Disney gives reporters a first look inside Tiana's Bayou Adventure at Magic Kingdom

Jan 17, 2024 in "Tiana's Bayou Adventure"

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Posted: Wednesday January 17, 2024 3:30pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney is entering the final stages of transforming Walt Disney World and Disneyland's Splash Mountain attractions into Tiana's Bayou Adventure, and a few lucky reporters have been given a hard-hat tour inside for a look at the progress.

First look inside Tiana's Bayou Adventure

Mike Scott from NOLA.com was one of the reporters to go inside Tiana's Bayou Adventure, and you can read his full report at NOLA.

Here are some takeaways from the tour, led by Ted Robledo, Executive Creative Director of Walt Disney Imagineering.

Concept and Design: The retheme starts from the ride queue area, with storytelling elements integrated throughout. A mural by Malaika Favorite and various New Orleans-inspired artistic touches are featured. The first floor of the barn, that was the entrance to Splash Mountain, now houses the main offices for Tiana's Foods business.

Malaika Favorite mural at Tiana's Bayou Adventure

Integration of New Orleans Culture: The attraction includes a soundscape with New Orleans music, scents like beignets, and contributions from local artists and musicians like Terence Blanchard, Darryl Reeves, P.J. Morton, and the Chase family. In the outdoor queue, speakers will broadcast an old-timey radio show featuring reimagined New Orleans classics.

Ride Changes and Features: The ride maintains the same track and ride vehicles as Splash Mountain but incorporates new elements like native Louisiana flora, animatronic swamp animals, and scenes involving Tiana and other characters from the movie.

First look inside Tiana's Bayou Adventure

The loading area where guests board the ride vehicles includes cranes hoisting pallets of crates marked "Tiana's Foods," reinforcing the notion that it is a working food operation which Tiana founded after the events of The Princess and the Frog movie.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure set-piece delivery

Advanced AA Technology: The attraction uses advanced animatronics similar to those in Hong Kong Disneyland's World of Frozen, meaning we should see real physical faces, not projections. Tiana will make multiple appearances, seeking guests help to find a missing element for a Mardi Gras celebration she's planning.

Louis Audio-Animatronic figure at Walt Disney Imagineering

Tiana's Bayou Adventure - Concept art of first drop into the bayou

Preservation and Adaptation: While much of the interior architecture will be retained from Splash Mountain, new additions have been made. According to Walt Disney Imagineering, the tree trunk from the old attraction was removed to accommodate new elements.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure construction - January 10 2024

Final Surprise: Reporters were not allowed into the finale scene, and the tour stopped just before the Laughing Place scene. Robeledo said, "I'll just say it's got a lot to do with magic. It's a magical moment that happens down there."

Tiana's Bayou Adventure opens in 2024 at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. 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 "2024."

Tiana's Bayou Adventure logo

Discuss on the Forums

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networkpro15 minutes ago

Louis wasn't made of wood. Bruce is one to be wary of.

JoeCamel20 minutes ago

They could of had this guy going after Louis...

PizzaPlanet24 minutes ago

Didn’t the movie have evil frog hunters or something like that? They could’ve introduced conflict with those guys going after the critters if they didn’t want to go the voodoo route. Could’ve been similar to Brer Fox or the witch from Snow White.

Bocabear1 hour ago

no, I guess I didn't...there was nothing memorable about them to me... I was really focused on trying to figure out what sort of entrepreneurial enterprise Tiana would get into after she got her prince and her dream of opening the restaurant...you know, the focus of the entire movie...lol

Brer Oswald1 hour ago

They would have saved a ton of goodwill with fans of the original ride.

EagleScout6102 hours ago

In the weird way, Naveen became the blink and you'll miss him character

Tha Realest2 hours ago

Sadly, the film didn’t do that great, and relying on “blink and you’ll miss them” tertiary characters more than main characters (Naveen, Facilier) was certainly a choice.

Stupido2 hours ago

Somebody didn't pay much attention to the movie them. The turtle is heavily featured in When We're Human, and then again at the end. The Raccoon from the ride (who has an adorable plush) is also directly from the movie. Sure, some of the animals are new for the ride, but their designs fit directly with the world of Princess and the Frog.

PizzaPlanet2 hours ago

I still think it was a missed opportunity to not reuse the side characters from Splash. I’m sure the new critters are cheaper to maintain, but it would’ve gone a long way to improve the “dead space” people are unhappy with

Professortango13 hours ago

Its also because the featured characters from Splash were dynamic. We saw them happy, sad, gleeful, scared, in pain, etc. With Tiana, we see them happily playing an instrument to later see them playing the same instrument with the same exact expression. That communicates to me, as an audience, that there isn't more to know about them. They smile and play that instrument and that's the extent of their character. Which gives me nothing to latch onto.

Tha Realest3 hours ago

Maybe it’s because the former critters weren’t just transparent attempts at creating plush-ready characters to sell merchandise.

Brer Oswald3 hours ago

I know you have. I’m just explaining why people preferred the Splash critters. The Splash critters had a less active role in the plot, but a much more active role in the environment. Hence why they were more engaging and memorable to most people. Everyone remembers the geese, the vultures, the Gator band, the porcupine, the frogs, the chickens, etc.

LittleBuford4 hours ago

I find both sets of critters cute. I’ve already made my preference for Splash clear.

Brer Oswald4 hours ago

The “background” critters in Splash were both more memorable and much cuter. Maybe it’s because there were multiples of the geese, the gators, the vultures, etc. Or maybe it’s because they had singing roles, compared to the TBA critters that just stand there and rock back and forth.