Disney has announced the opening date for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disneyland just in time for the Christmas 2024 season! This shares the latest official news & details, plus preview predictions, soft opening speculation, virtual queue vs. standby line, Lightning Lane status, and more!
In case you’re unfamiliar with it, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is a reimagining of Splash Mountain. The new-look attraction uses the same ride system and is a log flume with an outdoor section, interior show scenes featuring Audio Animatronics critters, and several smaller drops culminating in one big drop. Same idea, different story and substance.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure picks up the story of The Princess and the Frog after the final kiss, joining Tiana and Louis on a musical adventure as they prepare for their first-ever Mardi Gras performance. During this celebration, guests hear original music inspired by songs from the film. Tiana is leading the way and guests encounter old friends and make new ones along the way as well.
This opening date of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disneyland was announced during the “Horizons: Disney Experiences Showcase” or Parks Panel presentation during the 2024 D23 Expo at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro offered a sneak peek at concept art for the future in addition and teased what was to come in a few years. He also shared more near-term news, like this.
In fact, there was so much news during the D23 Parks Panel that Josh called in friends Darren Criss and Skylar Astin for I guess what you’d call a rapid-fire montage song of smaller-scale updates before continuing on with the show. The duo splashed through a singing medley of news, including the opening date of the reimagined ride at Disneyland this holiday season.
From that, we now know that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opens on November 15, 2024 at Disneyland.
Simultaneous with the debut of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Critter Country will be renamed Bayou Country.
Bayou Country is situated on the edge of New Orleans Square with shady trees, mesmerizing music and a vast collection of enchanting surprises. Guests will discover a land filled with friendly woodland animals, from a trumpet-playing gator and an adorable bear who craves honey to a musical cast of bears, frogs, and other critters.
In addition to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Bayou Country will be the home to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and the Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes, as well as the newly reimagined Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree, which has one of the most scenic dining areas in all of Disneyland. And don’t forget to grab your favorite merchandise from Ray’s Berets, and Louis’ Critter Club, and sweet treats from Pooh Corner.
While some areas of this reimagined land may open earlier, Disneyland will officially welcome you to Bayou Country when Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opens on November 15, 2024. (Meaning that the renaming is effective on that date.)
Turning to commentary, our expectation is that Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh reopen before November 15, 2024. The rest of the ‘Country’ land returning well before that seems like a safe bet, as well.
Although we’ve heard reports that bookings are “surprisingly” soft this year, October has been the busiest month at Disneyland in recent years, and that should remain true in 2024. A soft October is probably still busier than this summer has been–but we could see September catching people by surprise due to Halloween being pulled forward and ticket deals drawing to a close.
The point is that these closures have mostly occurred due to the offerings not being necessary from an operational perspective, and that’ll likely change by mid-to-late September. As such, I would hope that Disneyland will have at least the ride and restaurant open by then. Hungry Bear’s reimagining is not that involved, so there’s really no reason to delay beyond then. It wouldn’t surprise me if they’re open less than a month from now, in fact.
Beyond that, work on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has been moving fast in the last few months, which is a good thing. That bodes well for the reimagined ride making its November 15, 2024 opening date.
On a negative note, the version of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Walt Disney World is now operating–but has been plagued by problems. The ride suffers from extensive daily downtime that often is several hours. On top of that, it has a bunch of little issues with staging, set design, and more. (See our Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Ride Review: Failure, Flawed or Fantastic?)
Even beyond the reliability and downtime woes, we’ve been hoping that Imagineers would be given more time to fix the obvious issues with the substance of the attraction. I’m not sure November 15 gives them the necessary time to do that, but maybe it does. Either way, it beats a race-against-the-clock opening to debut by fall break in October.
As for soft openings or affiliation previews, I wouldn’t necessarily bet on or against them.
Disneyland doesn’t do these nearly as often as Walt Disney World. On the preview side, this is likely because there are a ton more Magic Key holders than there are Annual Passholders at Walt Disney World. As such, Disneyland typically does Cast Member previews (and more of them) instead.
Sometimes there are soft openings, but they’re more frequently for seasonal attractions like Haunted Mansion Holiday, restaurants, entertainment or seasonal food booths. And those usually function as a release valve to pull forward some demand, so Magic Key APs don’t descend on the park all on the same day.
The other key difference between Walt Disney World and Disneyland is that, due to the latter being more of a local’s park, opening dates typically aren’t announced as far in advance. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is actually a big exception to that, as its opening date is getting more lead time at Disneyland than it did at Magic Kingdom.
This is likely due to a desire to share the news at D23 Expo while also setting a date that coincided with the start of the Christmas season. Regardless, the reason is immaterial. Rather, it’s the fact that Disneyland set the opening date of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure so early that’s noteworthy.
