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No Dr. Facilier in TBA????

USA Parks

Let me preface this by saying that I understand that he is canonically deceased and that the ride takes place after the events of the film.

But also how many times in Disney canon have dead villains come back to life???? Especially when they have supernatural powers??? Too many…

Is there going to be any sense of peril on this ride or is it just going to be a cute little tour through the Bayou and end up feeling like Navi River Journey with a drop????

If so that sounds horribly boring.

Even if he isn’t in the base ride we could hope to get a MNSSHP overlay in the future to include him… but it seems pretty strange that he’s seemingly not there to begin with.

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The. Ride. Is. Not. Open. Yet.

Until you ride it, there's zero value in "IF it's the way I THINK it might be, I won't like it."

This is the best possible comment

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We don't know anything until we ride it. All we know is that the VA is not credited to the ride. That does not mean there might be some hints of him here or there. Everything is speculation for the next 2 months. I am hopeful because he is an awesome villian, but I am not getting my hopes up.

Edited

ARE YOU READY?

ARE YOU READY?

ARE YOU READY?

*splash!*

u/Hollywoodrok12 avatar

Biggest missed opportunity in Disney history if/when we find out it’s true

they wanted the drop to be less scary for kids, so it's a celebration instead of looming doom

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u/BurningTaterTot avatar
Edited

Seriously everyone with brain cells in imagineering left and went to universal

It’s not imagineering’s fault tbh, it’s those that tell them what they can and can’t do.

u/Johnykbr avatar

You're right but obviously the Imagineering team has been decimated and replaced with yes people.

I wouldn’t say it’s really “yes people” - generally what happens is imagineering comes up with an idea and then each time they present it to the powers that be, they are told they need to remove or downsize certain aspects of it until its been stripped of what made it great (Knowledge comes from an imagineer family member)

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Edited

Based on? Mostly everything that's opened in Disney parks around the world in the last ten years has been immensely popular

u/FancyRatFridays avatar

I've said it before and I'll say it again: That buildup to the plunge would have been deliciously suspenseful... and completely at odds with what Imagineering wants to do with this ride.

The Princess and the Frog is ultimately a princess movie, aimed at a family audience, so any ride based on it should be appropriate for as broad an age range as possible. That final drop is scary enough already without voodoo spirits threatening your soul... you want the six-year-olds to exit the ride begging for a Princess Tiana dress to replace their wet clothes, not sobbing and screaming because Dr. Facilier almost dragged them to hell. Besides, we've already got Mr. Toad for that.

So instead we'll get Mama Odie singing inspirational gospel on that long, long lift hill. It's not ideal from the perspective of us adults... but it is probably what's best for the ride's longevity.

u/Lassie93 avatar

They had a rabbit next to a bonfire on Splash Mountain waiting to be roasted, with vultures taunting the riders before the lifthill. The kids still loved it and the ride lasted over 30 years. That’s just not it.

I mean the ride doesn't end after the plunge so there is plenty of time to unscare children with Mama Odie but also rescare them with her and Juju making out

u/BurningTaterTot avatar

If they pee cause of Dr Facilier no one will know cause they will be wet anyways!

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u/Jacoblaue avatar

I think it will still be a really good ride but man it would be awesome to have him in the ride can you imagine a friends on the other side scene

u/Johnykbr avatar

I know the original story definitely didn't include him but rumors surfaced they included him after complaints by Iger. Has it been confirmed he's not in?

I may be wrong, but I think it was confirmed somewhere that since it takes place after the story of the ride and based on what we’ve seen from the behind the scenes stuff he won’t be. Especially because we can see the mama odie bottles at the drop.

u/BurningTaterTot avatar

Oh I did not see these rumors at all, do you have a link?

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u/Fantastic_Example991 avatar

I heard from a cast member the voodoo community was fighting Disney about the portrayal of Facilier so in general they are pulling back from his presence at the parks. The fact that the big drop won’t have Friends On The Other Side is such a missed opportunity…

u/BurningTaterTot avatar

God we can’t have anything anymore 🙄

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u/lostinthought15 avatar

Imagineering has done impressive backflips the past decade or so to out-smart themselves when it comes to attraction narratives.

They are constantly explaining why the straightforward slam dunk story ideas are ignored in favor of ideas that just feel like they are reaching.

u/KurtisRambo19 avatar

They’ve forgotten how to story-tell.

u/lostinthought15 avatar

I forgot who it was, but one recent, longtime Imagineer mentioned how it used to be, at major decision meetings everyone around the table would start to sketch or draw out ideas. Nowadays no one at the table knows how to draw or create. They are all MBAs.

u/KurtisRambo19 avatar

Downvotes without comment. Prove me wrong.

You have an extra period in the middle of your very true sentence.

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Turning the laughing place into his emporium, with his shadow skulking about, with friends on the other side playing as you go up the main lift hill is suuuuuuch an obvious home run. I honestly can’t picture that section of the ride any other way. It would be mind boggling if they don’t do it.

Who cares if he’s supposed to be dead, rides are not taken to be canon to the IPs they are based on anyways.

u/georged3 avatar
Edited

My hope is that they're not including him now, but there could be a Halloween overlay. Imagine Tiana's Bayou Adventure: The Other Side. Facilier and voodoo and masks and all sorts of cool effects. But realistically they just want to stay away from voodoo and anything that could be deemed "offensive".

u/BurningTaterTot avatar

And this is the problem with current Disney… not that I think they should be purposely offensive but I’m sure including voodoo would be far less controversial than the original source material of the ride.

Hunchback is my favorite Disney movie and I hate that this current mentality got the live action adaptation cancelled.

u/sad_alone_panda avatar

I think everyone should be happy at live adaptations getting cancelled, no matter the reason 👀

u/BurningTaterTot avatar

I mean if they are canceling the Hunchback live action the least they can do is bring the broadway show to the US

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u/georged3 avatar

For the most part, I agree. I don't think the inclusion of the voodoo elements would actually be an issue to the average guest. Hunchback is excellent, but I'm shocked it even got made back then. Religion, disabilities, nomadic people, and social caste systems are all big concepts for an animation studio to have tackled in the 90s, and to their credit they did make a phenomenal film. I get why they're staying away from it now, but it does make me sad.

u/Lassie93 avatar

Nothing offensive about the original ride, people are just too sensitive

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u/georged3 avatar

Yeah. Read it again. It's wishful thinking, as it clearly says.

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He wasn’t included in the animatronic breakdown list from what I remember and I could’ve sworn they announced that he wasn’t going to be in it, but they could surprise us I guess.

I’m not holding my breath though.

Edited

You’re gonna get crushed on the reddits for this one. They snorted ALL the pixie dust; and they’ll defend this bayou blunder no matter what. It looks like the mountain’s B-hole taking a hot dump when the logs come out too.

Edit: Just as a BTW, I would have been all in on Princess and the Frog if it was Princess and the Frog. “Friends on the Other Side” would have been legendary going up that lift hill. What they’re doing here is a tragedy.