Disney has revealed new storyline particulars for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the reimagined Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom and Disneyland. This shares all the particulars, ‘company’ idea artwork, and commentary concerning the backstory of the attraction and Imagineering’s use of storytelling.
As beforehand shared, the reimagined trip can be named Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, and can deliver friends into the world of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ movie The Princess and the Frog. According to the corporate, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will open at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World and Disneyland in California in late 2024.
During the D23 Expo in Anaheim final 12 months, Walt Disney Imagineering shared extra particulars concerning the reimagined trip, together with a mannequin showcasing how Splash Mountain could be reworked. See our Photos & Video of the Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Model, which gives a complete take a look at the brand new exterior, queue, and on-ride particulars that’ll be added to the attraction because it turns into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. (Note: that’s particularly the Disneyland model of Splash Mountain. Minor adjustments, just like the queue and log trip automobiles, are anticipated to vary.)
The newest backstory that Walt Disney Imagineering has shared considerations the queue for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. At a younger age, Tiana developed a deep ardour for cooking, and commenced to dream of at some point proudly owning her personal enterprise. Her father, James, taught her that good meals brings of us collectively. During Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, we’re going to see the place life has taken her following the success of Tiana’s Palace, a restaurant she had dreamed of proudly owning and labored exhausting to perform.
Walt Disney Imagineering is creating an authentic, subsequent chapter story for Tiana. Within the queue, friends will uncover that she continues to develop her enterprise with Tiana’s Foods, which is an employee-owned cooperative. Combining her skills with these of the area people, Tiana has reworked an ageing salt mine and constructed a beloved model.
The endeavor started when Tiana bought the salt mine and the world surrounding the big salt dome from which it operated. With the assistance of her mom Eudora, Naveen, Louis, and fellow homeowners of the cooperative, Tiana revived the outdated salt mine and the encircling land. In so doing, she grew a big selection of greens, herbs, and spices for her recipes.
This elaborate enterprise has turned the ageing salt mine into an area that has come alive. Complete with a boutique farm and each a working and instructing kitchen, Tiana’s Foods is the place Tiana and her colleagues create all kinds of latest merchandise that they’re bringing to the world, together with a line of authentic sizzling sauces.
Tiana desires to offer a giant because of her household and buddies and the whole neighborhood for all of the assist they’ve given her by throwing a tremendous celebration throughout Mardi Gras season. When it turns on the market’s been a little bit of a mix-up with the celebration preparations, Tiana invitations us to satisfy her at Tiana’s Foods to assist with the lacking ingredient for the celebration.
When we arrive, we may even see that Tiana spruced up the corporate’s services with vibrant artwork from native artists. Food for the celebration is being ready and beignets are being loaded into crates for the celebration. All sorts of preparations are underway for the journey into the bayou with Tiana, together with new and acquainted buddies from the animated movie.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure picks up the place the film’s story left off. Tiana continues bringing individuals along with Tiana’s Foods, one other treasured assembly place to spend time collectively and have a good time a various neighborhood. Tiana can also be working with cooperative members to show gardening and cooking to youngsters of all ages, and galvanizing different girls to run profitable companies because the model grows nationwide.
With the Tiana’s Foods backstory of the reimagined trip established, let’s flip to commentary providing our ideas on how this units the desk for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, plus numerous ranting concerning the obsession with story and so forth…
Our Commentary
I’ve a love-hate relationship with backstory. I really like that Imagineering writes extensively to tell their storytelling, and you’ll find pages upon pages of inside lore and details about sights outdated and new. Based on what I’ve seen, this phenomenon started through the Eisner period–you’ll find backstory for Pleasure Island, Typhoon Lagoon, and different additions from the late Eighties and early Nineties.
Although followers may assume in any other case, Imagineering’s obsession with story will not be a brand new factor. Fans merely have higher entry to it, and normally earlier than ever experiencing the attraction, as a result of it’s used as advertising within the lead-up to new rides debuting. Perhaps WDI is using extra present writers consequently; I don’t know. It’s nonetheless nothing new.
When backstory turns into one thing for friends to come upon in queues, all through lands, and elsewhere, it may be a fantastic enhancement to the expertise. At its greatest, backstory informs what’s already there, offering added texture and richness to what could possibly be readily understood by context cues, visuals, and so on. This sort of backstory is principally icing on a cake that tastes fairly nice with out icing–that means that it wasn’t needed to start with.
