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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John park hopper1 day ago

Must not be a real time picture all the people are in shorts and t shirts

monothingie1 day ago

We don't talk about Brers.

EagleScout6102 days ago

And he was never heard from again... for the Bob moves quickly in smiting thee who mention the bunny

Disgruntled Walt2 days ago

gerarar4 days ago

The 1pm afternoon VQ drop lasted the entire day again. Last happened on Christmas Eve.

Tha Realest4 days ago

I suspect this has to do with reliability issues (ride availability as well as AA reliability within the attraction when it is “working”). Certainly not how they planned Frontierland to be going while they take down BTMRR and start doing away with ROA.

gerarar5 days ago

Disstevefan15 days ago

Good point. After everything that is being worked on is closed/walled off, I assume country bears will be in high demand. I presume all shows will fill up now and there may even be a standby queue for country bears, It will be interesting to see what happens.

EagleScout6105 days ago

Country Bears are about to have back problems from carrying Frontierland

Bocabear5 days ago

When you are pying that much for a day ticket and any add-ons you cannot afford to miss anything in the park especially while BTMRR, TSI, and the Riverboat are down...

Raineman5 days ago

People can always pop into Frontierland to take some shots at the shooting gal.....oh, wait. Never mind.

Brer Panther5 days ago

It seems that most of the people who like the attraction are those who were on board with the retheme from the start. Coincidence?

Fido Chuckwagon5 days ago

Rode this over the holidays. With the exception of the final Tiana animatronic in the party scene, every single Tiana animatronic did not have its mouth moving when it spoke. I agree that it’s a decent ride, just a shame that they can’t seem to ever have it working properly.

Mr. Sullivan6 days ago

It had a great day today from what I can tell. If it ever went down (maybe it did, I wasn’t looking much as we went through the park), it didn’t go down long.