I’ve Been Trying (And Failing) To Ride Tiana’s Bayou Adventure for 2 Days in Disney World. Here’s What Happened.

Disney World’s newest ride is currently in previews for Cast Members and it’s been a little touch and go. 

I’ve been trying to ride Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Magic Kingdom for two days now and after a cumulative seven hours of waiting outside the ride, I STILL haven’t seen Splash Mountain’s replacement. Here’s what’s happened. 

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is a new attraction using the ride system and building that was once Splash Mountain in Magic Kingdom. It’s set to open to everyone on June 28th, but it’s currently in its first set of previews. 

Prior to a ride opening in Disney World, employees and some groups of guests will get a chance to preview the attraction. For Tiana’s, there are previews for Cast Members, Annual Passholders, Disney Vacation Club Members, and D23 Gold Members. 

We are lucky enough to have some Cast Members on our team who invited me and my friends along as guests to experience the attraction early…or so we thought. Let’s start with Day 1. 

Attempt #1

Monday, June 3rd was the first day of Cast Member previews and Emma, Sage, and I arrived at 11AM ready to listen to jazz music, see some very cool animatronics, and drop 5 stories (maybe getting soaked!). 

Unfortunately, right as we walked up to the ride we saw that the ride vehicles were stopped in the outdoor portion of the ride and the Tiana’s Bayou Adventure CMs were not admitting anyone into the queue. So, we waited. 

For the next four hours, we watched as the ride was evacuated and then all logs moved inside. At one point we saw logs running periodically, then we saw nothing for a while but heard a lot of muffled intercom announcements echoing from the ride. 

The CMs at the queue entrance let us know that we could ride anytime before 2:30PM but once 2:30 hit, our preview would unfortunately be canceled. Sure enough, around 3PM, Cast Members came through to tell us that our entry was no longer valid. CMs were encouraged to email and ask for a rescheduled time depending on availability. 

So after a four-hour wait without even getting to see the new queue, we turned and left. I was disappointed, but I am very fortunate to have had a second shot the next evening.

Attempt #2

On Day 2, I arrived at 6PM and heard from Cast Members on the way in that the ride was up and running. Woo! Breedlove and I excitedly wove through Frontierland only to see as we arrived that the logs were stopped again in the outdoor portion of the ride and (Surprise!) Cast Members weren’t letting preview peeps into the queue.

This felt very familiar to me so when a Tiana’s CM told us, “It just went down so it will probably be a while,” and we saw riders getting evacuated once more; we decided to swing into Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe to eat some dinner and listen for the sound of gleeful screams if the ride came back up.

Folks…Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is down…AGAIN! We’ve received a push alert saying we should go “enjoy other areas of the park”. 🫣 pic.twitter.com/eQ0MGkDkj9

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) June 4, 2024

Around 7:45PM, we wandered back out to see that the ride appeared to be running in its normal loop (sans riders but, hey, that’s progress). So, we hung out near the entrance of the queue and minutes later, the ride was up and the queue opened!

I was thrilled but I said to Breedlove, “I’ll believe we get to ride when I’m sitting in a log.” We wove through the outdoor portion of the queue seeing all the new details and listening to the absolutely AMAZING music they’ve created for this portion of the experience. We even spotted Ray and Evangeline in the pavement!

But after about an hour, before we made it inside, the queue shuddered to a stop. Folks around me started making comments about how they were getting nervous and at 8:45PM we got the news that Tiana’s was down once more and would not be reopening for the night.

The announcing CM shared his “deepest, downest apologies” and the sentiment that, “We want you to ride this ride as much as you do.” As we all filed out of the queue, you could see that the Tiana’s Cast Members were pretty upset at how touch and go everything has been.

🚨We were ALMOST THERE.🚨

Cast members just made the announcement that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is experiencing technical difficulties and will be closed for the night. 😭 pic.twitter.com/eRLLkyRTfi

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) June 5, 2024

Sure enough, as we passed, logs were stopped and an evacuation of the ride was taking place. So, I went home after a cumulative seven hours of waiting and no time spent riding Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.

The Takeaway

Now, the good news is that this ride is in PREVIEWS. This is the first time the attraction has seen full-capacity operation so the issues it’s seeing might not have been predictable without these previews.

Previews are not a full opening for a reason and with any new ride preview, you should expect potential delays, closures, or general wonkiness. It’s like a dress rehearsal for the full opening. Here’s hoping that the maintenance teams are figuring out everything they need to to get the ride in working order over the next month!

I am extremely fortunate to know that I will have more chances to ride the ride — as are most of the people that previews are offered to. So, I’ll be bringing you my takes, tips, hidden details, and more when I DO hop on during media previews next week.

I am SO excited to see this ride. Splash Mountain was always my favorite ride system and on a recent visit to Tokyo Disney Resort, I fell in love with the animated A-1000 animatronics that I’ll get to see on this ride. It just seems I have a little bit longer to look forward to it.

Keep an eye on AllEars for the status, updates, and more about Tiana’s Bayou Adventure!

The ONE Thing Everyone Gets Wrong About Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disney World

What do you think about Tiana’s Bayou Adventure so far? Let me know in the comments.

Comments (1)