New Details About Disney's New Orleans Square and Tiana's Bayou Adventure

When New Orleans Square opened in 1966 in Disneyland Park, it was an accurate re-creation of a real place. But as times changed, that version of The Big Easy became less relatable for modern parkgoers — that is, until Princess Tiana from Disney’s 2009 animated movie “The Princess and the Frog” arrived. 

Just as Walt Disney and his team of Disney Imagineers traveled to New Orleans in the ’60s to ensure their new land would be authentic, production designers for “The Princess and the Frog” visited the city to ensure they would accurately present the Black experience in 1920s New Orleans. 

In a full-circle moment, Imagineers are now updating New Orleans Square to create an accurate cultural experience for today’s park guests.

“Walt said, ‘Disneyland will never be complete as long as there's imagination left in the world,’ and we take that very seriously,” said Kim Irvine, executive creative director of Walt Disney Imagineering. “My role at Disneyland for the last almost 50 years has been to make sure we keep telling the new stories the films give us.”

When Will Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Open and What Other Updates Are Coming to Disneyland?

When the time came to re-theme the culturally outdated Splash Mountain attraction, the story of Tiana — Disney’s first African American princess — was the perfect replacement. Along with the Tiana’s Bayou Adventure water ride, which will open in 2024, Imagineers also added Eudora’s Chic Boutique Featuring Tiana’s Gourmet Secrets, which offers many items directly from New Orleans. 

Beginning Sept. 7, 2023, Tiana’s Palace restaurant will serve authentic Southern dishes inspired by Cajun and Creole cuisine.

Here’s a look at some of the updates parkgoers can look forward to in New Orleans Square.

Tiana’s Palace

The quick-service restaurant will tell Tiana’s story through food, which allows guests from the South (and anyone who knows and loves New Orleans cuisine) to get a taste of home while providing opportunities for people who've never been to New Orleans to learn about Cajun and Creole flavors.

"As we talk about authenticity, it’s about the ingredients and the history, but also talking to who our guest is today,” said Michele Gendreau, director of food and beverage experience integration for Disneyland Resort. “Tiana is a young entrepreneur. She wants to acknowledge her family and acknowledge the history of New Orleans but also talk to the younger generation.”

Along with John State, culinary director of food and beverage for Disneyland Resort, a key voice in the development of the menu was Lindell Skinner, operations manager of food and beverage for Disneyland Resort (and a New Orleans native). Skinner is also co-chair of PULSE, Disneyland’s employee resource group tasked with enhancing the park experience for the cast and guests of African and Caribbean descent.

Thanks to Skinner and State, the recipes are firmly grounded in New Orleans culture; dishes include a muffuletta sandwich, shrimp and grits, Tiana’s famous beignets (a lemon ice box pie filling topped with lemon glaze) and the 7 Greens Gumbo, an adaptation of a recipe from the iconic Dooky Chase’s restaurant in New Orleans’ Treme neighborhood.

As we talk about authenticity, it’s about the ingredients and the history, but also talking to who our guest is today.

“This is a gumbo our friends the Chases developed, and it’s only served on the Thursday before Easter,” Skinner said. “It’s our opportunity to honor the Chases by bringing our [plant-based] version of their gumbo to life at Disneyland.” 

And while lemon ice box pie is a New Orleans tradition, Skinner notes that it’s rarely found in restaurants.

“You really have to go to the neighborhoods to find this pie,” he said. “So, this is something we’re paying homage to by creating a lemon ice box pie filling for our beignets.”

In fact, from top to bottom, the menu showcases the culture of the Crescent City, from baked macaroni and cheese cut into squares (according to Skinner, if you grew up in New Orleans, your baked macaroni and cheese was always in squares) to ingredients sourced directly from Louisiana, including shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana cane syrup and Andouille sausage, golden rice and bread from New Orleans. In addition, the restaurant stocks both Tabasco and Crystal hot sauces from the region.

“These genuine ingredients bring the authenticity to life and are really critical to the dishes and the story,” State said.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

It was a natural fit to reimagine the culturally outdated “Song of the South”-themed Splash Mountain attraction as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. After all, “The Princess and the Frog” takes place in the swamps outside New Orleans, and the ride’s location in Disneyland Park is adjacent to New Orleans Square, Imagineering’s Irvine points out.

When we looked at Splash Mountain, it provided an opportunity to showcase our first African American princess and tell a story that’s not only inspiring and enlightening, but also speaks to a community that has not been well-represented in our parks and resorts.

“Our goal is to create experiences that are reflective of the world we live in,” said Carmen Smith, senior vice president of creative development and inclusion strategies for Walt Disney Imagineering. “When we looked at Splash Mountain, it provided an opportunity to showcase our first African American princess and tell a story that’s not only inspiring and enlightening, but also speaks to a community that has not been well-represented in our parks and resorts.”

Tiana’s attraction will keep Splash Mountain’s track layout (and water-soaked drop), but it’s new “next chapter” storyline tells the tale of the expansion of Tiana’s restaurant business, which now includes Tiana’s Foods, an employee-owned co-op housed in a refurbished salt mine. The entrepreneurial princess also has a farm where she grows vegetables, herbs and spices for her recipes and has even created a line of original hot sauces.

As riders enter the queue, they’ll see Tiana preparing a Mardi Gras celebration for her community; however, thanks to “a bit of a mix-up,” guests are recruited to join Tiana, Naveen and jazz-loving alligator Louis on a musical journey into the bayou to help find the missing ingredient for the party. 

"Even though Tiana is a character in a story, her culture and the place she comes from are very real,” Smith said. “It’s important for guests to feel how we approach the story in an authentic way. If you’re from New Orleans, you should feel like you’re coming home; if you’ve never been to New Orleans, this attraction will make you want to go.”