Tiana’s Bayou Journey is the reimagined experience that replaces Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom. Walt Disney International has already introduced that the new enchantment will use a digital queue and be offering Lightning Lane get admission to. Alternatively, although you will have speedy hands and rating a boarding staff or purchase the line-skipping provider, you continue to may have demanding situations experiencing the brand new enchantment.
This publish covers the problems with Tiana’s Bayou Journey at the side of actionable recommendation so you’ll be able to (with a bit of luck) decrease your publicity to those problems and building up your chance of effectively using. We additionally speak about some unknowns, possible problems and proposed operational answers for the brand new Magic Kingdom mountain(ish).
Sooner than we get to that, let’s get started with a silver lining, of types. Tiana’s Bayou Journey can be right here for future years. Not like different sights we’ve inspired visitors to experience ASAP as a result of we fearful problematic results would vanish and not go back (taking a look at you, Superstar Wars: Upward push of the Resistance), this one is most probably best going to get well within the months and future years. If the rest, Imagineering has been rushed in this venture and there are little (and large!) flaws they’d most definitely like to mend.
That’s most definitely no longer a lot comfort, particularly for the various of you who seek advice from Walt Disney International sometimes and wish to experience in your upcoming holidays. With that during thoughts, listed below are the problems and our recommendation…
Day by day Downtime – If you happen to haven’t adopted the saga on social media, you must first remember that Tiana’s Bayou Journey is lately in point of fact unreliable. The entirety else in this checklist flows from the straightforward indisputable fact that the experience breaks down so much. It has had day by day downtime throughout the Solid Member, Disney Holiday Membership, and Annual Passholder previews.
Consistent with our buddies at BlogMickey, Tiana’s Bayou Journey averaged roughly 4.5 hours of day by day downtime throughout AP previews, with as “little” downtime as no less than 2 hours in step with day and up to over 7 hours of downtime. Worst of all, this didn’t step by step strengthen over the process the previews–day by day numbers have been all over.
Some proponents of the experience declare that this all the time occurs with new sights, and is the entire level of previews. They’re technically proper to an extent, however this was once over the top. If it have been a mean of two hours on a daily basis, that might’ve been within the bounds of what’s affordable, and kind of on par with Frozen Ever After the summer season it debuted.
(It’s simple to overlook, however Frozen Ever After was once a moderately identical venture that was once rushed to make a summer season opening; it likewise suffered from behind schedule openings and widespread breakdowns its opening season as crews scrambled to finish in a single day repairs and attach technical problems. The excellent news, even though, is that Frozen Ever After’s woes are simple to overlook as a result of they’ve in large part been fastened. Expectantly it’s a identical tale with TBA!)
There are a ton of rumors as to the reasons of issues of Tiana’s Bayou Journey, from problems syncing the logs with the display scenes to inaccurate sensors which can be having bother with ‘the weather’ and precise visitor load at the logs. Irrespective of the explanation, each and every unmarried experience I’ve taken on Tiana’s Bayou Journey had technical difficulties of a few type, so although you do get fortunate with out a downtime, you continue to may have issues. (For those causes and others, I’d extremely suggest using greater than as soon as. There’s an excellent likelihood your first experience received’t be flawless, so building up your possibilities of good fortune with repeat rides.)
Given those numbers and the problems even if it’s running, it kind of feels to us that Tiana’s Bayou Journey must nonetheless be in check & alter. It’s no longer relatively able to greet visitors, even in a preview or cushy opening capability.
Digital Queue Inconsistency – Subsequent to not anything may also be gleaned from the boarding staff distribution throughout the 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. digital queue access instances throughout AP and DVC previews of Tiana’s Bayou Journey. On each and every unmarried day of previews, the 7 a.m. digital queue remained open longer than the 1 p.m. one. About part of all days, the morning VQ lasted over 2 hours. On no day did it remaining lower than 5 mins.