I hate backstory when it’s needed to clarify away deficiencies, and engages in storytelling that may come as a shock to the common customer. If the backstory causes a reevaluation of the trip or land, it’s not good–it’s dangerous. That means the factor itself can not stand by itself, or is at odds with its backstory.
The notorious instance of that is Dino-Rama, with its “lipstick on a pig” backstory. As I’ve ranted dozens of instances, that land will not be good, it’s a dumpster hearth. Some followers simply find it irresistible as a result of they’re a part of the in-group that supposedly “gets” Dino-Rama and why it’s “actually” good. (It will not be.)
This is one thing I cowl at size in Tom’s Top 7: Backstories at Walt Disney World. I received’t belabor the purpose right here–when you’re excited about good and dangerous backstory at Walt Disney World, that article covers it.
At this level, the backstory for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure may go both means. I don’t learn the above particulars about Tiana’s Foods and assume, “this is brilliant, I cannot wait to see how the story is resolved!” The factor is, I’m completely wonderful with that. Splash Mountain had/has a really lengthy queue, and I feel the case could possibly be made that though lovely, it handed up stage-setting alternatives that might’ve enhanced the attraction. (Not that it wanted to do that–it was a traditional attraction, regardless.)
One of the issues I liked about Splash Mountain was all the critters, completely unrelated to the story being advised, that inhabited Chickapin Hill. Why had been they there? What was their deal? They weren’t simply nameless animals that spontaneously gathered to observe Brer Rabbit’s try kidnapping.
In reality, the alligator band–The Swamp Boys–had a live performance poster within the queue. It would’ve been nice to know extra about these critters, even when wholly immaterial to the attraction itself. While wholly pointless, it might’ve been added shade, world-building particulars for the keen fan. (I additionally vividly recall inspecting all the birdhouses as a child, questioning who/what lived inside.)
I can’t say the Tiana’s Foods backstory does a lot for me. To the opposite, I actively dislike it and want it had been one thing completely different that really “hooked” me. However, I’ve additionally discovered to not criticize backstory prematurely. In this web period, followers are thirsty for a relentless trickle of data, and Disney largely obliges us. In the Eighties and Nineties, backstory leaked out after the actual fact, and was judged towards the completed attraction, land, and so on. Now, it comes out forward of time and is judged by itself.
My huge lesson about prematurely judging backstory got here through the latest reimagining of Jungle Cruise. I’ll admit that I rolled my eyes at rather a lot of the backstory for that, and I used to be frankly involved that Imagineering was getting means too heavy-handed with story for the sake of story on a trip that actually didn’t want it. My worry was that it might bathroom down the attraction, overwhelm friends, and are available throughout as contrived. There was simply a lot story within the lead-up to the reimagining.
The finish end result with Jungle Cruise was very completely different from that. Those backstory particulars are peppered across the queue, and there for the invention of friends. That’s an asset, because it offers friends one thing to have interaction in that beforehand fundamental and typically very lengthy standby line. You can uncover nuggets of data that illuminate and connect with different adventurous experiences, however usually are not in the slightest degree essential to having fun with the attraction.
As for the trip itself, the large change to Jungle Cruise is that they added a plethora of primates. It may as effectively be referred to as Jungle Cruise: Monkey Madness. I’m sorry, however when you dislike that, you’re distinctly unpatriotic. Monkeys doing ape antics are superior, and that’s only a reality. For all the hand-wringing about altering Jungle Cruise, the top result’s principally simply that–extra monkeys. Other stuff did change for ‘contemporary audiences,’ however the huge discernible factor is the monkeys. It was a giant win for lovers of simian shenanigans, which ought to be everybody.
With Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the element I’ve zeroed in on is the road that “there’s been a bit of a mix-up with the party preparations, Tiana invites us to meet her at Tiana’s Foods to help with the missing ingredient for the party.” I could possibly be mistaken, however this strikes me as an apparent MacGuffin. For those that aren’t followers of Alfred Hitchcock or Pulp Fiction (why not?), a MacGuffin is an seemingly-significant merchandise that advances the plot and motivates the characters, however finally ends up being irrelevant or unimportant. Muppet Haunted Mansion additionally makes use of this system, cleverly calling it The Great MacGuffin.
