When the ride has to tell you what's going on so that you understand - it lacks the ability to allow a rider immersion into a fantasy world. "We're gonna find musicians... ". "We're gonna shrink you...". "We're gonna make you big..". "We're gonna take a shortcut and make a big splash...".
Also Tiana's Bayou Adventure takes place during the Mississippi River flooding disaster year of 1927. They need to change the story to Come on the ride to support the flooding victims in remembrance of them to pay tribute to them.
The biggest problem with Tiana's Bayou retheme is the main drop makes no sense in the story as it has no relevance. In Splash Mountain, the story shows how Brer Rabbit leaves his old life at home to go on a grand and colorful journey (demonstrated perfectly as the colorful inside portion starts right after seeing his old home). During this journey, he is shown as carefree and has no fear of consequences. It's only at the bottom of the lift hill when the climax takes place, a dramatic shift of dread takes root as he is captured and really sets up the feelings of tension and no escape as to what happens next. After braving the drop, you're rewarded with a welcome home celebration as sigh of relief passes through as you know you are safe now. For Tiana's, the drop doesn't really fit into the story as it feels kind of there and happens. It's a bit odd to me that the hill couldn't be incorporated in meaningful way into the story other than to make a "splash" at the party considering its the main draw of the ride when looking at it from the outside. Because of how it's executed, I feel like the finale for Tiana's has much less of an emotional impact on me than splash did. But hey, those animals sure can play.
I like Tom, but I have to disagree with him here. It’s not a “dumb” argument to say the story in TBA is not as good. There is little to no conflict in the story for TBA, whereas Splash had one of the best buildups to conflict and resolution. Edit: Finally was able to watch the entire review. I give the guys credit for acknowledging my point above.
@@CraigP71 Agreed. The premise for Splash was straightforward with a crescendo that led up to the drop; TBA's premise is overly convoluted and builds no tension because there are no stakes.
So, Tiana's Mama Odie turned us into tiny frogs, and we had to go to the old laughing place to find the frog band and some spice for the party. Mama Odie was all like, "Good job, y'all!" and then she made us big again. We brought the band and spice to Tiana's party, and it was a blast! Magic and fun, what's not to love?
39:50. That's the problem. They are telling you what is happening. The story is not the problem, its the execution. It is always better to show not tell. There is so much telling in this story because they know if they didn't the story not many people would know what is going on, which is a massive let down for this attraction
Good point. Tiana is essentially reduced to a gesticulating narrator. She isn't actively DOING a thing. She pops up to remind us what's going on and really is giving Dora the Explorer.
@@WestinNReptarYou mean dressing in a safari outfit to nudge your daughter to pester you to buy her safari outfit doll at the exit gift shop isn’t doing something?? /s
To get the balance right, the kitchen scene in the queue should have an animatronic of Naveen, covered in flour and icing sugar, completely out of his depth, and with the armadillo casually stealing a colander.
Tiana's Bayou Adventure commits the worst sin. No not that it's bad, it's that it's BORING. Also why is she in that safari outfit so many times in the ride when she never wears in once in the movie?
@@WDWNT I love this is your response. The answer is because they are cheap, is why they stuck her in the same costume. Congrats on becoming a Disney Shill.
@@WDWNT It SHOULD be the movie. That's the point. Splash Mountain was Brer Rabbit's stories from Song of the South. They created a piece of garbage story with zero thought.
There was a BETTER story for splash than this redo Tom. Brer Rabbit was running away from home because he thought his happy place was someplace far away, but as his adventures and capture taught him his home WAS his happy place and that's where he wanted to stay. That was an old black folktale. Replaced by what, finding spices for a party for a co-op founded in a SALT MINE? Which is a place slaves worked! As well as throughout history if you were to be punished, you were put to work in a salt mine. This WILL look bad very quickly. This won't hold up like Splash had for so long.
People are disappointed that Tiana is no longer a princess on this ride. She was the first black Disney princess, but all of that is ignored now. She's a businesswoman and a lounge singer. That's all. Tiana gets the biggest, baddest, most beloved ride in the whole park all to herself - far bigger than what any of the other princesses ever got - and now she's a businesswoman and a lounge singer? Her prince is just another guy in the background. You'd never know that was supposed to be Prince Naveen. Her iconic water-lily gown is forgotten. *That* is what's so incredibly disappointing about this, for those who love Tiana. None of the other princesses got demoted like this, but she sure did. I'd like to know who made the decision to take away Tiana's crown and title, because that's exactly what they did.
Splash had the meaningful message of outwitting your bullies. Tiana's story has no emotional spectrum, it's monotonous. The drop and mountain itself make no sense in the bayou (nor the story). Music is worse but that's a given. It's a princess ride with a thrill ride's height requirement. Other than queue, which to me is ugly and overdone, there's nothing that's been objectively improved. I'd take more animatronics over a few high end ones and screens...
@@WDWNT It's about not giving up, and persevering in the face of seemingly unsurmountable adversity. Much more meaningful than "let's get to the party", wouldn't you agree?
@@WDWNT there’s a deeper lesson in the story than just the action fox chases rabbit. It’s Brer Rabbit being able to use his mind to outsmart his captures, but more importantly the fable illustrates Brer rabbits want to leave home and find adventure and once he runs into danger and escapes and comes back home and realizes that he was fine where he was. It’s like basicly said in the song and said in the finale scene. The ride also never telled what was going and never had to because each song and commentary by a character perfectly showed what was happening and made it easy to follow. This new ride has no purpose in its story, there’s no adventure to it. Your drifting down a bayou seeing animals with instruments, and tiana and Louis, tell you half way through your recruiting them
Tom, I disagree with the notion that an attraction's replacement must be "as good or better", no, it has to be BETTER in every way. Especially when you're talking about what was(according to polls) the most famous and most beloved attraction on the globe. If it's a downgrade or equal in many ways, then it's not an overall improvement and does not warrant a replacement.
Mark my words: in a year and a half this will be lazily reskinned as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure with Figment. Nobody will like that better, and they will turn much of the mountain into a poorly attended DVC lounge.
Brer Roadrunner was voiced by an Imagineer that worked in the IRC in the 1990s and early 2000s. He is a wonderful, kind-hearted human being who was beloved by his fellow Imagineers. He never had a high-level position; he took satisfaction out of serving his coworkers. He had a natural southern accent and the project team thought it would be fun to give him a speaking role in the attraction. He loved that he got to voice Brer Roadrunner. He was laid off in the tourism downturn in aftermath of 9/11 and all the projects that opened in 2001-2005. He would be devastated to hear that comment.
Yeah they ignore conservative morals and values but think voodoo magic crosses a line? I don't get it... They probably just thought it was too scary or simply wanted to move past the movie ending with him now gone. Even him as spirit talking would have been a nice touch.
@@sideeswipe for me and many others the word conservative doesn't mean that. Not every old horrible action belongs to the word conservative but rather people and culture of the time. Disney does change with the times but it generally tried being neutral to family values. We may disagree on what those are.
It’s actually more likely due to the fact that voodoo (Vodou) is a religion yet the movie presents the over-simplified/scary Hollywood version. It would be ironic to get rid of a ride for its insensitivity to African Americans only to put in a new ride with elements of insensitivity to that same culture. However, they do include Dr. F in other areas of the park. Though he could be more easily removed from stage shows etc. if people threw a fit in the future. It would be harder to remove him from the ride. 🤷♀️
Audiences would criticize these kinds of imperfections in a movie, so why should audiences tolerate such things in an attraction? People are traveling thousands of miles and each paying thousands of dollars to visit these places.
I think the difference between Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise and Tiana’s is that those former attractions didn’t have a story already established with the public to compare them to. The Princess and the Frog HAS a beloved story. Therefore, the story in Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is being compared to that story, where Pirates and Mansion have no prior story to compare to. It’s simply a matter of Bayou Adventure being next to a great movie like Princess and the Frog and on that level the story seems lesser. Mansion and Pirates can get away with less story as there are no perceptions to force a comparison.
Tom the waterfalls in Pirates at DL are essentially you "falling" asleep into a dream and then waking "up" from said dream and coming back to the real world of NOS. Hence the drastic location change... You fall asleep to the serene banjo playing in the bayou! lol
@@WDWNT Marc Davis and Tony Baxter have stated they view it this way... It may not have been the original intent when built, but it makes perfect sense as the explanation for the waterfalls and drastic change of setting. It's exactly how it felt to me, so it's how I naturally viewed it as a kid too. You start hearing the Jolly Rodger's narration in the distance get louder and louder as you enter the dark tunnel, drifting off...the grotto is your minds placemaking, and the dream gets more vivid and intense as you fall into deep sleep 🤷♂
I totally agree about the importance of vignettes that are designed to intrigue and please the eye, even if they're static. That's exactly what made the flow of Splash so addictive and satisfying. It was a strength of Imagineering that seems to be replaced by a conviction in having more and more amazing stand-out animatronics while the rest of the ride doesn't deliver. I get it, people do get in line to see the amazing animatronics. But the overall effect is diminished, and we see that clearly with the reception of these rides. Despite the tech, people find swaths of it "boring" and "lifeless", because they are. Huge red flag. I miss the days when technology was truly only used to support the story and feel.
I thought Splash had an easy to follow story with a moral to boot. It was very interesting from start to finish. The bad guys didn't win, the hero outsmarted the bad guys. Biggest plus for me, the music!!!
As far as tom’s take on the story, way to ostracize it. There was more to it than “fox and bear eat rabbit” and you know it! Its about finding your happiness where you are, where your home is. That aside, you completely missed the mark in not mentioning Splash’s strong point was the MUSIC. We can move on and move forward because what choice do we have but lets not pretend this ride was any less than what it was.
Agreed. The “story” of Splash Mtn was much deeper than he argued. Plus, the story of Splash started right away and lasted the entire ride, vs the new TBA lacking of a good overarching story. Yes TBA may have some good small hidden details that you eventually find, but it’s like Disney needed something for their D level imagineers worked on, while their best imagineers just created something amazing over in Tokyo
@@srb2834agree. It's a coherent story leading you through the ride. The music lyrics fit the story. I'm not American nor native English speaker and have no real knowledge of the background but I had no trouble following the story and found it very engaging and funny. I love the mix of cheerful songs and cute critters with the more exciting and dramatic turns in the story and the more thrilling parts of the ride. Just a wonderful dark ride.
100%. Without the story of being in the place of Brer Rabbit being in danger with the other animals there is no climax, there is no sense of danger seeing the vultures above you knowing your about to go down a long drop. All of that is gone now. There is no sense of danger at all, and I WISH Dr. Faucilier (The best Disney/ Pixar villain in the last 15 years) is not in this ride.
You say that because Splash had a minimal story, people shouldn't harp on Tiana for that, but you also said that when a classic ride gets replaced, we should expect more from the new ride. So which is it?
The fact of the matter is that the three centuries-old folk tales on which Splash Mountain is based are a major part of literature and of African-American culture for a reason. Br'er Rabbit outsmarts Br'ers Fox and Bear.
Many people agree with you @disneyresorfsfan. And those that don't agree accept and tolerate your opinion with grace because all opinions are welcome and matter.
