Disney World announces opening date for Tiana's Bayou Adventure

May 12, 2024 in "Tiana's Bayou Adventure"

Posted: Sunday May 12, 2024 10:19am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff
Disney has announced the opening date for Tiana's Bayou Adventure at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

The highly anticipated flume ride inspired by Disney's 'The Princess and The Frog' movie will officially open June 28, 2024.



Although we now know that Tiana's Bayou Adventure will officially open on June 28 2024, we expect several weeks of previews for various groups, including Disney Cast Members, media, Annual Passholders, DVC Members, Club 33, and D23. The preview dates are still to be announced, but we should expect the first soft openings to begin imminently.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure invites guests to join beloved characters Princess Tiana, Mama Odie, Louis, and all-new friends on a thrilling adventure, all set against the music and excitement of a New Orleans celebration. This new attraction will feature dozens of Audio-Animatronics figures, a foot-tapping soundtrack, and a celebration where everyone’s welcome.

Music is at the heart of New Orleans, and guests will be tapping their toes all throughout the attraction thanks in part to adorable critters, who play instruments made of natural materials found in the bayou. Tiana’s new friends include an otter, a rabbit, a racoon, a beaver, a turtle and more. Their spirited stylings will turn the bayou into a party with Zydeco, Rara, and Afro-Cuban music authentic to the region of New Orleans. There will be new, original music alongside favorite tunes from the film, created in collaboration with award-winning artists PJ Morton and Terence Blanchard.

In addition to musical critters, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure welcomes talent voices from the film as they reprise their roles, including Bruno Campos as Prince Naveen, Jenifer Lewis as Mama Odie, Michael-Leon Wooley as Louis, and the one and only Anika Noni Rose as Princess Tiana.

As guests float through the cypress trees and Spanish moss of a beautiful Louisiana bayou, they may see some familiar faces as part of the dozens of entirely new Audio-Animatronics figures. Along with Princess Tiana, Louis and Mama Odie, keep an eye out for Eudora, Charlotte, Prince Ralphie, Prince Naveen and others. Between Disney’s iconic storytelling, technologically advanced Audio-Animatronics figures, and a thrilling 50-foot drop, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has enough fun for everyone!

As Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “The Princess and the Frog” makes its home in the Crescent City, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is more stuffed with authentic NOLA artistry than Charlotte is with Tiana’s “man-catching” beignets! Artwork from Louisiana artist Malaika Favorite will delight guests as part of the queue, and guests can see an original metalwork weathervane from third-generation master blacksmith, Darryl Reeves and his apprentice, Karina Roca. New Orleans artist Sharika Mahdi’s artwork has inspired the attraction from the beginning. And, for some lagniappe (a “little extra”) guests will have a nose full of the sweet scent of beignets being kept warm in the oven – reminiscent of strolling through the French Quarter – as part of the attraction queue.

The heart of Tiana’s story reminds guests that everyone has the potential to make their dreams a reality. With teams of Imagineers, Disney Animation artists, cast members and Louisiana artisans working together, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is sure to pass a good time when it opens at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida on June 28, 2024, and later in 2024 at Disneyland Park in California.


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splah6 hours ago

that's a good comparison to looney tunes. The character designs didn't seem "disney" to me and i couldn't really figure out why. I think you especially see it with the fox (looks like sylvester). it has sharp points to the outline. they aren't as approachable as classic disney. if i stretch it further the design reminds me of the terrifying new monkeys in the jungle. there's such a focus on real/authentic that it misses out on the levity and make-believe. (i really don't like the monkeys)

WorldExplorer7 hours ago

They seem to really not like the idea of Tiana being in the log. All the merchandise I've seen opts for the animals (rarely including Louis) instead. It's also probably worth noting that all merchandise is nothing but smiling, happy faces for this thrill ride with a 50 foot drop. So Splash had funny and memorable merchandise and artwork featuring the main characters reacting to the giant drop. Tiana's has generic animals smiling while Tiana stands nearby grinning at nothing.

Speedy718 hours ago

erasure fan116 hours ago

It's funny because I very much think the ride is a downgrade but I would definitely buy one if it was the characters of the film. Because I just love the film.

Bocabear16 hours ago

Exactly...If it were characters we knew, it would make a better souvenir... They look like Loony Tunes/Warner Brothers/ Six Flags characters... The funny thing is, if it were still Splash I would have bought a souvenir with the possums...the characters were cuter and made more sense... Maybe in time people will know who these character are...

LittleBuford16 hours ago

Whereas I would prefer this one purely because I think the animals are cute. Ironically, it’s their association with the ride (which I have no real fondness for in its rethemed state) that would prevent me from buying it.

erasure fan116 hours ago

True, but personally I wouldn't get one though. If it had Tiana, Louis and Naveen I'd be onboard. It does seem like a odd choice. Disney is all about that merch cash. And this seems like a missed opportunity. And if was Tiana and Naveen as frogs in front, then Ray then Louis, I'd probably buy 3.

BagOfGroceries17 hours ago

The point is that the rabbit head topper is gone. Not who the characters are.

Homemade Imagineering18 hours ago

Lifeformations (LF Studios) made the critter figures for this. For context, they’re the same company who built those animatronic bands for Ripley’s Believe it or Not back in the day

LittleBuford18 hours ago

I very much doubt the plan is for people to recognise these characters in the sense you're suggesting. They're meant as a general evocation of the ride's critter population; one doesn't have to know their names or backstories to get the point of the figure.

Bocabear18 hours ago

meaning I don't recognize the characters from the movie...or any other media I have seen....They are not plotline characters that everyone recognized from Splash... I don't know their names, whet they do or why they are important...or riding in the log...except you say they are in the ride. Aside from Louie, Tiana , Odie and her snake and a few characters in the last scene, I have no idea who any of those other characters are. And Tiana is so off model she doesn't look like the character we know either... Maybe in time people will recognize these characters...They could probably be sold in a Six Flags park that has a log flume and no one would know or care who they are...

LittleBuford18 hours ago

This is just silly. One can prefer Splash to Bayou Adventure (as I do) without pretending that people are going to be confused as to who these characters represent. The whole ride is about rounding up critter musicians. Seriously, where’s the confusion? Why play dumb when it’s perfectly clear what’s going on?

EagleScout61018 hours ago

You mean the animals they wrote entire books about and then have us zip past in the blink of an eye and don't even have them contribute to the plot beside stand there? Color me shocked nobody remembers them,

LittleBuford19 hours ago

Really? You couldn’t hazard a guess that they’re from among the animals featured in the attraction? What else would they be?