Tiana’s Bayou Adventure attraction at Florida’s Magic Kingdom. (Courtesy of Disney)
Riders on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will help Princess Tiana find a musical band of bayou critters to play her Mardi Gras party when the transformation of the former Splash Mountain ride is complete later this year at Disneyland.
Walt Disney World released a point-of-view ride-through video of the complete Tiana’s Bayou Adventure ride officially opening at the Magic Kingdom on June 28 and in late 2024 at Disneyland in the former Splash Mountain attractions at both parks. The ride has opened for previews at the Florida theme park.
The twin Tiana’s Bayou Adventure rides will tell an extension of the “Princess and the Frog” story that picks up after the final kiss between Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen. The new backstory for Splash Mountain will follow Tiana and Louis the trumpet-playing alligator as they prepare for their first Mardi Gras performance.
The ride’s backstory finds Tiana in need of a band for her bayou party and in search of a missing ingredient as she prepares to host a one-of-a-kind Mardi Gras celebration. As you might expect, that missing ingredient is you – the “Special Spice” she’s been looking for.
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After an extensive makeover, Splash Mountain has been transformed into an aging bayou salt mine in the new ride based on “Princess and the Frog” and music from the 2009 animated film. A community food co-op called Tiana’s Foods has taken over the salt mines with growers planting crops along the waterway that flows around the mountain peak.
What follows is a scene-by-scene description of the new log flume ride – consider this your spoiler alert.
The ride begins with a trip through a Louisiana bayou filled with trees, flowers and lily pads as a tiara-topped Tiana Foods water tower looms overhead and “Down in New Orleans” plays.
Entering the mill, riders pass ropes, shovels, bags of flour and other farming supplies as they ascend a lift hill rising into the salt mine.
Riders spot an audio-animatronic version of Tiana for the first time on the lift hill of the log flume ride. The Disney princess – dressed in adventure gear for our journey through the bayou – appears to smile at riders as they pass by. The Tiana animatronic sets up the backstory for the ride that she’s looking for a band to play at her Mardi Gras party.
The log-shaped boats travel past a vine-wrapped tree and through a garden with rows of okra, celery and peppers as “Almost There” plays.
Heading into the dark, riders get their first glimpse of Louis with a zydeco band of animatronic bayou critters playing a version of “Gonna Take You There.” A Tiana animatronic figure invites the band to play at her Mardi Gras party.
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In the next scene, “Gonna Take You There” shifts genrebeignets to a Rara-style of music imported from Haiti and often performed during New Orleans festivals and street processions. The new mix is performed by a musical family of animatronic bears accompanied by a pair of bobcats and a fox as Tiana and Louis watch nearby.
Riders see fireflies via video screens and as lighting effects throughout the attraction.
Next to a bayou hut, an animatronic version of Louis gets his head stuck in the ground as Tiana continues her search for party musicians while fireflies dance to the music.
Riders get their first glimpse at Mama Odie via a video screen as the voodoo priestess shrinks passengers to the size of a frog as they careen down a tunnel filled with swirling yellow and purple lighting.
The “shrunken” riders float past oversized mushrooms and lanterns to complete the illusion as an animatronic frog band plays an Afro-Cuban version of “Dig A Little Deeper” with jazzy sounds and complex rhythms. Video versions of Tiana and Louis approve of the music as they bob their heads to the tune.
A lift hill with more swirling lights transforms riders back to full size again with the help of Mama Odie as she promises to get them to Tiana’s place in time for the Mardi Gras party.
After a splash down, the finale scene comes into view where Tiana hosts a party at her Fleur du Bayou mansion as Louis conducts a jazz band of animatronic bayou critters with Prince Naveen on ukulele and Prince Ralphie on drums. The combo band of bayou critters play the new original song “Special Spice” – the missing ingredient Princess Tiana has been searching for.
As the ride comes to an end, a Mama Odie animatronic reminds riders the party wouldn’t be complete without them while “Special Spice” plays in the background.
Originally published at Brady MacDonald