Sports fans pick apart every move a player makes on their favorite sport, and for decades. Food lovers pick art a meal, the look, the taste, the temperature, the plate. Movie fans discuss every frame of a film. Wine lovers can describe a wine in detail with 100 adjectives and argue over it. We are theme park fans. We love Disney and what they create. So we come to talk about it, all of it, every last detail. We pick it apart like no one else because we are passionate, we love it, and we understand it. There is no difference here than anywhere else where it's just a team, it's just a meal, it's just a movie, it's just a glass of wine. It is just a theme park ride. But it's the 'just' that we love to discuss in depth. And I'll never stop because THIS is what I chose to be an uber fan of.
My thoughts on some fixes: -Re: Briar rabbit’s house now being just a hole - it would be swell if WDI had items piled up in there that Larry has stolen. -One simple way they could have filled out where the shed is: just add Naveen, playing alongside the fox or something. Naveen missing is far more jarring than Facilier to me and his absence seems so odd, given how the film builds so much around his and Tiana’s relationship. -Re: the final hill…Why are there not colored bottles all throughout the hill lit up; add some static flamingos even a la Dig A Little Deeper. Finally, just add a sign written by the frogs that says “shortcut to the party” or something
The biggest gamble Disney took was to "retheme" an already "Fantastic" ride! This new ride had to be equal if not better then Splash Mountain. To me, its not. And that what makes it worse for me. If they had build this same ride somewhere else, I would have been "It okay". But the replacement part for me is what makes it the worse.
Everyone seems to be forgetting the range of emotion that Splash Mountain gave us. Tony Baxter and the imagineers of the late 80's masterfully took our emotions on a carefully curated journey that went from joy to excitement, to anticipation, to fear, to relief and then back to joy. I think the conflict is what helped craft that. To not include a villain or any type of real conflict was a big mistake. The ride doesn't have the range of emotion that it used to and to many people, including me, that means it's "less than" it's predecessor.
What I remember from Splash is a bunch of nothing, nothing, broken stuff, and then a lift hill with a little story. That's all it was. There was very little going on until you get to that lift hill. So there's not any anticipation. And there's thrill but not fear going over that hill.
I'm confused. It's "Tiana's Foods" as in it's "hers"...but then says: "employee-owned"? Who's company is it supposed to be? So, we are looking for a missing "spice" on the historic Avery Island salt mine? No,..no,..we are actually looking for a "musician" for the band instead in that salt mine? We then get shrunk down by voodoo that we can't talk about...to help us find this animal musician? No, wait!... the last song said we found the SPICE we were looking for in the salt mine....and YOU were the missing ingredient all along? What happened to that musician we were looking for? This thing was soooo half-baked and NOT very well thought out!
@@SplashWuzRacist-ql7on - Is Disney serious? They seem to have just thrown this together in a very lazy way without putting much thought into it. This ride NEEDS a villian too.
@@WDWNTbut why are they ok with it? My guess is that to many park goers, it was a totally new ride experience with tech they had never seen before. TBA is a used ride system with a re-theme. Granted the animatronics are beautiful. But I could be wrong.
I agree 100%! After regrettably losing Splash, I had high hopes for this new ride but unfortunately, I agree with Bob Iger himself about the experience. He said the ride is completely lackluster and incredibly boring. I feel that the storyline as well as the new music falls flat and the Imagineers totally missed the mark for this.... Stick to the original story and plot, keep the iconic villain with the music and songs we already know and love! It's getting universally panned everywhere because it is not better than the previous ride, nor even equal to Splash Mountain, and it is essentially a downgrade for most. This new upgraded version of Wilderness Tiana gathering vegetables and spices feels like a very bad sequel we never asked for or wanted, which ultimately ends up going straight to Disney+ or home video.
I don't get the logic of making this ride more "kid friendly" when kids have been going on Splash Mountain since the beginning and have never complained. That and there's a height requirement.
Kids who have been going on splash mountain since the beginning were allowed to ride their bikes until dusk in their neighborhood, they were allowed to be latchkey kids, they were allowed to go to libraries by themselves. It's a new generation of kids with, more importantly, a new generation of parents.
It’s missing a villain If it was chasing us and that’s why we have to shrink. And the drop should tension and then the last scene should be release. The animatronics are beautiful but a villain was needed
@@WDWNT Villain isn’t quite an accurate word, but Pirates and Big Thunder both have antagonistic forces intended to provide additional tension on top of the thrilling ride system. The story of pirates is all about how the pirates were killed by the cursed treasure, and Big Thunder is a runaway train through a cursed mine. I’d say a curse is an antagonistic force. Haunted Mansion isn’t meant to be a thrill ride so it doesn’t really have or need tension, but the idea of escaping a fate of being trapped in the mansion is in the story.
@@WDWNTIt's missing a villain because Princess and the Frog had one. Splash also had one and was designed around a true sense of adventure and danger.
@@WDWNTthe dramatic tension is what MAKES so many of the greatest rides so memorable. I don’t want to be eaten by a fox/bear/yeti/alien hanging from the ceiling. I don’t want to be shot by poachers/gangsters. I don’t want to be crushed in a haunted mine, trapped in the twilight zone or become the 1000th happy haunt in a creepy mansion. Even Maelstrom had the trolls cursing you and sending you back almost going over the falls. The ride doesn’t necessarily need a literal villain. But it needs some sort of dramatic tension. Otherwise it’s no better than Na’Vi river journey which we all know is a snooze fest 😴
@@WDWNThaunted mansion and the others are not rides built on the anticipation of one, specific thrill moment - I.e drop. You need some anticipation and level of adrenaline built by a threat in the story to make it exciting!! If they think kids can't handle something like that, the world is in a sorry place
Disneyland is a storytelling park, that is its reason for being. If you don’t think storytelling in DL is paramount then just go to Six Flags for a flume with a big drop.
The issue is, is that it replaced splash. If this was a brand new ride it would be fine, not great, not bad but fine. The fact that it replaced splash mountain which was so good just instantly means unless it’s better or as good it gets hate.
Your simplification of Splash Mountain’s story is very misguided. The depth of story reaches back through the film to folklorist Joel Chandler Harris who stole and compiled vast volumes of African-American lore into engaging the engaging Tales of Uncle Remus. For better or worse, Song of the South took these Tales and told them to the world and presented Walt with the opportunity to lobby a then racist Hollywood to present an Honorary Oscar to James Baskett. This made him the first black actor to win an Oscar and the only actor to ever win an Honorary Oscar for just a single performance. So, to summarize all this as fox and bear want to eat rabbit may just be a joke too far.
Right cause everyone who rides the ride wants to know the deep depth of it. It pretty much just is a tale of a fox and bear hunting a rabbit ho escapes
Here's a way to fix the ending: Cover the opening at the top of the hill with some vegetation or something that blocks sunlight. At the start of the climb, Mama Odie should say "OK all you jammin' critters, time to get to the party! And time to make YOU big again!" Then projected onto the mist or along the walls all the way to the top, animated critters are hopping up and scrambling to the top and doing silly dives and cannon balls over the egde, with cartoon splashes, etc. Then it's your turn!
"I do not make films for children... or, at least, not primarily for children." "You're dead if you aim for kids." "We design the films to appeal to ourselves." "The adults have the money; ... children don't have any money." ‐ Walt Disney
Please remember Walt was a father. He wasn’t some childless, self absorbed consumer. He created the parks because of his girls. He created the parks and movies for the whole family. He was inclusive of all ages.
@@SolemCraft he created the parks because of him.He was the one who did not want to sit on a bench eating peanuts watching his daughters ride the merry-go-round. More than anything else Disneyland was Walt's playground... Luckily for the rest of us, he also knew what we all wanted but didn't know yet.
@@lewaldvogel that is a half truth. He wanted to be included with his daughters. He wanted to create a family park, meaning inclusive to all ages. He didn’t want any thrill rides at the outset of the parks. Right, wrong, or indifferent Walt was creating a place for kids and teens and adults and the elderly. The whole point is to not exclude any age demographic.
I do wish that Disney would have a little more confidence in the realism of their animatronics, because they all seem to be programmed to constantly and excessively wave their arms around like drunkards, thus becoming distracting and completely UN-realistic.
Nailed it! It's as if their goal was to show off how much the arms could flail, instead of asking themselves "Does a person actually move like this?" They didn't use any self-restraint, they were too eager to show off the range of motion and the speed, even though it didn't fit the context at all.
Yes! I’m glad other people notice that too. And like, doesn’t really matter the situation or character - all the humanoid figures seem to move the same. It’s very fluid which is impressive, but between this and Star Wars, it’s getting more noticeable how similar all these figures are
i definitely agree, but i also think it works well for the ip animated characters animatronics? like they are going to be more expressive because they came from an animated movie. but i still do agree with you.
Agree to disagree. I can see what you mean but personally, I rather take those thin animatronics like splash Mountain that aren’t even working half the time.
Tom I trust you to because you are honest with these reviews. This is an objectively worse replacement. Watch Tony Baxter talk about how they planned the buildup of this ride and then try to argue how this is better or will have the same emotional impact … You can’t because it is plainly not there. Why is that not the rant?
The animatronics I have seen so far are about 90% hinged in one place like the okra that moves back and forth, Tiana does move more but as you come up on it it’s just sitting the not moving, strange. Well I never liked the drop so I only did splash twice, and I don’t have to stand in line for this one. If I was the country bears I would fear being replaced by the band in this ride a year or so down the road.
1:00:11 - Agree 1000%. Disney is about the details. What's in the shop windows on Main Street, hidden Mickeys, an immersion in something that takes you out of reality. Once you see a conduit pipe sticking out you feel like you're in Six Flags. Also, some other YT channel posted a mock up of what the final drop could have been. Dr. Facilier singing "Arreee you REEEAADDYY?!?!" as you go up the hill, projection ghosts swirling around, as you approach the drop you're going into a "bright white light" as if reaching the other side, and then the drop. Brilliant. Completely missed by Disney. For that matter, this ride's whole narrative missed any conflict whatsoever. No villain, just a loud party. Boring. We need a villain and conflict.
1:40:08 Eric took the words right out of my mouth. This is my issue with replacing an E-ticket with an IP like this that doesn't fit in the space it was placed.
I feel like for me it could've been such a better ride before the budget cuts. When it was first shown it looked really good but now it just sucks. You shouldn't budget cut a retheme of one of the best rides in the world.
Soo I take a huge gripe with splash mountain story being just bear and fox try to eat rabbit. Splash mountain story was a finding happiness at home not constantly on a journey for a new one. "Home sweet home is the lesson today". Briar rabbit in search for "The laughing place" which turned out to be nowhere lead him into trouble. Also thunder mountain is a runaway ghost train from a failed mining company and space mountain depending on which disneyland your at is different way of experincing space. Disneyworld is toursit hence why its model more after an airport , Disneyland is astronauts hence the space photos of galaxys, and Paris is the same but to a much farther section of the galaxy. Lets not diminish the other great storys for a story that while is ok doesnt have the best pacing as a ride or make the most sense. Tiana imo is alright but could have been way better for how long it took
big thunder mountain has probably the most insane story behind it ever, especially if you counter in disneyland paris's storyline. where did THAT amount of quality in attractions go???
Nevermind the plot, the storytelling is bad. Tom is completely mixing up plot and story. Edit: example, the big drop from Splash was a climactic moment, had build up, had stakes, irony, humor. The big drop for Tiana is... supposed to be climactic? I have no idea what is happening at thay point and i have no interest in what is going on. With brear rabbit being captured and saying "please dont throw me in the briar patch", you dont even need the rest of the context to understand whats going on. Tiana's vibes are off because the STORY is not well conveyed or interesting.
Disney is so focused on pushing the technical marvels like the animatronics that they don’t have the time or budget for story. Same problem with Cosmic Rewind.
