Disney shows fresh looks at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure ride
Disney is providing more peeks – inside and outside, virtually and literally – of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the “Princess and the Frog”-themed ride opening at Magic Kingdom next month.
Scenes from inside the new attraction, a replacement for Splash Mountain, can be seen in the latest installment of “We Call It Imagineering,” a video series on YouTube.
A day after the episode’s debut, construction walls were removed from around the Tiana ride. It’s an obvious milestone to parkgoers, giving improved visual access to the attraction, which has been given a makeover since Splash Mountain permanently closed in January 2023. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opens to the public June 28.
In the Imagineering video, viewers can see glimpses of the attraction queue and assorted animatronics, including one of Tiana as passengers go up a lift hill in the log ride. There are other hints of murals and artwork from Tiana’s Foods, the business started by the heroine in the attraction’s storyline, which is set in the year after the events of the 2009 “Frog” film.
But the longest stretch of the preview features the celebration scene near the end, after the splash. The video shows composer PJ Morton, who wrote the song for this segment, on the ride for the first time. His work is called “Special Spice.” (Earlier, lip-readers may think Morton also is singing along with “Almost There” from the film.)
Summer 2024: Tourists head to Orlando with eye on Epic Universe next year
Riders in this room will see a banner reading “Welcome to Fleur du Bayou, home of Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen,” animatronics including a full-length one of Louis the trumpet-playing alligator and other animal musicians, flowers, porches, a two-story house with balcony, dancing lanterns, stained glass amid a colorful party atmosphere.
“That finale room is just, like, amazing. It puts you right into it. The music is playing, the band is playing … the Misfits, which I love. Everybody’s welcome. It’s a party,” Morton said in the video. “Seeing that, seeing it done, seeing the animatronics, which are top-notch, and of course, the icing on the cake for me is that my song is playing.”
Splash Mountain also had an upbeat ending centered on a steamboat and the song “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.”
“We knew we wanted a celebration. We knew that we wanted something that would welcome people in. … To honor what’s been there and also introduce something new and fresh to it. You have to get lyrics that speak to everyone and speak the right way. It was a fun process for me as a songwriter.”
The theme for the 22-minute Imagineering video revolves around the importance of music in attractions. It includes the recording of “Special Spice” by Anika Noni Rose, who gave voice to Princess Tiana in the film and for the ride.
“It’s a free, happy, bouncy song,” Rose said.
Other Magic Kingdom attractions included in the episode are “it’s a small world,” Carousel of Progress, Haunted Mansion and the Country Bears Musical Jamboree, the refurbished show expected to return this summer. It also features “Disney Dreams That Soar,” the drone show that debuted at Disney Springs last week.
Episodes of “We Call It Imagineering” are available at youtube.com/@waltdisneyimagineering
Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. Threads account: @dbevil. X account: @themeparks. Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.