Disney Parks boss Josh D'Amaro spotted at Tiana's Bayou Adventure in Walt Disney World

Feb 29, 2024 in "Tiana's Bayou Adventure"

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Tiana's Bayou Adventure coming summer 2024 mural

Posted: Thursday February 29, 2024 5:35pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney Park's Chairman, Josh D'Amaro, was at Tiana's Bayou Adventure in Walt Disney World earlier today recording content.

It isn't clear if D'Amaro was recording an opening date announcement or a general update on the construction progress.

The earliest and most optimistic estimates place a soft opening around Memorial Day (late May) at Magic Kingdom, but Disney has yet to make any announcement beyond "Summer 2024." Disney's Annual Meeting of Shareholders will take place on April 3, at which we may get a precise opening date.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure coming summer 2024 mural

Ride system testing began in mid-February at Tiana's Bayou Adventure in Magic Kingdom, and logs are once again taking the 40mph, 52.5ft plunge from the top of the former Splash Mountain.

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BrerFoxesBayouAdventure1 day ago

That's an insult to the artistry of Looney Tunes and the Warner Bros. cartoons. The Br'ers always gave me a "Warner Animation/MGM Studios" kind of vibe in how they're animated more expressively than the usual Disney fare.

Dear Prudence1 day ago

It actually makes the new animatronics being mostly non functioning a lot of the time even more glaringly obvious because they have such limited movements anyway.

Dear Prudence1 day ago

That's actually a really neat idea!!!!

Brer Panther1 day ago

Is it just me, or does Mondo look like a more advanced animatronic than the other "new" characters? I dunno, he just seems a bit more articulated...

HauntedPirate1 day ago

I'd opine that they chose to leave the significant gaps, but that's just me.

networkpro1 day ago

The scenery and props were designed for the Disneyland space so they had to leave significant gaps for Disneyworlds longer flume.

Incomudro1 day ago

Yes, there is little implied motion in any of these figures, or steps of figure. It's bad storyboarding.

EagleScout6102 days ago

The other issue I have with the animatronics on Bayou is that everyone is just standing/sitting firmly on the ground. There's no dynamic or interesting poses that allow for interesting animation. Splash had Br'er Rabbit jumping along the fence, Br'er Bear in the tree and thrashing around on his back, Br’er Fox springing up from the background, the Possum babies above the river hanging by their tails, turtles being lifted by geysers, the entire riverboat rocking back and forth... Everything on Bayou just looks so static in comparison. Edit - Forgot about Rufus the Turtle who bobs back and forth slightly. But it's still a very simple animation loop.

networkpro2 days ago

Curious enough I met Troy Landry at the Poly in 2020 while it was open just for DVC and diners. Nice fellow.

Animaniac93-982 days ago

They also don't interact much with each other and are very self contained vignettes that don't build to anything. Think of the geese who's fishing line has nabbed another's hat, or the fish that jumps through the empty net. Think of the vultures looking at each other and finishing the other's sentence. Think of the rabbits commenting on the Brers chasing each other while a projection effect plays in the background. All of that is gone...and the heavier reliance of screens makes the new scenes look physically flat. The ride's soundtrack is doing the heavy lifting of giving life to the scenes, not their staging or animation.

JoeCamel2 days ago

Shelby would run them over with his boat so we escape over the falls!

Brer Panther2 days ago

Yes, this. Both of this. I dunno if they really qualified as "evil", but yes, the film dig have frog hunters. It still would've been a major downgrade from Brer Fox, though... I don't think you could make those frog hunters threatening at all. I suppose they could've made up a brand new villain, but they probably couldn't be bothered (or they knew people would still be complaining that we got this new character instead of Facilier).