Final yr was a giant one for Disney Parks, as each Walt Disney World and Disneyland unveiled Tiana’s Bayou Journey: a rethemed and resigned model of Splash Mountain. Whereas the attraction needed to cope with greater than its share of controversy, it needs to be seen as a giant win general, as most company to the parks appear to find it irresistible. Nevertheless, that doesn’t imply that every part about Tiana’s Bayou Journey has been excellent. The most recent journey at Disney World is having some issues.
A brand new video on TikTok goes viral that exhibits at the least one piece of Tiana’s Bayou Journey is kind of actually coming aside on the seams. Particularly, the seam between the pinnacle and neck of one of many Louis the alligator animatronics has ripped away, leaving a gash within the gator that doesn’t look nice. Test it out under:
@brandon.paints.the.parks Nonetheless rode it twice 🤙🏽🤙🏽🐊
♬ unique sound – Brandon Paints the Parks
The video has since been reposted to Twitter, and as one of many feedback there says “Errors had been made.” It’s prompt that the explanation for the animatronic sporting out so shortly (it has been working for lower than 9 months at this level) is that felt was used for Louis’ pores and skin fairly than some type of rubber or latex – which might probably be extra resilient, and may extra adequately resemble the pores and skin of an alligator anyway.
On the one hand, the truth that the fabric of the animatronic is sporting out isn’t that large a shock contemplating what it goes by for hours at a time in an atmosphere filled with water. The Tiana’s Bayou Journey audio-animatronics are unbelievable items of expertise, however with all that new functionality comes an X-factor since plenty of this hasn’t been performed earlier than.
On the identical time, one hopes that every one that was taken into consideration when the system was designed. The truth that solely this one animatronic appears to be having this concern might point out some distinctive flaw within the materials. Nonetheless, fixing it’s prone to be an costly course of. It’s arduous to guess if that is one thing that could possibly be fastened in a single day or if the entire animatronic would should be eliminated.
It wouldn’t be the primary time {that a} vital flaw had been found solely after a significant attraction had been opened to the general public. Rise of the Resistance at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has three massive blasters that had been designed to maneuver, however have been non-functional for almost all of the attraction’s existence at each Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Clearly there was one thing mistaken with the unique design. The blasters had been not too long ago repaired at Disneyland to a lot fanfare. The blasters are nonetheless non-functional in Florida, however a repair there quickly appears probably.
One wonders if one thing like this can be what occurs to Louis. We may see some makes an attempt at short-term fixes, however odds are one thing like this may take extra vital work to really replace. Fixing the injury may merely result in it occurring once more in one other 9 months. As such, we may see a broken Louis within the attraction long run till they’re in a position to cope with no matter is inflicting the injury.
It is going to be fascinating to see if one thing related occurs at Disneyland. Tiana’s Bayou Journey opened at Magic Kingdom first. The Disneyland model opened about 5 months later. By that measure, if that is some form of design flaw it may present itself on the opposite attraction this summer time.
Whereas there’s loads deliberate at Disney World in 2025, what there is not is an enormous new attraction. The most important new journey is an replace to Take a look at Monitor at Epcot. As such, maybe fixing Louis will probably be a spotlight sooner fairly than later.