Disney offered us the opportunity of a lifetime to head to New Orleans alongside Walt Disney Imagineers to learn new details about Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and how they look for inspiration and authenticity in New Orleans to bring the new attraction to life in a real way.
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50 Comments
I am so glad they are really digging into New Orleans for research like Joe Rohde has done in the past. This should result in a great ride with the details we expect from Disney.
Where in the Magic Kingdom would they fit a Tiana Restaurant ? Maybe just a beignet and mint julep spot ?
I think you did a fantastic job, describing what you learned on this trip and how they are implementing true history into the fabric of the story. I’m excited for animatronics, because when I think of Disney, I think of animatronics I am very much looking forward to this upgrade to the ride ❤
Craig! I loved everything about this video! You did a beautiful job at sharing your research trip with us & stayed true to the beauty of my city! I’m so excited about this ride & cannot wait until it’s done. Thanks so much! ✨⚜️
1 out of 10
What an amazing opportunity! Looking forward to the ride. 💚
Your shirt is amazing!
Craig, you did a wonderful job sharing your perspective of New Orleans and the culture. I can't wait for the the ride. Inclusion is so very important for my culture my little girl. Well done research
PJ ❤❤❤❤
I can’t wait for this makeover 🎉
Loved this video, such a unique experience, thank you for sharing Craig
Im rebuilding Splash Mountain Orlando for the fans on a VR video game
It will be detailed and opens in December possibly
What a cool experience! 😊
Craig, you did a great job with this report. You have a strong sense of what constitutes ethical behavior and you are consistent in telling your audience when your experiences of been part of a hosted event and when you have paid. Thank you so much for taking the time to include the clips of the story of the Chase family and restaurant and the music experienced at the FQ venue. Letting us have a taste of what you encountered was a delightful. Thank you!
Craig, Disney inviting you is always a wonderful choice. You’re informative, concise, level headed and reflective…and sarcastic but that’s not important here 😂 Always appreciate your videos. Thank you
When is the expected opening day at Disney?
This was a great perspective, well conveyed.
But Pocahontas is the first American Disney princess.
Craig… love any and all of your Disney content. Thanks.
Such an incredible opportunity, man. I’m so glad you got to experience it. Very well deserved. I loved the “video essay” -like approach you took on this video. Well thought out and well spoken. Thanks for sharing your experience, Craig!
Otter?? An otter????? No, dude. Otters are not native to New Orleans. That right there is a nutria. Which, to be fair, isn’t native to New Orleans either. They’re an invasive species brought years ago from South America and wreak hell on the wetlands. But, no. Not an otter.
Great coverage Craig! Happy you wnjoyed your trip.
Being that i was born and still live in New Orleans, LA, I can't wait for this new attraction to open!!
That’s really cool thanks for sharing !
"animation used on a magical way" worries me. It sounds like the terrible animated faces in frozen ever after. I hope I'm wrong and they don't cheap out like that.
I never thought you would be a total Disney Sell Out. But there you are. Disappointed.
If I am generally not wrong i think Ralph-don’t know how to spell it sorry-will be in the final show room to right where Disneyland’s cat/fox’s were on some carriage And Disney world will have it where brer Turkey and brer frog were playing zip-a-dee-doo-da- or on the gators boys little dock with Luis
Looooove this info! Can't wait 🎉
Great video 👌
Awesome report 👏
Great fuckin video man
Great report. Trip of a life time.
Craig, you did a phenomenal job with this report. Disney chose well in selecting you as one of the participants of this PR trip. You never fail to give as balanced an opinion as possible and are always straightforward. Knowing this and that Disney chose you gives me some hope for the future direction of the company. I trust your judgment and that you will always be honest with us. I am the documenter of trips and experiences in my family so understand what goes into enjoying yourself yet being of the mind that you will be recording your experiences. May I also say that you have matured and grown so much over the years in all we see you do for the Dis. Your dedication to detail yet ability to let it roll has made you a favorite host. It is a joy to watch your reporting. Hope to meet you and your family one day. LaurieO
You’re living the dream!
That said, this is a pretty in-depth story that feels like it needs a whole story time in order to “get” it.
The tallest point in New Orleans and probably most of southern Louisiana is Monkey Hill in Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.
It is a man-made play Hill for kids done so in the first place to show the children of New Orleans what a hill actually looks like. It is only 33 ft tall. I am a former resident of New Orleans and employee of Audubon Zoo(see my thumbnail).. Now that you know that, the very first big disbelief you must have if you're from New Orleans is that anything as tall as the former Splash Mountain would exist in Southern Louisiana and obviously it is impossible. Once you get past that well you can get past anything to suspend your disbelief especially if born and raised in a place that has many dips below sea level and that the entirety of the country for hundreds of miles around is flat. I still argue that they should have made Splash Mountain a Pocahontas themed reboot simply because it's in Frontierland and try as they might from the very start Disney has never managed to keep any Native American representation in the parks for very long.
