Black Bayou

No landscape screams of wickedness more than the swamp. Let’s take a moment and forget about the popular villains of old or the lucrative properties of late- and enter a land lost into time. Welcome to Black Bayou.

Black Bayou is the natural inverse of Frontierland / Grizzly Gulch, however, land spacing meant it simply made more sense to move it up near anti-Tomorrowland. This should not be too big an issue: for form follows function.

Black Bayou could also be viewed as the darker variant of New Orleans Square, unfortunately, there is no such thing in Hong Kong. But the Bayou is much more than just New Orleans: though the central buildings are given Orleans Architecture, it surrounded by marshy countryside. This is really meant to be a fun place. All around the Bayou, you'll find little pathways leading to some of the strangest things. For example, there's this giant snake not unlike Kaa sleeping between two trees- but you wouldn't notice it unless you look up. It is this passion for world-building that will (hopefully) make the park stand out among the many non-castle parks.

The entire land encircles a rural pond. The pond is home to a group of animatronic cranes and alligators- the latter of which randomly hiss at nearing guests. You can paddle around the pond at Boucher Barge, a small shack home to a number of “barges” for rent. All in all, a relaxing place to be.

Across from the barge, shop is Mama Ti’s Fishing Supply. The small shop sells all sorts of rustic trinkets, including wood carvings of characters. For a special price, you can request a carving of your name onto a piece of wood.

The bathroom at Black Bayou is themed to country outhouses. Although not quite as legendary as Animal Kingdom's Lavatory Laboratory, it should get the job done.

Mhmm... Cajun food...

Moving counter-clockwise, we head towards the Cajun Corner ($$). This is themed with New Orleans Architecture and is counter service. The counter it outside, with guests able to eat around the bayou or indoors. Cajun food is a popular delicacy to the Louisiana area, and is expected to be much enjoyed by Hong Kong guests.

The indoors is occupied every 10 minutes (20-minute breaks) by Oogie Boogie’s Laugh Floor. Oogie Boogie comes up and performs a skit in front of the eating guests. Like Monsters Inc, he will randomly pick on certain members of the audience… but at the end of the show will randomly “roll” to seal their fate.. and discover they have won free fast passes to the Sorcerer’s Apprentice!

To the left of the room is the Haunted Hovel. This once mighty manor has fallen apart and is now an elaborate water play area.

The central loop is completed with one final building. In stark contrast to its ruined neighbor, the Black Bayou Restaurant ($$$) is thriving!

Serving traditional creole food, the calming restaurant just may be the nicest in the park. There are no distractions, simply good food and the relaxing hum of the fireplace.

Bon appetit!

The Enchanted Voodoo Room

What's this? There's no Enchanted Tiki Room at Hong Kong. Well, allow me to make a deal with the devil and see that room come true! The Enchanted Voodoo Room is a hybrid show/flat ride under the guise of just another Tiki Room. Guests enter an ominous looking building... the current home of Dr. Facilier, after he was kicked out of his parlor after that whole frog mess.

Then the ride begins. Water begins steadily falling from the center of the room and down the drain. Projectors and green smoke create an effect of voodoo magic as Dr. Facilier appears to us... from the other side. He begins to sing "Friends on the Other Side", and the entire theater begins to rotate around him in the center in a clockwise direction. The spinning never gets "intense" but is just off-putting enough to make Facilier's insane show all the more entertaining.

Suddenly giant spinning cards surround the guests, as the line “The cards, the cards, the cards will tell, the past, the present, and the future as well” echoes. The rotation speed picks up a notch, and the seats start to move up/down just a tiny bit.

In the next scene, Dr. Facilier’s voodoo magic will be in full effect, as he turns the guests into small frogs! The effect here will be achieved as so: the edges of the building will expand out with every little prop becoming bigger. The motive here is for Dr Facilier to claim more souls for the other side, in order to retain his shadow powers. Right before he commits the final act, squishing the frog bound guests, there is an error in the spell and we escape! Thinking quick, Facilier throws down a card, creating a portal that drags guests to the OTHER SIDE!!!

The lights go out, and when they on again the background has entirely changed. We are now in a bayou area, but it is illuminated by the demons of the other side. Dr. Facilier has disappeared, but we see his shadow darting around the edges. The spinning restarts faster than ever.

Eventually, Facilier drops the necklace containing the “soul essence” he stole from the guests. The illusion of the “Other Side” disappears, as Dr Facilier is dragged into the underworld, and the guests return to normal size.

Monsters of the Inner Swamp

The swamps may appear quaint.... But that is never the case. Some say the worst part of it is the gators. We here beg to differ.

Join us on our exciting quest of discovery as we encounter a multitude of swamp monsters, both from folklore and the minds of our most wicked imagineers. Will our party even survive this doomed rapids cruise? That's up to you to discover... if you so dare...

Immediately we begin to get the wrong impression: the station is made of shanty driftwood! Guests board river-rapid rafts in groups of six, and the set off their quest to discover what lies deep in the marsh.

First, we see a group of abnormally large gators chomping up and down, chewing on what looks to be… skeletons? Human skeletons? A couple splashes and we continue.

A thick fog surrounds everyone.. But before we have time to react, we see a shining light. It is the will o’ wisps. We follow the wisps. Then the boat shakes- first just once, then twice… then the wisps begin to sing

Make it shine, let them think,

we are the will o' wisps they think

But we are not oh no no no,

we are the evil tricksters that kill when they when blink!

We will fall down out of control, escaping the wisps but not escaping the water. We are now deep within the swamp. The next legendary creature we witness is the Skunk Ape, a large hairy creature. The Ape takes a moment to notice us, but once it does begins to charge out our boat. We avoid it and continue on.

We are now gently moving along the swamp… and then a giant venus fly trap burst up and thrusts towards us! The jump-scare awakens everyone, but we keep on going.

Next we see a creepy old fisherman on a rowboat. He tell us we have reached the heart of the swamp, where the greatest monster resides. It is here where we meet an original creature: The Ravager! The size of the hulk, this green swamp monster begins slowly moving towards us. Our rear view mirrors are showing the monster gaining on us- and fast!

The boat now weaves through giant rock formations to avoid the Ravager. But as we turn a corner- jump-scare! The Ravager is now in front of us. We turn around again and are jump-scared once more. Now the boat is at full power, and we go full steam ahead away from the Ravager.

We manage to escape and return to the docks. As we depart, the "captain" overhead recording suggests maybe they shouldn’t go back there. The first mate replies, "Yes Captain... Obvious".

The Black Bayou simultaneously plays homage to Disneyland CA's beloved land while expanding upon it, creating a creepy swamp to be explored only be the bravest. In fact, the entire land is just begging the question... was it really a good idea to push the frontier this much?

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