Disney World announces opening date for Tiana's Bayou Adventure

20 days ago in "Tiana's Bayou Adventure"

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Tiana's Bayou Adventure coming summer 2024 mural

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.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure preview

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.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure attraction poster

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LittleBuford1 minute ago

As I said earlier, I’m not of the opinion that good storytelling is beyond the capabilities of today’s Imagineers. I’m trying to keep my criticisms specific.

AdventureHasAName1 minute ago

Please tell me all the big deal nonsense they made out of the research into Lousiana salt mines wasn't so they could hang a sign on the wall of the queue that said "salt mines" and have that explain why the Splash Mountain queue is unchanged in areas.

Professortango12 minutes ago

I think assignments can work as well. Convert Splash to a Tiana attraction is doable enough where many were positive about the idea beforehand. Even with the mandate that they want to avoid Facilier and make it a sequel could still yield positive results. But a plotline to a major E-ticket being...gathering musicians? And then to not even have the musicians found in unique and interesting ways, but to be already jamming out? The music also really perplexes me as I am but a humble fan and lay person yet I easily understood the underscore growing into musical numbers aspect of the original design and yet these has pre-established tracks simply dropped in where they fit best. Did they not have the money to record a new ride score? Or have any of the new characters singing? A random gator sang to me to take him along on my journey previously. Possums serenaded me from above. A rabbit family and possum family held each other close and told their children the horrors that awaited Brer Rabbit. Two vultures taunted us before our fall. And we still had plenty of silent fun characters like a Racoon with Harmonica and Porcupine playing a turtle shell and a full chorus of gospel animals celebrating Brer Rabbit's victory and lesson learned. Now....we have Tiana, Louis, and Mama Odie talking to us. That's it. 3 characters who have unique voices, and most of the time those unique voices are spouting generic dialogue instead of singing or saying something interesting. As someone else pointed out, the whole thing lacks urgency. Splash's design asks very basic questions...what do the drops mean. The first one was the drop into the world of Brer Rabbit, now its a drop into the world of Tiana. Except we already saw her and Louis outside. The second drop was dropping into a different tone and world, seeing Brer Rabbit being mischievous and suffering for it. Now, we are changing into small selves to find more musicians. So what we did in the first part of the ride, but doing it again without any change to the emotion or structure of our adventure. Which leads us to lift and third drop. The climax of the attraction. The original had this be the result of Brer Rabbit's attitude in the previous scene. He was in trouble. WE are in trouble. We are heading up high and Brer Rabbit is tricking Brer Fox to toss him from this height into a break of sharp thorns. Now, Odie has decided we were small long enough and I'm not sure if the lift hill is supposed to be us getting bigger at a slow pace and then we see her and we take a short cut down a cliff. Why? Are we late? There hasn't been urgency so far. And the drop ends with a passive cool-down section, so there's no urgency after the drop. The lack of answers to what the drops do for our story seems to lay at the feet of imagineers. They didn't understand how the 3-act story fit into this ride with 3 drops.

duncedoof3 minutes ago

Everything wrong with current storytelling in the Parks in one image.

MisterPenguin5 minutes ago

Salt Mine!

Coaster Lover7 minutes ago

Disney might not be able to force them to change the ride, but I wonder if Disney can force their hand by limiting what merchandise they can sell. I mean, I'm not sure what power Disney has, but if Disney has the power to approve or deny any merchandise that Tokyo sells, I could see a situation where Disney says "you can keep the ride, but we won't approve any merchandise with any SotS character on it" and that alone could be enough to force Tokyo's hand...

PizzaPlanet9 minutes ago

It still feels like the foundation is there for something great if they wanted to admit defeat try again. With some more money they could redo the story and dialogue, add some more characters to the empty spaces, and even add shadows of Dr. Facilier to the laughing place and lift hill (isn’t it mostly screens anyway?). But I think the chances of that are slim to none.

Brian9 minutes ago

No, they had previews for WDI today.

AdventureHasAName9 minutes ago

Even if Disney agreed to do the complete renovation for free, what incentive would OLC have to have a super-popular attraction shut down for a year while it was being re-constructed? And Disney would never agree to doing it for free.

wishesnighttimespec11 minutes ago

LittleBuford11 minutes ago

The graphics team strikes again . . .

Brer Panther11 minutes ago

That friend of yours who claimed this would be great? I'm now even more suspicious of his claims that the Disneyland version will retain all the America Sings animatronics. None of their Magic Kingdom counterparts survived the retheme we got. I'm sure there's gonna be people claiming this is better than Splash Mountain because it's INCLUSIVE and NOT RACIST. I'm so tempted to make a salt mine joke. Yeah, it's the animatronics in the Little Mermaid ride that look cheap. I saved all my hatred for Bob Iger, for what it's worth. The vultures being replaced by a screen with that hideous CGI Mama Odie on it is, quite possibly, the most appalling thing I've seen all day. Where are the spoonbills or other critters?? Yeah, where the heck ARE the spoonbills?

MisterPenguin11 minutes ago

I think Louis hears the frogs in the log (that's why he's half in it). And so, to get to the frog band, Odie shrinks us down to recruit them for the party.