Tiana’s Bayou Journey is the reimagined trip that replaces Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom. Walt Disney World has already introduced that the brand new attraction will use a digital queue and supply Lightning Lane entry. Nevertheless, even when you have quick fingers and rating a boarding group or purchase the line-skipping service, you continue to may need challenges experiencing the brand new attraction.
This publish covers the problems with Tiana’s Bayou Journey together with actionable recommendation so you may (hopefully) decrease your publicity to those points and improve your chance of efficiently driving. We additionally focus on some unknowns, potential points and proposed operational options for the brand new Magic Kingdom mountain(ish).
Earlier than we get to that, let’s begin with a silver lining, of kinds. Tiana’s Bayou Journey can be right here for years to return. Not like different points of interest we’ve inspired friends to trip ASAP as a result of we apprehensive problematic results would vanish and by no means return (taking a look at you, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance), this one is probably going solely going to get higher within the months and years to return. If something, Imagineering has been rushed on this venture and there are little (and large!) flaws they’d in all probability like to repair.
That’s in all probability not a lot comfort, particularly for the various of you who go to Walt Disney World occasionally and wish to trip in your upcoming holidays. With that in thoughts, listed below are the problems and our recommendation…
Day by day Downtime – In case you haven’t adopted the saga on social media, it is best to first bear in mind that Tiana’s Bayou Journey is at present actually unreliable. The whole lot else on this checklist flows from the easy incontrovertible fact that the trip breaks down loads. It has had every day downtime in the course of the Solid Member, Disney Trip Membership, and Annual Passholder previews.
In response to our mates at BlogMickey, Tiana’s Bayou Journey averaged roughly 4.5 hours of every day downtime throughout AP previews, with as “little” downtime as not less than 2 hours per day and as a lot as over 7 hours of downtime. Worst of all, this didn’t progressively enhance over the course of the previews–every day numbers have been in every single place.
Some proponents of the trip declare that this at all times occurs with new points of interest, and is the entire level of previews. They’re technically proper to an extent, however this was extreme. If it have been a median of two hours each day, that may’ve been within the bounds of what’s affordable, and roughly on par with Frozen Ever After the summer time it debuted.
(It’s straightforward to overlook, however Frozen Ever After was a considerably comparable venture that was rushed to make a summer time opening; it likewise suffered from delayed openings and frequent breakdowns its opening season as crews scrambled to finish in a single day upkeep and repair technical points. The excellent news, although, is that Frozen Ever After’s woes are straightforward to overlook as a result of they’ve largely been mounted. Hopefully it’s an identical story with TBA!)
There are a ton of rumors as to the causes of issues with Tiana’s Bayou Journey, from points syncing the logs with the present scenes to defective sensors which might be having bother with ‘the weather’ and precise visitor load on the logs. Whatever the purpose, each single trip I’ve taken on Tiana’s Bayou Journey had technical difficulties of some type, so even should you do get fortunate with no downtime, you continue to may need issues. (For these causes and others, I’d extremely advocate driving greater than as soon as. There’s an excellent probability your first trip received’t be flawless, so improve your possibilities of success with repeat rides.)
Given these numbers and the problems even when it’s working, it appears to us that Tiana’s Bayou Journey ought to nonetheless be in take a look at & modify. It’s not fairly able to greet friends, even in a preview or tender opening capability.
Digital Queue Inconsistency – Subsequent to nothing could be gleaned from the boarding group distribution in the course of the 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. digital queue entry instances throughout AP and DVC previews of Tiana’s Bayou Journey. On each single day of previews, the 7 a.m. digital queue remained open longer than the 1 p.m. one. About half of all days, the morning VQ lasted over 2 hours. On no day did it final lower than 5 minutes.
That is the other of how digital queues usually work at Walt Disney World. Normally, the 7 a.m. drop lasts milliseconds to a couple minutes and the afternoon entry is open for minutes to hours. That’s the case with each Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and TRON Lightcycle Run proper now–and was even throughout TBA previews.
The larger subject from the angle of digital queue inconsistency is that trip downtime goes to throw a significant monkey wrench into issues. If Tiana’s Bayou Journey has been down many of the morning when the time the 1 p.m. VQ rolls round, Walt Disney World will scale back the variety of boarding teams distributed within the afternoon. That means each the 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. digital queues may refill in seconds some days…and be open for hours on different days.
It’s additionally price stating that Walt Disney World cancelled the 1 p.m. digital queue fully on one event throughout AP previews. I wouldn’t count on this to be a traditional prevalence throughout every day operations…however I additionally wouldn’t rule it out fully. The ethical of the story is that, no matter your most well-liked driving time, it is best to in all probability strive for the 7 a.m. digital queue–and plan on utilizing pace technique. Don’t have a laid again angle since that is “solely” a reimagining with combined critiques–it’s nonetheless going to be very tough to expertise on some days.