That is the other of ways digital queues typically paintings at Walt Disney International. Most often, the 7 a.m. drop lasts milliseconds to a couple of mins and the afternoon access is open for mins to hours. That’s the case with each Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and TRON Lightcycle Run at the moment–and was once even throughout TBA previews.
The larger factor from the point of view of digital queue inconsistency is that experience downtime goes to throw a significant monkey wrench into issues. If Tiana’s Bayou Journey has been down lots of the morning when the time the 1 p.m. VQ rolls round, Walt Disney International will scale back the choice of boarding teams allotted within the afternoon. That means each the 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. digital queues may just refill in seconds some days…and be open for hours on different days.
It’s additionally price mentioning that Walt Disney International cancelled the 1 p.m. digital queue fully on one instance throughout AP previews. I wouldn’t be expecting this to be an ordinary prevalence throughout day by day operations…however I additionally wouldn’t rule it out utterly. The ethical of the tale is that, irrespective of your most popular using time, you must most definitely take a look at for the 7 a.m. digital queue–and plan on the use of pace technique. Don’t have a laid again perspective since that is “best” a reimagining with combined evaluations–it’s nonetheless going to be very tough to trip on some days.
Lightning Lanes Good fortune – To the unreliability level, there’s no ensure visitors who rating high-numbered boarding teams will also have the ability to experience Tiana’s Bayou Journey. Walt Disney International is lovely just right about no longer over-distributing boarding teams, however they’re no longer easiest.
The percentages are for sure extra ‘to your want’ if you buy line-skipping get admission to by means of the Lightning Lane. Even supposing the enchantment is down throughout your window, you’ll obtain a multi-experience cross and nonetheless have the ability to experience it (or one thing else, I assume, in case you’d choose…however then why are you studying this?) each time the experience comes again up.
We’d additionally carry Tiana’s Bayou Journey to #1 on our checklist of Magic Kingdom’s Lightning Lane priorities for a minimum of the primary couple months that it’s open. That is once more because of downtime, this means that that go back instances will cross quicker and there’s a decrease chance of experience reservation refills during the day.
Purchasing the Lightning Lane provider at Magic Kingdom is all the time our advice because of the park’s upper experience rely, however that’ll be doubly true when TBA debuts. And as famous above, it’s easiest to experience more than one instances–so we’d advise purchasing Lightning Lane get admission to and becoming a member of the VQ.
Longer-Lasting Digital Queue – When Tiana’s Bayou Journey opens on June 28, it’ll use a digital queue. Visitors can request to sign up for the digital queue by means of the My Disney Revel in app at certainly one of two instances: 7 a.m. or 1 p.m. Whilst a standby queue may not be to be had throughout the enchantment’s preliminary opening days, Walt Disney International expects to open a standby line quickly after the enchantment’s opening.
No less than, that’s what Walt Disney International mentioned when first saying the hole date and main points for Tiana’s Bayou Journey over a month in the past. Disney’s language on the time strongly prompt Tiana’s Bayou Journey wouldn’t have a digital queue for almost so long as another experience at Walt Disney International.
In our view, a extra apt comparability was once Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disneyland, which dropped its digital queue lower than a month after opening. In order that narrowed down the variability from a couple of days to a couple of month for the Tiana’s Bayou Journey digital queue. Our bet again in mid-Would possibly was once that the digital queue for Tiana’s Bayou Journey can be retired through July 8, 2024 at the most recent.
Fortunately for Walt Disney International, the enchantment’s “preliminary opening days” is obscure and open to interpretation. I now not have any stage of self belief that Tiana’s Bayou Journey will drop its digital queue through July 8, 2024. That was once earlier than previews or anything began, and running underneath the belief that TBA can be no less than as dependable as Splash Mountain.
Clearly, it’s not. At this level, the secure prediction is that Tiana’s Bayou Journey will use a digital queue for as lengthy at it’s plagued through unreliability and downtime woes. Digital queues be offering a way of pulsing call for and are the imperfect technique to operational woes. That’s exactly why Superstar Wars: Upward push of the Resistance debuted the experience VQ again in 2019!
