The One HUGE Thing MISSING From Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disney World

Stay calm, Disney fans. There’s a LOT to discuss. There’s a LOT to review. And, most importantly, there’s a LOT to learn now that Disney has released a FULL ride-through video of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Magic Kingdom!

This ride looks so fun!

This NEW attraction replaced Splash Mountain, which closed back in January 2023. Ever since that historic closure, we’ve been watching for changes (big and small), and learning everything we could about the new ride. The new attraction will open to EVERYONE on June 28th, offering two ways to ride – via Virtual Queue or by booking a Lightning Lane after purchasing Genie+. OK, now, let’s talk about what it’s actually like on the ride. We’ve seen a LOT of sneak peeks of the ride, but now we have some IMPORTANT thoughts to discuss now that we know exactly what it’s like to ride through the bayou.

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE NEW TIANA’S BAYOU ADVENTURE RIDE AHEAD

First, let’s talk about what we knew BEFORE going inside the ride. Disney previously shared that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure picks up the story of The Princess and the Frog “after the final kiss, and join Princess Tiana and Louis on a musical adventure – featuring some of the powerful music from the film – as they prepare for their first-ever Mardi Gras performance.”

©Disney

Now, if you haven’t seen the movie in a while, you might forget what even HAPPENS “after the final kiss.” Allow us to refresh your memory. For starters, Tiana gets her happily ever after — she marries Prince Naveen AND opens her very own restaurant, Tiana’s Palace!

Princess Tiana in Princess Fairytale Hall

Now, back to the ride. According to Disney, the ride’s story picks up during New Orleans’ Carnival season, and Tiana is hosting a Mardi Gras Party for the people of New Orleans — the community that has supported her successful restaurant. The storyline is set about a year after the movie.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

Of course, every ride needs a little excitement, and our story kicks off when Tiana realizes that her party is “missing a key ingredient” and she needs help finding it! From there, we join Tiana and Louis on a trip to the bayou, where we meet all sorts of new friends who have a special role to play at the party.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will open June 28th

During the ride, we see Tiana, Prince Naveen, Louis, Mama Odie, Eudora (Tiana’s mom), Charlotte, “Big Daddy,” the King and Queen of Maldonia, and Naveen’s brother Prince Ralphie.

©Disney

We also meet plenty of new characters from the ride, including a band of musical critters! In fact, you’ll see seventeen characters on the ride! Look out for a beaver on the drums, an opossum playing bass, a raccoon playing accordion, a turtle with a harmonica, a rabbit on the washboard, and an otter playing the fiddle.

Some critters we’ll meet! ©Disney

But one thing many fans are noticing is that Dr. Facilier — the main villain in the movie — was nowhere to be seen.

©Disney

But, thinking back to what we first told you, this actually makes sense. Remember how we said the ride takes place about a year after Tiana’s final kiss in the movie? Well, at the end of the film, Facilier’s “friends on the other side” take him away.

©Disney

So, there’s no villain and no scenes we would say are scary in this ride, making it great for kids (as long as they meet the 40-inch height requirement for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure)!

Something else we noticed missing from the BIG character lineup in this attraction was no Raymond the Lightning Bug. Now, there are PLENTY of lightning bug friends to help us navigate the Bayou, but our cajun friend, Raymond, is nowhere to be seen.

Raymond

And like Dr. Facilier’s absence, the lack of Raymond makes sense, too. In the film, while fighting Dr. Facilier and his shadowy fiendish army, Raymond’s light goes out, and he joins his beloved Evangeline in the sky. We love that Raymond is united with his true love, but we still miss him and his larger-than-life personality in this attraction.