It’s not a personal attack on imagineers to say the work is not good enough. The Disney standard has been slipping for years (Tokyo excepted) and this attraction is just another expression of that.
yeah.. i agree. i feel like its not even the imagineers anymore either. its the higher up execs who just want money. i would think most imagineers dont want 90% of what happens anymore in modern disney, which is sad.
I want to believe that they are handcuffed by the C suite. I have to live in reality and understand that they wholeheartedly think they did a great job.
I haven't had the pleaser of riding Tiana'a Bayou Adventures yet, but as far as "Larry the Armadillo" I can say that I sure had fun actually theme painting, sculpting and adding the hair to his chest, knee's and ear's, to all 6 of them, including the umbrella's, from here in Florida and in California.
The one thing I don't understand is the concern about the idea of a possible "Voodoo" scene being put in. The Haunted Mansion has "séance" scene and I have not heard any concerns on that. But I could be wrong.
Voodoo is a real religion with lots of active members. Hollywood still treats it like it’s more of a Merlin casting magic spells. So current Disney thinks it mocks and stereotypes people of the religion.
@@WDWNT It wasn't a great projection, and sometimes wasn't even on, so you're right there... but the scene as a whole was better than random fireflies dancing.
Armchair imagineering: Turn the outdoor queue buildings and barn into a facade of Tiana’s southern mansion or her restaurant. We are invited guests to a party waiting in the outdoor courtyard to enter. The pre show is everyone preparing for the party to realize we don’t have a band. Then Mama O lures us down to the bayou dock telling us beautiful music comes from the bayou and we should go find it. The ride is discovering each animal and their makeshift instrument. Include the shrinking part. Cover the big drop opening that opens just as Mama O makes us big and rushes us to the party. A more straight forward story that doesn’t get complicated with a food coop, in a salt dome.
33:00 TRON’s ILL queue is a great example of an ILL queue done right. You get important info for the ride story as well as some cool effects while also bypassing the line quickly.
The best solution would have been to turn Splash Mountain into the Western Rivers Expedition. Get rid of Tom Sawyer Island, which is another problematic area and built Tiana’s Palace, a restaurant, and a dark ride. The island has plenty of room for it. Original IP, Movie IP, and the removal of two sore subjects.
Yeah the team that had to work on this new project was put in the impossible situation of replacing one of the best attractions in any Disney park. Almost impossible to put something in that space that would be better then Splash in most people’s minds. The main issue with most people is why did splash even need replacement? 99% of all park guests had no idea about song of the south’s ties to these characters. The splash characters also appeared in other things like books and other shows that had nothing to do with song of the south. Yet someone at Disney still decided it needed to go? What a waste….
A Disney Imagineering produced e-ticket attraction shouldn’t take multiple rides to find ways it’s good imo. You should be blown away like the first time you ride any of the classics or dare I say even GotG. Thanks for the review!
I wish we had gotten more of a traditional honest review,. This felt more like a rebuttal to all the negativity swirling around the ride and I'd love to have heard Tom's opinion on Tiana's Bayou Adventure without it being tainted by a defensive tone.
Yeah. I agree. The review takes a weird swerve at the last minute to say “actually this is equally good”. I think the reality is that it’s an okay ride. Not bad, but not as good as splash. I think some of this review comes off as either reveling in being the heel or genuinely shilling for Disney. Maybe the latter is unfair, but this did not feel like a particularly honest review. I can respect that everyone has different tastes and that splash is never coming back, but I feel like things like “oh but there wasn’t an original song” or “look at all these impressive animatronics (that the oriental land company paid for the development of)” don’t really make the overall product better.
@@bstephens4101 Yeah I hare to say but there is a definite sense of integrity being lost. Since when does a ride with that many things not working get a pass?
Tom and Eric, thank you so much for taking the time to discuss this ride. It really does articulate what I liked (and didn't like) about Tiana's Bayou Adventure. It really is better in terms of pure narrative context, which you can see in the queue and first few scenes. What makes Disney attractions what they are is the *emotions* they evoke, and i ageee that emotional mix/journey is the cause of what it is lacking on the lift hill and dull parts of the ride. Evocative of the source material, even when it isn't a "book report" ride.
I don't think Eric appreciates Tom's jokes. He seemed to be getting perturbed especially when Tom was joking about Disney not providing funding and they had to use license plates to clang.
tom said “what’s the narrative in space mountain?” and i said “… you know what i have no idea.” like i said in another comment, everything i have seen being used to critique tba (present company not included lol) has been in bad faith. you as wdwnt shouldn’t have to post a review like this arguing against talking points people only threw out there for the sake of discrediting a ride that isn’t even open to the public yet. the whole culture around this is so unfortunate to me, because to me it seems like an excellent ride 😭
I thought it reminds me of a Disney Junior ride, that has a big enough drop no small kid would really want to ride it. For teens or older, it is terrible. The music isn't something you can sing along to easily, and there's too many empty areas, or paintings on a wall instead of a 3d sculptured ones. Then you have a giant monitor playing the a cartoon that not done well. It's a ride, and in a crowded park, that's a win, but it is poorly done and I'd be stunned if many ride this over and over. Disney struck out on three pitches with this one.
Yup, who is it for?? Fundamentally, it's a long ride with a 40 inch height requirement and a 50 foot drop. Somehow they ignored that and designed a Tiana ride that wants to be shorter, denser, and flatter. It would have been very solid as a new fantasyland dark ride, but it's a complete miss when taking over the Splash Mountain space.
I disagree about the story. Splash Mountain does tell a compelling story, with sound moral lessons. This begins in the que, where we discover words of wisdom laid throughout. On the ride, we experience a story that includes conflict, humor, music, danger, suspense, and finally, release and jubilation! This three-act moral play is done masterfully thought the entire experience. It doesn't need some deep backstory to be explained to us ahead of time. The themes are universal, and relatable, without ever knowing anything about the stories that inspired the ride. Splash Mountain is as close to perfection in the medium of theme park story telling as you can get.
I think it's cool that Eric doesn't laugh at many of Tom's offerings (obviously not a brown noser)--but just as cool--Tom doesn't seem to care and isn't looking for validation.
In a podcast not too long ago Tom cited the over the top southern accented dialog snippets as a reason Splash needed to change. Ironically, this has much, much more of it and yet nary a complaint.
Honestly, hot take, but as problematic as song of the south was, I don’t think Princess and the frog really fixed many of the issues it had. The whole character of Lottie is to let white audiences know that this was a movie for them too! No introspection about the likelihood of black and white girls being besties. Tiana is presented, as uncle Remus was, to essentially be okay with her station and not really willing to accept anyone’s help. And yes, especially since they’ve designed it for toddlers, the ride does present New Orleans and southern cultures in a cloyingly simplistic way.
Never thought I’d see Tom sell out like this. His take on the splash storyline was trash. And if his first reaction was “that was bad, right.” How can he then go on to say it was as good as splash mountain only after re riding and going out of his way to find little small details. The best Disney rides (pirates, haunted mansion) you know the first time you ride those they are masterpieces and then you want to go back and ride to find everything you’ve missed. No one’s reaction is those rides were kind of boring I have to go back and pay closer attention to enjoy the ride.
I have a deep connection to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure because it was the first project announced and completed 😂😂 in my super fandom time. PS: I like having Tom and Eric doing the honest review together
WARNING: ESSAY BELOW Self-disclosure: I grew up on Splash Mountain and have extremely fond memories of experiencing it with my family. I came to love it for its memorable music, storytelling, and characters. I love that Imagineers built a track designed for storytelling, split into interesting parts with each one featuring something new to look at and experience. As I’ve grown, I realize that there are problematic elements in its source material, and of course I saw the technology growing older and older. OTHER IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: I LOVE “Princess and the Frog”, especially as someone who grew up just outside New Orleans. The animation, the storytelling, the characters, it is absolutely gorgeous and is at least in my top 20 Disney animated films if not higher. When Disney announced it was changing Splash Mountain, I was pretty devastated because of the memories I had with the ride, but I also understood Disney’s decision from a company standpoint. A lot of the tech had gotten outdated, and now there were ties to “Song of the South”, a movie that Disney has made no secret it wants to bury, that were becoming more well-known by the public. I did not like the decision, but I understood it and felt it was not my place to deem something problematic or otherwise given my limited understanding of the source material and history. However, I’ve also come to expect a certain level of quality from Disney. Splash Mountain was a beloved ride by many, and if it was going to be replaced it would need to fill every inch with the storytelling everyone has come to expect. Splash had a simple story, but simplicity works given the limited time you have to tell a story on a theme park attraction. It gave you just enough to understand a very basic tale of throwing caution to the wind, dissatisfaction with a peaceful existence, trying to “run from trouble”, and the discovery of new things on the journey while also being reminded that danger lurks in the unknown and there’s no place far enough to run from the trouble you’re created. This all ends in the climactic 50-foot drop, where Brer Rabbit uses his wits to escape trouble and come to the final conclusion that journeys are exciting, but home is where the heart is and where those around you will protect and celebrate you. This is not even taking into account the oral tradition of the original tale that was passed down through generations of African Americans. Splash, for a theme park attraction, had quite a complex story. And it built and utilized its very long track to tell that story fully and in a satisfying matter that was easy for young and old to understand. And again, the important emphasis is that the ride is track is SO long BECAUSE it gives you ample time to tell an effective story. I think Tiana objectively failed in that regard because it does not utilize its track efficiently. And as you mentioned, it is difficult to separate the idea of Tiana’s from the idea of Splash because it utilizes the same exact track. In addition, theme parks are literally created to overwhelm your senses and create memories. So I think it is an impossible task to suddenly ask people to view this ride as its own thing when the track obviously wasn’t built for what they chose to do for Tiana’s. Tiana’s would work better on a Small World-esque track because it’s basically a Small World-esque ride. The entire thing is a smiling, upbeat, nondescript trip down the bayou to a Mardi Gras celebration. There’s no need to include thrilling drops in between the ride sections (besides arguably for the part where Mama Odie shrinks you down) because the ride was not built with drops in mind. And I don’t think Space Mountain is a fair comparison to talk about “well this one didn’t have a story and it’s beloved.” This point is made for this attraction because 1.) the previous attraction put storytelling at the forefront, 2.) Space Mountain DOES tell a story, just a very basic one (you enter a spaceport, and you’re launched into space on a rocket) which relies on ambience and effects to tell the story for them, and 3.) Space Mountain is an old attraction- i.e. theme parks develop. People expect more storytelling and complexity from rides because it’s not the 1970’s anymore. Space Mountain was effective for its time at telling a basic story with revolutionary ride elements, which is why it’s still popular among many today. A good comparison would be “Star Wars: A New Hope”, a BASIC story and a retelling of the hero’s journey formula, but completely heightened due to the effects, the creativity, the ambience, and the music. For Tiana’s, I only expected Disney to put forth a product that 1.) respected the source material of “Princess and the Frog”, a movie they have largely ignored and not shown a lot of love until now, and 2.) tell a good story that utilizes the track which was literally built to tell good story that 3.) revolves around the 50-foot waterfall drop at its center that is viewable from every angle of the outside of the ride. Disney, however, delivered on none of this. They lauded this ride as a sequel to “Princess and the Frog”, but put no forth whatsoever to give us any new information about the characters. There’s no clear goal or conflict; merely that you’re moving along the bayou, gathering ingredients, shrinking and growing, and getting to a Mardi Gras party at the end? Splash Mountain was packed with thrills, with stakes, with Brer Rabbit always just a step ahead of Brer Fox and Brer Bear until the end where Imagineers used lighting, music, and voice acting to convey the sudden gravity of the situation. But there is no ebb and flow in the no ride, there is no conflict, and to put it quite bluntly: there’s no story. A track built for storytelling with no story-it’s a disappointing feeling to say the least, ESPECIALLY when again, this was touted as a SEQUEL to a BEAUTIFUL movie they have ignored for so long. This ride, in my opinion and what I’ve heard from many others, not only disrespects fans of the former ride, it disrespects people who were looking forward to the change either because of the new representation or because they’re fans of “Princess and the Frog.” The reason people loved Splash was because of the storytelling, it’s what got people to return time and time again to experience the ride. The characters, the music, all of it revolved around telling the best story possible utilizing the track fully while teasing a sense of danger from the moment you step foot in front of that 50-foot drop. But it seems that the creatives behind this project did not care that the ride revolves around a 50-foot drop. This ride did not care to tell a story. Yes, it looks beautiful. I praise the set designers, those in charge of lighting, those in charge of animatronics - truly it looks brand new and beautiful. But with that said, it also feels like there’s a lot more empty space on this ride than Splash Mountain had. And I can only attribute that to Disney once again displaying that they’re not willing to put in a little more money and effort to create a project that feels full and complete. There was endless potential to write a worthy sequel to Princess and the Frog in ride form or to tell a shortened version of the original tale. Either way, what we have been left with is a project that is gorgeous and very charming at certain points but that lacks any depth or effort to tell an actual story. Fans of Facilier are left disappointed because of his complete absence. Fans of Tiana and Naveen are disappointed because there’s barely a mention of their love. Even a lot of Tiana fans are disappointed because she’s not wearing her iconic dress or any clothes from the original movie. And again-there is no new information provided about the characters in this ride. They’re just watered-down versions of the characters in the movie who are perpetually smiling and happy because it’s “Mardi Gras” time, or something. At the end of the day, it’s just a ride, and I am a single nerdy Disney adult who cares too much about theme parks. I’ve come to peace with that and with the fact that things change and will continue changing whether we want them to or not. But to get my final 2 cents in: To anyone who asks what makes a good Disney ride or Disney movie, it’s not because of any adherence to maintain a certain brand or feeling-a good Disney product is a product that tells a good story. And I don’t think this ride accomplishes that, or even tried to in the first place-- which unfortunately seems to be the company trend at the moment.
