Disney announces opening for Tiana's Bayou Adventure at Walt Disney World and a first look at new animatronics

Feb 13, 2024 in "Tiana's Bayou Adventure"

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Tiana's Bayou Adventure - Tiana Animatronic

Posted: Tuesday February 13, 2024 8:40am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney announced today that Tiana's Bayou Adventure will open to guests at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in the summer of 2024 and at Disneyland later in 2024.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure - Tiana Animatronic

Splash Mountain had its last day of operation on January 22, 2023, and a summer opening of Tiana's Bayou Adventure represents an impressive timeline for the reimagining effort, months ahead of the original "late 2024" announcement.

The earliest and most optimistic estimates place opening around Memorial Day (late May) at Magic Kingdom, but Disney has yet to make any announcement beyond "Summer 2024."

There will also likely be various rounds of previews for Cast Members, Annual Passholders, Disney Vacation Club Members, Club 33, and it remains to be seen how the soft openings will fit into the timeline.

Disney also today shared a first look at the Tiana audio-animatronic that will be part of the attraction and also confirmed that there will be dozens of entirely new Audio-Animatronics figures. Along with Princess Tiana, Louis and Mama Odie, we will also see Eudora, Charlotte, Prince Ralphie, Prince Naveen, and others.

Watch the video below to see the new Tiana Audio-Animatronic in action.

The "coming soon" posters surrounding Tiana's Bayou Adventure at Magic Kingdom have also now been updated to include the new Summer 2024 opening.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure coming summer 2024 mural

With Princess Tiana at the helm, this new attraction “digs a little deeper” into her story after the events of the Walt Disney Animation Studios film “The Princess and the Frog.” It is Mardi Gras season at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, and the bayou will light up for a journey full of music, Mama Odie’s magic, and a whole boatful – log-ful? – of new friends, in preparation for a celebration where everyone’s welcome.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure coming summer 2024 mural

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splah4 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)

WorldExplorer5 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.

Speedy716 hours ago

erasure fan114 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.

Bocabear14 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...

LittleBuford15 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 fan115 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.

BagOfGroceries16 hours ago

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

Homemade Imagineering16 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

LittleBuford16 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.

Bocabear16 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...

LittleBuford16 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?

EagleScout61016 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,