Latest look at Tiana's Bayou Adventure construction at Walt Disney World

Nov 22, 2023 in "Tiana's Bayou Adventure"

Tiana's Bayou Adventure construction - November 22 2023
Posted: Wednesday November 22, 2023 9:00am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Here is a current look at progress on Tiana's Bayou Adventure in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.


This week's additions include:

New landscaping in the splashdown area





Flowers at the top of the mountain



More branches installed on the artificial Cypress trees




Tiana's Bayou Adventure replaces Splash Mountain with a planned opening in 2024 at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

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    WorldExplorer1 hour ago

    Maybe the generic, aimless poses are because no one knew what the story was going to be so just made something that could be slotted into whatever they cooked up.

    MerlinTheGoat2 hours ago

    That's what I thought as well when I saw those scenes. I don't know when they came up with the idea to shrink riders, but even ideas used there of Louis peeking through the log (via video screen) kind of feel like remnants of the looking for a lost trumpet story too. But then again, you've still got that old bit of art with Naveen in the boat that was supposedly intended to go down there, so I dunno. I will concede that i'm putting some faith in Jim Hill that the lost trumpet storyline was actually a real thing. But it would be a really random thing to just make up and claim it's a plan, and it does sound like something Disney would come up with. His description of it also sounds like it matches up with the early much lower budget idea they had. Plus again signs of leftovers...

    Disgruntled Walt3 hours ago

    Just realized, the "Louis looking in and under logs" is probably left over from the original storyline. Why would musicians be under a log? Who did he want? Dr. Worm?

    Ice Gator3 hours ago

    I mean hey, I guess it works if they’re including Everest too. I love it, but it’s no “mountains of the magic kingdom” like over at DL. When it comes to merch though, I HATE how Tower of Terror is the new “icon” of HWS. Chinese Theater and the Earful Tower were the OG icons and one is still there- it’s even a Mickey ride now so I feel like it’d be even easier to convey to guests that it’s a Disney Movie park. Just not a fan of having ToT represent the entire park full of Disney IP

    MerlinTheGoat3 hours ago

    That's old and very outdated information. He was a "consultant" back when it was first announced, but this was before a finalized plan was settled on. His ideas I believe were ignored. In a podcast he went on early on in Tiana's construction (mid 2023), it was abundantly clear that he hadn't been involved in ages. He noted that the ride required tension and threats in the storyline to work with the drops and their buildup. So it's clear that he was aware of the basic ideas they had settled on and was not subtle about his harsh criticism of it. He also heaped praise on Tokyo for not getting rid of their Splash. He was always against them getting rid of Splash. In the aforementioned podcast he was quite scathing about his disdain towards those who supported its removal. That said, he had likely hoped to positively influence the direction of its replacemement, so he was initially willing to be involved in an attempt to try and steer it in a better direction. This did not last long however as all of his ideas were very clearly ignored. In hindsight, Tony was likely made a bunch of intentionally false promises by leadership about what sort of involvement and control he would be allowed in order to convince him to put out a public statement of advocacy on behalf of the project. He has a lot of clout and respect within the community. There's a good chance they never had any real intention of doing anything he wanted and threw him under the bus soon after. That said, before it was actually announced, the project in its earliest forms WAS likely conceptualized as a straightforward book report of the film. It's the easiet thing to come up with quickly. That is probably the idea that Tony saw and thought had the most potential, since there was a better chance of it maintaining its darker moments and also a villain. I had also heard early on that they would be keeping a lot of the original America Sings AA's at least at DL (and in my defense, I think Splash Archive also heard that there were internal battles to keep some of them as well). It came to be known after its announcement that the ride would take place after the film. Tony probably wasn't particularly in the loop anymore around this point (if he ever really was), and likely departed not too long after he did his PR statement when they began to ignore his ideas. Jim Hill I believe was one of the earlier people who reported on the storyline being post-movie, saying that Louis would lose his trumpet and needed to find it before a big party. With most if not all characters being scrapped and being a mostly video-projected affair through empty unthemed environments (much moreso than the end product). This would seemingly have been a cheaper budget, something like $30-$40 million. It does sound like the Lost Trumpet idea sort of evolved into the version we ended up getting, though with a significantly higher budget (I recall someone claiming around $140 million or so but I forget where) and no longer being as Louis focused. Even later in development however, there seemed to be changes to certain scenes. The piece of art with Tiana and Naveen in a small boat was nowhere to be seen in the ride, despite that being released alongside the model at D23 not long before Splash closed. Splash Archive said it was going to be located in the former Laughing Place at Disneyland (where the dog animatronic was, repurposing his boat). Naveen only appears the one time in the finale.

    JohnD4 hours ago

    Sad. I'm sure he understood the assignment. Splash had to go and be replaced with something Tiana. He probably recommended PATF as better storytelling but they probably doubled down on her building her own business and finding a band or whatever. He couldn't work with that. We could have had something much better had Disney not dug in its heels.

    Jayspency4 hours ago

    Yep, idk if I would call miss Tilly a “mountain”

    Fox&Hound4 hours ago

    Is that Typhoon Lagoon?

    Figments Friend5 hours ago

    Not that I am aware of. He was originally a part of the team as an advisor, and advisor only. His name was attached to the project at the beginning when it was officially announced, but he was always only in a advisory role. He soon departed once it became clear the project was going in another direction. One can offer the most insightful, valuable, and beneficial advice possible…but you are still a advisor. The team assigned to the project does not have to nessesarily take that advice, and are the ones who make the final decisions. A lost opportunity, in my opinion. -

    Ayla14 hours ago

    Yes, Brook and Robin.

    JohnD15 hours ago

    You mean there are two of them? I don't watch NBA basketball.

    Ayla15 hours ago

    The Lopez twins are huge Disney fans.

    EagleScout61015 hours ago

    Personally I'm curious as to what Don Carson thinks of WDW's finished version of Bayou Adventure. I know someone on here asked him his thoughts on the retheme while Splash was still open, but not since then. Edit - Here's the post/interview I was thinking of.

    Tha Realest15 hours ago

    Yep. He’s buddies with Baxter. He was there with Baxter on Splash Mountain’s last day, and now with Baxter during EU previews. He was seen on Tiana soon after it opened, but without Tony. Hmm.