There are a lot of new things coming to the Magic Kingdom in Disney World. We are expecting the debut of Country Bear Musical Jamboree, as well as a new experience in Storybook Circus called “Smellephants on Parade.”

And of course, we can’t forget the opening of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. We have been seeing lots of progress recently, including lots of construction walls coming down, and cast members riding the attraction! But what is really going on behind-the-scenes to get ready for the grand opening?

I was part of the opening team for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and I wanted to share a bit of what might be happening over at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure ahead of its Summer 2024 opening.

Keep in mind, that these rides are completely different beasts. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind was a newly built roller coaster, and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is a ride (Splash Mountain) being reimagined. As well, this is only based on my own experience as opening team, and by no means is going to reveal exactly what is going on at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.

There is even more that goes on behind the scenes that even opening team cast members have no idea about, and honestly, by the time we arrive at the attraction, most of the work is already done. There is a smaller team of front-line cast members that are brought over earlier in the process that will help more with ride testing.

So, without further ado, I bring to you what may be happening at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure as it prepares for its opening this summer!

Interviewing and Selecting the Opening Team

I do not know exactly how this will be working for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, as there was already cast members working at it while it was Splash Mountain. It is possible these cast members will be able to return to open the attraction, or Disney might instead open an application process for the opening team. For Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, cast members needed to submit an application and then be selected through an interview process. Since the ride is opening this summer, this process has likely already begun. Cast members who are a part of the opening team will need to be trained on the attraction and get plenty of practice before opening day.

Lots and Lots of Testing

Cast members were recently spotted riding the ride, and yes, this is a nice perk and important part of the process. The ride is first tested with sandbags that mimic a human rider, and after the ride is operating properly and is deemed safe, real humans need to be put on too. Usually, imagineers are amongst the first to ride, and may make slight changes to the ride after they have done a ride-through.

Throughout the whole opening process, many Imagineers are heavily involved in making any necessary changes and ensuring the ride is up to snuff. Later on, frontline cast members also get the opportunity to ride. We want to be able to explain the ride to guests, and it also provides practice for other cast members on operating the ride. Plus, you can’t deny that it is pretty fun to get paid to ride a new attraction!

Cycling the Ride, A LOT

Even once it has been determined that the ride is safe and humans can ride on it, the testing doesn’t stop there. The ride is cycled almost constantly to see how it does, and also to see what might happen. This is a great time for the Imagineers to see how the ride reacts to being cycled continuously, and a good time to see how it may work once the ride is open for business. We also practice ride evacuation procedures and emergency scenarios.

Training, Feedback, and then more Training

An opening team is a lot of cast members! Probably even more than you would think. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind takes a lot of cast members to operate, so the time before opening day was spent doing A LOT of training. We also tested out procedures, and when it was deemed necessary, changed the procedures and then retrained.

Things are a bit up in the air before opening day, and it seemed like every day you came into work, something had changed from an operational standpoint. Maybe we were trying a new grouping method or a new loading method. We likely tried any procedure we could think of it see how it might work operationally.

Practice, Practice, Practice

We were able to welcome select groups of guests ahead of time to practice our new roles. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind had previews for cast members, annual passholders, and DVC members. These previews provided the opening team with fantastic experience operating the ride, without the stress of being fully open to guests. 

Usually, we did not have as many guests as we normally would, and since we were in a soft opening, it gave us time to practice the different positions and prepare for downtimes. During the times when we did not have practice guests, we would often do more practice on various scenarios.

Preparing for Opening Day

In addition to being able to practice with previews, we also were trained on opening day procedures. For example, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind opened with a virtual queue, so we also got additional training on how to use the virtual queue and how to help guests and answer questions.

There is so much that goes into getting a new attraction ready for opening day, and I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to help open Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Every single cast member is working incredibly hard at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure (and everywhere for that matter) to make sure that the ride is ready for opening day.

Stay tuned to DFB for all your Disney news!

Check out the new characters coming to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure!

When do you think Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will open? Let us know in the comments!