NEWS: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Makes Its Highly Anticipated Debut at Disney World

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Walt Disney World’s newest attraction, has officially opened to all guests. Located in Frontierland in the Magic Kingdom, the attraction features dozens of new Audio-Animatronics figures, a foot-tapping soundtrack, a thrilling 50-foot drop, and a celebration where everyone’s welcome. Learn more below.

Music is at the heart of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, inviting guests to sing along throughout the attraction. Thanks in part to musical critters, who play instruments made of natural materials found in the bayou, new, original music is featured alongside favorite tunes from the Walt Disney Animation Studios film “The Princess and the Frog,” 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 Jenifer Lewis as Mama Odie, Michael-Leon Wooley as Louis, and Anika Noni Rose as Princess Tiana.

As guests float through the cypress trees and Spanish moss of a beautiful Louisiana bayou, they will see some familiar faces as part of the dozens of entirely new Audio-Animatronics figures, such as Princess Tiana, Louis, and Mama Odie. The heart of Tiana’s story reminds guests that everyone has the potential to make their dreams a reality.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, which also opens later in 2024 at Disneyland Park in California, is the latest example of how Disney continues to turbocharge investment in its theme parks, leveraging its most popular stories to create unforgettable, immersive experiences for guests and give them more of what they love.

RELATED ARTICLE: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Magic Kingdom: Our Review & 10 Things You Need to Know

by Chad and Cindy Nykamp

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is a joyful musical journey inspired by the fan-favorite Walt Disney Animation Studios film “The Princess and the Frog.” The attraction is now open at Walt Disney World and will open at Disneyland Resort later this year. We had the opportunity to preview the attraction during a recent media event. Learn all about this new attraction and the ten things you need to know to ride it when it opens later this month below.

Editor’s Note: Walt Disney World provided us with complimentary theme park tickets to Magic Kingdom and special media-specific events and previews during our visit. However, as always, the thoughts and opinions contained in this article are entirely our own.

Click here to see our Instagram Story from our preview of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure!

1 – The Next Chapter in Tiana’s Story

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure picks up the story after the events of the film. You’ll see first-hand where Tiana’s life has taken her following the success of Tiana’s Palace, a restaurant she dreamed up and worked hard to make into a reality. After opening Tiana’s Palace, the princess continues to grow her business with an employee-owned cooperative, Tiana’s Foods, which can be found in a former salt mining facility that Tiana has transformed. Tiana purchased the aging salt mine and the surrounding land to create Tiana’s Foods. The attraction takes place at Tiana’s Foods.

2 – Details in the Queue

As you enter the attraction queue, you’ll see vibrant art from local artists and sprawling gardens of vegetables, herbs, and spices for her recipes. You’ll then be stepping into the former salt mining facility that Tiana transformed. Be sure to check out the details in Tiana’s office and kitchen, like newspaper clippings and photos of Tiana’s favorite memories, including the princess and her friends loading ingredients into logs for transport. You’ll also see her to-do list for the party, where everything is checked off except for hiring a band (see #3)! You’ll even see the original gumbo recipe from Tiana’s great-grandmother! Finally, while in the queue, enjoy the sweet smell of Tiana’s famous beignets!

3 – Mardi Gras Party

Following her successes, Princess Tiana is hosting a party for the people of New Orleans during the Mardi Gras season of 1927. However, there’s been a mix-up in the party preparations between Prince Naveen and Louis – no one booked a band! In the queue, you’ll hear the company PA system plays a radio program throughout Tiana’s Foods. Between tunes is an important message from the radio host: Tiana needs help finding musicians for tonight’s party!

4 – Into the Bayou

After walking through Tiana’s office and then the kitchen of Tiana’s Foods, it’s time to do your part and help find the “missing ingredient” – a band to play at the party! Good thing you’re up for the challenge to help find “the missing ingredient” for the party.

According to Louis, the bayou is the best place to find talented musicians, so helpful partygoers board log flumes to explore. During the ride, you’ll search high and low – so low, in fact, at one point, Mama Odie shrinks riders down to the size of frogs to enjoy the stylings of amphibian musicians. Among the cypress trees are musical critters playing Zydeco, Rara, and Afro-Cuban music. Tiana loves their sound; it’s just the ingredient she was looking for! With the talented critter bands booked for the big party, it’s time to hurry back out of the bayou – and luckily, Mama Odie knows a shortcut that will send guests speeding down to the celebration.