Lightning Lanes Luck – To the unreliability level, there’s no assure friends who rating high-numbered boarding teams will even be capable of trip Tiana’s Bayou Journey. Walt Disney World is fairly good about not over-distributing boarding teams, however they’re not excellent.
The percentages are positively extra ‘in your favor’ if you are going to buy line-skipping entry by way of the Lightning Lane. Even when the attraction is down throughout your window, you’ll obtain a multi-experience cross and nonetheless be capable of trip it (or one thing else, I suppose, should you’d favor…however then why are you studying this?) every time the trip comes again up.
We’d additionally elevate Tiana’s Bayou Journey to #1 on our checklist of Magic Kingdom’s Lightning Lane priorities for not less than the primary couple months that it’s open. That is once more as a result of downtime, which implies that return instances will go quicker and there’s a decrease chance of trip reservation refills all through the day.
Shopping for the Lightning Lane service at Magic Kingdom is at all times our advice as a result of park’s increased trip rely, however that’ll be doubly true when TBA debuts. And as famous above, it’s finest to trip a number of instances–so we’d advise shopping for Lightning Lane entry and becoming a member of the VQ.
Longer-Lasting Digital Queue – When Tiana’s Bayou Journey opens on June 28, it is going to use a digital queue. Company can request to affix the digital queue by way of the My Disney Expertise app at one in all two instances: 7 a.m. or 1 p.m. Whereas a standby queue won’t be out there in the course of the attraction’s preliminary opening days, Walt Disney World expects to open a standby line quickly after the attraction’s opening.
No less than, that’s what Walt Disney World stated when first asserting the opening date and particulars 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 trip at Walt Disney World.
In our view, a extra apt comparability was Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disneyland, which dropped its digital queue lower than a month after opening. In order that narrowed down the vary from just a few days to a few month for the Tiana’s Bayou Journey digital queue. Our guess again in mid-Could was that the digital queue for Tiana’s Bayou Journey could be retired by July 8, 2024 on the newest.
Fortunately for Walt Disney World, the attraction’s “preliminary opening days” is imprecise and open to interpretation. I now not have any diploma of confidence that Tiana’s Bayou Journey will drop its digital queue by July 8, 2024. That was earlier than previews or the rest began, and working underneath the belief that TBA could be not less than as dependable as Splash Mountain.
Clearly, it isn’t. At this level, the protected prediction is that Tiana’s Bayou Journey will use a digital queue for as lengthy at it’s affected by unreliability and downtime woes. Digital queues supply a way of pulsing demand and are the imperfect answer to operational woes. That’s exactly why Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance debuted the trip VQ again in 2019!
Suffice to say, I’ve no clue how lengthy the digital queue will final for Tiana’s Bayou Journey. I’ll merely say every time the preliminary rush runs out or the reliability woes are resolved, whichever occurs first. I actually hope that’s the previous, however my guess is it’ll be the latter. Both manner, I’d like to see the VQ passed by the beginning of the low season in August, and have some extent of confidence that each of the above variables will happen by then. However that’s only a guess/hope!
Dynamic Digital Queue for TBA? – We beforehand proposed that Tiana’s Bayou Journey ought to have a ‘dynamic’ digital queue–mainly which means the standby line opens at night time as soon as the solar goes down and the temperatures are cooler. This was as a result of all water rides are much less in style at night time.
We’ll double-down on this. So long as these downtime woes exist, it’s seemingly that Walt Disney World can be conservative in closing the digital queue. They don’t wish to subject too many boarding teams within the occasion the trip breaks down for six+ hours per day. The issue with that is that there are going to be days when the attraction outperforms and, as a result of conservative issuance of boarding teams, the digital queue is empty hours earlier than park closing. It’s inconceivable to know or venture as of 1 p.m. how a lot downtime the trip could have for the remaining ~8 hours of the day. That is hardly a daring prediction–it already happens infrequently 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 isn’t a different good different. Distribute VQ spots liberally and friends can be offended when their boarding group isn’t referred to as on the inevitable days when there’s prolonged downtime. Distribute too few and there can be quite a lot of offended friends who get shut out of the digital queue as a result of they didn’t have quick sufficient fingers to attain a spot in the course of the millisecond it was open…solely to see the trip dispatching empty logs on the finish of the night time or the trip shut early.
Given the character of the attraction and reliability woes, I’d truly take this a step additional if I have been Disney: remove the 1 p.m. digital queue entry time fully, distribute extra boarding teams at 7 a.m., after which plan to open the standby line within the late afternoon each day (and talk that to friends). In the event that they’re already ready the place the 1 p.m. VQ may should be canceled some days, simply make issues extra predictable by eradicating a transferring half and cancelling it each day.
