Wait A Minute! The Magic Kingdom's Frontierland is Now Set in 1927?

Tiana's Bayou Adventure will be the BIG push for anyone heading to Walt Disney World and the Magic Kingdom in 2024. But with the installation of the new "Tiana Foods watertower", does this really mean that Frontierland is now centered on the year 1924? This is really a mistake for the current Imagineering team that wants to erase the Tony Baxter and team masterpiece. 

What happened to the 1800's? It's fine if Splash Mountain is no more- or is it- but please do not destroy what is the themed land dedicated to the pioneering spirit of the Old West back in the days of the brave men and women who made their way across the land. Is this a precursor to the filling in of the Rivers of America and the closing of the Riverboat? Lord, help us if it is.  Princess and the Frog has some pretty great elements, but it does not take place of one of the Magic Kingdom's opening day lands.

Will I enjoy the ride? Of course- it's built on the carcass of one of Imagineering's best achievements. I'll love the visuals, the music, and the thrills. Does that mean this transgression of design detail doesn't bother me? Absolutely not. 

Come on, Charita Carter and Carmen Smith- You can do better than this.

D23 Revealed: Tiana's Bayou Adventure Recycling Project

Yes, I'm a big fan of Splash Mountain. It's iconic, it's Imagineering genius Tony Baxter's, and it is just a good amount of fun. But I'm also open to Tiana's Bayou Adventure. The problem is, I'm just not all that trusting when it comes to current Imagineering projects where Disney gives fans an overlay of something new on top of something old and beloved. Usually, the new is just not better. Don't believe me? Look at this article where I compare and contrast new vs. old and Disney's recent projects. Disney's new math just doesn't add up.

Look at the photograph above. It's Belle in full on Audio-Animatronic form as she appears in Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast at Tokyo Disneyland. She's a beautifully articulated figure found in an amazingly detailed Fantasyland attraction. Look pause here but look at the concept art of Tiana at the beginning of this article. Anything strike you as interesting? It should. Disney Imagineering is recycling and not in a good way. My hunch is this is only the beginning of Bargain Basement Imagineering.

This year's D23 did not give me much hope that Princess and the Frog will be given its due. Bayou Mist? And now a recycled Belle along with recycled animatronics from Marc Davis' classic America Sings musical show? More screens, more cheap ways to tell the story? Will a cast of Benjamin Franklin from The American Adventure be used to play the role of Prince Naveen? (I'm joking here, but you get the idea.) When will it end?

Even the new model of the attraction was underwhelming at best. Throw in a few trees from Pirates of the Caribbean's bayou scene and all it good.

No doubt Imagineering's Charita Carter is a kind, very talented, and well meaning woman, but she is not the executive determining the budgets and the scope and scale of this project. 

Whether its in Disneyland's New Orleans Square or in the Magic Kingdom's Frontierland under Disney CEO Bob Chapek, are you sure Tiana's Bayou Adventure will be all it should be ? I'm not. He's given us way too much reason to be uncertain he has what's best for the fans and Imagineering's legacy in mind. I'd love to be proven wrong, but all this leaves me with one question:

Where's the Oriental Land Company when you need them?

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)