While visiting Magic Kingdom earlier today, we stopped to grab a few photos of the ongoing construction to transform the former Splash Mountain attraction into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will take guests into Tiana’s second act as the events of the attraction take place after the events in the movie.
First announced in 2020, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will take guests on a musical adventure inspired by the beloved story and characters from the fan-favorite film. Picking up where the film left off, guests will join Princess Tiana, Naveen and jazz-loving alligator Louis on an adventure through the bayou as they prepare to host a one-of-a-kind Mardi Gras celebration where everyone is welcome. Along the way, guests will encounter familiar faces, make new friends and travel through the bayou to original music inspired by songs from the film as they are brought into the next chapter of Tiana’s story.
In this article, we’ll take a look at two of the most notable ongoing changes at the attraction – the rounding off of the salt dome that guests will plunge down, and a mural that will welcome guests to the attraction. We’ll start with a look at the salt dome.
When it was first announced, Imagineers presented an ambitious design for the top of the attraction facade. As you can see in this early piece of concept art below, Mama Odie’s tree was set to be the visual centerpiece of the attraction.
Then, at the 2022 D23 Expo, Disney presented a new vision for the facade as they debuted a scale model of the attraction and new concept art. Mama Odie’s tree had been cut from the final design, and a water tower would be the new focal point for guests traveling through Frontierland.
With a new concept for the salt dome, crews began cutting down the stump that defined the facade for Splash Mountain. Work began in early April and was completed in just a few days.
Now, crews have finished sculpting the rebar base for the completed salt dome and have started to apply concrete to the area. Here’s a look at the latest work from a visit to Magic Kingdom earlier today.
Too often we forget to provide some additional context when it’s fun to zoom in on the details. Here’s a look down the Rivers of America from Liberty Square looking at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
Here’s a reminder of what the facade used to look like with the tree stump atop the mountain.
Here’s a vantage point from the main walkway through Frontierland, roughly near the Country Bear Jamboree and looking past Peco’s Bill quick-service restaurant.
Here’s a more straight-on view of the upper portion of the attraction with the newly sculpted salt dome top. Obviously, crews still have to apply theming such as a faux rock look and perhaps some foliage.
Earlier today, Disney provided a first look at the mural that is currently being painted onto the entrance barn for the attraction. We gave you a first look at the work taking place back in August, but Disney offered a look at concept art of the various mural panels. Even so, the concept art below isn’t the full mural that will be on display when the work is completed next year.
Here’s a look at the ongoing work from our visit earlier today. There will be murals on both sides of the barn entrance, although it’s not exactly easy to notice with quite a bit of tree growth blocking our limited view past the construction wall below.
Here’s a look at what we can see of the mural on the right side of the barn entrance.
From the Frontierland train station, we get a great view of the murals that are a work in progress on the left side of the barn entrance.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is set to open next year at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, but an exact date, month, or even season has not been announced.
For a full look at everything we know about Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, check out our article below!
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