Ugh.
Another imagineering win lol and I’m sure it will compete well with epic universe attractions
y'all are massively overthinking this lmao.
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Still raising my hand in class that I’m excited for this. I dig how hard they are leaning into the New Orleans setting. I’m setting the over / under for how long it takes for a comment to be made about “how stupid this conceit is and this gonna be dumb and Disney is so stupid so is Tiana blah blah blah” at 5 posts in. I think I’m gonna take the under…