Disney Imagineers Unveil Animatronic Tiana From New Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Attraction, Plus Opening Timeline

Tom Tapp

13 February 2024 at 4:37 pm·2-min read

Disney parks purists rejoice.

The company’s Imagineering team has released the first look at the actual Tiana character that will enliven the upcoming Tiana’s Bayou Adventure attraction at U.S. parks, and it is refreshingly old school.

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Unlike the initial face-projection characters from Epcot’s Frozen Ever After, which creeped some guests out, Tiana is fully animatronic in the tradition of classic Disney rides like Pirates of the Caribbean. Catch your first look in the video below.

Disney Parks also shared details from the ride’s topiaries. While previously set for “Winter 2024,” Disney announced today that it will be ready for Summer.

In 2020, Disney indicated then that it would overhaul and “re-theme” the attraction that was then Splash Mountain, sharing the news as protests against racial injustice were roiling the country in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Splash Mountain had been based on the Uncle Remus Br’er Rabbit story in Disney’s controversial 1946 film Song of the South. Imagineers crafting the new attraction base on The Princess and the Frog, aiming to pay homage to the history and heritage of New Orleans.

Visitors will “join Princess Tiana and jazz-loving alligator Louis during Mardi Gras season as they prepare to host a one-of-a-kind celebration for the people of New Orleans,” Carmen Smith, SVP, Creative Development – Product/Content & Inclusive Strategies for Disney Parks, Experiences and Products wrote last year as she introduced the first concept illustration. “The new image (see it below) captures “the thrilling moment you first drop into the bayou and encounter some friends both new and familiar.” Zydeco music will play as Tiana encounters an otter, rabbit, raccoon, beaver, turtle and other members of an animal band whose members sing and play instruments made of natural materials.

A second rendering has also been revealed.

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