My oh my, what a wonderful ride
Disney World set to drop Tiana makeover of Splash Mountain
4 (out of 5)
Since its opening in 1992, Splash Mountain has been an iconic part of the “mountain range” at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Florida. With its chirpy show scenes and thrilling big-drop finale, it was a huge hit from the get-go and delightful in every way–except one. Its theme was based on characters from Disney’s problematic 1946 animated film, “Song of the South,” which presented racist stereotypes. The company has long distanced itself from the movie, which Disney CEO Bob Iger has said is “just not appropriate for today’s world.” Splash Mountain, however, continued zip-a-dee-doo-dahing until last year. After a lengthy makeover, the log flume attraction is set to reopen June 28 (and later this year at Disneyland in California) as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. I got to preview the remake at a media event.
The storyline picks up after the events of the film, in which Tiana opens her New Orleans’ restaurant. It seems the budding entrepreneur is developing Tiana’s Foods and is growing herbs and vegetables for her line of spices and other products. The Princess is planning a shindig during Mardi Gras to thank the community for supporting her endeavors. There’s one problem, however: There’s been a snafu with the band, and she needs to hire musicians to perform at the celebration. That’s where we come in. Guests will float through the bayou along with Tiana and trumpet-playing alligator, Louis, seeking players for the ensemble.
The queue sets the narrative in motion as it snakes through the Princess’s office, and we see to-do lists and other indications of the party being planned. Set during the 1920s, we also make our way through her period kitchen and see the famous beignets she prepares. According to Disney, the tantalizing aroma of the pastries are supposed to waft through the queue, but my keen sense of smell didn’t notice anything (other than the sweat of the sticky journalists who had braved Florida’s insane heat and humidity). Still in technical rehearsal, I’d imagine the Imagineers will resolve the olfactory snafu before Tiana’s officially opens.
Guests board the log vehicles and climb up the mountain to begin the journey. It may not make much sense for the Louisiana-set attraction to be located in the Magic Kingdom ’s Old-West Frontierland. Then again, Splash Mountain was based in the South. (Disneyland’s New Orleans Square will be a perfectly apt location.) It does, however, make plenty of sense that we’d be cruising down a river in a hollowed-out log through the bayou, so the existing ride system works nicely to advance the story.
Tonally, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure shares much with its predecessor. Cute woodland critters and music figured prominently in Splash Mountain and do again in the reimagined attraction. The new ride introduces 19 new characters, including a rabbit, a raccoon, and a beaver, all of whom use found materials to create instruments and play music.
There is a judicious use of screens sprinkled throughout the attraction along with some projected imagery and lighting effects. The focus, however is on an impressive collection of audio animatronic figures. Using the latest A-1000 technology, they are stunning, and their fluidity and articulation are quite lifelike. Tiana, Louis, and the magical Mama Odie move and gesture with style and grace. The minor characters are more limited in their movement, but are nonetheless compelling. Unlike Splash Mountain, in which the characters constantly moved and guests caught snippets of conversation as if they were in a floating cocktail party, many of the new scenes feature figures that deliver spiels timed to trigger when the ride vehicles are in position. I’m not sure whether it was due to this need to sync the scenes, new attraction jitters as Disney works out the kinks of its show controls, or media day issues caused by the vehicles’ onboard filming equipment, but there was a literal logjam early in my ride as the vehicles piled up. There were many moments when I and my fellow passengers had to wait to proceed to the next scenes, which broke the continuity of the experience. Again, I’m guessing that Disney will figure out how to keep things moving–and hit the ride’s intended throughput numbers–in short order.
There is a nice effect in which Mama Odie appears overhead to cast a spell on the passengers, thereby shrinking them down to the size of a frog so that they can better see the small critter musicians do their thing. A small drop in the dark, accompanied by a vortex of light, completes the illusion.
Eventually, of course, it’s all leading to the ride’s 50-foot plunge. As with Splash Mountain, it doesn’t disappoint. And as with the attraction in its former incarnation, the big splash is followed by a big sendoff scene. In this case, it is Tiana’s celebratory bash, which is filled with animatronics, including the ad hoc band members and the princess belting out “Special Spice,” a song created just for the attraction. It features the vocals of Anika Noni Rose, who was the original voice actor for Princess Tiana.
Acclaimed New Orleans musician PJ Morton wrote the buoyant song, which contributes to the joyous nature of the attraction. Noted trumpeter Terrence Blanchard, who played the music coming out of Louis the alligator’s horn in the film, was also involved in creating the score for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. It’s a testament to the lengths the Imagineers went to honor the story’s roots.
“This attraction is truly a love letter to New Orleans, and we think that those who are from the city are going to recognize that,” says Charita Carter, executive creative producer for Walt Disney Imagineering and one of the ride’s key visionaries. With its focus on music and food, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure captures the city’s unique spirit. It had a big mountain to fill, but with its captivating show scenes and big-splash thrills, it’s also a worthy follow-up to the E-Ticket ride that preceded it.
Are you planning to check out Tiana’s Bayou Adventure? What do you think about the story the Imagineers crafted for the attraction? Are you a fan of log flume rides?
Glad you liked it Arthur. Any makeover of a classic ride is going to be met with some negativity, and this one in particular due to the sensitive social controversy surrounding it. I think it's important to note two things for those who feel negatively about it.
One, "Song of the South" did not become controversial in the modern era - it was criticized as being racially insensitive even at the time of its release back in 1946. So the argument that backlash against the film is a modern phenomenon holds no water (pun intended, I guess?) There is a wonderful podcast called "You Must Remember This" that did a six-episode series (Eps 146-151) about "Song of the South" that really enlightened me on the history of the film. Highly recommended listen.
Secondly, Walt himself viewed the parks as places to be continuously updated and transformed. While I sometimes get a bit sad when a classic ride I remember from my youth is remade or overhauled, I try to keep this in mind. The world does not belong to us alone, and the reboots of rides we see today will be the classics that our kids and grandkids remember.
I'm really excited to experience this new version. My youngest (12) mentioned the other day that he'd like to go back to Disney because was too young to remember it the last time we went. Sounds like a perfect excuse to get back down there!
Thank you for the positive take. I am so tired of the negative press this attraction is getting. I rode it last week. It was great(still needs some tweaks, but that is what previews are for)