Controversial New Disney Attraction Gets a Prominent Update

Disney fanatics have been attempting to sneak a peek behind the construction walls of the former Splash Mountain site ever since the former ride was permanently shut down.

Since the “Laughing Place” was gone from Walt Disney World for good on January 23 and shut its doors at Disneyland on May 31, Disney fans have been in suspense about the new attraction taking its place. By the time Splash Mountain’s problematic roots from the film it’s based on, Song of the South (1946), were unearthed, Disney Guests had developed a cult following for it.

Railing against its removal with “Save Splash Mountain” petitions and waiting in four-hour queues to get on the last log flume, it’s clear Disney Guests feel the new ride—Tiana’s Bayou Adventure—has big shoes to fill. In The Princess and the Frog (2009), Princess Tiana beats the odds to realize her dreams, and it’s likely Disney’s first black princess will pull off a successful Splash Mountain succession.

Still, the skeptics are out there, and the most recent update on the attraction is already causing a stir.

Celebrate Soulfully

While Disney’s most famous tower is full of terror, the newest addition to Tiana’s attraction will be full of food. In a press release shared by Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) on Twitter, Disney released an update on the Bayou:

As construction continues on Magic Kindom Park’s much-anticipated Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Guests will soon be able to see the centerpiece of the attraction, Tiana’s Food Tower, topped with Tiana’s signature tiara.

pic.twitter.com/fx5nMwyavm

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) June 19, 2023

Previously, Disney implied the tower would be completed later in the summer, but it seems “almost there,” according to the latest release. While Disney Parks tribute black heritage and culture through Celebrate Soulfully events this summer, the unveiling of Tiana’s tiara tower would seem aptly timed.

What’s Coming Around the Bayou

In addition to teasing the tower coming soon to Walt Disney World and Disneyland, more details about Tiana’s Bayou Adventure’s theming and storyline have surfaced. In the new ride, Guests will be whisked through a queue picking up where the culinary queen’s story left off.

Guests will learn that Tiana purchased a salt mine to expand her business to include Tiana’s Foods. Using her green thumb, she transformed the mine to grow herbs, vegetables, and spices for Tiana’s Palace and Tiana’s Foods. Included in Tiana’s cooking empire is her line of hot sauces, and to celebrate her line of products, Tiana’s throwing a giant Mardi Gras celebration for the whole community.

But while Tiana’s prepping for the big party, Walt Disney Imagineers added an ingredient mix-up, and Guests will help her search for the missing ingredient lost in the Bayou. While the adventure will feature fan-favorite voices reprising their roles from the film, including Bruno Campos as Prince Naveen, Michael Leon Wooley as Louis, and the one and only Anika Noni Rose as Princess Tiana, they won’t see Dr. Facilier.

Taken by his “friends from the other side” in The Princess and the Frog, there’s no room for the villain in Tiana’s food empire, although Disney fans consider his absence a missed opportunity. However, Mama Odie will be behind the world’s best gumbo recipe in the new ride, with help from  Louis, Eudora, Charlotte, “Big Daddy,” the King and Queen of Maldonia, and Prince Ralphie.

While no official dates have been released for the Tiana’s Foods tower construction or Tiana’s Bayou Adventure’s inaugural ride, the progress is movin’ along just fine.