Prolonged Night Hours? – Walt Disney World nonetheless has not introduced whether or not Tiana’s Bayou Journey can be open throughout Prolonged Night Hours. Usually, there could be a 6 p.m. digital queue entry time for Prolonged Night Hours. That’s at present how entry to TRON Lightcycle Run works throughout ExEH. Our expectation was that it could 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 attainable that Disney was ready to handle the trip’s standing throughout ExEH as a result of they hoped it wouldn’t want the digital queue in any respect in the course of the occasion.
No matter how lengthy the digital queue lasts for Tiana’s Bayou Journey in the course of the day, we hope that the trip is each open throughout Prolonged Night Hours and makes use of a standby line in the course of the bonus time (for the explanations acknowledged above). Given the lessened reputation of water rides at night time, we predict this appears affordable. Even when the standby line finally ends up being lengthy, so what? Let individuals wait in lengthy strains in the event that they so want.
Will Tiana’s Bayou Journey Open on June 28? – Though there’s a non-zero probability the opening of Tiana’s Bayou Journey can be delayed, the reply might be sure. I’m like…98% positive? Nonetheless, each trip in current reminiscence (since in all probability Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance) was 100%.
It’s tough to see Walt Disney World backtracking on the opening date due to the opposite complications it could trigger. It will be unprecedented at this late stage and result in a deluge of complaints and presumably even cancellations, to not point out unfavourable headlines and doubt about reserving journeys round attraction openings sooner or later.
Even when I believe Tiana’s Bayou Journey just isn’t prepared for its official opening and that it shouldn’t have had its official opening set for June 28 within the first place in gentle of that, I additionally suppose that it’s too late to vary course now. Having 4+ hours of downtime per day is a foul final result. Having the trip closed fully whilst friends have deliberate journeys round it’s an excellent worse final result. I’d hazard a guess there are inside conversations identical to this proper now, reaching the identical conclusion–that the least-bad choice is opening on time, however with every day downtime.
Nonetheless, it’s price noting that they did cancel the final spherical of Solid Member previews. I don’t suppose it’s a bullish transfer to cancel the final previews regardless of the way you slice it, however maybe the upkeep groups have recognized the difficulty and want that each one of that uninterrupted time to implement fixes and make changes previous to the grand opening. Who is aware of, possibly that is precisely what’s wanted and this publish can be fully out of date by June 28, 2024. Actually, I’d love for that to be the case…I’m simply skeptical it is going to. Even when the reason for issues is recognized and an answer is carried out, there are sometimes nagging points that final weeks or months.
Clearly, the every day downtime and different points with Tiana’s Bayou Journey are usually not best. However I additionally see sentiment making the rounds on social media and even the feedback that that is an ‘indictment’ of recent Imagineering or administration. Some followers are performing like the sort of factor at all times occurs with new rides, which is an indication Disney doesn’t know learn how to create dependable rides anymore. But it didn’t occur with TRON Lightcycle Run, Cosmic Rewind, Runaway Railway, or the Rat Trip. Different followers are pretending that this by no means occurred up to now, conveniently forgetting the unhappy saga of Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, unique EPCOT Middle’s rocky launch, and even Take a look at Monitor 1.0 or Frozen Ever After. (Only a very incomplete checklist of examples.)
I’d add that some persons are additionally forgetting that Tiana’s Bayou Journey was initially scheduled to open in Late 2024, however the firm threw a ton of assets (labor and cash) at it with a purpose to get the trip able to roll by the recent and humid summer time months. Certain, with the advantage of hindsight, we are able to declare that they rushed it an excessive amount of. I definitely would’ve most well-liked a dependable late July opening to an unreliable late June debut.
However we are able to’t complain about delays with different massive initiatives on the one hand, after which complain about accelerated schedules then again. As ought to be clear from our CommuniCore Corridor Assessment or the primary ~3,000 phrases of our Tiana’s Bayou Journey Assessment, we have now no scarcity of quibbles with the 2 most up-to-date additions to the parks. Nevertheless, it’s essential that these complaints are coherent, and that we don’t simply whine about all the things Disney does. In any other case, our voices are straightforward to disregard.
It goes with out saying that I want this launch have been going higher and that Tiana’s Bayou Journey had no every day downtime…however I additionally was cheering on the sooner timeframe and begging Disney to set a gap date when it felt like one was ‘overdue’ final month. (Can’t have it each methods!) Suffice to say, there are quite a lot of transferring components with Tiana’s Bayou Journey…let’s simply hope they’re flowing easily and downtime is minimal by opening day or shortly thereafter.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What’s your plan of assault for minimizing issues with Tiana’s Bayou Journey–will you purchase attempting for the digital queue, shopping for Lightning Lane entry, or each? Are you excited for the opening of Tiana’s Bayou Journey or apprehensive concerning the every day downtime and different points? Glad that it’ll have a restricted time digital queue for the preliminary opening interval, or would you favor a standby line? Do you agree or disagree with our recommendation? Any questions we will help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even while you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
