It’s like any person in Walt Disney International control flipped the “no downtime” transfer on Tiana’s Bayou Journey as soon as September rolled round. Most likely an unpopular opinion, however I believe this sort of “breakdown button” shouldn’t exist within the first position. However I suppose if it’s going to, no less than it’s now on the right kind environment.
Joking apart, the problematic Princess and the Frog flume experience has had a miles stepped forward September, with a long way much less day-to-day downtime than it did in its first two-plus months of operation. It’s gotten to the purpose that Tiana’s Bayou Journey is somewhat with reference to moderate in relation to appeal closures, and no longer all that dissimilar from Splash Mountain or different weather-dependent rides.
It is a vital exchange, and a nearly night time and day distinction to past due August. After a number of consecutive abysmal studies (one in all which I’ll recount underneath), I used to be on the point of write: “Will have to You Skip Tiana’s Bayou Journey?” That’s how annoyed I used to be and what sort of of my time the reimagined experience wasted. Different subjects intervened, and after I checked again, the appeal hadn’t had any main operational woes over the following week. So I gave it any other week…after which any other…and now this publish is the culmination of that, and just about the reverse of what I deliberate on publishing a couple of weeks in the past.
As you may recall, Tiana’s Bayou Journey has had issues since its previews. The overhauled appeal averaged roughly 4.5 hours of day-to-day downtime all the way through AP previews. It used to be a equivalent tale right through July and August, with a couple of hours of prolonged closures every day being the guideline slightly than the exception.
Now and then, there have been flashes of growth–a couple of consecutive days of dependable operations that made us ponder whether Tiana’s Bayou Journey had grew to become a nook. There have been in truth a few instances I used to be tempted to put in writing that article, however I were given distracted through different subjects (it occurs so much). And fortunately so, as the actual tale from July and August used to be one in all reversion. At the complete, issues were given worse as in comparison to previews, versus higher.
Some proponents of the experience claimed that this all the time occurs with new sights. They’re technically proper to an extent, however this used to be over the top. If it have been a median of underneath 2 hours on a daily basis, that will’ve been within the bounds of what’s affordable, and more or less on par with Frozen Ever After the summer time it debuted.
We’ve many times in comparison Tiana’s Bayou Journey to Frozen Ever After as that appears to be the nearest analogue. Each are reimaginings that retained their respective experience techniques, however messed with the era used simply sufficient to lead to much less reliability upon reopening. Frozen Ever After used to be additionally in a similar fashion rushed to make a summer time opening and not will have to’ve opened within the state it did. Behind schedule openings and widespread breakdowns have been commonplace all the way through its opening season as crews scrambled to finish in a single day repairs and attach technical problems.
Fortunately, it kind of feels that–like Frozen Ever After as soon as its first fall rolled round–Tiana’s Bayou Journey has additionally grew to become a nook on experience reliability. Its final 3 weeks have all had just a restricted collection of prolonged closures. Day by day downtime has diminished to fewer than a few hours in keeping with day in general, which contains weather-related closures.
Nearly all of dates this month have had underneath half-hour of downtime. Tiana’s Bayou Journey is set on par with Slinky Canine Sprint month-to-date in relation to downtime. It’s settled into what we would possibly name “Take a look at Monitor moderate.”
Specifically, the final two weeks had been the all-time for Tiana’s Bayou Journey, with best two days having downtime of over 100 mins and maximum different days having 0 mins to round one 30 minutes. This isn’t simply moderate–it’s a robust efficiency through any function measure. Right here’s hoping it’s the beginning of a brand new pattern.
Right here’s a have a look at day-to-day downtime for Tiana’s Bayou Journey since opening courtesy of thrill-data:
There’s additionally an invaluable wdwmagic thread that tracks day-to-day downtime and displays equivalent enhancements over the process September.
Clearly, Tiana’s Bayou Journey isn’t easiest. September as a complete nonetheless displays fairly extra day-to-day downtime than we’d like to look in a recently-redone appeal that Disney dumped a reported $100+ million into. However uptime isn’t going to be 100% for this or any log flume, so we’re now within the bounds of what’s affordable to be expecting in relation to downtime.
As we’ve stated prior to, Tiana’s Bayou Journey will have to no longer have opened within the state it did. Hindsight is 20/20, however pushing ahead the hole date used to be a deficient resolution. The reimagined experience used to be no longer show-ready and will have to’ve been in check and modify till its operations have been extra strong and constant. 3 months later, it kind of feels we’re now at that time.
I’m additionally satisfied to document that, no less than on my contemporary rides (so totally anecdotal), Tiana’s Bayou Journey has been operating easily. It’s something to have minimum day-to-day downtime; it’s any other to achieve this through getting rid of demonstrate requirements. Fortunately, that has no longer been the case from what I’ve skilled. The entirety is syncing as it should be and maximum AAs are in A-mode. My contemporary studies had been higher than they have been again in June when it used to be brand-new.
