LIVE UPDATES: We’re at the Opening Day of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Disney World!

We hope you’re ready for a trip down the bayou because it’s time for the grand opening of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure!

Since Splash Mountain permanently closed in 2023 to make way for the Princess and the Frog-themed ride, we’ve been keeping an eye on every update. That’s why it feels kind of surreal to say we’ve made it to opening day! Let’s see everything happening in the park right now from crowds to virtual queues and beyond!

Let’s take a look at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opening day in Magic Kingdom!

When we arrived in Magic Kingdom, we got a chance to check out the new Magic Kingdom park map, which has Tiana’s Bayou Adventure on the front.

You’ll find the ride highlighted inside the map, too.

It’s a big day!

Virtual Queue/Genie+

So you want to ride Tiana’s Bayou Adventure? There are only two ways to get on the attraction at this point — via Virtual Queue or through Genie+ If you want to go the costless route, AKA the Virtual Queue route, you will have two chances to join the Virtual Queue at 7AM and 1PM. Note that you can only hold one Virtual Queue per day. You’ll do this through the My Disney Experience app — we’ve got a full guide on the Virtual Queue process for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure here.

We logged on at exactly 7AM this morning to try and nab a spot in the Virtual Queue, but they were all gone by 7:01AM and we were out of luck. We expect this will be the case with this ride’s Virtual Queue for at least a little while.

The other way to nab a spot on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is through Genie+, which was priced at $29 per person for Magic Kingdom today. However, there were no more Lightning Lanes available through Genie+ for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure by 7AM this morning either.

Crowds/Wait Times

On the opening day of any new attraction, we expect a lot of crowds…and Tiana’s was no exception! We headed over to Frontierland and saw a huge line at Golden Oak Outpost. It looks like everyone is trying to get their hands on Tiana’s world-famous beignets.

We then headed over to take a look at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. You’ll see that there are signs for both the Lightning Lane and virtual queue lines. The lines around the ride were certainly long, but maybe not as chaotic as we expected.

Around 1PM, the ride was closed, which could be due to some weather — the skies were turning pretty dark at that time. Outdoor rides in Disney World close if there is any bad weather in the area.

Earlier in the day, we also noticed Cast Members at the exit asking people about their thoughts on the ride.

Merchandise

With a major event like this, you’ve got to celebrate with some new merchandise! We previously got a sneak peek but now it’s available to purchase. Things got a little busier once we headed to the Emporium to get a look at the Tiana’s Bayou  Adventure merchandise. The line there was all the way back to an overflow area.

We will say that the merchandise drop for the ride is very well-organized and calm, despite the huge amounts of people inside the Emporium.

Merchandise includes some new apparel…

This adorable figurine of some critters in a log, and more! Note that you can use Mobile Checkout, too!

We checked the merchandise line later in the day, around 1:45 PM, and there was no line at all.

You can just walk on into the Emporium and start shopping.

Special Treats

However, it’s not just special merchandise you can get today to celebrate the opening of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Special snacks are also available throughout Disney World. We popped by Main Street Confectionery to check out a few, like this Tiana-inspired Lily Pad Krispie Treat with a Gummy frog on it.

We also grabbed this Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Caramel Apple.

Want to plan a trip to Disney World to ride Tiana’s Bayou Adventure? We recommend reaching out to our friends at Mouse Fan Travel. They’re experts in the field with over 20 years of vacation planning experience, and they can help take a bunch of the stress out of the entire booking process for you!

That’s all in Magic Kingdom for now, but the west coast version of the ride in Disneyland is set to open later this year. Stay tuned to AllEars for ALL of the Disney updates!

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What do you think of the new ride? Tell us in the comments!

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