5 – Time to Celebrate

Following a thrilling 50-foot drop, the logs roll into a New Orleans neighborhood soiree at Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen’s home! The party is full of new and familiar faces, musical critters, and a new, original song written and produced by award-winning musician PJ Morton and performed by Anika Noni Rose, “Special Spice.”

6 – All-New Audio-Animatronics

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has some of the most advanced Audio-Animatronic figures ever seen on an attraction. There are forty-eight all-new Audio-Animatronic figures featured in the attraction. You’ll see new and familiar faces like Princess Tiana, Mama Odie, Louis, Naveen, and three whole bands of musical critters. These talented critters play instruments made out of natural materials and found objects around the bayou. You’ll hear Zydeco, Rara, and Afro-Cuban music – all genres popular in New Orleans! – from all kinds of animals, including raccoons, rabbits, otters, bears, foxes, frogs, and more.  Their movements are even more realistic, and Walt Disney Imagineering continues to blow us away with their work.

7 – Virtual Queue & Disney Genie+

Riders should also know that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure uses a virtual queue. You’ll be able to request to join the queue through the My Disney Experience app at either 7 a.m. or 1 p.m. While a standby queue will not be available during the attraction’s initial opening days, Disney expects to open a standby queue soon after the attraction’s opening. Additionally, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will have a lightning lane entrance offered through Disney Genie+ (based on availability) and then with Lightning Lane Multi Pass when that service begins on July 24, 2024.

8 – Extra Magic with MagicBand+

For an extra bit of spice, wear your MagicBand+ on your journey into the bayou – it will light up, vibrate, and interact with elements of your ride, creating a truly connected experience filled with the magic of bayou fireflies! We wore our bands when we rode the attraction and enjoyed our bands lighting up at various points on the attraction. While not essential to the ride experience, it certainly is nice to experience extra magic if you have a MagicBand+.

9 – Disney PhotoPass Attraction Photo!

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will offer guests an attraction photo! The photo itself has an overlay with some of Tiana’s critter friends. Guests who have purchased Disney PhotoPass’s Memory Maker will be able to download the unique attraction photo.

If you’re looking for a more special souvenir, be sure to check out the Commemorative Print Package offer, which will be available at the General Store, located at the exit of the attraction. The commemorative print package features an 8×10 print of your attraction photo, two recipe cards, a note of thanks from Tiana, and two specialty prints of Tiana and her friends. In addition, you’ll also receive a digital copy of the attraction photo in your photo gallery in the My Disney Experience app. The package costs $32.95 plus tax.

10 – Our Thoughts on the New Attraction

If you’ve been a reader of DisneyLists.com for some time, we hope you recognize that we love Disney and do our best to give you fair reviews of the offerings at Walt Disney World (and Disney Cruise Line). We’re fans first, and we generally love what Disney offers its guests. We also strive to be positive where we can be. We’re not ones to be overly critical or negative. That’s simply not who we are, though we certainly call out certain things when we feel it would be a disservice to our readers if we didn’t say something.

We also keep up with fans’ reactions through social media and other outlets. So far, there have been negative reactions to the “point of view” video Disney released of the attraction and from cast and media previews. Our number one frustration is that many people form their opinions before actually experiencing something new at Disney World. Like everything else, we feel you really need to ride something new before forming your opinion. Being there in the moment, interacting with the attraction, hearing the music, and floating down the bayou will all make a huge difference in your reaction to it.

That being said, what did we think of the new attraction? We liked it and enjoyed it the few times we rode it. Once we had the story of the attraction in our minds, things clicked and made sense. Overall, it’s a fun ride that ends with a thrilling fifty-foot drop that will (likely) leave you very wet! The animatronics are amazing and advanced. The music is catchy and fun. It’s hard not to dance in your seat. The celebration scene is fantastic. There is so much to see when riding; we’re excited to ride again and see what we missed. Did it blow us away like some other recent additions? No. But we enjoyed it and can appreciate what is good about the attraction without dwelling on how different it is from the former attraction. No matter how you feel about how or where this attraction should have been built, we think the best way to enjoy it is to give it a chance and keep an open mind. You may just come out laughing from being drenched and humming music all day long with a smile on your face.