Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has wrapped up the Annual Passholder early preview phase of the attraction, and the story of the previews was just how much downtime the attraction experienced. In our multiple visits to Magic Kingdom, the attraction was often experiencing unexpected downtime, to the tune of more than 4.5 hours per day.
In addition to the unexpected downtime, the attraction also didn’t distribute enough Boarding Groups on occasion, and too many Boarding Groups at other times. We didn’t count early evening closures as downtime, although it’s very possible that the ride closed early on occasion due to downtime and it wasn’t able to operate again before the park closed – giving the appearance of an early closure. In total, if the ride isn’t loading guests (downtime or early closure), it should probably count against it – especially when Disney World distributes more Boarding Groups than are called, but we’re being conservative with our math.
Here’s a look at the day-by-day downtime that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure experienced as Disney World tries to get it ready for opening day on June 28th.
June 13 (7 hours, 10 minutes):
- 9am to 11:45am (2hrs 45min)
- 1:30pm to 4:15pm (2hrs 45min)
- 5:05pm to 6:15pm (1hr 10min)
- 6:20pm to 6:50pm (30min)
- 8pm last group called (2 hours before park close)
June 14 (4 hours, 5 minutes):
- 9am to 9:40am (40min)
- 1:40pm to 3:30pm (2hrs)
- 4:35pm to 5pm (25min)
- 6:30pm to 7:30pm (1hr)
- 6:30pm last group called (3.5 hours before park close)
June 16 (2 hours, 20 minutes):
- 1:50pm to 3:50pm (2hrs)
- 5:20pm to 5:40pm (20min)
- 7:15pm last group called (2 hours, 45 minutes before park close)
June 17 (3 hours):
- 9am to 12pm (3hrs)
- 5:20pm last group called (4 hours, 40 minutes before park close)
June 18 (4 hours, 45 minutes):
- 9am to 9:30pm (30min)
- 10:15am to 2:30pm (4hr 15min)
- 5:10pm last group called (4 hours, 50 minutes before park close)
June 20 (6 hours, 20 minutes):
- 9am to 11am (2hrs)
- 12:40pm to 5pm (4hrs 20min)
- 8pm last group called (2 hours before park close)
Going forward, there are some Cast Member previews scheduled for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure before it opens to the public. According to Cast Members that we’ve spoken with at the attraction, it’s possible that some of the upcoming Cast Member previews may be canceled as Disney World looks to try and implement some last-minute fixes before the ride opens to the public.
To be clear, this type of downtime is not normal at this stage of the game. There were weeks of testing with water dummies and Imagineers before Cast Member previews even began in early June. The ride is not “new”, although certain elements of it absolutely are. We suspect that there are some issues with ride sensors and show elements. Whatever it is, it’s clearly not an easy or quick fix.
We hope that Disney World is able to implement a fix over the next week and have a smooth grand opening. As of press time, Disney World still says that they “expect to open a standby queue soon after the attraction’s opening”, but that a Virtual Queue will be in place when the ride opens on June 28th. Disney World has never announced a date when the standby queue will become available, and it’s probably for the best that they didn’t.
For more coverage of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, check out our articles below!
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