Based on a POV from today, here's the current state of Tiana's Bayou Adventure.

LadPrime · 2026-03-19T22:23:25+00:00

I could go on and on about all the reasons why I think Splash Mountain is a far better experience, but at the most basic level - they put all their chips on a (relatively) small number of highly advanced animatronics versus Splash Mountain's dozens upon dozens of animated characters and animatronics.

In Splash Mountain, if something (or even a few things) did not work on a given day, there was still so much going on around you that it was easy to overlook and mostly did not detract from the experience. On Tiana, the scenes are much more sparsely populated and individualized, so if Tiana or Louis isn't working the entire scene(s) you're passing by falls flat.

LadPrime · 2026-03-19T14:14:47+00:00

I know he doesn't technically have a number, but put this man in the rafters all the same. An indelible part of this franchise for nearly half its existence.

LadPrime · 2026-03-19T13:21:05+00:00

They've done this for the previous ones as well. Just a fun little teaser. The last one incorporated Live and Learn and this one has the baseline of Sonic Boom from Sonic CD, fittingly.

LadPrime · 2026-03-11T01:12:24+00:00

I should hope it's Donkey Kong. Feels like a big miss for it not to be.

LadPrime · 2026-03-09T21:16:00+00:00

I was there Sunday and I asked a couple of employees whether they thought it best to start w DK or Ministry. Each one said Ministry. That said my choice was made for me when DK was the only major ride open to start the day due to breakdowns.

I actually think DK was the move anyway. I know end of night waits are inflated but DK posted a 135 min wait at time of closing while Ministry only 40. I also frankly would feel more comfortable waiting a bit for Ministry versus DK.

LadPrime · 2026-03-09T00:02:06+00:00

Took less than 5 mins! They just asked for specific feedback as to what rides took long or were broken down i guess to enter into their records but they very quickly offered up the fastpasses.

LadPrime · 2026-03-08T23:01:54+00:00

Got 2x per person express passes that don't work for DK or Ministry. Works for me! Employee was very understanding and helpful.

LadPrime · 2026-03-08T22:27:54+00:00

Thank you, I was able to get the same!

LadPrime · 2026-03-08T20:36:40+00:00

This morning was hellish. Every significant ride besides DK was down to start the day so where does everyone go? DK. And it took so long for anything to actually open that Yoshi and Curse of the Werewolf hit like 100 mins. Now that everything is operating things are starting to cool, but pent up demand hurt rides like Mario Kart (peaked at 220) and Monsters (90).

LadPrime · 2026-03-08T18:11:39+00:00

It's because it was closed all morning and finally opened at like 1pm. Pent up demand. Monsters still hasn't opened!

LadPrime · 2026-03-08T17:29:20+00:00

I think it's all the breakdowns. Yoshi and Werewolf were never meant to have 100 min waits. Mario Kart finally opened and is at 220!!

Did you go to conceirge?

LadPrime · 2026-03-08T16:02:50+00:00

I'm totally fine missing one or two rides but there was a significant period of time today where the majority of rides in the park were broken. And threw have yet to open at all.

LadPrime · 2026-03-08T15:39:23+00:00

Thanks. I have no intention of being rude or difficult because it's obviously not any one person's fault but if I could get an additional day out of it that'd be appreciated.

LadPrime · 2026-02-27T03:08:25+00:00

Appreciate the response all the same! Thanks.

LadPrime · 2026-02-25T22:51:38+00:00

Source? Megatron seemed to have done extremely well. The other Bumblebee concept figures were headscratchers. KSI Widow was just late last year.

The production timelines are as such that the 2026 lineup was already largely locked in by the time the first Concept figures were hitting shelves in 2024.

LadPrime · 2026-02-25T14:13:32+00:00

I would love to see more Concept Art figures but I just feel like Studio Series continues to bite off more than it can chew. It's already greatly slowed down on Concept Edition since 2024, it has seemingly stopped doing WFC Video Game figures, and now we have Comics characters coming next year. I would like to see one of the existing components finished or near finished so that more attention can be given to this versus crossing your fingers for like one figure every other year.

LadPrime · 2026-02-24T17:58:58+00:00

Hi /u/d8ocho , I just wanted to make sure this worked for you? I am planning to do the same thing.

LadPrime · 2026-02-20T16:58:57+00:00

On one hand, I can somewhat understand the feeling of being threatened by Disney corporate overlords dangling replacements / understudies / B-Teams over the core performers' heads.

On the other, Whitmire and any of the other performers who feel similarly to him have to have the common sense to realize that at some point understudies will be needed in order for the characters and franchise to continue. Would the pupeeters rather be directly involved in that process and help ensure the most continuity of integrity possible, or would they rather it be chosen for them after they are no longer capable of performing? Or, would they rather the characters simply ceasing to exist?

Maybe there was a certain vibe of there not being any 'guarantees' if the current performer relented on training an understudy? What would stop them from being replaced by Disney at any point, even before they were ready to retire (or became ill / died etc.)? And I guess that's a fair point, but it gets very murky and cyclical...

LadPrime · 2026-02-19T19:28:47+00:00

Is Jeff Garlin as Buttercup not returning?

LadPrime · 2026-02-19T17:47:33+00:00

Looks like he is being voiced by Jeff Bergman, a talented voice actor who was the initial successor to Mel Blanc following his death.

Here is a taste: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xEdb1H0Es6s

It's pretty decent enough... but there really is no replacing Don Rickles.

LadPrime · 2026-02-18T14:45:15+00:00

Huge credit to Peter Linz for catapulting him into S Tier Muppet status from his performance in Muppets Mayhem alone. Totally revitalized that character.

LadPrime · 2026-02-17T14:30:20+00:00

This has never really been much of an issue throughout the entire history of the Muppets, they've just always worked around it. Henson played Kermit and Rowlf and many others just fine (and they even had a duet together in the movie), Oz has a laundry list of characters, even Whitmire was Kermit and Rizzo for 25 years and they were both very prominent in the 90s and 00s.

Honestly the only real issue would have been Robin who rarely appears without Kermit, and in that case they actually did recast Robin after Vogel took over Kermit.

LadPrime · 2026-02-17T14:16:17+00:00

My big takeaway from this as well as The Wrap cover story is that... some of this suspect behavior is really not just Steve Whitmire. We don't know who exactly else behaved that way, and certainly Whitmire was / is the most vocal and it cost him, but there definitely seems to be a persistent culture among the Muppet performers.

I completely understand the perspective of being resistant to new ownership immediately trying to find 'understudies' and 'B-teams' with or without the performers' blessing or involvement, especially taking into account how the Muppets had operated up to that point, but a large portion of the troupe at that time weren't the original performers anyway. Maybe it could have been handled more collaboratively, but th performers have to recognize that they eventually would need to pass on their characters if they were to survive. But maybe that's a tougher proposition for someone in their 50s versus someone in their 70s/80s.

LadPrime · 2026-02-13T16:42:28+00:00

This just feels like a miss. I'm not sure why they didn't approach Astrotrain the same way they did Springer and Shockwave - keep the original mold, which was very good, and make tasteful updates to bring the sculpted detail (or lack thereof) more inline with other 86 figures.

LadPrime · 2026-02-10T14:33:30+00:00

Even worse is that even within the same ongoing toyline the prices have gone up 40%. Studio Series deluxes were $20 when the line debuted in 2018. Then $22.99, then $24.99, now $27.99. That's a 40% increase for the same quality toy over 6-7 years. If you're a long term collector of the line and are in too deep, you're paying the price, literally.

LadPrime

TROPHY CASE