When the Splash Mountain log flume and dark ride ceased operations in January 2023 at Walt Disney World in Florida and four months later at Disneyland in California, battle lines were drawn on social media and online forums.
Disney had announced the closures in June 2020 during protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd and reignited impassioned debate about an attraction themed to the 1946 film Song Of The South.
The live action and animated musical fantasy has repeatedly drawn criticism for racial insensitivity and stereotyping and isn’t available to stream worldwide on Disney+.
A thoughtful 18-month refurbishment of Florida’s Splash Mountain themed to the 2009 film The Princess And The Frog, featuring the studio’s first African American animated heroine, rechristens the attraction Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
The family of revered New Orleans chef Leah Chase, the real-life inspiration for Tiana, have been heavily involved in the ride’s development and Louisiana creatives including visual artists Sharika Mahdi and Malaika Favorite and blacksmith Darryl Reeves have contributed to the intoxicating 1920s aesthetic.
Judged as a family-friendly thrill ride, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure narrowly surpasses Splash Mountain and broadens the appeal to younger park-goers with a storyline set in 1927 after the events of The Princess And The Frog and the opening of the Tiana’s Palace restaurant.
The resourceful businesswoman has purchased a hulking salt mine to expand her empire with the Tiana’s Foods co-op.
Prince Naveen, trumpet-playing alligator Louis, wildly eccentric voodoo priestess Mama Odie and her snake Juju, Ray the firefly and his luminous clan are involved in the venture.
During an immersive queue festooned with photographs and newspapers articles, we learn that Tiana and Naveen are celebrating Mardi Gras season in New Orleans by throwing a party, but they have forgotten to hire a band.
Consequently, we join characters on a buoyant search for talented animal musicians living in the bayou including one hallucinogenic sequence that shrinks the eight-passenger logs down to the size of frogs.
The flume layout and 40 inch/102 cm height requirement are unchanged and a pulse-quickening 50-feet final drop still generates a top speed of around 40mph, with a simple lap bar to secure riders for the 11-minute journey.
Water cannons, retired as part of post-Covid health measures, haven’t been reinstated so clearly signposted warnings (You May Get Wet) are more hopeful than threatening.
There are fleeting reminders of Song Of The South like Tiana’s outdoor garden of okra, celery and onions (replete with alligator Louis disturbing the plants) at the top of the second lift hill, which replaces Br’er Rabbit’s smaller, modest vegetable patch of carrots, turnips, cabbage and lettuce.
However, the overall transformation dazzles the senses.
A hollow tree stump that used to sit atop the attraction and a thorny briar patch in the climactic splash zone have been replaced with a verdant facade of faux cypress trees, water lilies and Spanish moss in the shadow of a water tower bearing the Tiana’s Food insignia.
Immersive, multi-sensory set decoration continues throughout the queue and a heavenly waft of beignets emanating from an impeccably detailed test kitchen area.
Bespoke memorabilia affixed to walls enriches the back stories of Tiana’s dressmaker mother and military veteran father, drawing inspiration from the real-life 369th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army, one of the first African American units to serve with the American Expeditionary Forces during the First World War.
There are plentiful Easter eggs for eagle eyes, too.
For example, the number plate missing from the front of the yellow and green Tiana’s Foods truck parked in an outdoor section of the queue is played as a washboard by a rabbit named Gritty during the ride.
This floppy-eared critter is part of a menagerie of newly invented animals including Byalia the beaver, Beau the opossum, Apollo the raccoon, Rufus the turtle and Timoleon the otter, who form a Zydeco band with makeshift instruments.
Other furry and amphibious denizens of the bayou embrace Afro-Cuban Jazz and the Haitian musical tradition of Rara.
The 48 state-of-the-art audio-animatronic figures created for the attraction are glorious and include central characters plus Prince Ralphie, Eudora and Charlotte.
Four songs from the animated film, “Down In New Orleans”, “Almost There”, “Gonna Take You There” and “Dig A Little Deeper”, underscore ride vignettes.
A jaunty original work “Special Spice”, composed by Grammy Award-winning New Orleans-born artist PJ Morton and sweetly sung by Anika Noni Rose (the voice of Tiana), accompanies a climactic party scene.
To manage anticipated heavy crowds for the ride, initially there will be no standby queue.
Following the template of major attractions like TRON Lightcycle/Run and Guardians Of The Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, admission to the bayou will require the purchase of a pay-per-ride Lightning Lane on the day through the My Disney Experience app (dynamic pricing up to £20 per person) or an allocated boarding group in the free daily virtual queue.
Guests with valid theme park reservations have two opportunities to join the queue at 7am and 1pm via the app.
Available slots should be filled in less than five minutes, but Disney expects to open the ride’s standby queue shortly after the June 28 opening date.
Disneyland California’s iteration of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will welcome riders later in the year.
However, Splash Mountain at Tokyo Disneyland was unchanged when I visited in March, plummeting down Chick-A-Pin Hill with Br’er Rabbit and friends to the toe-tapping melody of the Oscar-winning song “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah”.
The launch of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Florida coincides with the completion of the multi-year transformation of the EPCOT theme park first announced in 2017.
The World Celebration neighbourhood opened to the public on June 10 and is home to CommuniCore Hall and Plaza and a Mickey & Friends dedicated meet-and-greet location.
Until September 6, 2024, the Plaza hosts multiple daily performances of the interactive family show ¡Celebración Encanto!
This energetic 25-minute sing-along romps through songs from the animated film Encanto in the company of Mirabel, Bruno and friends and encourages children in the audience to demonstrate their dance moves and music-making skills.
Wise-cracking Cajun firefly Ron from Tiana’s Bayou Adventure also takes flight in a spectacular new 10-minute show at the Disney Springs shopping and entertainment district.
Performed twice nightly, Disney Dreams That Soar is a free after-dark experience featuring 800 choreographed drones that dance in the sky above Lake Buena Vista to create characters and scenes from animated and live-action films including Big Hero 6, Coco, Peter Pan, Toy Story and the Star Wars saga.
Viewing areas along the west side of the waterfront are available on a first-come, first-served basis and fill up quickly.
For safety reasons, Disney Dreams That Soar is subject to cancellation in inclement weather. Hopefully the closing date of September 2, 2024 can be extended since a permanent no-fly zone over Walt Disney World excludes drones from the parks.
How to plan your trip
Virgin Atlantic Holidays (virginholidays.co.uk; 0344 557 3859) offers 14 nights in Orlando from £7,532 for two adults and two children (aged 3-9) sharing a standard room at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort including Virgin Atlantic economy flights from London Heathrow direct to Orlando, park tickets and one free Disney quick-service meal a day per person. Price based on August 20, 2025 departure.
