June has just started and that means it’s only a few weeks until the official debut of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at the Walt Disney World. Construction on the ride is officially complete, and Disney’s marked the occasion providing a 9-minute ride-through video showing the full breadth of what you can expect from the Princess & the Frog attraction.
The ride begins with a leisurely log plume ride through Tiana’s garden and into the bayou. From there, riders will see a number of animatronics; some are wholly new, like a zydeco band made up of musically inclined animals, others recreations of characters from the film like Louis and Naveen’s little brother Richie. After that, Mama Odie uses her voodoo powers to shrink the riders down to frog size to go through a smaller version of the bayou, and make friends with some more musical bugs and frogs. And for its grand showstopper finale, the iconic 50-foot drop left over from Splash takesleads riders to Tiana’s restaurant to hear her sing (with vocals from her original actor, Anika Noni Rose) and accompanied by the animal orchestra.
Though Tiana’s is a replacement for Splash Mountain, some key elements from its predecessor remain. Beyond the 50-foot drop, the animatronics from the original ride have been replaced with new, electric motor-powered figures to bring the film’s characters to full, projection face-free life. But otherwise, the overhaul has done its job in giving Princess a spotlight fans think it should’ve had long ago. Like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, high-res screens throughout the ride show off the cast in custom 3D animation to provide deeper immersion. Combined with the new, original music from New Orleans songwriter PJ Morton that takes riders back to the film’s winning rendition of the city’s Jazz Age, Disney’s clearly put the work in to make sure the revamp honors the upcoming 15-year-old film.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opens June 28 in Walt Disney World, and later this year in Disneyland.
Update, 6/2/24 @ 1:21 PM: This post has been updated to clarify the Tiana ride hasn’t repurposed any of the animatronics from Splash Mountain, but replaced them entirely with new models.
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