You talk about Bob chapek as CEO versus Bob Iger. I think the return of Bob Iger is as disasters if not more so than Bob Chapel ever thought of being and I think he needs to go also.
Bob Chapek was on his own as CEO for 9 months, I know he’s a convenient punching bag for many reasons but this and all the changes have to be on Iger and Dimauro.
Finally, on your final point... not everyone can afford to go to Tokyo. It might still exist there, but it should have NEVER come this far. I'll never see it as anything more than a mistake.
@@WDWNT Are you comparing the price of a trip to Disneyland (where I'm coming from here) to a vacation to Tokyo? WDW is a good point, but I'm local to Land and it doesn't cost as much as a full trip to another country.
We have to go to Tokyo if we want to see a Haunted Mansion that's free of all the travesties that have been shoveled onto it like manure over the last 20 years.
Yeah flying to Tokyo is exactly the same as flying to Florida - If you're flying first class to Florida both ways; and flying in the back bathroom toilet one way to Tokyo.
@@justintime1234 I can't afford first class. What are you on about lol. Only reason I could ever afford to visit WDW is discounted tickets from people I know.
So far in, I’m disagreeing with almost every take here. Granted, they’ve obviously been on the ride and I haven’t, so I get that. I’ll also fully admit my bias towards Splash Mountain, I just want to be honest. However, I can at least comment to the story and say that Splash DID have a strong story, it was just subtle. I’m perfectly allowed to criticize this ride for having a stupid story
To be fair, the majority of the lyrics were Infact original or new, even when the songs were reused. (With the exception of Laughin’ Place which was all the same) Think of Br’er Turtle or Br’er Gators dialogue and/or Br’er Porcupine’s dialogue for “How Do You Do?” or the new lyrics for Zip a Dee Do-Dah that describe the story.
I don’t think you get to look at or get to know the band animals long enough to get attached. If they had re used them multiple times maybe and they don’t get dialogue
@@WDWNT The Haunted Mansion characters are thought out well enough to really make a powerful visual impression within their individually themed spaces. Likewise, Lari is special, because his design stands out in the themed spaces and his personality is intriguing.The bayou critters are kinda lumped together in groups next to far more advanced animatronics or eye catching screens, making it hard to connect to them individually (without Disney having to explain that they are special through a bunch of exit merch). They are never the star of the show, even if the whole story supposedly revolves around finding them. And with the Country Bears right next door, they really do end up looking like lightweight filler.
Naaa Tom you're BIG trippin, French Market was Walt's last restaurant, no need to mess with perfection. It was an unmatched vibe, they only made it tackier, that's it. I don't need to see corporate movie advertisements dressed as "theming" everywhere I turn. At what point does it become Universal? The charm of walking thru NoS was that it felt like being transported to REAL turn of the century French Quarter!
I see the story complexity point comparing Splash to Tiana. However, Tiana feels like several simple stories smushed together not for complexity but lack of commitment to one idea instead of a singular simple story.
I agree, it's easy to fix the lift hill while keeping things light and happy, but there should be levels to the light and happiness. Mama Odie should really hype you up for the drop, in a fun way. I think they should change the animation at the bottom and change the dialog to something like, "we've gotta get you to that party, don't worry, I know a short cut!" then the animatronic Mama Odie can say something like, "but we gotta get you back to human size, but careful, the bigger you are the bigger the splash!" It's not that different from what they have now, but it ties in the merch text and context of the drop.
Also, I think they should play an instrumental version of Special Spice at the end of the big drop instead of Almost There, again, until you reach the party, to help make it an iconic song.
From other ride-throughs, it seems very light on quality animatronics, theming and a coherent story. That plus the repeated breakdowns on a re-theme of an existing ride mechanism, doesn't give mt too much hope. Plus the tardiness of cleaning/maintenance in recent times.
They’re still testing the ride. They work on different mechanics and different things that are not necessarily broken at the time and they could test certain things at different times.
@@jaredfamily123 This isn't a new ride. It's a re-skin of the existing ride. What could need testing in the ride mechanics which would cause them to stop the water on the plunge section?
What gives away that apologists are definitely in denial is theres a lot of "justifying", projecting, dismissive passive aggressive comments and instead of it being a great ride and the majority enjoy it...its clearly Disney and certain influencers desperately trying to defend this boring and subpar replacement to one of the most iconic rides in Disney. This is like replacing Its a small world...into Navi River Journey...yeah the tech is updated buts its BORING af
When the ride has to tell you what's going on so that you understand - it lacks the ability to allow a rider immersion into a fantasy world.
"We're gonna find musicians... ". "We're gonna shrink you...". "We're gonna make you big..". "We're gonna take a shortcut and make a big splash...".
Also Tiana's Bayou Adventure takes place during the Mississippi River flooding disaster year of 1927. They need to change the story to Come on the ride to support the flooding victims in remembrance of them to pay tribute to them.
The biggest problem with Tiana's Bayou retheme is the main drop makes no sense in the story as it has no relevance. In Splash Mountain, the story shows how Brer Rabbit leaves his old life at home to go on a grand and colorful journey (demonstrated perfectly as the colorful inside portion starts right after seeing his old home). During this journey, he is shown as carefree and has no fear of consequences. It's only at the bottom of the lift hill when the climax takes place, a dramatic shift of dread takes root as he is captured and really sets up the feelings of tension and no escape as to what happens next. After braving the drop, you're rewarded with a welcome home celebration as sigh of relief passes through as you know you are safe now.
For Tiana's, the drop doesn't really fit into the story as it feels kind of there and happens. It's a bit odd to me that the hill couldn't be incorporated in meaningful way into the story other than to make a "splash" at the party considering its the main draw of the ride when looking at it from the outside. Because of how it's executed, I feel like the finale for Tiana's has much less of an emotional impact on me than splash did.
But hey, those animals sure can play.
I like Tom, but I have to disagree with him here. It’s not a “dumb” argument to say the story in TBA is not as good.
There is little to no conflict in the story for TBA, whereas Splash had one of the best buildups to conflict and resolution.
Edit: Finally was able to watch the entire review. I give the guys credit for acknowledging my point above.
@@CraigP71 Agreed. The premise for Splash was straightforward with a crescendo that led up to the drop; TBA's premise is overly convoluted and builds no tension because there are no stakes.
I couldn't have said it better myself.
Anyone notice that they repeat the line “they sure can play” like 80 million times throughout the ride. We get it. They can play.
So, Tiana's Mama Odie turned us into tiny frogs, and we had to go to the old laughing place to find the frog band and some spice for the party. Mama Odie was all like, "Good job, y'all!" and then she made us big again. We brought the band and spice to Tiana's party, and it was a blast! Magic and fun, what's not to love?
39:50. That's the problem. They are telling you what is happening. The story is not the problem, its the execution. It is always better to show not tell. There is so much telling in this story because they know if they didn't the story not many people would know what is going on, which is a massive let down for this attraction
Good point. Tiana is essentially reduced to a gesticulating narrator. She isn't actively DOING a thing. She pops up to remind us what's going on and really is giving Dora the Explorer.
@@WestinNReptar She is auditioning musicians. She comments on their playing, just like Bre'r Rabbit commented on the events he was involved with.
@@WestinNReptarYou mean dressing in a safari outfit to nudge your daughter to pester you to buy her safari outfit doll at the exit gift shop isn’t doing something?? /s
Bingo.
To get the balance right, the kitchen scene in the queue should have an animatronic of Naveen, covered in flour and icing sugar, completely out of his depth, and with the armadillo casually stealing a colander.
That would be adorable
Tiana's Bayou Adventure commits the worst sin. No not that it's bad, it's that it's BORING.
Also why is she in that safari outfit so many times in the ride when she never wears in once in the movie?
This isn’t the movie.
@@WDWNT I love this is your response. The answer is because they are cheap, is why they stuck her in the same costume. Congrats on becoming a Disney Shill.
@@WDWNTNor is she on safari
@@WDWNT It SHOULD be the movie. That's the point. Splash Mountain was Brer Rabbit's stories from Song of the South. They created a piece of garbage story with zero thought.
@@cowetascore8476and the world kept spinning. The ride is fun regardless
There was a BETTER story for splash than this redo Tom. Brer Rabbit was running away from home because he thought his happy place was someplace far away, but as his adventures and capture taught him his home WAS his happy place and that's where he wanted to stay. That was an old black folktale. Replaced by what, finding spices for a party for a co-op founded in a SALT MINE? Which is a place slaves worked! As well as throughout history if you were to be punished, you were put to work in a salt mine. This WILL look bad very quickly. This won't hold up like Splash had for so long.
I heard they had a picture of the salt mine forced labor workers in the queue but I haven't seen one in any video I've watched.
@@justintime1234 "Remember, salt mines are for *seasoned veterans* only." 🤦🏿
People are disappointed that Tiana is no longer a princess on this ride. She was the first black Disney princess, but all of that is ignored now. She's a businesswoman and a lounge singer. That's all.
