BEyond Big Thunder...

Past Piston Peak and beyond Big Thunder Mountain, deeper into the woods, the flora starts to take on a more fantastical look, perhaps lifted from one of Disney’s animated classics. You have entered the main Frontiers of Fantasy.

The atmosphere here feels like an intimate, Disneyfied state park or rural village, with the rumbling of antique delivery trucks coming from one end of the stream running through the area and an apple orchard serving food and drinks made with the apples Johnny Appleseed has picked on the other. Venturing northeastward will lead to a sign of the darkness that awaits further ahead in the form of Ichabod Crane’s schoolhouse, though we’ll wait a while to get back to that...

In the vein of the former Tom Sawyer Island and Redwood Creek over at Disney California Adventure, guests can explore the trails of Folktale Forest, marked by many a nod to the tall tales of American history. Like the island it serves as a spiritual successor to, there are plenty of interactive attractions and photo opportunities throughout the forest - including the towering Paul Bunyan busy at work chopping down some trees!

Motoring through the forest in delivery trucks like those of Widow Tweed and Amos Slade, guests can get caught up in Tod & Copper’s Forest Frolic, an outdoor track ride very much like Fairy Tinker Bell’s Busy Buggies in Tokyo DisneySea’s Fantasy Springs. Examples of the vignettes dotted along the dusty trail are (simple animated figures of) the titular Fox and the Hound playing together in their youth, Dinky and Boomer hatching a plan to catch Squeaks the caterpillar (who, unbeknownst to them [and us], has a surprise for them...though it becomes easier to see at night), and a grown-up Tod trying to woo his love interest Vixey.

Heading westward, the aesthetic gradually begins to shift over to that of a bayou in New Orleans, with the town itself seemingly on the waterfront. This part of the Frontiers of Fantasy is home to its headliner attraction: a musical boat ride taking guests down the bayou on their way to Tiana’s Bayou Jubilee (not to be confused with the current and much divisive Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, which will be no more with this addition).

Tiana’s Bayou Jubilee uses the same system as the Shanghai Disneyland version of Pirates of the Caribbean, with boats that can drift in any direction depending on what the scene calls for (and serving to punch up the action where appropriate, e.g. a backwards drop at the end of either “Friends on the Other Side” or “Dig a Little Deeper”).
In a similar vein as Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast at Tokyo Disneyland, many of the main show scenes are built around the music of The Princess and the Frog, with “Gonna Take You There” playing as we sail through the nighttime bayou with Louis and Ray and Mama Odie encouraging us, Tiana, and Naveen to “Dig a Little Deeper” in a spectacular show of her powers.
Addressing one universally agreed problem with TBA (its lack of tension), one other key song featured is “Friends on the Other Side”, sung by Dr. Facilier as he transforms Tiana and Naveen into frogs.

On their way out, guests can stop by Tiana’s Palace, a table service restaurant serving all kinds of Creole and Cajun cuisine and hosting the frequent jazz band (often accompanied by one swingin’ Audio-Animatronic alligator!).

Dining

Johnny Appleseed Orchards

Just outside the forest is this quick service stand, named after the friendly apple tree farmer (who features in one segment of the package film Melody Time). Of course, most of the food served here has apples as an ingredient - apple pie, apple strudel, apple cider, etc.

Shopping

Folk Tale Shop

Guests can relive their favorite folktales by stopping by this Folk Tale Shop. Fan of Paul Bunyan? You can buy a shirt with him and Babe the Blue Ox on it in a size smaller than 50XL. Enjoy apples? Get the “Johnny Appleseed – planting one apple tree at a time” t-shirt. Enjoy burritos from Pecos Bill Cafe? Get the official Pecos Bill t-shirt.

but what happens to Tiana's Bayou Adventure?

Splash Mountain 3.0

Inspired by an idea from “SplashFan2000”

Now that Tiana finally has an attraction and restaurant that truly do her justice, you may be wondering where that leaves her current attraction. With its most valuable assets moved over to the new ride (and hopefully maintained much better than they are now), that means the Magic Kingdom can regain one of its most famed mountains: Splash Mountain! While not an exact replica of the original attraction, its essence has mostly been brought back, complete with singing animals that appear to be coiled from the mind of a Mr. Marc Davis.

The sight of a log plunging 50 feet from a flooded mine shaft into a prickly cactus patch is all what one needs to know that they’ve stumbled into Critter Canyon, a western town built for critters, by critters. Past the Frontierland stop on the Walt Disney World Railroad and around the first part of the queue, the town’s architecture has been assembled with all sorts of ordinary everyday objects, with some of the smaller citizens’ homes even burrowed onto the canyon walls (think similar vibes to Tokyo Disneyland’s Critter Country).

Much of the queue recalls that of the original Splash Mountain, complete with multiple wanted posters for Wiley Wolf hung up all around.
During the outdoor section that kicks off the ride, the wanted posters continue, as well as an undertaker with comically shaped critter coffins rested outside. The Boothill Boys warn us of Wiley Wolf before mockingly remarking about “how good he’ll be fer our business!”
Dropping indoors, we sail through a good portion of Critter Canyon itself, where the inhabitants (mostly full Audio-Animatronics, with the occasional simpler animated figure where less practical) sing a ballad about the famed Jack A. Lope and plead for him to bring Wiley to justice...
...just as Wiley himself robs the local bank of its fortunes, with the intent on fleeing through the nearest gold mine. Off hops Jack A. Lope to retrieve the precious gold!
We drop down into a flooded gold mine after Wiley, past caverns full of gold nuggets and more critters (including some armadillos riding geysers on their backs). Drifting further into the mine, Wiley races past in a mine cart, followed by Jack on a handcar.
The chase reaches the signature steep climb (signs nailed on both sides of the mine walls and even overhead caution us to where it leads). As we reach the top, an old prospector warns us that there’s no turning back now...
...and indeed there’s not, for we drop 50 feet from the mine into a cactus patch! Thankfully, Jack is unscathed, merely hanging from a cactus spike.
We head back indoors into the town saloon, where apparently everyone is celebrating Wiley’s capture - from goose showgirls to Big Daddy playing ragtime on the piano. As for Wiley? Well, he wasn’t so lucky in dodging the cacti, and is certainly not very lucky doing the time while hammering rocks in the prison yard...
...but Jack’s having the time of his life resting on his well-deserved pile of gold!

Shopping

Critter Outpost

The creatures of Critter Canyon get all of their essentials at this mercantile, located in the spot of the former Briar Patch and current Critter Co-Op. Guests to Critter Canyon also are allowed to make purchases here, including water bottles that are made out of hallowed “logs,” coffee cups made out of “acorns,” and insect-style “sunglasses.” Of course, kids will love the plush critters available (although their parents’ credit cards may wish they had not encountered them).

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