Tiana’s Bayou Journey Journey Particulars and Evaluate

Tiana’s Bayou Journey formally opens at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Park on June 28, and we have been among the many first friends to expertise the attraction this week.

Disney first introduced that Splash Mountain at each Disney World and Disneyland can be reworked into a brand new “The Princess and the Frog”-themed trip in 2020. Almost 4 years and a whole overhaul later, Disney World’s model of the trip is “nearly there,” simply a few weeks out from its grand opening — and it’s a Mardi Gras-level celebration of the fan-favorite princess and New Orleans.

“Tiana was our inspiration as a result of Tiana is everyone’s princess,” Walt Disney Imagineering’s Charita Carter stated throughout an occasion celebrating the brand new attraction. “She comes from an actual place in America, she wasn’t born into royalty, she has a working mother, she has army ties, and there’s a lot about her life that’s relatable.”

The beforehand orange, rocky mountain coated in briar patches has been reworked right into a lush interpretation of the Louisiana bayou, full with colourful flowers and fireflies. And reasonably than retelling the movie’s story, Tiana’s Bayou Journey picks up the place the movie leaves off, with lots of the unique voice actors, together with Anika Noni Rose as Princess Tiana, Michael-Leon Wooley as Louis, and Jenifer Lewis as Mama Odie.

The bones of the trip system haven’t modified a lot from Splash Mountain because the log flume attraction nonetheless carries friends by twists and dips they usually sail by completely different scenes earlier than reaching the 50-foot drops and festive grand finale second. However past the bodily actions, the trip feels brand-new with 48 all-new audio-animatronics that includes beloved characters Tiana, Louis, and 19 lovable, musically gifted critters, and a pleasant soundtrack that includes songs from the movie.

The trip additionally encompasses a catchy unique music, “Particular Spice,” made particularly for the attraction.

Contained in the Journey

Because the story has it, after opening her restaurant, Tiana’s Palace, the princess-entrepreneur opens Tiana’s Meals, an employee-owned cooperative housed in a former salt mine that creates every kind of native meals merchandise, from sizzling sauce to pecan oil.

Riders enter the queue and cross by Tiana’s workplace and kitchen, the place she’s cooking up a few of her tasty beignets (it’s possible you’ll odor them earlier than you see them!).

The trip takes place through the Mardi Gras season of 1927 and Tiana is internet hosting a celebration to have a good time, however she wants friends’ assist as a result of Louis hasn’t booked a band for the occasion but. Meaning it’s time to board your log and go to the bayou with Louis and Tiana to spherical up some musicians. Cute critter bands enjoying zydeco, rara, and Afro-Cuban variations of songs from the film are an attraction spotlight, together with the extremely fluid audio-animatronics of Tiana, Louis, Mama Odie, and different favourite characters.

After seeing a few of the animal bands, Mama Odie makes use of a few of her magic to shrink you right down to the scale of the frogs earlier than restoring you to human-size simply in time for the Mardi Gras social gathering — and the massive drop. The grand finale scene brings riders to the larger-than-life celebration with Lottie, Prince Naveen, and different famed film characters, plus the critter crew gathered all through the trip.

It’s a scene that you simply need to final without end, with plentiful audio-animatronics, lovely set items whereas “Particular Spice” performs in background.

It definitely is joyful to see logs flying down that iconic Magic Kingdom hill once more, this time with a narrative that showcases Princess Tiana and the one-of-a-kind metropolis of New Orleans.

And naturally, as a result of their impeccable consideration to element, Disney Imagineers traveled to New Orleans and labored with Louisiana artists to ensure the trip felt like a celebration of the town, from the meals to the music to the murals alongside the buildings. And the enjoyable doesn’t finish after you get off the trip; the reward store sells a variety of specialty merchandise, plus a really particular spice with a deeper which means.

Leah Chase, the legendary New Orleans chef of Dooky Chase’s Restaurant and the “Queen of Creole Delicacies,” was a real-life inspiration for Princess Tiana, and her household was concerned within the improvement of the attraction. Now, friends may even purchase a few of the model’s spice mixes within the reward store and take a bit of little bit of the New Orleans magic dwelling with them.  

Know Earlier than You Journey

• Tiana’s Bayou Journey will use a digital queue when it opens, so you’ll have to request to affix the queue by way of the My Disney Expertise app at 7 a.m. or 1 p.m. In response to a launch shared with Journey + Leisure, a standby queue is anticipated to open quickly after the trip opens to the general public, nonetheless a date was not launched. Visitors may also have the ability to ebook Lightning Lanes with Disney Genie+ service. 
• You should be a minimum of 40 inches tall to trip. 
• You’ll spot a number of “You Might Get Moist” indicators in your method in — and I’m right here to say you’ll positively a minimum of get a bit of splash, and also you would possibly even get soaked. I wore a rain poncho and footwear that have been okay to get moist, and I’d extremely suggest you do the identical in case you’re one of many fortunate friends that get completely drenched. 
• This can be a family-friendly attraction with a cheerful environment (no scares or issues going catastrophically unsuitable right here!), however the drops could also be intense for some riders.