Tiana gets the biggest, baddest, most beloved ride in the whole park all to herself - far bigger than what any of the other princesses ever got - and now she's a businesswoman and a lounge singer? Her prince is just another guy in the background. You'd never know that was supposed to be Prince Naveen. Her iconic water-lily gown is forgotten. *That* is what's so incredibly disappointing about this, for those who love Tiana.
None of the other princesses got demoted like this, but she sure did. I'd like to know who made the decision to take away Tiana's crown and title, because that's exactly what they did.
Exactly
Blame woke society. They don't want princesses anymore 😢
@@sarahbishop6187No princesses allowed. Girl bosses only.
@@happiestplace3754 sad story indeed
Tianna leaned in 😅
Splash had the meaningful message of outwitting your bullies.
Tiana's story has no emotional spectrum, it's monotonous. The drop and mountain itself make no sense in the bayou (nor the story).
Music is worse but that's a given.
It's a princess ride with a thrill ride's height requirement.
Other than queue, which to me is ugly and overdone, there's nothing that's been objectively improved.
I'd take more animatronics over a few high end ones and screens...
“You should outwit your bullies” isn’t really helpful, unless you can actually make them fall in thorns
@@WDWNT It's about not giving up, and persevering in the face of seemingly unsurmountable adversity.
Much more meaningful than "let's get to the party", wouldn't you agree?
Story wise, the idea of the big drop being Brer Rabbit jumping into the briar patch is so perfectly on point.
Not jumping, but being thrown in by the tricked Brer Fox.
@@kevinlee7678 Br'er Fox in the Disneyland version and Br'er Bear in WDW and Tokyo.
Tom of all people was the last person I’d think who’d completely dumb down splash’s story
What am I missing?
@@WDWNT nothing. Your review is the same as Poseidon entertainment’s. All my trusted Disney enthusiasts have the same view. Just haters hating.
@@WDWNT there’s a deeper lesson in the story than just the action fox chases rabbit. It’s Brer Rabbit being able to use his mind to outsmart his captures, but more importantly the fable illustrates Brer rabbits want to leave home and find adventure and once he runs into danger and escapes and comes back home and realizes that he was fine where he was. It’s like basicly said in the song and said in the finale scene. The ride also never telled what was going and never had to because each song and commentary by a character perfectly showed what was happening and made it easy to follow. This new ride has no purpose in its story, there’s no adventure to it. Your drifting down a bayou seeing animals with instruments, and tiana and Louis, tell you half way through your recruiting them
He doesn't even look like he believes what he's saying, and Eric looked pale as he said it. Why are they doing this? I don't trust them anymore.
Tom, I disagree with the notion that an attraction's replacement must be "as good or better", no, it has to be BETTER in every way. Especially when you're talking about what was(according to polls) the most famous and most beloved attraction on the globe.
If it's a downgrade or equal in many ways, then it's not an overall improvement and does not warrant a replacement.
3 minutes in and i gotta say, Eric has a nice kitchen.
Mark my words: in a year and a half this will be lazily reskinned as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure with Figment. Nobody will like that better, and they will turn much of the mountain into a poorly attended DVC lounge.
For sure!!!😂
Brer Roadrunner was voiced by an Imagineer that worked in the IRC in the 1990s and early 2000s. He is a wonderful, kind-hearted human being who was beloved by his fellow Imagineers. He never had a high-level position; he took satisfaction out of serving his coworkers. He had a natural southern accent and the project team thought it would be fun to give him a speaking role in the attraction. He loved that he got to voice Brer Roadrunner. He was laid off in the tourism downturn in aftermath of 9/11 and all the projects that opened in 2001-2005. He would be devastated to hear that comment.
It’s not even a good Princess and the Frog ride. Much less a good replacement for one of the most iconic rides in Disney history.
Also them shying away from Voodoo was the worst mistake they could ever make
Yeah they ignore conservative morals and values but think voodoo magic crosses a line? I don't get it... They probably just thought it was too scary or simply wanted to move past the movie ending with him now gone. Even him as spirit talking would have been a nice touch.
These are the same guys who want a villain park? Are they bad guys or misunderstood?
@@matthewnelson5699 ”conservative moral and values” so racism and sexism lmao
@@sideeswipe for me and many others the word conservative doesn't mean that. Not every old horrible action belongs to the word conservative but rather people and culture of the time. Disney does change with the times but it generally tried being neutral to family values. We may disagree on what those are.
It’s actually more likely due to the fact that voodoo (Vodou) is a religion yet the movie presents the over-simplified/scary Hollywood version. It would be ironic to get rid of a ride for its insensitivity to African Americans only to put in a new ride with elements of insensitivity to that same culture.
However, they do include Dr. F in other areas of the park. Though he could be more easily removed from stage shows etc. if people threw a fit in the future. It would be harder to remove him from the ride. 🤷♀️
Audiences would criticize these kinds of imperfections in a movie, so why should audiences tolerate such things in an attraction?
People are traveling thousands of miles and each paying thousands of dollars to visit these places.
Excellent point.
You're saying this as if there aren't imperfections in most Disney attractions. Or most movies, also.
That's true only if this ride is the reason they are. Which would be ridiculous.
@@TanyaOsterman-hw9wv I agree. Who travels thousands of miles for
one ride? If that important go somewhere else.
Right lets compare a 10 min ride vs a 60+ min movie
I think the difference between Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise and Tiana’s is that those former attractions didn’t have a story already established with the public to compare them to.
The Princess and the Frog HAS a beloved story. Therefore, the story in Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is being compared to that story, where Pirates and Mansion have no prior story to compare to. It’s simply a matter of Bayou Adventure being next to a great movie like Princess and the Frog and on that level the story seems lesser. Mansion and Pirates can get away with less story as there are no perceptions to force a comparison.
I wish those band animals would blink. They stare uncomfortably into my soul.
Even they are embarrassed with the ride.
@@newworldastrology1102Blink if you are here against your free will, Beaver
@@newworldastrology1102😂
Blinking costs money.
@@happiestplace3754Yeah, Disney doesn’t have enough of that eh
Tom the waterfalls in Pirates at DL are essentially you "falling" asleep into a dream and then waking "up" from said dream and coming back to the real world of NOS. Hence the drastic location change... You fall asleep to the serene banjo playing in the bayou! lol
Nah lol
@@WDWNT Marc Davis and Tony Baxter have stated they view it this way...
It may not have been the original intent when built, but it makes perfect sense as the explanation for the waterfalls and drastic change of setting.
It's exactly how it felt to me, so it's how I naturally viewed it as a kid too. You start hearing the Jolly Rodger's narration in the distance get louder and louder as you enter the dark tunnel, drifting off...the grotto is your minds placemaking, and the dream gets more vivid and intense as you fall into deep sleep
🤷♂
I totally agree about the importance of vignettes that are designed to intrigue and please the eye, even if they're static. That's exactly what made the flow of Splash so addictive and satisfying. It was a strength of Imagineering that seems to be replaced by a conviction in having more and more amazing stand-out animatronics while the rest of the ride doesn't deliver. I get it, people do get in line to see the amazing animatronics. But the overall effect is diminished, and we see that clearly with the reception of these rides. Despite the tech, people find swaths of it "boring" and "lifeless", because they are. Huge red flag. I miss the days when technology was truly only used to support the story and feel.
I thought Splash had an easy to follow story with a moral to boot. It was very interesting from start to finish. The bad guys didn't win, the hero outsmarted the bad guys. Biggest plus for me, the music!!!
I get that you don't need a narrative for a good ride but if you go for a narrative and it's lacking, the ride suffers.
Zippity dooh dah is still better then any song on this ride.
I do absolutely love ‘Almost There’ as well. But Zippity Doo Dah should continue to be played in the parks IMO. It’s a banger.
Truth.
I heard everybodys got a laughing place today
Cool. I heard having sex is a lot better than complaining about a Disney ride on TH-cam.
*ahem* Academy Award Winning song.
As far as tom’s take on the story, way to ostracize it. There was more to it than “fox and bear eat rabbit” and you know it! Its about finding your happiness where you are, where your home is. That aside, you completely missed the mark in not mentioning Splash’s strong point was the MUSIC. We can move on and move forward because what choice do we have but lets not pretend this ride was any less than what it was.
Very well said
Agreed. The “story” of Splash Mtn was much deeper than he argued. Plus, the story of Splash started right away and lasted the entire ride, vs the new TBA lacking of a good overarching story. Yes TBA may have some good small hidden details that you eventually find, but it’s like Disney needed something for their D level imagineers worked on, while their best imagineers just created something amazing over in Tokyo
Agreed! I can’t believe Tom of all people would say something like that!
@@srb2834agree. It's a coherent story leading you through the ride. The music lyrics fit the story. I'm not American nor native English speaker and have no real knowledge of the background but I had no trouble following the story and found it very engaging and funny. I love the mix of cheerful songs and cute critters with the more exciting and dramatic turns in the story and the more thrilling parts of the ride. Just a wonderful dark ride.
100%. Without the story of being in the place of Brer Rabbit being in danger with the other animals there is no climax, there is no sense of danger seeing the vultures above you knowing your about to go down a long drop. All of that is gone now. There is no sense of danger at all, and I WISH Dr. Faucilier (The best Disney/ Pixar villain in the last 15 years) is not in this ride.
You say that because Splash had a minimal story, people shouldn't harp on Tiana for that, but you also said that when a classic ride gets replaced, we should expect more from the new ride. So which is it?
Technological advancement
Exactly. Thank you!
The fact of the matter is that the three centuries-old folk tales on which Splash Mountain is based are a major part of literature and of African-American culture for a reason.
Br'er Rabbit outsmarts Br'ers Fox and Bear.
He said we should expect as good or better. He is saying the story is as good as Splash.
A mess!
Face it, Tom! Splash Mountain was Way Better!
Exactly! He's trying to put lipstick on a pig. You can polish a turd all you want, but at the end of the day it's still a turd.....
No doubt
I”ll miss the whimsical humor and silly elements of Splash! It seems to me like a much more fun attraction than Tiana but hey that’s just me🤷♂️
Many people agree with you @disneyresorfsfan. And those that don't agree accept and tolerate your opinion with grace because all opinions are welcome and matter.
Sports fans pick apart every move a player makes on their favorite sport, and for decades. Food lovers pick art a meal, the look, the taste, the temperature, the plate. Movie fans discuss every frame of a film. Wine lovers can describe a wine in detail with 100 adjectives and argue over it. We are theme park fans. We love Disney and what they create. So we come to talk about it, all of it, every last detail. We pick it apart like no one else because we are passionate, we love it, and we understand it. There is no difference here than anywhere else where it's just a team, it's just a meal, it's just a movie, it's just a glass of wine. It is just a theme park ride. But it's the 'just' that we love to discuss in depth. And I'll never stop because THIS is what I chose to be an uber fan of.
My thoughts on some fixes:
-Re: Briar rabbit’s house now being just a hole - it would be swell if WDI had items piled up in there that Larry has stolen.
-One simple way they could have filled out where the shed is: just add Naveen, playing alongside the fox or something. Naveen missing is far more jarring than Facilier to me and his absence seems so odd, given how the film builds so much around his and Tiana’s relationship.
-Re: the final hill…Why are there not colored bottles all throughout the hill lit up; add some static flamingos even a la Dig A Little Deeper. Finally, just add a sign written by the frogs that says “shortcut to the party” or something
The biggest gamble Disney took was to "retheme" an already "Fantastic" ride! This new ride had to be equal if not better then Splash Mountain. To me, its not. And that what makes it worse for me. If they had build this same ride somewhere else, I would have been "It okay". But the replacement part for me is what makes it the worse.