In any case, “the missing ingredient” could possibly be a perfect MacGuffin as a result of it might enable Tiana and friends to come across a bunch of various animals–the present critters in Splash Mountain, like The Swamp Boys, that had been created for the attraction and are completely divorced from the supply materials–and sing or do no matter with them. Given the brief turnaround time and idea we’ve already seen, I’ve already gone on document to say that I feel numerous what’s inside Splash Mountain is staying up, and I’m going to double down on that right here.
We already know that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will choose up the story of The Princess and the Frog after the ultimate kiss, becoming a member of Tiana and Louis on a musical journey as they put together for his or her first-ever Mardi Gras efficiency. During this celebration, friends will hear authentic music impressed by songs from the movie. Tiana is main the way in which and friends will be capable to encounter outdated buddies and make new buddies alongside the way in which as effectively.
Encountering “new friends” strongly suggests to me that no less than a number of the authentic characters from Splash Mountain can be making appearances. In order to make that work, the attraction essentially must be set after the film. Regrettably, The Swamp Boys weren’t featured in The Princess and the Frog.
Of course, that’s merely hypothesis on my half, and could possibly be completely mistaken. Even whether it is, my perspective on this nonetheless stands–that the lacking ingredient is almost certainly a MacGuffin. The Tiana’s Foods angle could possibly be performed up within the queue for the astute observer, however wholly immaterial to the trip itself.
Given the “musical adventure” getting ready for Mardi Gras whereas encountering buddies setup, that looks as if a powerful chance. Otherwise, there may be going to be rather a lot–an excessive amount of–story being advised all through the trip. As a lot as Imagineering loves “story” nowadays, I don’t assume they’ll make that mistake.
Many followers have questioned why Tiana’s Bayou Adventure isn’t merely revisiting the story of The Princess and the Frog, its villains and music. After all, that might make sense with the present ‘pacing’ of Splash Mountain and its climactic carry hill. This is a good level, and positively looks as if the much less dangerous method.
With that stated, I vehemently (however respectfully) disagree with these of you who assume that. I’m very glad that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will not be merely a “book report” model attraction. Retelling the film in CliffNotes trend typically falls flat, and makes the visitor really feel like passive observers somewhat than lively members.
This is one thing Imagineer Tony Baxter has ranted towards for years, and also you’ve most likely heard his ideas on it when you’ve heard him communicate at a D23 occasion or on a podcast. If he’s really an advisor on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, I think he would’ve pushed exhausting towards the reimagined trip doing that.
Personally, I’ll take the potential gamble of the “missing ingredient” narrative system and one thing recent. This method does have increased potential danger than merely retelling the film, nevertheless it additionally has higher potential reward.
Ultimately, it’s fascinating to listen to particulars about Tiana’s Foods and the way that’ll play out within the queue for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Even although the broad strokes of this story does completely nothing for me, it additionally doesn’t fear me. There’s numerous backstory that I wouldn’t look after if solely studying a synopsis, and but, works effectively in its precise setting and for the needs of building a backdrop or leaping off level for the attraction itself.
My hope is that that is the case with Tiana’s Foods. I’d personally favor the queue turn out to be a Spinal Tap-style documentary about how Princess Tiana met The Swamp Boys, helped reinvent the group, and so they all turned the primary female-led boy band. (The plot of the trip could possibly be a caper about their disappeared drummer!)
That is, sadly, not what we’re getting. The Tiana’s Foods setup not interesting to me at this level additionally doesn’t imply it’ll be poorly finished or uninteresting. I’m in full ‘wait and see’ mode with Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. It’s a excessive stakes mission, and each Imagineering and firm executives undoubtedly perceive this and are going to do every little thing of their energy to make sure that the top end result delivers.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on the Tiana’s Foods backstory for the queue? Disappointed that the backstory isn’t a Spinal Tap-style documentary about The Swamp Boys and Tiana? Do you agree or disagree that the lacking ingredient is probably going a MacGuffin? How a lot of the present attraction (e.g. random musical critter AAs) are you anticipating to seem within the reimagined model? Excited for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure? Expectations relating to the Splash Mountain reimagining timeline? Think they will end it by late 2024? Keep the feedback civil, as this isn’t the place for politically-charged arguing, tradition wars, antagonism, private assaults, or low cost photographs. We can be heavy-handed in deleting any feedback that cross the road, regardless of viewpoint. You usually are not going to vary anybody’s thoughts through the feedback part on this weblog, nor are you going to vary Disney’s priorities. If you want to shout your outrage into the web abyss, that’s why Facebook was invented.