Tiana’s Bayou Adventure to Open This Summer at Walt Disney World

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

February 13, 2024

 

Today is Mardi Gras – the festive celebration that takes place in cities like New Orleans just before the somber season of Lent, which begins tomorrow with Ash Wednesday.  It’s fitting, then, that Disney chose today to announce the planned opening for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure (sort of).

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disney World will be opening sometime “Summer 2024,” and “later in 2024 at Disneyland Park in California.” Not terribly specific, but a narrower window than we had before, and earlier than originally anticipated.

The attraction is being constructed on the footprint of the former Splash Mountain, with the original ride track staying the same.  Yes, the 50-foot drop at the end of Splash Mountain will still be part of the attraction! There will be lots of changes to the vignettes along the ride path, however. Now, you’ll be floating down the bayou, surrounded by musical critters, playing instruments they’ve made from natural bayou materials.

The new ride follows Tiana just after the events of the 2009 animated The Princess and the Frog movie. In “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure,” it’s Mardi Gras, and Tiana is throwing a party to thank her family and friends for helping her to get her new business, “Tiana’s Foods,” up and running.  There will be lots of New Orleans-inspired music, and appearances from a number of the characters from the movie, in the form of dozens of fresh animatronics, including Tiana, Naveen, Louis, and Mama Odie.  Music legends PJ Morton and Terence Blanchard created upbeat original music for the ride, but there will also be some of the fan-favorite songs from The Princess and the Frog. Tiana herself has a special new adventure outfit for the occasion.   

With construction continuing on a daily basis at the Magic Kingdom, and new signage popping up for the Mardi Gras season, it’s nice to see that they’re “almost there.” 

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

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Disneyland Gets Splash Mountain Closing Date; Magic Keys Go Quickly; New Restaurants and New Show Dates

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

April 14, 2023

 

Lots of news out of California this week.

 

Disneyland’s Splash Mountain ride, which opened in 1989, will close for good on May 31, 2023, with its last day to plunge over the 52-foot falls at Chick-a-pin Hill with Br’er Bear, Br’er Fox and Br’er Rabbit taking place on May 30th. Disney World’s Splash Mountain closed in January, with construction chugging ahead toward a projected 2024 reopening.

Construction on Splash Mountain in Disney World

Both of the Tony Baxter-designed Splash Mountain locations are being re-themed as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, based on the animated Princess and the Frog movie. The attraction’s storyline takes place after the close of the film, with Tiana opening her own restaurant and setting up an employee-owned company called “Tiana’s Foods,” supported by a new salt mine for the company. Signs at the Florida construction site already advertise “Tiana’s Foods…coming soon!”

 

The new iteration of the log flume ride will use the same ride track, but offer up a continuing story in Tiana’s tale, and will showcase characters from the original film, including Prince Naveen, Mama Odie, Louis, Eudora, Charlotte, “Big Daddy,” the King and Queen of Maldonia, and Prince Ralphie as they celebrate Mardi Gras.  Many of the original actors and actresses will be bringing their voices to the adventure’s sound track, but even more exciting, Disney has said they will be adding the scent of beignets to the ride! The accompanying music for the attraction will feature favorites from the movie, as well as newly created tunes.

Interestingly, while some of the animatronic characters are expected to be repurposed (along with many higher tech ones creating new characters for the ride), this isn’t the first time the critters will be reused.  A number of the more than 100 Disneyland ride animatronics were brought in from the original “America Sings” attraction.  

 

If you want to catch one more log to your laughing place, you’d best “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” over there soon! Splash Mountain is also available in Tokyo Disneyland, but it has not been slated for closure or re-theming at this time.

 

In other Disneyland news this week, Magic Key Passes (Disneyland’s version of an annual pass) went on sale again on April 11, but not for long.  As of this morning (April 14), only the Inspire Key ($1,599) was still available for new purchase.  (You can still renew at other levels.). At Disney World, guests will get their chance to snap up annual passes on April 20, though Disney Vacation Club members had a shot at it yesterday, April 13, but it was not without its technical difficulties.

 

In more sad Disneyland “closings” news, Catal Restaurant and Uva Bar & Café are also shutting their doors.  But there is good news in there, too, as the eateries will be making way for the new Paseo and Centrico. It should be a welcome addition, as its Mexican cuisine is being brought to the reimagined Downtown Disney area by Michelin Star Chef Carlos Gaytan.

 

And can we have a drum roll, please? Disney also announced a start date for the highly-anticipated Rogers: The Musical at Disney California Adventure. A short, 30-minute, one-act musical, the limited time show will debut on June 30, 2023, at the Hyperion Theater.  Why is this so highly anticipated?  Well, if you aren’t familiar with this send-up of Captain America and his gang of heroic Avengers, the performance first caught audiences’ attention at the 2022 D23 convention, and also made an appearance in the Disney+ series, Hawkeye.  The show will reportedly include the “Save the City” song from Hawkeye, as well as several new original songs created just for the musical.

