Tiana's Bayou Adventure Extended Downtimes Continue: Disney's New Ride Faces Longest Opening Delay Yet

Aug 27, 2024 in "Tiana's Bayou Adventure"

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Posted: Tuesday August 27, 2024 10:30am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Tiana's Bayou Adventure, Walt Disney World's newest attraction, continues to face extended downtimes, with the ride recording its longest delayed opening to date.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure at Magic Kingdom

On Monday, August 26, the attraction at Magic Kingdom did not call its first Virtual Queue boarding group until 3:20 pm, marking the most prolonged delay since the ride's debut in late June 2024.

As of 10:30 am today, the ride has not yet opened for guests, and no boarding groups have been called, suggesting ongoing operational challenges. Since its preview phase and throughout the first two months of regular operations, Tiana's Bayou Adventure has experienced frequent closures and delayed openings.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure delayed opening

While Disney typically does not disclose specific reasons when an attraction experiences technical difficulties, it is widely speculated that Tiana's Bayou Adventure is encountering issues with new sensors designed to monitor the positions of logs as they navigate the ride path. These sensors are part of advanced safety measures and control systems to trigger Audio-Animatronic scenes.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure Exterior and Queue

The ongoing technical problems are likely a factor in Disney's decision to continue utilizing a Virtual Queue system for Tiana's Bayou Adventure, even after more than two months of operation. Initially, Disney indicated that a standby queue would not be available during the ride's opening days but expected to transition to one shortly after that. However, with the ongoing issues, it appears the standby queue may not be implemented until these challenges are fully resolved.

As Disney works to address these operational difficulties, Cast Members in the area are encouraging guests to monitor the My Disney Experience app for real-time updates on ride availability and Virtual Queue status.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure Exterior and Queue

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wdwmagicMar 07, 2025

Tiana's Bayou Adventure Standby Queue: When to Ride for the Shortest Wait https://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/tianas-bayou-adventure/news/07mar2025-tianas-bayou-adventure-standby-queue-when-to-ride-for-the-shortest-wait.htm

monothingieMar 03, 2025

@wdwmagic how does @wdwstats measure downtime? Looking at TBA the rapid deltas in wait times seem indicative of downtime rather than organic wait times. For a ride that does have a lot of capacity, you would think it would be flatter.

Epcot82GuyFeb 25, 2025

I agree that's a fair statement. Now, to say it is as popular as Splash (or especially a Splash with a pretty significant update budget) is a different story. A lateral move with that amount of spend is problematic. But, to say it doesn't have a level of popularity somewhat near Splash at it's end (maybe up, maybe down) would be very suspicious - absent compelling data. I still think it was money poorly spent on a very poorly designed story. But, that's a separate topic to your point. :)

Disgruntled WaltFeb 25, 2025

You know, people like blood sausage, too. People are morons.

DranthFeb 25, 2025

We always go fall or winter and on our winter trips, Splash would regularly drop below 30 minutes and was even walk on much of the time outside of the busiest days. I just don't buy that TBA is unpopular with most visitors. I don't like it, but according to people who have actual guest numbers, it is just as popular as Splash.

Disstevefan1Feb 25, 2025

I welcome the standby. On a recent visit, I “won” the 1PM Guardians VQ lottery but the boarding group’s estimated return time was over 6 hours away. If I were alone maybe I would have hung around for the 6 plus hours to ride it but I was with family and I was the only one who wanted to ride it and no one understandably wanted to stick around waiting for me to ride one attraction. Now with standby, I can jump In standby and meet up with family when I get off (like the old days).

Tha RealestFeb 25, 2025

For the park’s newest attraction the first day the VQ wall disappears? I’m not sure Splash consistently posted Barnstormer numbers, yet here we are on its first fully public day of operation.

DranthFeb 25, 2025

I am not a fan of TBA either but this is kind of an odd argument. Sure, the change over will keep some away but you can't possible think cooler weather doesn't have an impact on wait times for water rides.

MickeyLuv'rFeb 25, 2025

Even Splash was quiet on cold days. The last time I rode it, shortly before it closed, it was walk-on. It was also a chilly winter night. None of us had gotten all that wet on it in some time, so we thought we'd be okay. I came out okay, but the rest of my group got soaked which wasn't much fun in the cold.

wdwmagicFeb 25, 2025

Here is a look at 10 am through 1 pm wait times

TraumaFeb 25, 2025

Yeah that’s the problem now that the ride sucks. It went from something you went on to enjoy the world class experience, to something you ride because it’s hot and you want to get wet.