Suffice to mention, I haven’t any clue how lengthy the digital queue will remaining for Tiana’s Bayou Journey. I’ll merely say each time the preliminary rush runs out or the reliability woes are resolved, whichever occurs first. I in reality hope that’s the previous, however my bet is it’ll be the latter. Both manner, I’d love to peer the VQ long gone through the beginning of the low season in August, and feature a point of self belief that either one of the above variables will happen through then. However that’s only a bet/hope!
Dynamic Digital Queue for TBA? – We up to now proposed that Tiana’s Bayou Journey must have a ‘dynamic’ digital queue–principally which means the standby line opens at evening as soon as the solar is going down and the temperatures are cooler. This was once as a result of all water rides are much less common at evening.
We’ll double-down in this. So long as those downtime woes exist, it’s most probably that Walt Disney International can be conservative in final the digital queue. They don’t wish to factor too many boarding teams within the tournament the experience breaks down for six+ hours in step with day. The issue with that is that there are going to be days when the enchantment outperforms and, because of the conservative issuance of boarding teams, the digital queue is empty hours earlier than park final. It’s not possible to grasp or venture as of one p.m. how a lot downtime the experience could have for the rest ~8 hours of the day. That is rarely a daring prediction–it already happens now and again with different VQ rides.
The answer is to distribute digital queue spots conservatively and open the standby queue as soon as that’s “empty.” There’s no different just right selection. Distribute VQ spots liberally and visitors can be indignant when their boarding staff isn’t known as at the inevitable days when there’s long downtime. Distribute too few and there can be a large number of indignant visitors who get close out of the digital queue as a result of they didn’t have speedy sufficient hands to attain a place throughout the millisecond it was once open…best to peer the experience dispatching empty logs on the finish of the evening or the experience shut early.
Given the character of the enchantment and reliability woes, I’d in fact take this a step additional if I have been Disney: get rid of the 1 p.m. digital queue access time fully, distribute extra boarding teams at 7 a.m., after which plan to open the standby line within the past due afternoon on a daily basis (and keep up a correspondence that to visitors). In the event that they’re already ready the place the 1 p.m. VQ may wish to be canceled some days, simply make issues extra predictable through doing away with a shifting phase and cancelling it on a daily basis.
Prolonged Night Hours? – Walt Disney International nonetheless has no longer introduced whether or not Tiana’s Bayou Journey can be open throughout Prolonged Night Hours. Generally, there can be a 6 p.m. digital queue access time for Prolonged Night Hours. That’s lately how get admission to to TRON Lightcycle Run works throughout ExEH. Our expectation was once that it might be open, however now we’re beginning to marvel.
Price noting is that the primary Prolonged Night Hours at Magic Kingdom after Tiana’s Bayou Journey opens isn’t scheduled till July 3, 2024. It’s conceivable that Disney was once ready to deal with the experience’s standing throughout ExEH as a result of they was hoping it wouldn’t want the digital queue in any respect throughout the development.
Irrespective of how lengthy the digital queue lasts for Tiana’s Bayou Journey throughout the day, we are hoping that the experience is each open throughout Prolonged Night Hours and makes use of a standby line throughout the bonus time (for the explanations mentioned above). Given the lessened approval for water rides at evening, we expect this turns out affordable. Even supposing the standby line finally ends up being lengthy, so what? Let other folks wait in lengthy strains in the event that they so need.
Will Tiana’s Bayou Journey Open on June 28? – Although there’s a non-zero likelihood the hole of Tiana’s Bayou Journey can be behind schedule, the solution is most definitely sure. I’m like…98% positive? Nonetheless, each and every experience in fresh reminiscence (since most definitely Superstar Wars: Upward push of the Resistance) was once 100%.