There have been a ton of rumors as to the reasons of issues of Tiana’s Bayou Journey, from problems syncing the logs with the demonstrate scenes to misguided sensors which can be having bother with ‘the weather’ and precise visitor load at the logs. Irrespective of the rationale, it turns out that technical difficulties had been in large part addressed for Tiana’s Bayou Journey.
I joked above a couple of “breakdown button,” nevertheless it in reality does really feel like an answer used to be discovered to the underlying problems firstly of September. Now what we’ve been left with since is extra regimen downtime that any appeal may enjoy. (Knock on wooden. My concern is that straight away after publishing this, Tiana’s Bayou Journey goes to have a record-setting 516 mins of single-day downtime and its worst week ever.)
My studies got here on the finish of August, which used to be Tiana’s Bayou Journey’s worst week since opening.
I received’t bore you with all of my frustrations, because it’s more than likely a type of “you needed to be there” more or less offers. Nevertheless it’s cathartic for me, and in all probability for somebody who skilled one thing equivalent with Tiana’s Bayou Journey over the summer time. And if those reliability and downtime woes go back, it might additionally function a cautionary story.
On one in all at the present time, I used to be not able to protected a Lightning Lane Multi Move for Tiana’s Bayou Journey, so I opted to sign up for the 7 am digital queue. Good fortune! I scored boarding workforce 14. This used to be about easiest for my functions, because it will have to’ve given me the chance to do Early Access and twine drop, faucet into one LLMP to liberate changes and a rolling select, after which go back to TBA.
That, after all, assumed that Tiana’s Bayou Journey would open through round 9:30 am (not on time openings are commonplace with TBA). It didn’t. Speedy ahead to ~12:10 pm after I’m in Nation Undergo Musical Jamboree and I see that the experience is after all up for the primary time of the day. After the demonstrate ends, I rush over to Tiana’s Bayou Journey and my boarding workforce is named proper as I arrive.
No longer a super consequence for my deliberate day of LLMP trying out, however I may paintings with it. Plus, undoubtedly the experience wouldn’t move down once more so quickly after opening, proper? (If there used to be something I realized in my months of studious Big name Wars: Upward thrust of the Resistance technique again in past due 2019 and early 2020, it used to be that the coolest time to experience used to be proper after it got here again up from downtime. Again to again breakdowns have been not going.)
Improper. After breezing via a most commonly empty queue, I got here to a screeching halt proper across the nook from the weight space. After no longer transferring for what felt like an eternity (it used to be best half-hour–simply is going to turn how off form I’ve gotten now that RotR is extra dependable), it changed into transparent that Tiana’s Bayou Journey used to be down once more. In a while thereafter, they dumped the queue and scanned MagicBands at the method out for “anytime” Lightning Lanes to TBA.
At the plus facet, I tapped into Tiana’s Bayou Journey prior to 1 pm, so I used to be eligible to sign up for the digital queue for TRON Lightcycle Run at 1 pm. At the problem, I’ve T-Cell, which means that no provider within the tunnel portion of the queue. So I couldn’t sign up for that till the queue used to be dumped at round 1:10 pm.
It labored out effective, because the TRON digital queue used to be nonetheless open and I scored a post-sunset go back time. (Proceedings in regards to the difficulties of becoming a member of each the TBA and TRON digital queues given the downtime woes of the previous are why I consider Disney’s hand used to be compelled to drop the VQ from TRON Lightcycle Run.)
Anyway, Tiana’s Bayou Journey used to be then down for any other 3 hours, even though the latter a part of that used to be probably because of climate. (Rather the 1-2 punch!) I couldn’t get again over to that facet of Magic Kingdom when Tiana’s Bayou Journey after all reopened once more round 4:30 pm, which used to be for the coolest, as it went down once more lower than half-hour later!
Tiana’s Bayou Journey after all got here up in a while after 6 pm. Clearly, this wasn’t the primary time it have been open all day, nevertheless it used to be the primary time it ran for greater than 45 mins uninterrupted. My wager could be {that a} grand general of 15 boarding teams have been processed previous to that, experiencing the appeal with out stoppages. Despite the fact that the 1 pm digital queue opened, it closed straight away. I wouldn’t be in the slightest degree shocked if best any other 10-20 boarding teams have been allotted then.
Once I after all returned to the Lightning Lane round 7 pm, the queue used to be unsurprisingly huge. The entire out of doors overflow used to be in use and the Lightning Lane used to be subsidized as much as the doorway. Unsurprisingly, since Magic Kingdom necessarily had ~4 hours to procedure a complete day’s price of visitors.
