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

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Tiana's Bayou Adventure construction - March 8 2023

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Posted: Thursday March 9, 2023 9:41am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Here is the latest look at the progress on the former Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom as it is transformed into Tiana's Bayou Adventure.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure construction - March 8 2023

Scaffolding is in position throughout the mountain for crews to access different areas of the structure.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure construction - March 8 2023

As we have seen at the bottom of the main drop, sections of the mountain's rockwork are marked off, likely to be cut into.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure construction - March 8 2023

The signage and characters have been removed at the former main entrance to Splash Mountain.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure construction - March 8 2023

In the splash-down run-off, work continues on the guide track.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure construction - March 8 2023

Tiana's Bayou Adventure will open at Magic Kingdom in late 2024.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure logo

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HauntedPirate4 hours ago

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

networkpro4 hours ago

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

Incomudro8 hours ago

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

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.

networkpro19 hours ago

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

Animaniac93-9820 hours 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.

JoeCamel21 hours ago

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

Brer Panther22 hours 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).

networkpro1 day ago

Louis wasn't made of wood. Bruce is one to be wary of.

JoeCamel1 day ago

They could of had this guy going after Louis...

PizzaPlanet1 day ago

Didn’t the movie have evil frog hunters or something like that? They could’ve introduced conflict with those guys going after the critters if they didn’t want to go the voodoo route. Could’ve been similar to Brer Fox or the witch from Snow White.

Bocabear1 day ago

no, I guess I didn't...there was nothing memorable about them to me... I was really focused on trying to figure out what sort of entrepreneurial enterprise Tiana would get into after she got her prince and her dream of opening the restaurant...you know, the focus of the entire movie...lol