Everyone seems to be forgetting the range of emotion that Splash Mountain gave us. Tony Baxter and the imagineers of the late 80's masterfully took our emotions on a carefully curated journey that went from joy to excitement, to anticipation, to fear, to relief and then back to joy. I think the conflict is what helped craft that. To not include a villain or any type of real conflict was a big mistake. The ride doesn't have the range of emotion that it used to and to many people, including me, that means it's "less than" it's predecessor.
yes!!!!
What I remember from Splash is a bunch of nothing, nothing, broken stuff, and then a lift hill with a little story. That's all it was. There was very little going on until you get to that lift hill. So there's not any anticipation. And there's thrill but not fear going over that hill.
@@justingibbons8010 Well, there's already a bunch of broken stuff in Tiana's.
My ride did not have any. I know they are working out kinks. But it was the most functioning ride I’ve had in YEARS on that mountain.
I'm confused. It's "Tiana's Foods" as in it's "hers"...but then says: "employee-owned"? Who's company is it supposed to be? So, we are looking for a missing "spice" on the historic Avery Island salt mine? No,..no,..we are actually looking for a "musician" for the band instead in that salt mine? We then get shrunk down by voodoo that we can't talk about...to help us find this animal musician? No, wait!... the last song said we found the SPICE we were looking for in the salt mine....and YOU were the missing ingredient all along? What happened to that musician we were looking for? This thing was soooo half-baked and NOT very well thought out!
💯
Disingenuous questions are disingenuous.
@@SplashWuzRacist-ql7on - Is Disney serious? They seem to have just thrown this together in a very lazy way without putting much thought into it. This ride NEEDS a villian too.
Spice isnt literal in this sence its like pizaz
This is the direct‐to-video cheapquel to "The Princess and the Frog."
Rise of the Resistance is basically a cheapquel to Episode 8, people seem ok with it
@@WDWNTbut why are they ok with it? My guess is that to many park goers, it was a totally new ride experience with tech they had never seen before. TBA is a used ride system with a re-theme. Granted the animatronics are beautiful. But I could be wrong.
I agree 100%! After regrettably losing Splash, I had high hopes for this new ride but unfortunately, I agree with Bob Iger himself about the experience. He said the ride is completely lackluster and incredibly boring. I feel that the storyline as well as the new music falls flat and the Imagineers totally missed the mark for this.... Stick to the original story and plot, keep the iconic villain with the music and songs we already know and love! It's getting universally panned everywhere because it is not better than the previous ride, nor even equal to Splash Mountain, and it is essentially a downgrade for most. This new upgraded version of Wilderness Tiana gathering vegetables and spices feels like a very bad sequel we never asked for or wanted, which ultimately ends up going straight to Disney+ or home video.
Because Rise didn’t see fit to censor itself based on the film it was based on unlike Tiana which didn't want to include Voodoo. @WDWNT
With no princess.
I don't get the logic of making this ride more "kid friendly" when kids have been going on Splash Mountain since the beginning and have never complained. That and there's a height requirement.
They have a ride in which the story literally sends kids to hell and it remains both iconic and popular.
I never took my kids they were terrified looking at it but they are so excited about Tiana
It was a rite of passage
@@breezywithkids I forgot Tiana doesn't have drops anymore
Kids who have been going on splash mountain since the beginning were allowed to ride their bikes until dusk in their neighborhood, they were allowed to be latchkey kids, they were allowed to go to libraries by themselves. It's a new generation of kids with, more importantly, a new generation of parents.
It’s missing a villain
If it was chasing us and that’s why we have to shrink. And the drop should tension and then the last scene should be release.
The animatronics are beautiful but a villain was needed
Why? Who is the villain in Haunted Mansion? Pirates? Space Mountain? Big Thunder?
@@WDWNT Villain isn’t quite an accurate word, but Pirates and Big Thunder both have antagonistic forces intended to provide additional tension on top of the thrilling ride system. The story of pirates is all about how the pirates were killed by the cursed treasure, and Big Thunder is a runaway train through a cursed mine. I’d say a curse is an antagonistic force. Haunted Mansion isn’t meant to be a thrill ride so it doesn’t really have or need tension, but the idea of escaping a fate of being trapped in the mansion is in the story.
@@WDWNTIt's missing a villain because Princess and the Frog had one. Splash also had one and was designed around a true sense of adventure and danger.
@@WDWNTthe dramatic tension is what MAKES so many of the greatest rides so memorable.
I don’t want to be eaten by a fox/bear/yeti/alien hanging from the ceiling. I don’t want to be shot by poachers/gangsters. I don’t want to be crushed in a haunted mine, trapped in the twilight zone or become the 1000th happy haunt in a creepy mansion. Even Maelstrom had the trolls cursing you and sending you back almost going over the falls.
The ride doesn’t necessarily need a literal villain. But it needs some sort of dramatic tension. Otherwise it’s no better than Na’Vi river journey which we all know is a snooze fest 😴
@@WDWNThaunted mansion and the others are not rides built on the anticipation of one, specific thrill moment - I.e drop. You need some anticipation and level of adrenaline built by a threat in the story to make it exciting!! If they think kids can't handle something like that, the world is in a sorry place
Disneyland is a storytelling park, that is its reason for being. If you don’t think storytelling in DL is paramount then just go to Six Flags for a flume with a big drop.
Agreed!!!!!!!
The issue is, is that it replaced splash. If this was a brand new ride it would be fine, not great, not bad but fine. The fact that it replaced splash mountain which was so good just instantly means unless it’s better or as good it gets hate.
Your simplification of Splash Mountain’s story is very misguided. The depth of story reaches back through the film to folklorist Joel Chandler Harris who stole and compiled vast volumes of African-American lore into engaging the engaging Tales of Uncle Remus. For better or worse, Song of the South took these Tales and told them to the world and presented Walt with the opportunity to lobby a then racist Hollywood to present an Honorary Oscar to James Baskett. This made him the first black actor to win an Oscar and the only actor to ever win an Honorary Oscar for just a single performance. So, to summarize all this as fox and bear want to eat rabbit may just be a joke too far.
🤝
I came here to say the same thing! Very well said
Thank you
On point.
Right cause everyone who rides the ride wants to know the deep depth of it. It pretty much just is a tale of a fox and bear hunting a rabbit ho escapes
Thank you for your dedication to get this review out. You did a lot of traveling. I was waiting for your take.
If you pause at 51:24 you can see Eric's soul leave his body as he bears witness to Tomfoolery.
Here's a way to fix the ending: Cover the opening at the top of the hill with some vegetation or something that blocks sunlight. At the start of the climb, Mama Odie should say "OK all you jammin' critters, time to get to the party! And time to make YOU big again!" Then projected onto the mist or along the walls all the way to the top, animated critters are hopping up and scrambling to the top and doing silly dives and cannon balls over the egde, with cartoon splashes, etc. Then it's your turn!
"I do not make films for children... or, at least, not primarily for children."
"You're dead if you aim for kids."
"We design the films to appeal to ourselves."
"The adults have the money; ... children don't have any money."
‐ Walt Disney
Please remember Walt was a father. He wasn’t some childless, self absorbed consumer. He created the parks because of his girls. He created the parks and movies for the whole family. He was inclusive of all ages.
^ facts don’t care about feelings
Ouch, for all the people who complained that TBA's story wouldn't appeal to children.
@@SolemCraft he created the parks because of him.He was the one who did not want to sit on a bench eating peanuts watching his daughters ride the merry-go-round. More than anything else Disneyland was Walt's playground... Luckily for the rest of us, he also knew what we all wanted but didn't know yet.
@@lewaldvogel that is a half truth. He wanted to be included with his daughters. He wanted to create a family park, meaning inclusive to all ages. He didn’t want any thrill rides at the outset of the parks. Right, wrong, or indifferent Walt was creating a place for kids and teens and adults and the elderly. The whole point is to not exclude any age demographic.
I’m sorry, but you could at least follow the story of Splash. I rode Tiana’s in previews. I had no clue what was going on.
The chemistry between them is hilarious - the side glance to Tom on some of his opinions are great
I do wish that Disney would have a little more confidence in the realism of their animatronics, because they all seem to be programmed to constantly and excessively wave their arms around like drunkards, thus becoming distracting and completely UN-realistic.
Nailed it! It's as if their goal was to show off how much the arms could flail, instead of asking themselves "Does a person actually move like this?" They didn't use any self-restraint, they were too eager to show off the range of motion and the speed, even though it didn't fit the context at all.
Yes! I’m glad other people notice that too.
And like, doesn’t really matter the situation or character - all the humanoid figures seem to move the same. It’s very fluid which is impressive, but between this and Star Wars, it’s getting more noticeable how similar all these figures are
i definitely agree, but i also think it works well for the ip animated characters animatronics? like they are going to be more expressive because they came from an animated movie. but i still do agree with you.
They're all swishy magicians
Agree to disagree. I can see what you mean but personally, I rather take those thin animatronics like splash Mountain that aren’t even working half the time.
Tom I trust you to because you are honest with these reviews. This is an objectively worse replacement. Watch Tony Baxter talk about how they planned the buildup of this ride and then try to argue how this is better or will have the same emotional impact … You can’t because it is plainly not there. Why is that not the rant?
The animatronics I have seen so far are about 90% hinged in one place like the okra that moves back and forth, Tiana does move more but as you come up on it it’s just sitting the not moving, strange. Well I never liked the drop so I only did splash twice, and I don’t have to stand in line for this one. If I was the country bears I would fear being replaced by the band in this ride a year or so down the road.
This ride is empty, has no cohesive storyline, and the drop doesn’t make any sense in context. Terrible retheme
too many minorities
sometimes a ride tells a story, sometimes a ride is an immersive experience that puts you there. Haunted mansion does the latter.
Sorry to say, they've been trying lately to shoehorn a story into the Haunted Mansion as well and it's just cringe-worthy.
1:00:11 - Agree 1000%. Disney is about the details. What's in the shop windows on Main Street, hidden Mickeys, an immersion in something that takes you out of reality. Once you see a conduit pipe sticking out you feel like you're in Six Flags. Also, some other YT channel posted a mock up of what the final drop could have been. Dr. Facilier singing "Arreee you REEEAADDYY?!?!" as you go up the hill, projection ghosts swirling around, as you approach the drop you're going into a "bright white light" as if reaching the other side, and then the drop. Brilliant. Completely missed by Disney. For that matter, this ride's whole narrative missed any conflict whatsoever. No villain, just a loud party. Boring. We need a villain and conflict.
That was an awesome video! Kudos to LEGO man! I got so much out of his video-- it felt like a real ride.
1:40:08 Eric took the words right out of my mouth. This is my issue with replacing an E-ticket with an IP like this that doesn't fit in the space it was placed.
I feel like for me it could've been such a better ride before the budget cuts. When it was first shown it looked really good but now it just sucks. You shouldn't budget cut a retheme of one of the best rides in the world.
Soo I take a huge gripe with splash mountain story being just bear and fox try to eat rabbit.
Splash mountain story was a finding happiness at home not constantly on a journey for a new one. "Home sweet home is the lesson today". Briar rabbit in search for "The laughing place" which turned out to be nowhere lead him into trouble.