 

If you’re looking to “do this all day,” you can only grab a seat Tuesday-Saturday at the Hyperion. There will, of course, be appropriately themed merch released at a later date.

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

From America Sings to Splash Mountain to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

 by Chris Lucas

Guest Column

DisneyBizJournal.com

January 23, 2023

 

America Sings to Splash Mountain? The following are photos of characters from America Sings, which was an attraction in Disneyland that opened in 1974. 

It used the rotating theater that formerly held the Carousel of Progress. There were many people upset over the change at the time.

 

America Sings was designed to celebrate the upcoming Bicentennial in 1976.

Shortly after it opened, sadly, an 18 year old cast member was killed on the attraction. They closed it for a few weeks, then it reopened. 

 

In 1983, Tony Baxter had an idea for a log flume at Disneyland. America Sings was past its Bicentennial prime, and made no sense in Tomorrowland, so they decided to build another attraction in the park around the characters from America Sings. The log flume fit the bill. 

 

To have that make sense, Baxter lifted three of the characters and some of the music from Song of the South, a movie that Walt Disney himself had pulled from the regular seven year release rotation of Disney films, after protests during its initial 1946-1947 time in theaters.

 

Baxter intended to call his ride “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Run.”

 

Disney CEO Michael Eisner suggested naming the ride after the hit 1983 Disney movie Splash - which made no sense.

 

America Sings closed in 1988, Splash Mountain opened shortly after that. 

Splash Mountain was a ride using animatronics from an obsolete Bicentennial attraction with a dark history, characters from a movie that most of the public wasn’t familiar with, and the name of a film about a mermaid. 

 

An odd combination. 

 

Splash Mountain had a popular run, but the time has come for a new story on Disney’s log flume.

 

The attraction and all of its elements (boats, cute critters, great music, a protagonist in trouble, dastardly villains, a few small drops and then a big one, just before a joyous ending) will remain pretty much the same. Disney has a habit of incorporating classic attractions in a re-theme, and they will likely keep some nods to Br’er Rabbit and his friends. 

 

Farewell, Splash Mountain. Welcome, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.

 

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Chris Lucas is the author of Top Disney: 100 Top Ten Lists of the Best of Disney, from the Man to the Mouse and Beyond.

 

On the PRESS CLUB C Podcast, enjoy two of Ray’s discussions with Chris Lucas. The first was about Chris’ career as an actor, author and Disney expert. Tune in right here! The second was a chat about the Disney World’s 50 anniversary. Listen here!

Splash Mountain Takes Its Last Bow at the Magic Kingdom

 by Ray Keating

Commentary

DisneyBizJournal.com

January 22, 2023

 

Whenever asked what my favorite ride is at the Magic Kingdom, the answer always has been easy: Splash Mountain. But today (January 22) is the last day I can answer that way, as Splash Mountain will be officially closed on Monday (January 23) to undergo a refurbishment/retheming. It will become Tiana’s Bayou Adventure inspired by the movie The Princess and the Frog.

So, why has Splash Mountain been my favorite? I love log flume rides, and this is the most interesting one I’ve ever ridden given the length of the ride, the many twists and turns, how a story unfolds as one travels along, and of course, the major log-flume drop and splashdown that usually gets you wet. And yes, especially during hot-and-humid times in central Florida, this ride was cooling and welcome.

What’s odd is that Splash Mountain feels like it’s always been around. But Splash Mountain first opened in Disneyland on July 17, 1989, and then in Walt Disney World on July 17, 1992. There’s also a version in Tokyo Disneyland that opened on October 1, 1992. When it first opened, the 52-foot plunge was the longest flume chute in the world, according to Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia.

There’s no word yet on when Splash Mountain in Disneyland will close, and no plans exist to close the Tokyo Disneyland ride. The refurbished ride is schedule to open sometime in 2024.

My son and I took two final spins on Splash Mountain on the evening of Thursday, January 19. We enjoyed it, as always, but of course, there was a tinge of melancholy this time. When my wife and I took vacations to Disney World as our boys grew up, Splash Mountain was always a must-ride for myself and our sons (my wife could be prodded onto the ride now and then, but she’s not much for speed and big drops). So, we were leaving Splash Mountain behind.

Without getting into the debate over why Splash Mountain is being replaced, the ride will be missed. One hopes that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will provide at least half the fun and the memories.

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com; and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, and the Alliance of Saint Michael novels; and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

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