Today is the day! It’s the first day of Passholder Previews for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and we have finally gone down the falls again! This was only our second Passholder Preview ever so we were so excited to experience the new ride. This one was different that our first one, Tron, so I thought I would share how it all went and what you have to look forward to when you visit the Bayou this summer! A little spoiler, the day was no without it’s issues and let’s just say we went to Magic Kingdom two different times before finally getting on the ride. Let’s dive in!
Virtual Queue vs Set Day & Time
In the past Passholder Previews have been a set day and time. You had to get in a queue online and then when you got into the reservation system you chose a day and time from what was available and that was when you went. You were guaranteed to ride during that time unless something went wrong of course. This time around we has to join a virtual queue in the My Disney Experience app just like you do for Tron and Guardians of the Galaxy. You had to have a Magic Kingdom park reservation and at 7am we had to confirm our party and join the queue to receive a boarding group. You absolutely were not guaranteed to get in the queue! If you didn’t get a spot at 7am you could try again at 1pm. If you were not able to get a Magic Kingdom park reservation you could try to join the queue at 1pm with a reservation to another park. I personally do not like this new way of doing the Passholder Previews, I prefer the old way because you could plan better around when you would be riding. We were lucky and did get a boarding group in the 7am queue. But that was not the end of the stress unfortunately!
Queue Line
I started to post this blog earlier with a note that I would have to update it later because we had not even been on the ride yet even though our initial call time was 11am! The ride was down most of the day and we did not end up getting on until around 7:30pm. But we go ton and I know there are people that probably were not as lucky today so I will not complain! The outside part of the queue line was very nostalgic to Splash Mountain with all the bird houses in the trees. The music playing is so much fun and the children’s garden is adorable!
There is a really cool vintage car outbox the main entrance to the barn and so much fun stuff inside to see. Tiana’s Foods offices, storage spaces, salt mines and more, the imagineers really did a great job telling the story and making you feel like you are headed in for a party at Tiana’s Place!
There were so many fun pictures on the wall and letters to Tiana telling the story of how the place came to be. It was really cool to see and I am excited to notice new things every time I go through the queue line. You know there are tons of fun easter eggs and nods to the movie or Splash Mountain hiding in this queue.
How Was The Ride
We absolutely LOVED the ride! Will we always have a place in our hearts that misses Splash Mountain? Of course! But this ride is amazing. Even though there were obviously some issues today but the new story and all the details are beautiful. The animatronics are so smooth and well placed throughout the ride, it even feels like the Brer Animals are a part of the Bayou a little with all the bands throughout the ride.
I know a lot of people have mentioned that they don’t like that there is no villain in the ride. While I love a good villain, it was kind of refreshing to just have a feel good ride with fun characters and good music. The story is you are on your way to Tiana’s party and they are still looking for the right band and sound they need for the party. On your search for the perfect sound Mama Ode shrinks you down to a tiny bug so you can hear the fireflies, the part where Mama Ode shrinks you is so cool and unexpected!
Once you have found the sound Tiana is looking for Mama Ode turns you back to your normal size to get the party and of course the way to the party is down the falls! Then you head down to New Orleans for a swinging party! This scene is absolutely stunning, the picture and the video definitely do not do it justice.
Merchandise
The merchandise for this ride is all so cute! I’m gonna have to have the ears for sure. I love that Ray and Evangeline are featured so much on everything, Mama Ode too! I can’t wait for the stores to open so we can check it all out and grab some things. Tiana’s General Store will be at the end of the ride and the Critter Coop will be where the Briar Patch store used to be by the entrance.
Our Favorite Parts
Honestly it was all great and like I said the storytelling was fantastic! But I knew Mama Ode would be my favorite and I got my wish of Dig A Little Deeper playing as you go over the falls which made me so happy. Mama Ode was overwhelmingly everyone in my families favorite, she is our favorite in the movie too so that makes sense. Seeing Tiana and Lottie together at the end made me really happy too. I think that is my most favorite Disney friendship ever! The new song is cute and catchy too, but Dig A Little Deeper steals the show for me!
Conclusion
We have had a great day in spite of the struggles getting on the ride. We went to the opening of the new Aloha Collection kiosk in Disney Springs this morning and when our return time got pushed again we decided to have some lunch at the Boathouse which is always a good day! After that we headed over to Magic Kingdom since our return time was getting close and we ran into Shaker from the Country Bears and did some shooting at the Shootin’ Range since it was announced today that this will be closing by the end of the year to make way for a new DVC Lounge. Insert sad face here. When we got over to Tiana’s to finally ride about 2pm we noticed there were no logs going over the falls and checked our time again. At this point it had jumped to 4:30 and was listed as Not Boarding. The poor Cast Members had no idea when it would be back so we decided to leave since Thatcher had an appointment and we were all really hot! On our way out we talked to a family who was in an earlier boarding group that had not been called yet either. They were supposed to ride at 10am initially and had been at Magic Kingdom since park open just in case. They said the ride was down all morning, started around noon and then only ran for about an hour before closing down again and everyone being evacuated off the ride. It wasn’t looking good!
After a while the virtual queue started moving again and the timing worked out pretty good because our group got called as we were headed back to Magic Kingdom. We were really stressed it would be all for nothing and the ride would be shut down again due to the weather. It had started storming a little and there was some nasty lightning in the area but it did not shut down while we were there thankfully! They definitely had the water turned up on the ride, we were SOAKED! I’m not sure I remember ever being that wet after Splash Mountain but I wasn’t mad at it, it felt good in the heat and humidity. Overall, I think the ride was worth the wait today and I am so glad we ended up getting on even if it was later than expected!
As always I hope you enjoyed this weeks post and you can check out a full POV of the ride on my YouTube Channel, I hope it makes you feel like you are there. Thank you all for reading and have a magical day!
