This is NOT A DRILL! Disney just announced a NEW opening timeline for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Magic Kingdom!
©Disney Tiana’s Bayou Adventure concept art
The new ride, themed to Disney’s The Princess and the Frog movie, is replacing Splash Mountain in both Frontierland in Magic Kingdom and Critter Country in Disneyland. Splash Mountain closed in January 2023, and Disney previously announced that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure would open in “late 2024.” Then, they started removing the “late” language, leading us to believe that the ride could open sooner rather than later. Turns out, we were correct!
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will open in Magic Kingdom THIS SUMMER! Disney released a video on Instagram that says, “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opens at @WaltDisneyWorld in Summer 2024!”
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
In just a few months, we’ll be able to go down the bayou with Tiana as we help her prepare for her big Mardi Gras party!
©Disney
The ride’s premise will pick up the story of The Princess and the Frog “after the final kiss,” when guests can “join Princess Tiana and Louis on a musical adventure – featuring some of the powerful music from the film – as they prepare for their first-ever Mardi Gras performance.”
©Disney
So, what exactly DOES happen “after the final kiss”? Well, when the film itself ends, Princess Tiana makes her dream come true when she opens her very own restaurant, Tiana’s Palace! The story of the attraction, as Disney shares, picks up during New Orleans’ Carnival season, and Tiana is hosting a Mardi Gras Party for the people of New Orleans — the community that has supported her successful restaurant. (The storyline is set about a year after the movie.)
But Tiana realizes that the party is “missing a key ingredient” and she needs help finding it, so we all get to go on the adventure together!
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Concept Art ©Disney
There will also be a special surprise in the queue… One of Disney’s goals when putting together Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is to pay homage to New Orleans culture as much as possible. And what’s more New Orleans than some fresh beignets?! If the smell of that delicious fried dough is as tempting to you as it is to us, then you’ll be happy to know that the scent will be pumped into the Tiana’s Bayou Adventure queue!
©Disney
Could beignets or even an entire Princess and the Frog-themed restaurant show up in Magic Kingdom, too? We’ve already seen some of Tiana’s beignets make their way to the park, so we’re hoping they become a permanent addition! And we’re still keeping our fingers crossed for an entire new restaurant (like the one in Disneyland), but Disney hasn’t confirmed anything yet.
Tiana’s Famous Beingets in Magic Kingdom
Disney has confirmed that the new ride will feature some nods to Splash Mountain, and they also shared a big update about the animatronics that will be featured in the ride.
Louis animatronic ©Disney
If you miss Splash Mountain or want to celebrate the new ride, you should check out our DFB t-shirts! We have a Splash Mountain Farwell Tour shirt…
DFB Exclusive!
…and a Tiana tee as well!
Check out our new Tiana-inspired merch!
You can shop both tees (and lots of other Disney merch) at our online store.
Shop our DFB merchandise store here!
We’re always keeping an eye out for the latest Disney news, so stay tuned to DFB so you don’t miss a thing!
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PLEASE! Let there be a stand by line like there was with Splash Mountain. If they only have the virtual cue, I’ll never get on and I have sworn to never PAY for a ride. I already paid for my ticket!
I am very excited this ride will reopen! I must have missed it, but where can you get beignets in MK?
If they only have a virtual cue, you can still speak your line at the right time.
If they have a virtual queue, you may be able to get on the ride!
Not soon enough! Going to be there Easter week. I heard they’ve already started running boat tests, maybe work get an early soft opening in time. Not holding my breath though. 😜
Anybody else expect this ride is gonna get a nickname…like, ‘Splash Bayou’ or ‘Tiana’s Mountain’ or even ‘TBA” in common use? I know I’m not going to say the whole mouthful when in the park ‘Hey, we’re heading over to TBA after lunch’….LOL….