Tiana’s Bayou Adventure looks better than Splash Mountain, see for yourself
polygon.comTiana’s Bayou Adventure has finally replaced Splash Mountain at Disney World. The Disney Parks YouTube account is celebrating the completion of this unprecedented transformation with a nearly 10-minute, 4K ride-through.
Our first impression? Holy moly, they actually pulled this off!
The ride’s designers had to walk a tightrope while reimagining — in terms of scale and popularity — one of the biggest rides at Disney’s theme parks. They would need to maintain (or improve upon) Splash Mountain’s abundance of animatronic characters, representing the classic approach to Disney’s most iconic rides. But they’d also have to incorporate modern technology (ultra high-resolution screens, custom 3D animation) for Bayou Adventure to fit alongside the parks’ other new “E-ticket attractions,” like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Mickey’s Runaway Railroad.
In a decision that will please the most nostalgic among us, the design team favored the old-school approach, stuffing the ride with an astonishing number of animatronic characters. They used screens to supplement the experience, like the powdered sugar on a delicious beignet.
As with Splash Mountain, the ride has a relaxed start. On a log flume, the guests take a leisurely tour of Tiana’s garden and the nearby bayou, before collecting animal instrumentalists to play a tune at the Disney Princess’s restaurant. First, the riders meet a zydeco band featuring possums, beavers, bears, and wolves. Then, the voodoo priestess Mama Odie shrinks the riders to the size of a frog so they can tour a mini-version of the bayou and befriend some musically gifted bugs and amphibian friends.
The ride culminates, as promised by its premise, with a performance by Tiana at her restaurant, accompanied by her animal orchestra. By our count, this humongous space features no fewer than 15 animatronics, a recreation of Tiana’s restaurant, and a wealth of high-res screens featuring additional characters from the film, reimagined from 2D into 3D.
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