Disney continues to reveal more details about Tiana's Bayou Adventure, the new ride replacing Splash Mountain at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. The overhaul was first announced in June of 2020, and recent months have brought a flurry of updates - the attraction's name, logo and opening year of 2024 were revealed in July at ESSENCE Fest and fans got a first look at a scale model of the new ride at Disney's D23 Expo in September.
Today, Disney has announced that Splash Mountain at Walt Disney World will close permanently on January 23, 2023, making way for further progress on Tiana's Bayou Adventure, the new "Princess and the Frog"-themed attraction.
Introducing a New Scene and Characters
Disney shared a first look at one of the ride's new scenes - when guests first enter the bayou and encounter the familiar alligator Louis, plus a new cast of animal characters, including an otter, rabbit, raccoon, beaver and turtle, all playing musical instruments fashioned out of found objects like an old license plate.
The music the animals are playing, Walt Disney Imagineer Carmen Smith explains in a Disney Parks Blog post, is zydeco, "a special blend of rhythm and blues that was born in Louisiana" and "brings together the sounds and styles of many cultures."
A Commitment to Authenticity and Inclusion
Of foremost importance to Walt Disney Imagineers developing the attraction has been the mission to tell an authentic, inclusive story. Walt Disney Imagineering Executive Creative Producer Charita Carter and Creative Director Ted Robledo emphasized during a presentation to media on December 1 that although Tiana's story is fantastical, her character comes from a real place, location and culture, and the ride's creators want people who are from New Orleans to experience the attraction and feel that it's accurate and authentic.
To authentically portray the essence and culture of New Orleans and to capture the spirit of a Black woman entrepreneur in 1927, Imagineers collaborated with local artists, residents, scholars and restaurateurs.
Visual artist Sharika Mahdi, an alumna of the YAYA (Young Aspirations Young Artists) Arts Center in New Orleans, was commissioned to create original paintings to help inspire the creative team. Subject matter experts collaborated with in-house talent to ensure accuracy and authenticity when developing costumes and hair and makeup design. And Imagineers spent extensive time with Stella Chase Reese, owner of New Orleans' famed Dooky Chase's Restaurant, which was founded by Reese's mother, Leah Chase, one of the inspirations for Princess Tiana.
The ride will also stay true to its film inspiration, with several members of the original 2009 "The Princess and the Frog" cast returning to lend their voices to the attraction, including Disney Legend Anika Noni Rose as Tiana, Bruno Campos as Naveen, Michael-Leon Wooley as Louis, and Jenifer Lewis as Mama Odie.
Tiana's Bayou Adventure is scheduled to open at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland in 2024, but a closing date for Disneyland's Splash Mountain has yet to be announced.
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