Ever since the longstanding Splash Mountain was definitively shuttered in January 2023, Disney (DIS) has been riling fans up about a new log flume ride that it has been building to take its place.
Inspired by the 2009 animated film “The Princess and the Frog,” the new ride will be called “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure” and will feature beloved characters from the movie such as Mama Odie, Louis the Crocodile and the villainous Dr. Facilier, both in terms of who one encounters while moving through the ride and the voices one hears. The ride is designed as a “musical adventure” with jazz music and voices of the characters (some of the same voice actors from 2009 will voice what one hears during the ride while Jennifer Lewis has been newly tapped to be the voice of Mama Odie.)
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In its latest announcement on what’s going on with the ride, Disney said that construction is progressing well and many of the milestones that it needs to reach before the ride opens have been “flying by.”
FIRST LOOK 👀 at one of the new Audio-Animatronics figures coming to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure ✨💚 #Disney #DisneyParks #DisneyWorld #Tiana #TianasBayouAdventure #DisneyNews #MardiGras #Technology
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This is when you can expect to ride Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Orlando and Anaheim
While it has not yet committed to an official opening date, Disney hinted at the fact that what it had initially said would be “late 2024” will be as soon as summer 2024 for the Magical Kingdom in Orlando and the less committal “later in 2024” for Disneyland Park in California’s Anaheim.
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The ride will be designed so that those lining up for it will pass through sights replicating New Orleans’ French Quarter while the ride itself will take one through a Louisiana bayou (gators included) and back toward the city where main character Tiana grew up.
“Walt Disney Imagineering is creating an original, next chapter story for Tiana,” Disney said when announcing the ride’s storyline in February 2023. “Within the attraction queue, guests will discover that she continues to grow her business with Tiana’s Foods — an employee-owned cooperative. Combining her talents with those of the local community, Tiana has transformed an aging salt mine and built a beloved brand.”
Disney offers a sneak peek at ride’s stunning graphics
Head of Walt Disney Engineering Charita Carter gave Disney fans a sneak peek at some of the animatronics that will be featured on the ride in a video posted on TikTok on Feb. 13.
“This will be the very first time that our guests who experience ‘Tiana’s Bayou Adventure’ will be able to meet,” Carter says while showing off a life-size Tiana in a green pantsuit (inspired by the green dress she wears in the more original movie) moving her hands around in anticipation of the ride that will soon be introduced. “We can’t wait for you to come and experience this attraction. See you in the bayou, summer 2024!”
The video received nearly 260,000 upvotes and countless comments from fans who are excited to see just what the ride will be like. Many also asked questions about everything from how tall kids will need to be to ride to how the animatronics will integrate with the real-world experience but Disney is not revealing any more than it has already shown at this time.
