Embark on a Bayou Adventure from the comfort of your home

Exciting news, friends! Disney has released the full ride walkthrough of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure before the ride officially opens on June 28, 2025, at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. Some lucky guests and annual passholders have already had the chance to experience the ride firsthand, while now the rest of the world can enjoy the video and discover the new animatronics, music, and everything else this attraction is bringing to the Happiest Place on Earth.

There are a lot of changes from Splash Mountain, but the main drop remains essentially the same. The difference is that now you can experience the 50-foot drop alongside Tiana instead of a crazy rabbit and a bunch of forest animals. Wait, there are also forest animals in Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, did you see them? Okay, I'll give you a few minutes to watch it all.

So, what do you think?

I think the attraction looks nice overall. I especially like the music, with the jazz heavily influenced by New Orleans. It does make it look like you are in the middle of a party that is celebrating family and everything good that life has to offer. 

I also really liked the animatronics. Disney has been hyping them for a while, saying they are cutting-edge and incredibly realistic. From the video, they do look good, although not as impressive as something like the shaman from Na'vi River Journey. I understand that the shaman is one animatronic that received special care and is basically a unique case in Disney World. 

Tiana’s has a lot of fun animatronics, not just one, from crocodiles to frogs and more creatures that we can find in forests and swamps. Face expressions look okay, but it’s good to see that each animatronic has a wide range of movements.

The environments also look really pretty, especially the starting forest with those fireflies in the background that remind me of Tinker Bell flying around. The second act seems to take place in an underground area of sorts, with mushrooms surrounding you. I think it looks nice as well, even if not as impressive as the first part of the ride. The most impressive section is at the end, where Tiana can be seen with all the forest animals right next to a brightly lit building. It looks fantastic, really, with so much to see in a single setpiece.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is set up to be a pretty long ride according to this video. Splash Mountain had a ride duration of 10 minutes, and it looks like it will be the same deal with Tiana’s. 

Some guests are a bit disappointed that the track layout is basically the same - I am a little bit too, I won’t lie. I’d love to see a few new elements introduced in Tiana’s Bayou Adventure to make it more than just a water ride. After all, we already have so many of those! However, I also understand that it’s a considerable amount of work (and money) to overhaul a pre-established space, demolish it, and create something entirely new. It's much easier and faster to repurpose the old Splash Mountain, keeping the same track and giving it a new, visually appealing theme.

The Calm before the Storm

In less than a month, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will open its doors to the general public at Magic Kingdom. Are you excited to ride it? I was way more excited for Tron Lighcycle Run, considering that we were talking about a brand new ride built from scratch, but I will ride Tiana’s Bayou Adventure for sure. It looks fun, and the visuals are nice. I do wonder if there will be a Virtual Queue for it once the ride debuts. I guess we will find out about that soon enough!