New attraction spotlight: Tiana's Bayou Adventure

I still hope they are just hiding the Voodoo spirits are part of the ride. If they don't have them chanting "Are you ready?" on the way up the hill, then it is the greatest missed opportunity ever.

100% Darron. If this ride doesn't have at least one scene devoted to Dr. Facillier (most notably the former "Laughing Place" section of the attraction), WDI should be charged with negligence.

I'm reserving judgement until I ride this for myself, because I was very skeptical of the transformation of Maelstrom into Frozen Ever After, and WDI proved me wrong with that reskinning. I'm hopeful that they can pull a rabbit out of the hat here (probably not Brer Rabbit though), but I'm just not getting the warm and fuzzies from this project. My skepticism of Frozen (and MMRR to a lesser extent) was assuaged by some solid previsualization and technology displayed by WDI prior to the opening, but given the short and unique layout of Maelstrom, there was not a ton of storytelling to be done over the course of the reimagined attraction. Splash has a long, layered, layout that requires a pretty detailed story that WDI indicates will be an extension of the original PatF plot. That's what worries me, because they're building an all new story instead of relying on the existing story for this attraction, like what was done for Frozen. I guess we'll have to wait and see what WDI has in store, because they've been pretty mum on what I think is the most important aspect for this attraction, which is the actual story that meshes with the natural layout of the flume.

I think that final point you make, Russell, is the reason why WDI had to go with the original storyline rather than create a "book report" attraction for TBA. (I love that that is the initialism for Tiana's Bayou Adventure, BTW. It's not up there with the iconic Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor and Alien Swirling Saucers, but it's close.)

Highly unpopular opinion time: I think this is gonna be awesome. Splash will always be near and dear to our hearts, and understandably so. But 2 things can be true at the same time. Splash can remain awesome in our memories and this new iteration can also deliver new cherished memories. It could, of course, suck royally. I think what’s really gonna suck is the new demand to ride this will make old wait times seem trite.

Have to go with fattyackin on this one as at least see how it finally looks to judge. I'll miss the old Splash but then a lot of Disney ride changes I've gone through to love new version as much.

I still feel like this is a make it or break it attraction for Disney. If they're able to deliver something worthy of being considered among the best attractions at WDW and DLR, respectively, it may silence a lot of the naysayers who feel Disney doesn't have it anymore and might encourage exploration of IPs not massive enough to warrant a new themed land once again. If, however, the new attraction flops, I could see it souring a lot of people on Disney and ultimately weakening demand for park visits, especially in Florida. Regardless of your personal feelings on Splash Mountain, it was in the top five Magic Kingdom attractions and top ten Disneyland attractions in terms of popularity at the time of its closure, so there is not a whole lot of margin for error when it comes to creating a satisfactory replacement.

As for me, I'm not expecting to like the ride as much as Splash Mountain based on what I've heard regarding it, but I'll reserve final judgment until I get an opportunity to ride it at Disneyland (hopefully during my annual holiday visit). Disney has certainly impressed me with redos of attractions in the past (most notably Tower of Terror > Guardians of the Galaxy), but there have also been several that I simply don't care for (Snow White's Enchanted Wish, Pixar Pier, etc.), so we'll just have to see which side this one winds up landing on.

I think Splash Mountain will remain a misty-eyed recollection on the Pepperidge Farm package of the collection psyche of those who enjoyed it during its life cycle. But for kids that have never seen, heard of, or have any emotional tie to the animated characters and songs from Song of the South I think that a Tiana theme will be just as popular. Number one, and most importantly, it’s a large beautifully themed mountain that invites onlookers to ride with its highly effective placemaking and views while walking up to the attraction. It’s the ultimate “attraction as a weenie” ride, in how it’s perfectly placed across the eye line over Rivers of America (speaking only for the WDW version here). Secondly, it’s a water-based flume ride that delivers cooling dark ride show scenes, thrills that walk the fine line between being good enough for adults and tykes as well, and it’s an welcome respite from the FL heat (the irony of it being rethemed to an actual swamp is delicious though). And lastly, it’s not as if Song of the South is an IP that is beloved (outside of Splash Mountain anyway). Kids can’t watch the animated portions on Disney+, so they won’t know what they are even missing. They can, however, watch The Princess and the Frog and probably already have. I have every bit of confidence that Imagineering put as much into this as they could, knowing full well how beloved Splash is / was. I fully expect this to be a massively popular return when it reopens. I mean, you could broadcast C-Span and give folks a 10-minute dark water ride around it and it would still have a big line. I feel like a lot of the easy low-hanging fruit attacks this reimagining is receiving is just meant for click-bait and trolling from people who just want to see it fail because of the current popular anti-Disney narrative. My opinion

@fattyackin - I don't think the criticism is because of a general anti-Disney narrative nor as click bait - sites create click bait out of anything coming out of Disney, so anything new surrounding this attraction (or any other new attraction) is going to generate that anyway.

However, I think what made Splash work so well is that it was completely disconnected from Song of the South. The characters, music, and overall setting came from the controversial film, but it's not like you needed to watch Song of the South to understand what was going on or to further delve into the stories of Brer Rabbit and his pals. Splash Mountain stood on its own merits, and was essentially a self-contained story separate from Song of the South.

I will agree that the ride itself will remain popular for the simple reason that it is a long water ride with air-conditioned indoor section that is widely accessible given its thrill factor (low height restriction - 40"). You could reskin it to Oliver and Company, Aristocats, or any other mediocre Disney IP and it would still not take away the appeal of the attraction from a cooling and thrill perspective (or the Insta-popularity of the on-ride photo from the big drop). It's not like people are NOT going ride TBA on a typical 90+ degree 80% humidity Florida day (or a sunny California afternoon) because they stripped the ride of its original theming. However, I do think the layout of the attraction, and particularly the length, present a unique challenge for WDI to keep guests engaged in the new story enough to want to ride again or to want to ride on those rare 50-60 degree days. That is where my skepticism lies and whether there's enough story to tell beyond what we already know from PatF. My issue is that WDI has not indicated what will fill those gaps beyond the basic premise of the new story (looking for the secret ingredient). The layout would indicate the trope of "something goes terribly wrong", but what that "something" will be is unclear.

Splash also had the benefit of having real stakes built into the storyline - if Brer Rabbit doesn't escape he will be eaten. It's an actual fluid story.

Both fair points

Giving Disney credit where it's due, they do have a pretty good track record of retheming attractions. Tower of Terror is just as good (IMHO far more fun) with Guardians breakout, the Frozen retheme worked well, seasonal rethemes of Space Mountain and Haunted Mansion are great, the Incredicoaster only improved the ride and Nemo's submarine brought new legs to a tired old ride (even if it still needs to be scrapped).

I've never seen the Princess and the Frog, and I love Splash Mountain, but I'm excited to see what they do with this classic attraction.

TBA is a make it or break it for Disney … lol - it’s the same ride ! It’s just a cost effective way of marketing a new ride when in fact you just refreshed the old one, which nobody outside the diehards are remotely impressed.