Also thunder mountain is a runaway ghost train from a failed mining company and space mountain depending on which disneyland your at is different way of experincing space. Disneyworld is toursit hence why its model more after an airport , Disneyland is astronauts hence the space photos of galaxys, and Paris is the same but to a much farther section of the galaxy. Lets not diminish the other great storys for a story that while is ok doesnt have the best pacing as a ride or make the most sense.
Tiana imo is alright but could have been way better for how long it took
100% agreed on splash story, if all you are getting is fox trying to eat rabbit then you missed the entire point of the ride in the first place
Literally a line in the finale was "Home Sweet Home is the Lesson Today"
big thunder mountain has probably the most insane story behind it ever, especially if you counter in disneyland paris's storyline. where did THAT amount of quality in attractions go???
Nevermind the plot, the storytelling is bad. Tom is completely mixing up plot and story.
Edit: example, the big drop from Splash was a climactic moment, had build up, had stakes, irony, humor. The big drop for Tiana is... supposed to be climactic? I have no idea what is happening at thay point and i have no interest in what is going on. With brear rabbit being captured and saying "please dont throw me in the briar patch", you dont even need the rest of the context to understand whats going on. Tiana's vibes are off because the STORY is not well conveyed or interesting.
Disney is so focused on pushing the technical marvels like the animatronics that they don’t have the time or budget for story. Same problem with Cosmic Rewind.
It’s not a personal attack on imagineers to say the work is not good enough. The Disney standard has been slipping for years (Tokyo excepted) and this attraction is just another expression of that.
yeah.. i agree. i feel like its not even the imagineers anymore either. its the higher up execs who just want money. i would think most imagineers dont want 90% of what happens anymore in modern disney, which is sad.
I want to believe that they are handcuffed by the C suite. I have to live in reality and understand that they wholeheartedly think they did a great job.
tom’s point about the plans being for disneylands structure actually makes so much sense
Alternate video title: "How many times can we make the red monorail go by in 1.8 hours?"
I haven't had the pleaser of riding Tiana'a Bayou Adventures yet, but as far as "Larry the Armadillo" I can say that I sure had fun actually theme painting, sculpting and adding the hair to his chest, knee's and ear's, to all 6 of them, including the umbrella's, from here in Florida and in California.
The one thing I don't understand is the concern about the idea of a possible "Voodoo" scene being put in. The Haunted Mansion has "séance" scene and I have not heard any concerns on that. But I could be wrong.
Voodoo is a real religion with lots of active members. Hollywood still treats it like it’s more of a Merlin casting magic spells. So current Disney thinks it mocks and stereotypes people of the religion.
I don't see how that firefly projection "scene" is better than the brer rabbit runaway scene, with two animatronics AND projection...
When did that projection ever look clear?
@@WDWNT It wasn't a great projection, and sometimes wasn't even on, so you're right there... but the scene as a whole was better than random fireflies dancing.
Armchair imagineering: Turn the outdoor queue buildings and barn into a facade of Tiana’s southern mansion or her restaurant. We are invited guests to a party waiting in the outdoor courtyard to enter. The pre show is everyone preparing for the party to realize we don’t have a band. Then Mama O lures us down to the bayou dock telling us beautiful music comes from the bayou and we should go find it. The ride is discovering each animal and their makeshift instrument. Include the shrinking part. Cover the big drop opening that opens just as Mama O makes us big and rushes us to the party. A more straight forward story that doesn’t get complicated with a food coop, in a salt dome.
I think why people are complaining about the story is because the focus is of the attraction is the story…
Log flumes are identified as thrill rides. Need I say more?
@@MrMoonyyes. The fable in the previous iteration was a decent story. It is possible to have a thrill ride with a good story.
33:00 TRON’s ILL queue is a great example of an ILL queue done right. You get important info for the ride story as well as some cool effects while also bypassing the line quickly.
Another one that does it perfectly is the Expedition Everest Lightning Lane queue. You still get to see smaller versions of the Yeti museum and such.
The best solution would have been to turn Splash Mountain into the Western Rivers Expedition. Get rid of Tom Sawyer Island, which is another problematic area and built Tiana’s Palace, a restaurant, and a dark ride. The island has plenty of room for it. Original IP, Movie IP, and the removal of two sore subjects.
Exactly. And an opportunity to ad another character to the S.E.A. Two missed opportunities there.
Yeah the team that had to work on this new project was put in the impossible situation of replacing one of the best attractions in any Disney park. Almost impossible to put something in that space that would be better then Splash in most people’s minds. The main issue with most people is why did splash even need replacement? 99% of all park guests had no idea about song of the south’s ties to these characters. The splash characters also appeared in other things like books and other shows that had nothing to do with song of the south. Yet someone at Disney still decided it needed to go? What a waste….
A Disney Imagineering produced e-ticket attraction shouldn’t take multiple rides to find ways it’s good imo.
You should be blown away like the first time you ride any of the classics or dare I say even GotG. Thanks for the review!
Well, I’ve been on Splash Mountain like 400 times so other than impressive show scenes, what is going to surprise me?
I wish we had gotten more of a traditional honest review,. This felt more like a rebuttal to all the negativity swirling around the ride and I'd love to have heard Tom's opinion on Tiana's Bayou Adventure without it being tainted by a defensive tone.
Yeah. I agree. The review takes a weird swerve at the last minute to say “actually this is equally good”. I think the reality is that it’s an okay ride. Not bad, but not as good as splash. I think some of this review comes off as either reveling in being the heel or genuinely shilling for Disney. Maybe the latter is unfair, but this did not feel like a particularly honest review. I can respect that everyone has different tastes and that splash is never coming back, but I feel like things like “oh but there wasn’t an original song” or “look at all these impressive animatronics (that the oriental land company paid for the development of)” don’t really make the overall product better.
They have sold out to Disney. This review was nothing but trying to get on Disneys good side.
@@bstephens4101 Yeah I hare to say but there is a definite sense of integrity being lost. Since when does a ride with that many things not working get a pass?
Tom and Eric, thank you so much for taking the time to discuss this ride. It really does articulate what I liked (and didn't like) about Tiana's Bayou Adventure.
It really is better in terms of pure narrative context, which you can see in the queue and first few scenes.
What makes Disney attractions what they are is the *emotions* they evoke, and i ageee that emotional mix/journey is the cause of what it is lacking on the lift hill and dull parts of the ride. Evocative of the source material, even when it isn't a "book report" ride.
I don't think Eric appreciates Tom's jokes. He seemed to be getting perturbed especially when Tom was joking about Disney not providing funding and they had to use license plates to clang.
Eric seemed annoyed at Tom the entire video. He even does a long sigh near the end like he was about to completely lose it 😂
They both seemed irritated with each other. They must be brothers.
Eric always seems in a bad mood imo lol but yeah def was not apreciating his jokes. I did! Haha
Their Final Review starts at 1:28:30
eric “more duis than brain cells” had me HOWLING
never heard it before, but it’s perfect, thank you for that 😂
tom said “what’s the narrative in space mountain?” and i said “… you know what i have no idea.”
like i said in another comment, everything i have seen being used to critique tba (present company not included lol) has been in bad faith.
you as wdwnt shouldn’t have to post a review like this arguing against talking points people only threw out there for the sake of discrediting a ride that isn’t even open to the public yet.
the whole culture around this is so unfortunate to me, because to me it seems like an excellent ride 😭
who are they referring to? 😂😂😂
@@vocalorigamigirl i want specific names fr 😭😂😂
DUIs fuelled by Disney’s insistence on plugging alcohol throughout a family park.
I thought it reminds me of a Disney Junior ride, that has a big enough drop no small kid would really want to ride it. For teens or older, it is terrible. The music isn't something you can sing along to easily, and there's too many empty areas, or paintings on a wall instead of a 3d sculptured ones. Then you have a giant monitor playing the a cartoon that not done well. It's a ride, and in a crowded park, that's a win, but it is poorly done and I'd be stunned if many ride this over and over. Disney struck out on three pitches with this one.
Yup, who is it for?? Fundamentally, it's a long ride with a 40 inch height requirement and a 50 foot drop. Somehow they ignored that and designed a Tiana ride that wants to be shorter, denser, and flatter. It would have been very solid as a new fantasyland dark ride, but it's a complete miss when taking over the Splash Mountain space.
I said the same thing when we finished the ride! It gave me major Disney Jr. vibes
I disagree about the story. Splash Mountain does tell a compelling story, with sound moral lessons. This begins in the que, where we discover words of wisdom laid throughout. On the ride, we experience a story that includes conflict, humor, music, danger, suspense, and finally, release and jubilation! This three-act moral play is done masterfully thought the entire experience. It doesn't need some deep backstory to be explained to us ahead of time. The themes are universal, and relatable, without ever knowing anything about the stories that inspired the ride. Splash Mountain is as close to perfection in the medium of theme park story telling as you can get.
I don’t think finding a band for a party needs extensive explanation either. I also don’t think “stay home” is a great message.
Br'er Rabbit outsmarts Br'ers Fox and Bear! That's the essential cleverness of these centuries-old folk tales.
I think it's cool that Eric doesn't laugh at many of Tom's offerings (obviously not a brown noser)--but just as cool--Tom doesn't seem to care and isn't looking for validation.
In a podcast not too long ago Tom cited the over the top southern accented dialog snippets as a reason Splash needed to change. Ironically, this has much, much more of it and yet nary a complaint.
Honestly, hot take, but as problematic as song of the south was, I don’t think Princess and the frog really fixed many of the issues it had. The whole character of Lottie is to let white audiences know that this was a movie for them too! No introspection about the likelihood of black and white girls being besties. Tiana is presented, as uncle Remus was, to essentially be okay with her station and not really willing to accept anyone’s help. And yes, especially since they’ve designed it for toddlers, the ride does present New Orleans and southern cultures in a cloyingly simplistic way.
Wait wait wait…
🍿
Okay I’m ready.
Never thought I’d see Tom sell out like this.
His take on the splash storyline was trash. And if his first reaction was “that was bad, right.” How can he then go on to say it was as good as splash mountain only after re riding and going out of his way to find little small details. The best Disney rides (pirates, haunted mansion) you know the first time you ride those they are masterpieces and then you want to go back and ride to find everything you’ve missed. No one’s reaction is those rides were kind of boring I have to go back and pay closer attention to enjoy the ride.
Pirates didn’t replace something I loved, so there’s no baggage on a first ride.
I have a deep connection to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure because it was the first project announced and completed 😂😂 in my super fandom time. PS: I like having Tom and Eric doing the honest review together
And I like tiana
WARNING: ESSAY BELOW
Self-disclosure: I grew up on Splash Mountain and have extremely fond memories of experiencing it with my family. I came to love it for its memorable music, storytelling, and characters. I love that Imagineers built a track designed for storytelling, split into interesting parts with each one featuring something new to look at and experience. As I’ve grown, I realize that there are problematic elements in its source material, and of course I saw the technology growing older and older.
OTHER IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: I LOVE “Princess and the Frog”, especially as someone who grew up just outside New Orleans. The animation, the storytelling, the characters, it is absolutely gorgeous and is at least in my top 20 Disney animated films if not higher.
When Disney announced it was changing Splash Mountain, I was pretty devastated because of the memories I had with the ride, but I also understood Disney’s decision from a company standpoint. A lot of the tech had gotten outdated, and now there were ties to “Song of the South”, a movie that Disney has made no secret it wants to bury, that were becoming more well-known by the public. I did not like the decision, but I understood it and felt it was not my place to deem something problematic or otherwise given my limited understanding of the source material and history. However, I’ve also come to expect a certain level of quality from Disney.