It’s tough to peer Walt Disney International backtracking at the opening date on account of the opposite complications it might reason. It could be unheard of at this past due degree and result in a deluge of proceedings and in all probability even cancellations, to not point out unfavorable headlines and doubt about reserving journeys round enchantment openings at some point.
Even supposing I feel Tiana’s Bayou Journey isn’t able for its authentic opening and that it shouldn’t have had its authentic opening set for June 28 within the first position in gentle of that, I additionally assume that it’s too past due to modify path now. Having 4+ hours of downtime in step with day is a foul consequence. Having the experience closed fully at the same time as visitors have deliberate journeys round it’s a fair worse consequence. I’d danger a bet there are inside conversations identical to this at the moment, attaining the similar conclusion–that the least-bad choice is opening on time, however with day by day downtime.
Nonetheless, it’s price noting that they did cancel the remaining spherical of Solid Member previews. I don’t assume it’s a bullish transfer to cancel the remaining previews regardless of the way you slice it, however in all probability the upkeep groups have known the problem and wish that each one of that uninterrupted time to put in force fixes and make changes previous to the grand opening. Who is aware of, perhaps that is precisely what’s wanted and this publish can be fully out of date through June 28, 2024. In truth, I’d love for that to be the case…I’m simply skeptical it’ll. Even if the reason for issues is known and an answer is applied, there are steadily nagging problems that remaining weeks or months.
Clearly, the day by day downtime and different problems with Tiana’s Bayou Journey aren’t preferrred. However I additionally see sentiment making the rounds on social media or even the feedback that that is an ‘indictment’ of contemporary Imagineering or control. Some fanatics are appearing like this kind of factor all the time occurs with new rides, which is an indication Disney doesn’t know the way to create dependable rides anymore. But it didn’t occur with TRON Lightcycle Run, Cosmic Rewind, Runaway Railway, or the Rat Trip. Different fanatics are pretending that this by no means took place up to now, with ease forgetting the unhappy saga of Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, unique EPCOT Middle’s rocky release, and even Take a look at Monitor 1.0 or Frozen Ever After. (Only a very incomplete checklist of examples.)
I may upload that some persons are additionally forgetting that Tiana’s Bayou Journey was once at the beginning scheduled to open in Overdue 2024, however the corporate threw a ton of sources (exertions and cash) at it with a view to get the experience able to roll through the recent and humid summer season months. Positive, with the advantage of hindsight, we will be able to declare that they rushed it an excessive amount of. I surely would’ve most popular a competent past due July opening to an unreliable past due June debut.
However we will be able to’t bitch about delays with different giant tasks at the one hand, after which bitch about speeded up schedules however. As must be transparent from our CommuniCore Corridor Evaluate or the primary ~3,000 phrases of our Tiana’s Bayou Journey Evaluate, we don’t have any scarcity of quibbles with the 2 most up-to-date additions to the parks. Alternatively, it’s necessary that the ones proceedings are coherent, and that we don’t simply whine about the whole lot Disney does. Another way, our voices are simple to forget about.
It is going with out pronouncing that I want this release have been going higher and that Tiana’s Bayou Journey had no day by day downtime…however I additionally was once cheering at the previous time frame and begging Disney to set a gap date when it felt like one was once ‘past due’ remaining month. (Can’t have it each techniques!) Suffice to mention, there are a large number of shifting portions with Tiana’s Bayou Journey…let’s simply hope they’re flowing easily and downtime is minimum through opening day or in a while thereafter.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What’s your plan of assault for minimizing issues of Tiana’s Bayou Journey–will you purchase attempting for the digital queue, purchasing Lightning Lane get admission to, or each? Are you excited for the hole of Tiana’s Bayou Journey or fearful concerning the day by day downtime and different problems? Happy that it’ll have a restricted time digital queue for the preliminary opening duration, or would you favor a standby line? Do you compromise or disagree with our recommendation? Any questions we will be able to let you solution? Listening to your comments–even while you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please proportion your ideas under within the feedback!
