Disney shared a look at more key figures guests will see as they journey into the bayou on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, slated to open at Disneyland in 2024.
High-tech audio-animatronics versions of Princess Tiana, Prince Naveen, Louis the alligator, Mama Odie, Eudora, Charlotte, Big Daddy, a band of musical critters, the King and Queen of Maldonia, and Naveen’s younger brother Prince Ralphie will be a feature on the new attraction.
Fans saw a behind-the-scenes look at the audio-animatronics during Walt Disney Imagineers’ new YouTube series and again on social media.
The typically- secretive division of the company devoted to theme park development gave viewers a behind-the-scenes look at how Imagineers created the figures, what inspired Walt Disney to create audio-animatronics for his theme parks and more.
The new attraction will pick up where the 2009 animated feature left off.
“Walt Disney Imagineering is creating an original, next-chapter story for Tiana. Within the attraction queue, guests will discover that she continues to grow her business with Tiana’s Foods – an employee-owned cooperative,” the Disney Parks Blog announced last year.
“Combining her talents with those of the local community, Tiana has transformed an aging salt mine and built a beloved brand.”
The ride is replacing Splash Mountain at Disney parks in California and Orlando, Florida.
In recent years, Splash Mountain drew heat since it featured characters and music from the 1946 animated feature “Song of the South,” a movie criticized for its stereotypes of black men and its romanticized view of the post-Civil War South.
Fans called for Disney to redo the theme of Splash Mountain in 2020 amid a racial reckoning across the U.S.
The ride will first open at Walt Disney World during the summer and later in the year at Disneyland. Specific days for when the attraction will open on both coasts have yet to be announced.
While fans wait for the attraction to open at “The Happiest Place on Earth,” they can experience part of Tiana’s story as they dine at Tiana’s Palace, the restaurant the character fought to open throughout the animated feature or shop at Eudora’s Chic Boutique.
