Legendary Disney Imagineer Tony Baxter and creator of Splash Mountain comments on its transformation into Tiana's Bayou Adventure

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Tiana's Bayou Adventure construction - April 10 2023

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Posted: Wednesday April 12, 2023 1:30pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Update 7:00-pm April 12 - The comments by Tony Baxter referenced in the LA Times article were from 2020, and are not new.

In an article by the Los Angeles Times, legendary Walt Disney Imagineer and creator of Splash Mountain Tony Baxter comments on the ride's transformation into Tiana's Bayou Adventure.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure concept model - D23 Expo exhibit

Baxter told the LA Times, "When Splash Mountain came to life over 30 years ago, the wave of Disney Animation that started with 'The Little Mermaid' had not yet begun. New stories would give us characters, music and wonderful places that now reside in the hearts of audiences everywhere. Following conversations with Imagineering's leaders about the new attraction's scope and resources, I had a great sense of reassurance — the attraction will be one to be proud of ... bringing to life places, characters and music from the animated classic 'The Princess and the Frog.'" You can read more at the LA Times.

The comments come alongside news today that Splash Mountain will close at Disneyland on May 30, and the unveiling of more details about Tiana's Bayou Adventure.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure concept art - April 2023

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SamusAranX4 days ago

….by the Imagineers? lol

ᗩLᘿᑕ ֊ᗩζᗩᗰ4 days ago

That would have required an inordinate amount of thought and imagination.

SamusAranX4 days ago

I always said that they should have done a Tiana’s Western Expedition fusion sort of ride. You can still have the missing ingredient theme, she’s hunting out west with her New Orleans pals, only to find a familiar face from the past has also followed them….

Tony the Tigger4 days ago

We’ll have to wait for him to explain how it works. Seemed pretty busy today. I’m sure there is a reasonable reply on the way.

Brer Oswald4 days ago

Does he have someone conducting exit polls in the gift shop? Funny, nobody asked me of what I thought the 3 times I went on the ride.

Brer Oswald4 days ago

It was always going to be a weird fit. You’re taking a rustic cavernous structure themed around small woodland critters and shoving humans in their place. Granted, they could have done a better job with it than they did. What we got was basically the worst case scenario. I doubt they’ll fix it so long as it’s “serving its purpose” as a flume ride.

SamusAranX4 days ago

Disney isn’t retooling it unless the next CEO decides to pull a drastic (positive) culture shift of even higher, well placed investment. Think ala Igers original mandate to correct their “brand withdrawals”. Which he did with DCA. Then they promptly decided to completely overhaul their overhaul.

TrainsOfDisney4 days ago

Agreed. Not sure why we have to settle for “bushes” at Tiana, “snowflakes” at Frozen, and plastic “fish” at mermaid.

RosR94 days ago

I feel like they don’t even have to do that much if they really wanted to do the bare minimum, like even just add a few basic sets so we’re not floating by nothing for 90% of the ride. Like I can’t imagine making and placing a couple little critter houses is that hard or expensive

TrainsOfDisney4 days ago

If they ever rework Tiana it still has lots of potential- it’s not terrible.

TrainsOfDisney4 days ago

any guest rating is tricky - if I leave a Broadway show and someone asks me for a poll right after I would certainly rank it very high even if it was just average. (An average broadway show is still excellent). But will I revisit the same broadway show multiple times on future visits? That’s another question.

HauntedPirate4 days ago

4.5 from guests, based on what Len stated previously (and the same ratings they got for Splash) vs. 4.3 on the site is something being "easily skewed"?

Tony the Tigger5 days ago

I’m totally guessing, but he’s probably talking about polls taken in the park, those on his site are reviews by people who choose to leave a review, easily skewed. I could certainly be wrong.