Tiana's Bayou Adventure (Splash Mountain retheme)

I'm excited for it! I'm honestly not a big Splash Mountain fan and will rarely go on it. But, I'll probably ride it one last time in August just as a send-off. And then not again until it re-opens. Princess and the Frog is such a great movie and if done right, the re-theming will be so fun.
 


I'm totally cool with the re-theme, though not at first because I really don't like change, lol. Even though the name of the ride is changing it will always be Splash Mountain to me. DL better not dare change Hungry Bear to a Tiana themed restaurant. I can get over a ride re-theme, but it would be unforgivable if they take away my family's favorite restaurant of more than 30 years.😂
 
I was honestly none too pleased to hear about the retheme, but it's starting to grow on me. I am actually looking forward to seeing how they update it.
 


I think this will end up being like Tower of Terror vs. Guardians to me. Had Disney built Guardians from scratch exactly the way it is, I'd enjoy it and think it was a very acceptable E-ticket attraction. But knowing how incredible Tower was before, and seeing the rather lame retheme in so many areas (where they cut costs is painfully obvious), I'll never enjoy it as much as I could have.

If Disney built this Tiana water ride from scratch, I have a feeling it would be a really great addition to the parks. But Splash (when properly maintained) is such an amazing and iconic attraction that I hate to see it go. Plus, I fully expect Disney to cheap out on the retheme, leaving it mostly looking like "Tiana's Splash Mountain Adventure", which will disappoint me every time I ride it.
 
What I've heard circulated a lot is that they announced this in June 2020, and they've done a lot offsite work in the interim between now and then, aka building set pieces and animatronics. So they won't need to do a lot of onsite building of a most of this.
I really hope this is true for minimal disruption, but I find it hard to believe the company that let trams sit in disrepair and made "guests" walk a mile to the parks and still pay full price for parking is that far ahead of the curve.

Overall, excited for the re-theme.
 
I think this will end up being like Tower of Terror vs. Guardians to me. Had Disney built Guardians from scratch exactly the way it is, I'd enjoy it and think it was a very acceptable E-ticket attraction. But knowing how incredible Tower was before, and seeing the rather lame retheme in so many areas (where they cut costs is painfully obvious), I'll never enjoy it as much as I could have.

If Disney built this Tiana water ride from scratch, I have a feeling it would be a really great addition to the parks. But Splash (when properly maintained) is such an amazing and iconic attraction that I hate to see it go. Plus, I fully expect Disney to cheap out on the retheme, leaving it mostly looking like "Tiana's Splash Mountain Adventure", which will disappoint me every time I ride it.

That’s so interesting-while I loved ToT, I think GOTG is vastly improved from the Disneyland version.
 
My daughter is so excited for this! I know we'll have to plan a trip for once it is open. I'm glad we got to experience Splash again so we have that memory, but updates are good too. I wonder when they will take it down though - with a late 2024 opening date, does it seem like it will go down during its normal maintenance time in 2023 and be down nearly 2 years?
It's Disney destiny! Here's your target date for planning another trip! :)
 
My bet is minimal actual imagineering and maximum reuse of most of the stuff….

Count on plastic masks over existing animatronics, perhaps one or two new ones…

I am betting on the last scene being the exact same river boat party with jazz music replacing the current score and reskinned and moved animatronics with a new paint background

Minimal effort maximum cost savings.
 
My bet is minimal actual imagineering and maximum reuse of most of the stuff….

Count on plastic masks over existing animatronics, perhaps one or two new ones…

I am betting on the last scene being the exact same river boat party with jazz music replacing the current score and reskinned and moved animatronics with a new paint background

Minimal effort maximum cost savings.
Ding,.ding, ding!
 
I'm totally cool with the re-theme, though not at first because I really don't like change, lol. Even though the name of the ride is changing it will always be Splash Mountain to me. DL better not dare change Hungry Bear to a Tiana themed restaurant. I can get over a ride re-theme, but it would be unforgivable if they take away my family's favorite restaurant of more than 30 years.😂
I will probably always call it Splash, too. I saw a sign in New Orleans square about a new restaurant coming on soon. I was assuming that would be Tiana's. I can't imagine them taking away Hungry Bear!
 
I will probably always call it Splash, too. I saw a sign in New Orleans square about a new restaurant coming on soon. I was assuming that would be Tiana's. I can't imagine them taking away Hungry Bear!
There's a spot near Blue Bayou that's supposed to be a Tiana's themed space. Maybe quick service, maybe just a treat shop. Used to be Le Bat en Rouge. I was curious if they'd retheme Hungry Bear but that wouldn't really make sense to have a Tiana restaurant so far away from New Orleans Square. I wish there was a way to teleport Winnie the Pooh to Fantasyland since Critter Country will just be one ride now and wasn't it more called that for Splash and Country Bear Jamboree?
 
Biggest issue I see is that they are retheming a thrill ride that has height restrictions and a fear factor to a theme for a Princess character.

In my mind that means the main demographic young and little kids who like princesses can't or won't ride the attraction. Seems odd that Imagineering would not take this into account.

Better option (but more expensive) is to keep Splash Mountain, that is based on a historical black story and replace Pooh and Hungry Bear with a new attraction and restaurant themed to PATF. I could see something similar to what they did for Remy in Paris Studios mixed with the BATB attraction at Tokyo DL.
 
Better option (but more expensive) is to keep Splash Mountain, that is based on a historical black story and replace Pooh and Hungry Bear with a new attraction and restaurant themed to PATF. I could see something similar to what they did for Remy in Paris Studios mixed with the BATB attraction at Tokyo DL.
Even if Disney put a Princess and the Frog ride elsewhere, they would've rethemed Splash Mountain to something else regardless. The main reason why the retheme is happening is for Disney to further distance itself from the movie Splash is based on to avoid future controversies. Princess and the Frog just so happens to be the theme that they chose.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top