My general wait time used to be 43 mins, and once more, this used to be by way of the Lightning Lane. A part of this used to be as a result of Forged Participants weren’t loading the entrance log at dispatch. I’ve noticed this ceaselessly with Tiana’s Bayou Journey, and I will best suppose it’s because of problems with timing that have been contributing to the entire breakdowns within the first position. Regardless, decreasing capability isn’t precisely optimum on a experience that already has a ton of day-to-day downtime.
For no matter it’s price, that experience used to be close to flawless. The entirety used to be completely in-sync, I may perceive the discussion and verify the tale, and there used to be just one damaged Audio Animatronics determine (Mama Odie close to the top–the general two Mama Odie AAs are essentially the most problematic, from what I’ve noticed). It used to be one of the vital higher rides I had on Tiana’s Bayou Journey up till that time, which is more than likely extra of an indictment of ways unhealthy issues have been versus reward.
Phew. That felt just right to get off my chest. I received’t bore you with additional venting, however that wasn’t the one day this actual week that Tiana’s Bayou Journey used to be like this. I had two days of wasted LLMP trying out because of TBA, and it used to be through a long way my longest time drain all the way through days when traces have been another way in reality quick.
Tiana’s Bayou Journey didn’t open till the afternoon on 3 other days and had 4 days with more or less 6 to 7 hours of downtime. Take into account that it’s Celebration Season, so Magic Kingdom used to be best open 9 am till 6 pm on a few the ones.
In the end, our hope is that the reliability positive factors for Tiana’s Bayou Journey are maintained and this turns into the brand new commonplace. It pains us to have needed to write articles in this matter to start with, because the experience’s rocky rollout has overshadowed the substance of the appeal. (See our Tiana’s Bayou Journey Assessment for extra at the latter.)
If this sure pattern continues and Walt Disney International is assured that the issues had been solved, we’d be expecting Tiana’s Bayou Journey to modify to a standby line someday somewhat quickly. Previous to the reimagined experience’s opening, Disney introduced {that a} digital queue would best be used “all the way through the appeal’s preliminary opening days,” however that they anticipated to “open a standby line quickly after the appeal’s opening.”
Via any affordable interpretation of the time period–apart from because the crack of dawn of recorded time, I suppose–the appeal’s preliminary opening days have handed. The loss of reliability and downtime is what modified the plan for its digital queue to be so short-lived. All of those frustrations from the primary couple months would’ve been such a lot worse with a typical standby line. However as soon as Tiana’s Bayou Journey is working persistently, there’s in reality no reason why to proceed with the VQ–particularly as the chillier months loom.
We’d additionally be expecting Tiana’s Bayou Journey to fall from he #1 on our listing of the Most sensible 10 Maximum Tricky Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney International. It’s been a long way and away the hardest Lightning Lane in all of Walt Disney International, even worse than Slinky Canine Sprint or Remy’s Ratatouille Journey. It’ll nonetheless be most sensible 5, no doubt, nevertheless it’ll be difficult to handle this sort of vital lead on Slinky Canine Sprint with a standby line and entire capability.
Already, we’ve began to look this beef up. First with extra fast go back experience reservation refills right through the day (with the intention to backfill capability when uptime is just right) and now with higher LLMP availability past the 3-day window. It’s in reality tricky to mention how a lot of the Lightning Lane dynamic is because of Tiana’s Bayou Journey being new and what sort of is decreased provide because of downtime (it’s undoubtedly a mixture of the 2). Regardless, we think TBA to be extra related to Peter Pan’s Flight through someday in 2025. Nonetheless #1, however no longer through as large of a margin.
Past that, it’ll be attention-grabbing to look what adjustments with Magic Kingdom standby technique. With TRON Lightcycle Run shedding its digital queue and Tiana’s Bayou Journey more than likely following swimsuit faster slightly than later, it’s most probably that the coolest techniques to manner the park at rope drop, post-fireworks, and all the way through further hours will exchange somewhat considerably through 2025. We’ll stay you posted on standing updates to TBA, and can be doing extra box trying out as soon as the mud settles on the entire adjustments.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you ever skilled Tiana’s Bayou Journey all the way through its abysmal August or robust September? What used to be your enjoy with reliability, downtime or delays? What about operating or damaged results, empty logs, and so on? Hoping that we’re out of the woods with issues and Tiana’s Bayou Journey will transfer to standby prior to the top of the yr? Within the intervening time, what’s your plan of assault for minimizing problems with Tiana’s Bayou Journey–attempting for the digital queue, purchasing Lightning Lane get right of entry to, or each? Do you compromise or disagree with our evaluation? Any questions we will mean you can solution? Listening to your comments–even while you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please proportion your ideas underneath within the feedback!