Splash Mountain was a beloved ride by many, and if it was going to be replaced it would need to fill every inch with the storytelling everyone has come to expect. Splash had a simple story, but simplicity works given the limited time you have to tell a story on a theme park attraction. It gave you just enough to understand a very basic tale of throwing caution to the wind, dissatisfaction with a peaceful existence, trying to “run from trouble”, and the discovery of new things on the journey while also being reminded that danger lurks in the unknown and there’s no place far enough to run from the trouble you’re created. This all ends in the climactic 50-foot drop, where Brer Rabbit uses his wits to escape trouble and come to the final conclusion that journeys are exciting, but home is where the heart is and where those around you will protect and celebrate you. This is not even taking into account the oral tradition of the original tale that was passed down through generations of African Americans. Splash, for a theme park attraction, had quite a complex story. And it built and utilized its very long track to tell that story fully and in a satisfying matter that was easy for young and old to understand.
And again, the important emphasis is that the ride is track is SO long BECAUSE it gives you ample time to tell an effective story. I think Tiana objectively failed in that regard because it does not utilize its track efficiently. And as you mentioned, it is difficult to separate the idea of Tiana’s from the idea of Splash because it utilizes the same exact track. In addition, theme parks are literally created to overwhelm your senses and create memories. So I think it is an impossible task to suddenly ask people to view this ride as its own thing when the track obviously wasn’t built for what they chose to do for Tiana’s. Tiana’s would work better on a Small World-esque track because it’s basically a Small World-esque ride. The entire thing is a smiling, upbeat, nondescript trip down the bayou to a Mardi Gras celebration. There’s no need to include thrilling drops in between the ride sections (besides arguably for the part where Mama Odie shrinks you down) because the ride was not built with drops in mind.
And I don’t think Space Mountain is a fair comparison to talk about “well this one didn’t have a story and it’s beloved.” This point is made for this attraction because 1.) the previous attraction put storytelling at the forefront, 2.) Space Mountain DOES tell a story, just a very basic one (you enter a spaceport, and you’re launched into space on a rocket) which relies on ambience and effects to tell the story for them, and 3.) Space Mountain is an old attraction- i.e. theme parks develop. People expect more storytelling and complexity from rides because it’s not the 1970’s anymore. Space Mountain was effective for its time at telling a basic story with revolutionary ride elements, which is why it’s still popular among many today. A good comparison would be “Star Wars: A New Hope”, a BASIC story and a retelling of the hero’s journey formula, but completely heightened due to the effects, the creativity, the ambience, and the music.
For Tiana’s, I only expected Disney to put forth a product that 1.) respected the source material of “Princess and the Frog”, a movie they have largely ignored and not shown a lot of love until now, and 2.) tell a good story that utilizes the track which was literally built to tell good story that 3.) revolves around the 50-foot waterfall drop at its center that is viewable from every angle of the outside of the ride. Disney, however, delivered on none of this.
They lauded this ride as a sequel to “Princess and the Frog”, but put no forth whatsoever to give us any new information about the characters. There’s no clear goal or conflict; merely that you’re moving along the bayou, gathering ingredients, shrinking and growing, and getting to a Mardi Gras party at the end? Splash Mountain was packed with thrills, with stakes, with Brer Rabbit always just a step ahead of Brer Fox and Brer Bear until the end where Imagineers used lighting, music, and voice acting to convey the sudden gravity of the situation. But there is no ebb and flow in the no ride, there is no conflict, and to put it quite bluntly: there’s no story. A track built for storytelling with no story-it’s a disappointing feeling to say the least, ESPECIALLY when again, this was touted as a SEQUEL to a BEAUTIFUL movie they have ignored for so long.
This ride, in my opinion and what I’ve heard from many others, not only disrespects fans of the former ride, it disrespects people who were looking forward to the change either because of the new representation or because they’re fans of “Princess and the Frog.” The reason people loved Splash was because of the storytelling, it’s what got people to return time and time again to experience the ride. The characters, the music, all of it revolved around telling the best story possible utilizing the track fully while teasing a sense of danger from the moment you step foot in front of that 50-foot drop. But it seems that the creatives behind this project did not care that the ride revolves around a 50-foot drop. This ride did not care to tell a story.
Yes, it looks beautiful. I praise the set designers, those in charge of lighting, those in charge of animatronics - truly it looks brand new and beautiful. But with that said, it also feels like there’s a lot more empty space on this ride than Splash Mountain had. And I can only attribute that to Disney once again displaying that they’re not willing to put in a little more money and effort to create a project that feels full and complete.
There was endless potential to write a worthy sequel to Princess and the Frog in ride form or to tell a shortened version of the original tale. Either way, what we have been left with is a project that is gorgeous and very charming at certain points but that lacks any depth or effort to tell an actual story. Fans of Facilier are left disappointed because of his complete absence. Fans of Tiana and Naveen are disappointed because there’s barely a mention of their love. Even a lot of Tiana fans are disappointed because she’s not wearing her iconic dress or any clothes from the original movie. And again-there is no new information provided about the characters in this ride. They’re just watered-down versions of the characters in the movie who are perpetually smiling and happy because it’s “Mardi Gras” time, or something.
At the end of the day, it’s just a ride, and I am a single nerdy Disney adult who cares too much about theme parks. I’ve come to peace with that and with the fact that things change and will continue changing whether we want them to or not. But to get my final 2 cents in: To anyone who asks what makes a good Disney ride or Disney movie, it’s not because of any adherence to maintain a certain brand or feeling-a good Disney product is a product that tells a good story. And I don’t think this ride accomplishes that, or even tried to in the first place-- which unfortunately seems to be the company trend at the moment.
You talk about Bob chapek as CEO versus Bob Iger. I think the return of Bob Iger is as disasters if not more so than Bob Chapel ever thought of being and I think he needs to go also.
Bob Chapek was on his own as CEO for 9 months, I know he’s a convenient punching bag for many reasons but this and all the changes have to be on Iger and Dimauro.
The Chapek era? The one that lasted about 6 months? Don’t tell me you’ve drunk Iger’s Kool-Aid! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Lasted from 2014-2022
Animals protect territory and babies. They know possession. And rank/hierarchy. I love Larry too - unseen. Everyone loves a scallywag.
Finally, on your final point... not everyone can afford to go to Tokyo. It might still exist there, but it should have NEVER come this far. I'll never see it as anything more than a mistake.
If you can go to WDW, you can. You choose not to.
@@WDWNT Are you comparing the price of a trip to Disneyland (where I'm coming from here) to a vacation to Tokyo? WDW is a good point, but I'm local to Land and it doesn't cost as much as a full trip to another country.
We have to go to Tokyo if we want to see a Haunted Mansion that's free of all the travesties that have been shoveled onto it like manure over the last 20 years.
Yeah flying to Tokyo is exactly the same as flying to Florida - If you're flying first class to Florida both ways; and flying in the back bathroom toilet one way to Tokyo.
@@justintime1234 I can't afford first class. What are you on about lol. Only reason I could ever afford to visit WDW is discounted tickets from people I know.
So far in, I’m disagreeing with almost every take here. Granted, they’ve obviously been on the ride and I haven’t, so I get that. I’ll also fully admit my bias towards Splash Mountain, I just want to be honest. However, I can at least comment to the story and say that Splash DID have a strong story, it was just subtle. I’m perfectly allowed to criticize this ride for having a stupid story
Splash Mountain at Disneyland did have an original song: Burrow's Lament
That is fair, still not one people leave singing
Although, that one borrowed it’s melody heavily from laughing place.
To be fair, the majority of the lyrics were Infact original or new, even when the songs were reused. (With the exception of Laughin’ Place which was all the same) Think of Br’er Turtle or Br’er Gators dialogue and/or Br’er Porcupine’s dialogue for “How Do You Do?” or the new lyrics for Zip a Dee Do-Dah that describe the story.
I don’t think you get to look at or get to know the band animals long enough to get attached. If they had re used them multiple times maybe and they don’t get dialogue
100%
You spend more time with them then the most Haunted Mansion characters, who also have no dialogue. They do also appear more than once.
@@WDWNT The Haunted Mansion characters are thought out well enough to really make a powerful visual impression within their individually themed spaces. Likewise, Lari is special, because his design stands out in the themed spaces and his personality is intriguing.The bayou critters are kinda lumped together in groups next to far more advanced animatronics or eye catching screens, making it hard to connect to them individually (without Disney having to explain that they are special through a bunch of exit merch). They are never the star of the show, even if the whole story supposedly revolves around finding them. And with the Country Bears right next door, they really do end up looking like lightweight filler.
Naaa Tom you're BIG trippin, French Market was Walt's last restaurant, no need to mess with perfection. It was an unmatched vibe, they only made it tackier, that's it.
I don't need to see corporate movie advertisements dressed as "theming" everywhere I turn. At what point does it become Universal? The charm of walking thru NoS was that it felt like being transported to REAL turn of the century French Quarter!
I see the story complexity point comparing Splash to Tiana. However, Tiana feels like several simple stories smushed together not for complexity but lack of commitment to one idea instead of a singular simple story.
Have you seen Tangled's slow ride in Fantasy Springs? Its literally chopped up.
I agree, it's easy to fix the lift hill while keeping things light and happy, but there should be levels to the light and happiness. Mama Odie should really hype you up for the drop, in a fun way. I think they should change the animation at the bottom and change the dialog to something like, "we've gotta get you to that party, don't worry, I know a short cut!" then the animatronic Mama Odie can say something like, "but we gotta get you back to human size, but careful, the bigger you are the bigger the splash!" It's not that different from what they have now, but it ties in the merch text and context of the drop.
Also, I think they should play an instrumental version of Special Spice at the end of the big drop instead of Almost There, again, until you reach the party, to help make it an iconic song.
Also also, I can imagine some kind of show about how food can bring us together with a Be Our Guest, Le Festin, and Special Spice medley.
I am still disappointed in the ride. Thank you for the great opinions and review!
From other ride-throughs, it seems very light on quality animatronics, theming and a coherent story. That plus the repeated breakdowns on a re-theme of an existing ride mechanism, doesn't give mt too much hope. Plus the tardiness of cleaning/maintenance in recent times.
They’re still testing the ride. They work on different mechanics and different things that are not necessarily broken at the time and they could test certain things at different times.
@@jaredfamily123 This isn't a new ride. It's a re-skin of the existing ride. What could need testing in the ride mechanics which would cause them to stop the water on the plunge section?
What gives away that apologists are definitely in denial is theres a lot of "justifying", projecting, dismissive passive aggressive comments and instead of it being a great ride and the majority enjoy it...its clearly Disney and certain influencers desperately trying to defend this boring and subpar replacement to one of the most iconic rides in Disney. This is like replacing Its a small world...into Navi River Journey...yeah the tech is updated buts its BORING af
It’s cute when people spit my narratives back at me, but they don’t work against solid reasoning
@WDWNT My comment wasn't even directed at you, but if you thought it applied to you...guess that says it all 💀
Tom downplayed Splash’s narrative way too much throughout the video.
Please up-play it then
Also why not have more of Naveen on the ride just the end scene he could have filled in some of the dead space.
In concept art, he was supposed to be in more of the ride and be in bayou scenes with Tiana
They did my boy dirty. ONE figure and he's half behind Tiana and half behind a staircase. 😮
this was a great review i appreciate the length too
14:57 not gonna lie I miss this bear I relate to him so much 😂
Thaks for sharing this WDWNT.