New concept art and details unveiled for Tiana's Bayou Adventure at Walt Disney World

Apr 12, 2023 in "Tiana's Bayou Adventure"

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Tiana's Bayou Adventure concept art - April 2023

Posted: Wednesday April 12, 2023 1:13pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney has today announced more details on the upcoming Tiana's Bayou Adventure attraction coming to Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in late 2024, including news on animatronics and the appearance of Mama Odie.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure concept art - April 2023

As depicted in this newly released rendering above, Mama Odie jokes with guests along their journey after a special display of her magic. The two-hundred-year-old Bayou Fairy Godmother, with her eccentric belongings and “seeing eye snake,” Juju, is comically eccentric, yet wise and all-knowing, throughout the adventure. Actress Jenifer Lewis, who starred as the voice of Mama Odie in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “The Princess and the Frog,” is once again returning to her role for the attraction.

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

Other new details announced for today for Tiana's Bayou Adventure include:

Brand-new cast of original Disney characters with distinct names and personalities
Dozens of entirely new Audio-Animatronics figures
Adorable critters with incredible talent, bringing the diverse flavors of musical gumbo found in New Orleans!
New, original music alongside favorite tunes from the film
Alluring scent of beignets being prepared for the party will be part of the attraction queue!
Additional talent voices from the film reprising their roles, including Bruno Campos as Prince Naveen, Michael Leon Wooley as Louis, and the one and only Anika Noni Rose as Princess Tiana
Familiar faces from the film such as Princess Tiana, Prince Naveen, Mama Odie, Louis, Eudora, Charlotte, “Big Daddy,” the King and Queen of Maldonia and Prince Ralphie

Disney also announced today that Splash Mountain at Disneyland park will be closed starting May 31, 2023.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure concept model - D23 Expo exhibit

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EagleScout6105 hours ago

I completely forgot they're planning on closing Big Thunder. That'll be disasterous for Frontierland if Bayou can't operate for a full day and BTMRR is down.

monothingie6 hours ago

BTM is planned to be closing for an extended refurbishment imminently. TBA as a new ride was unlikely to close this winter. Without TBA you have an entire land without a major attraction and a severe hit to capacity. They've painted themselves into a corner in terms of what they can do.

Mike S9 hours ago

Finally rode it myself. What a downgrade. Splash Mountain was a ride I could go on again and again every trip. This? Once is enough if I’m even feeling like it. Can’t wait to go to Tokyo one day just to see it again.

EagleScout61010 hours ago

The way I see it, they have two options - A. Shut down TBA less than a month after opening it to fix the bugs B. Wait until winter (when they would usually refurbish Splash) to take it down and fix it then. The issue becomes, do they admit their new ride can't function properly when the old one worked (admittedly less so at the end), or let it close multiple times a day for a good chunk of its debut season?

EricsBiscuit11 hours ago

IIRC it took them a while to fix FEA too. Within a couple months they’ll fine tune it.

monothingie14 hours ago

The problem with TBA is that they are unable or unwilling to fix it at this point. Unable because the problem can not be resolved without extended downtime. Unwilling because shutting it down for a month or more would be a tremendous embarrassment. Ironically I think more guests would be less critical of an unplanned refurbishment to get it working properly, than to have it breakdown for half the day on a constant basis. But I guess that would bruise some pretty inflated egos at the company.

EricsBiscuit21 hours ago

FEA is a very apt comparison. Both rides are enjoyable but had rough openings and are objectively not as good as what they replaced.

co1006422 hours ago

This attraction’s opening reminds me of FEA in so many ways. I wasn’t following the opening of FEA very closely, but I remember there being substantial downtime and ride evacs early on. I don’t know what changed to get the ride more reliable, but hopefully they can fix it soon! It’s very disappointing when you plan to experience a new attraction on a (very expensive) vacation but don’t get that opportunity.

MisterPenguin22 hours ago

BrerFoxesBayouAdventure22 hours ago

One can only hope DL's version isn't as pitiful in terms of operation.

lightningtap3471 day ago

This is egregiously bad too as today's a day where we didn't have any rain. Today was the day NOT to have this happen.

monothingie1 day ago

7 hours of total downtime today. Just the latest continuing example of a day in which the ride was down just as much as it was up. They can’t fix this thing and they can’t shut it down for an extended refurbishment so soon, so they’re just going to let it limp along and get progressively worse and downplay any vocal complaints about these problems. This was so predictable. Shame on the shills who gaslighted anyone critical of this mess. Congratulations Disney you built a mediocre attraction\