ORLANDO — On June 28, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will officially drop at Disney’s Magic Kingdom — 50 feet, to be exact.
The log-flume voyage, based on Disney’s 2009 animated film “The Princess and the Frog,” replaces one of the park’s most iconic rides, Splash Mountain. The new ride begins where the film’s story ended in 1920s New Orleans, updating the 30-year-old ride that was inspired by and featured characters from the controversial 1946 Disney film “Song of the South.”
The movie faced criticism for its racist stereotypes and glorification of plantation life. Disney’s decision to shut down Splash Mountain came in June 2020 around the same time as the Black Lives Matter movement.
Both attractions share the same ride track, including the iconic 50-foot plunge, but the rest has been entirely re-imagined.
Disney unveiled Tiana’s Bayou Adventure to members of the media on Monday. The ride is the culmination of years’ worth of research trips to Louisiana to achieve what Disney Imagineers call a “love letter to New Orleans.” They worked with local artists and musicians to weave the city’s culture into every inch of the new attraction.
New Orleans native PJ Morton wrote and produced an original theme song for the ride, “Special Spice.” Anika Noni Rose, who voices Tiana in the movie, performed the song live alongside a brass quartet on Monday at the Magic Kingdom. The rest of the “Princess and the Frog” cast was also there to celebrate the ride’s debut.
Imagineers worked closely with the Chase family, whose Leah Chase (1923-2019) served as one of the real-life inspirations for Tiana. She and her husband, Edgar “Dooky” Chase Jr., ran famed New Orleans restaurant Dooky Chase, which her in-laws opened in 1941.
“I think the previous attraction was a little bit outdated, and so that’s why we brought in our new ideas,” said Wendy Aguila, the ride’s senior project coordinator.
In the revamped attraction, Disney’s first Black princess is now the successful entrepreneur of a food processing company called “Tiana’s Foods.” The princess has everything she needs to host her Mardi Gras celebration, except for musicians. After guests board the eight-seater logs, they journey through the bayou with Tiana and the trumpet-playing alligator, Louis, in search of performers. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will also open in Disneyland’s Critter Country later this year.
I checked out the ride Monday afternoon, anxious to see if the attraction lived up to one of my all-time favorite childhood movies.
Once you enter through the main entrance, Tiana’s to-do list can be spotted on the wall. Every item has been checked off except for “hire band,” which alludes to the ride’s central storyline. The 1920s are memorialized with a black-and-white newspaper reading “PRINCESS TIANA THROWS MARDI GRAS PARTY FOR ALL OF NEW ORLEANS” and an antique typewriter. Above the typewriter are small figurines of a bear and rabbit — a nod to the ride’s former theme?
The most difficult decision you’ll have to make is whether to ride on an empty stomach or not. Either eat before and risk your lunch making a re-appearance down the five-story plummet, or spend your time in line inhaling Tiana’s piping-hot pillowy beignets, dusted with a blizzard of powdered sugar. Imagineers utilized the company’s patented “Smelltilizer” technology to pump scents of fried dough throughout the attraction. (Keep an eye out for Tiana’s recipe in the queue’s kitchen exhibit!)
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Explore all your optionsWith the help of Mama Odie’s magic, guests are shrunk to the size of frogs and meet lovable critters along the way, before she brings everyone back to normal size. The adventure ends with Princess Tiana, Prince Naveen, others from the film, and new critters jamming to “Special Spice.” Guests can also hear jazzy renditions of songs from the “Princess and the Frog,” including “Almost There” and “Dig a Little Deeper.”
Although some Disney adults mourned Splash Mountain’s closure, many guests are anxiously anticipating the new attraction.
“I got stuck on (Splash Mountain) once for like an hour,” said annual passholder Rebecca Smith, “and so that song is engrained in my brain.”
Splash Mountain’s “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” originated from “Song of the South.” In 1947, the tune won the film an Oscar for Best Original Song. Imagineers thought it was a no-brainer to compose a new anthem.
“We had such an iconic song before,” said Aguila. “We wanted to make something just as iconic.”
The ride isn’t all that’s new in the bayou.
Several new elements accompany the re-themed ride at Magic Kingdom, including the “Critter Co-Op” shop. Merchandise will be available for guests to purchase beginning June 28 at the Emporium on Main Street, with the Critter Co-Op opening soon after. There will be plenty of critter plushies, “Princess and the Frog” apparel and New Orleans-inspired snacks. Seasonings from Dooky Chase will also be available to purchase — the first time they’ve been sold outside the New Orleans restaurant.
After disembarking the ride, guests are ushered to Tiana’s Bayou General, where they can buy souvenir photos. The attraction photo artwork features the latest critter characters and can be kept in a new tri-fold, which resembles a menu. It includes recipes for Princess Tiana’s “World Famous Beignets” and “New Orleans Style Gumbo.” Once the ride debuts, fluffy beignets will be served at Golden Oak Outpost and the Friar’s Nook.
As they say “Down in New Orleans,” let the good times roll.
