Review: Disneyland's Tiana's Bayou Adventure is a Delicious Disney Marvel that Lacks Sustenance

Tiana's Bayou Adventure

While the upcoming attraction hasn’t yet opened to the general public, Magic Key Holder previews are underway, giving fans a first look at the reimagined attraction.

Note: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is in previews. Some effects and elements may not be finished.

Back in June of 2020, Disney announced that Splash Mountain, one of both Walt Disney World and Disneyland’s most popular attractions, would be reimagined into an experience based on The Princess and the Frog. Over the past four and a half years, the controversial decision has led to heavy discourse throughout the Disney Parks fandom. Based on the early Disney animated film Song of the South, Splash Mountain’s story, while unfamiliar to most guests, has never been available on home video due to its criticism around the film’s portrayal of African Americans. Prior to Disneyland’s 1989 attraction opening, Disney briefly re-released the film in theatres, but the company is yet to share the film since.

While Magic Kingdom’s version of the attraction opened this year, Disneyland fans had to wait a bit longer to take a trip down the bayou. Magic Key holder and Cast Member previews are now underway for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, and I had the opportunity to step inside Tiana’s Foods for the first time.

Queue

While Splash Mountain’s queue has never been particularly extraordinary compared to some of the park’s other queues, it was quaint and set the tone for the attraction. Splash Mountain consistently extended its queue to the bridge, which saw guests enter near the exit of Haunted Mansion. With this new queue rework, guests enter the queue next to the attraction’s main sign across from Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree. This change was absolutely necessary, and it’s nice to see that Disney took the time to fix it. Making great use of the former FastPass distribution area, which hasn’t been used since the introduction of MaxPass in 2017, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure’s queue takes guests through a small gardening area with white picket fences. Boasting wooden lamp posts with large speakers, guests are treated to jazz classics as they wait to enter the attraction's main entrance. Once approaching the attractions queue building and LightningLane entrance, the white fences change into ornate green iron fences. With a beautiful, matching archway, which will display return times once the attraction opens, the area looks really nice. Just like Florida’s version, the main building was painted yellow, which suits the area quite well. I love Disneyland’s integration of the murals designed for the attraction, which were painted onto the ½ walls on the queues upper level.

With the update to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, no longer does the attraction’s main entrance open into an atrium, but into the main office building of Tiana’s Foods. Decorated with family memorabilia, the new area feels lived in. The tighter space makes the office area feel a tad shoehorned, but Disney did a great job at making use of the space they had to work with. They also added a separate entrance for single riders. Previously, single riders would enter through the attractions exit.

The upper level of the building now features Tiana’s test kitchen, where she makes her incredible recipes. Heading into the salt mine towards the loading platform feels nearly identical to Splash Mountains, but is decorated with new signs and a TV playing a safety video. The loading platform is also similar to the former attraction’s, however, the area received the yellow and green paint scheme and new dispatch panel areas with cranes carrying ingredients. The new queue is definitely an upgrade, kicking off the attraction’s story the moment you step in line. Disneyland definitely took the time to transform the space they had into a new experience.

Ride Experience

Once the attraction leaves the station, guests pass several workstations as “Down in New Orleans” begins to play. Reaching the top of the first lift, the former briar infested area is now gorgeously decorated with bayou foliage. The turn around to the second lift is lush and warm. Going up the second lift, the first of many highly impressive Tiana animatronics welcomes guests on their journey to find a crew of musical critters for the upcoming Mardi Gras party. Reaching the top of the lift, a huge sign with Tiana’s Foods’ logo appears as the log flume brings riders through Tiana’s gardens. “Almost There” plays in the background as Louis is seen searching for musicians for Tiana’s party.

Dropping into the bayou, the former “How Do You Do” scene is nearly unrecognizable. With “Going Down the Bayou” blasting throughout, riders are treated to an impressive set of Louis, Tiana, and adorable animal band animatronics as we recruit them for the upcoming celebration. The lighting in this area is some of Disney’s best work, especially compared to Splash Mountain’s. This section feels highly reminiscent of Na’vi River Journey.

Going down the drop into the former “Laughing Place” scene, Mama Odie shrinks riders down to the size of frogs, just like Tiana and Naveen in the Disney Animation film. This effect, which uses screens and lighting, is beautifully executed. I loved how they used this drop to further the story.

The “Dig a Little Deeper” scene features giant frog animatronics. The scene is generally fun, but does lack the kinetic energy of the previous attraction’s fountains and animatronic numbers. This is the only area on the ride where it felt a little screen heavy. The giant Tiana and Louis animation is, admittedly, very funny, but it looks a little flat. The firefly animations before the lift and the Mama Odie screen above the lift hill also lack dimension. Going up the lift, we get the same magical lighting effects as when we were shrunk down, which really adds to the journey up the 50 foot lift hill. The Mama Odie animatronic at the top is very well done.

After the drop, riders will head to Tiana’s party. Filled with all of the film’s characters and the recruited band members, this new finale scene is an absolute hit. The audio-animatronics are some of Disney’s best, and seeing a room with so many of them is mesmerizing. The last Mama Odie animatronic is a really nice sendoff to the modernized attraction. It is undeniable that Disney has taken a ride where many of the animatronics were dated and created a new experience exceeding their own standards when it comes to the impressive show design. I absolutely cannot wait to get back on and find new details and effects when the ride officially opens.

Story

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure’s story takes place after the events of the film. Tiana’s Foods, the princess’s food co-op, is celebrating Mardi Gras by inviting her entire community to a party. With Tiana forgetting to book a band, guests are invited to tag along on Tiana and Louis’ journey to find the perfect group of animal virtuosos to bring her celebration to life. Throughout the adventure, guests will be introduced to animals both big and small that are all present at the end of the attraction. In true Disney fashion, they make sure guests know that, while the music was necessary for the party, the real “Special Spice” was us.

This is, unfortunately, where the attraction falls flat for me. The story is very surface level, lacking emotional highs and lows. While it's fun, the approximately 11 minute attraction doesn’t really envelope guests into a moving narrative. If the attraction didn’t feature one of Disney’s biggest drops, I think the more passive journey would be fine. However, the experience lacks tension to accompany the log flume’s more thrilling elements. While I appreciate Disney attempting to tell new stories, even if they are tied to an existing intellectual property, the experience falls short of using the ride system as a storytelling device. The attraction’s story begins in the queue, as any great experience should. However, Disney relies on their “radio station” area music to introduce guests into the context of the experience. They have done this before on Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!, but that ride also uses a queue video and a preshow to capture the storyline further. I’m not sure if I would pick up on the more specific details of the ride’s story if I hadn’t kept up to date on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure’s development.

Overall

While I do have my gripes with the attractions story, it is undeniable that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is a marvel of Disney Imagineering’s abilities. Disney didn’t hold back when it came to updating the show quality of the experience. The new audio animatronics blow the old Splash figures out of the water. Princess Tiana and her pals feel almost real. The finale scene alone is worth a trip down the bayou. I think, with a retheme this large, Disney masterfully captured a new ambiance for the log flume attraction. Disneyland’s version feels right at home next to New Orleans Square, and I think Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is gonna be a huge hit with guests. While not perfect, the reimagining is one of Disney’s best visually. With the official opening date for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and the new Bayou Country area on November 15th, we are almost there. I cannot wait to take another trip down the bayou with Princess Tiana.

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