This means one of two things. First, that Imagineering knows ‘what went wrong’ with Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Walt Disney World and is confident the problem won’t repeat at Disneyland.
The second possibility is that Disneyland doesn’t really know when Tiana’s Bayou Adventure be ready and are just erring on the side of caution and setting a conservative opening date. One that coincides with Christmas does make sense from an operational perspective. They’ll need the capacity.
My bet–and hope–is the former. I don’t think it makes a whole lot of sense to set a date until potential reliability woes have been addressed. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has received so much negative attention and word of mouth that it’s probably generated way more badwill than buzz at this point. (And it cost a lot of money, to boot!)
On top of all this, there’s a two-week gap between the end of the Halloween season and start of the holidays. During that time, which includes the highly popular Veterans Day holiday weekend, it might also make sense to to have the extra capacity and pull forward some demand. All a long-winded way of saying that I think Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is the rare case where a week or two of soft openings actually might happen at Disneyland.
Again, part of this is what I’m hoping happens. I’ve already “lived through” one opening of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and it was not pretty. The problems with the Walt Disney World version haven’t even been fully addressed, but that’s in large part because it’s already operational, so it’s not as if crews can work around the clock on it. More than anything, I don’t want a repeat of that at Disneyland. So I’m really hoping the problem has been preemptively addressed at Disneyland, or was an issue exclusive to Florida. But me hoping something doesn’t make it so.
In any case, we’ll keep readers posted if/when previews of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure are announced or soft openings quietly begin. You can subscribe to our free email newsletter for instant alerts.
Next up, whether Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will be part of Lightning Lane Multi-Pass or Single Pass at Disneyland. For reference, it’s part of Lightning Lane Multi-Pass (LLMP) at Magic Kingdom, which is the same status that Splash Mountain had on both coasts. However, it’s not necessarily a foregone conclusion that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will be LLMP at Disneyland. After all, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway wasn’t, even though it was at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Nevertheless, it’s really hard to imagine Disneyland giving a different status to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure than LLMP. The additional arguments against Tiana’s Bayou Adventure getting Lightning Lane Single Pass status are that it’s a reimagining rather than a brand-new ride and the fact that water rides simply are not as popular at night or when the weather is colder. And California is colder from November through March.
There are almost no good arguments for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opening with Lightning Lane Single Pass status save for Disney wanting more money…so don’t rule it out! Still, we’d say there’s at least a 75% chance that it’s LLMP. Really hard to imagine the same ride opening in the same year on both coasts and having a different status. But never bet against Disney’s greed…hence the 25% possibility.
Another big question is whether Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will use a virtual queue. Ugh. We hope not.
If Tiana’s Bayou Adventure uses a virtual queue at Disneyland beyond its opening weekend, it’ll be because the ride is unreliable. Even with holiday season crowds, there’s no other reason for that move. Again, California’s cold winter weather always made Splash Mountain less popular this time of year, so crowd control isn’t a compelling reason.
Despite Disney indicating that the virtual queue for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Magic Kingdom would only be used in the initial opening period, it’s still using a VQ over a month later during the early fall off-season because of downtime. The virtual queue makes it easier to pulse demand and not have frustrated guests who wait in a physical line for hours on end while enduring breakdowns.
The bottom line is that I could see a virtual queue for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure for that first weekend and maybe through Thanksgiving regardless of whether it has problems or is operating smoothly, but it will not use one indefinitely unless it’s unreliable. And I can’t predict whether that’s the case. Again, I hope it isn’t!
Ultimately, we’re looking forward to experiencing Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opening on November 15, 2024 at Disneyland. The reimagined ride will be one of the top 3 most popular attractions in the park–even in colder weather since it’s new and Disneyland diehards love all things new–and help soak up crowds. Regardless of how anyone might feel about the reimagining of Splash Mountain, that’s fairly undeniable. The ride was popular before and it’ll be even more popular thanks to marketing and it being new. That always happens, so it’s crazy to expect anything different here.
That’s really the core of the apple. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is likely to be a crowd-pleasing attraction and one that’s popular because 1) anything new is popular for a period, and 2) it features a princess from a more modern movie than what it replaced. Before we even arrive at whether it ends up being a “better” or “worse” ride, those factors alone will make it a must-do attraction for many guests. It’ll likely rival Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Radiator Springs Racers as the most popular attractions in all of Disneyland Resort…at least until a real cold front rolls into Southern California!
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and many other SoCal cities!
Your Thoughts
Are you excited for the grand opening of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disneyland on November 15, 2024? Think it’ll have a virtual queue or standby line right at opening? What about soft openings? Expect the ride reliability problems to persist, or will Disney fix the issues found in the Florida version before opening in California? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
