We’ve gotten some BIG news about an upcoming Disney ride change!
©Disney
We’ve known for a while that Splash Mountain in Disneyland and Magic Kingdom is set to be rethemed to a Princess and the Frog attraction, but a few days ago, Disney finally revealed the name and opening timeline for the rethemed attraction. We’ll be gearing up to ride Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in late 2024, but now, we’ve got more information about one specific detail of the ride…Princess Tiana herself!
Disney’s official fan club, D23, shared a peek at Princess Tiana’s look for the new ride, and it’s different than the way you’ve seen her before! We got a little glimpse at Tiana’s new look earlier, but now we’ve got more details. For Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Imagineers wanted to make sure that the leading lady was wearing something that was both culturally and period-appropriate, and thus, the new outfit and hairstyle were born. Check it out!
©Disney
Costume Designer Ida Muldrow had a variety of questions when first developing the look, especially since the story of this attraction takes place in the 1920s. “Right away, I had a lot of questions: Did ladies wear pants? What did African American women wear? What does a young, Southern woman who’s married wear when she’s going into the bayou? Those are the kinds of questions we had to ask in our research,” Muldrow said.
Muldrow noted that the goal throughout the entire process was to be authentic. “Even though it is a fairy tale, it’s extremely important to bring out the pride and the dignity of the African American culture at the time,” she shared. Even her hairstyle pays homage to African American women during the era of her film. Her hair is pressed into Marcel waves.
©Disney
The designers also kept Tiana’s signature yellow and green color palette, although they muted it down a bit to fit with the lighting of the bayou scenes in the attraction. Muldrow noted that she “earthened” some of the colors to make it a bit less bright. The design of the outfit itself also draws inspiration from the military and equestrians.
And no detail has gone unnoticed. Take a look at the embroidery on Tiana’s collar — there are little flowers in her colors there!
One iconic feature of the bayou outfit is Tiana’s cloche hat. “I imagined she is a person who walks into the bayou very often and gathers her own straw grass,” Muldrow said. “She hangs it up in a bundle and dries it, then crochets it into a hat. We used natural things right from the swamp.”
Princess and the Frog attraction Concept Art ©Disney
The Imagineers really worked on making things realistic, even when it comes down to the textiles used for Tiana’s outfit. Muldrow shared that for this ride they had to be realistic. Since there will be moisture, they couldn’t use natural linen or cotton to create her outfit, as those could break down in a matter of years. Instead, “Tiana’s costume is going to be polyester-rich, but it is going to look like linen.”
Going back to Tiana’s hair for a moment, the Imagineers even considered what items would have been used at that time to style hair. Tisa Powell explained that back then a hot comb (instead of a relaxer) would have been used, creating a difference in texture for the hair. That’s what ultimately led to Tiana’s hair being pressed in Marcel waves.
We’re excited to see this new look within the attraction, and we’ll make sure to keep you updated as more details are announced. We’re still waiting on Disney to reveal a closing date for Splash Mountain to begin the refurbishment.
Splash Mountain
There are lots of exciting things coming to Disney World soon, with new rides, hotel changes, new restaurants, and so much more. We’ll make sure to share all the big news as it’s released, so stay tuned!
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This is just getting worse all the time. PATF takes place in the 1920s. Women in Louisiana did not wear pants in the 1920s, and Tiana looks more like a white woman with dark skin than an African American woman. Disney is not only going to ruin a great attraction like Splash Mountain, they are going to ruin PATF as well.