Walt Disney himself was very adamant about this inclusion, but unfortunately after his death it pretty much disappeared. Obviously it's very hard to be inclusive of any minority in a positive way without pretty much completely avoiding the truth that they have been subjugated in this country let alone its entire existence nearly wiped out by the people that founded said country. While it is certain that the depictions we're often at least partly problematic oh, there were some very good efforts with real actual Native Americans in the Park's demonstrating craft and culture that at the time were very popular with Park guests. Now you might ask why I'm harping on this and I would say read an actual history book and I am native myself. Something like princess Tiana's Bayou Adventure belongs in the New Orleans square area of the park far more than Splash Mountain ever belonged in frontierland and I would even say that Splash Mountain itself would have fit better thematically in the New Orleans square area. I am not surprised that they have done research trips to New Orleans and are proceeding with great care and getting the representation as accurately as you can in an attraction like this and I'm glad to see that creative is leading this endeavor because then we might actually get a bit of real Disney. Now it is appropriate that they are taking a formally possibly problematic attraction that represented a certainly problematic film especially among African Americans. I think most people love Splash Mountain regardless of race because it didn't have the live action scenes represented in the film of the myth of the happy slave. It was simply the story told in that film via animation which of itself is not problematic whatsoever to any significant degree. I do get it in the same way I get that it makes no sense that Splash Mountain is not being retheemed to Pocahontas…..
…. but come on Disney it's about time you put a little bit of red and Wawa back in the Parks. And I can say that because I'm red and Wawa. Anyway thank you Craig for this in-depth report and finally taking your hat off for a change. You looked great. Yeah I'm one of those fans that thinks you're a little bit sexy blush but In fairness to me a lot of that is because you're clever succinct as well as handsome with a dry sense of humor. You also have a great radio voice as they say and Charisma as a presentator. None of these points are lost on any watcher of the Dis… I'd love to see more of this kind of research presented on this channel. Craig would seem the perfect person to head up this endeavor.
Craig, you did such a nice job reporting on this!
Ok hear me out and I know this may sound really stupid… on the final days of splash mountain in DL, I noticed one of the storks and geese missing from the laughing place scene… my prediction is that they might be used for the retheme. Idk and again this sounds really dumb
You are one of the few channels allowed to be honest because Disney is scared of Pete since he drives the most vacations.
Fantastic account of your trip with Disney Imagineers, Craig! I bet Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will be beautiful & a fun attraction. Loved the history of the Chase restaurant. I consider New Orleans the Fine Cuisine Capital of the U.S.A. Best food ever! That trumpet playing was so grand!
Love this video! Gives me hope that they will do Tiana and NOLA justice in this ride ❤
Wowie! I am so looking forward to and even excited for this ride now. Thank you Craig for sharing your trip. Love this video!
This was a really awesome video! Well done!
Thank you for sharing your experience. I can’t wait to see this new ride!
If 17 audio-animatronics means 17 total, that's a tiny number. At Disneyland and at Tokyo Disneyland, there were over 100 animatronic figures in Splash Mountain. 17 won't even fill the first part of the ride. This sounds like another screen-based ride, to me, and I'm sick of this trend. I love New Orleans, but I think the fact that Disney is taking social media influencers to a lovely New Orleans trip is a troubling sign that they are trying to distract people from the ride itself. We shall see.
Wow what an awesome experience! Thank you for doing a excellent job of bringing back what you learned and experienced
This was great reporting, Craig. Really appreciate your dedication to transparency and from a creative standpoint, you built enthusiasm as your story progressed. I’ve always loved the movie and now I REALLY can’t wait to ride the new attraction. Thanks!
Great vid! Definitely can’t wait to see this completed! 💜💚💛⚜️
Great video and I’m so glad you had this opportunity! I’m pretty sure that as much as I love Tiana, Pocahontas would be considered the first American Disney princess though! Also, I can’t be the only one who would love to see Tom Sawyer‘s island completely rethemed with a Tiana’s Palace restaurant on it!
Craig, you have left me crying…in all the good ways. What an amazing opportunity that you had to be a part of this experience. The back story for this ride is everything! Everything that I never knew I wanted to know about Tiana and everything that leaves me inspired and wanting to visit New Orleans myself. What amazing respect and passion the Imagineers have for their theming! I can’t wait to take in all of the little details time and time again once this attraction is done. Thank you for taking the time to share this experience with us❤
Thank you Craig. This video should be required viewing for anyone who still complains about the changeover from Splash Mountain to Tiana's Bayou Adventure, (which I fear will become known in the Disney Acronym World as "TBA" which will cause all sorts of confusion. LOL). The story behind the story is so important and the authenticity that Disney hopes to bring with this attraction is so much more meaningful than anything Splash could present. It is impossible for anyone who watches this video to come away with the feeling of: "Yeah. That's all well and good. But I still hate the change."
The fact that the Disney ReImagineers took joy in destroying Splash Mountain makes me furious.