Following three successful years since the program launched in 2020, ESPN, in collaboration with NBA, Andscape, and ABC, today announced year four of the award-winning Champion Black Businesses (CBB) initiative. CBB continues to elevate Black-owned businesses, showcasing the diversity and creativity of Black entrepreneurship and cementing their importance by sharing their stories across ESPN platforms […]
Splash Mountain at Disneyland has permanently closed to become Tiana’s Bayou Adventure inspired by “The Princess and the Frog.” Construction walls featuring Tiana’s Bayou Adventure signs are now up around the attraction in Critter Country.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Construction Walls
Walls don’t (yet) block the front of the mountain or the briar patch at the end of the drop from view, though this is likely to occur as work progresses.
There are pieces of green scrim at this end of the construction walls.
The Splash Mountain gift shop, Briar Patch, remains open. The brown construction walls stop directly beside it.
The walls feature “Tiana’s Foods” signs, referring to her new community food co-op established sometime after the events of “The Princess and the Frog.”
The signs are purple, teal, and yellow. They state Tiana’s Foods, an employee-owned co-op part of the Tiana’s Bayou Adventure backstory, is “Coming Soon!”
The crate-like walls are also stamped with a logo for the Southern Dome Salt Company. Tiana’s Foods is supposed to be in an old salt mine.
The walls additionally read “Please Keep Dry” and “Louisiana.”
They wrap around the former attraction entrance. A sign for Splash Mountain is still visible.
The back entrance to Pooh Corner is blocked by the construction walls, though the store does remain open during construction.
Splash Mountain
The original Splash Mountain first opened at Disneyland in July 1989. The attraction closed permanently on May 30 to be transformed into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, which is expected to open in 2024.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure takes place after the events of “The Princess and the Frog.” Tiana’s Foods is an employee-owned community food co-op established by Tiana in 1927, following the success of her restaurant, Tiana’s Palace. The co-op is housed inside a salt mine, with growers planting crops along the old Splash Mountain waterway. Guests will ascend through a mill house built into the side of the mountain.
The Splash Mountain landscaping will be updated to make it look more like a Louisiana bayou. The iconic tree that was included in the original concept art will be removed as it doesn’t fit the new backstory.
While Splash Mountain was part of Critter Country, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will be absorbed into the neighboring New Orleans Square. Right now, guests can visit Eudora’s Chic Boutique Featuring Tiana’s Gourmet Secrets, a shop featuring “The Princess and the Frog” merchandise as well as New Orleans-related items. Tiana’s Palace, replacing French Market Restaurant, is under construction.
The attraction will follow Tiana venturing into the bayou to find animal friends. She’ll be hosting a party for the people of New Orleans, but missing a special ingredient. Some of the original cast will be providing their voices to the attraction, including Anika Noni Rose (Tiana), Bruno Campos (Naveen), Michael Leon Wooley (Louis), and Jennifer Lewis (Mama Odie).
Read more details about Tiana’s Bayou Adventure below:
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Splash Mountain sent riders down their final drops into the Briar Patch last night at Disneyland, and as a new day dawns, construction walls are already up all around the attraction as the transformation into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure gets underway. Surprisingly, the Chickapin Hill waterfall was still running this morning, however no logs were cycling. The construction […]
The official trailer for FX’s Justified: City Primeval has been released. This will premiere on July 18 and be available the next day on Hulu. What’s Happening: The official trailer for FX’s Justified: City Primeval has been released. This will premiere on July 18 at 10pm ET/PT and available the next day on Hulu. About Justified: […]
The first Halloween Horror Nights façade has gone up behind construction walls near Mel’s Diner at Universal Studios Hollywood. The construction walls actually went up in March, but only a tent was visible behind them.
Halloween Horror Nights Façade
This façade is in the seating area between Mel’s Diner and the Palace Theater, next to the Universal Plaza space.
The façade resembles a brown, crumbling building with sections of exposed brick.
Rectangular cubbies along the top are lined with yellow, blue, and red paint.
A black support structure peeks out from behind the façade.
On the front of the façade is a gabled roof with two rows of clay shingles. This looks like it could be above the entryway.
A medallion with leafy decorations to the sides is below the gabled roof.
In addition to the main entrance, a gray tent for the haunted house is behind the façade.
Are you excited for the upcoming HHN season? Let us know in the comments.
For more Universal Studios news from around the world, follow Universal Parks News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. For Disney Parks news, visit WDWNT.
Disneyland has announced dates, details, and prices for Oogie Boogie Bash – A Disney Halloween Party, which will be held starting in early September and running through October 31, 2023. This post shares details of the announcement, when tickets go on sale, and what else to expect. While Disneyland hasn’t released full details, we now […]
Walt Disney World 2024 vacation packages, resort reservations, and tickets are now on sale as of May 31, 2023. Well, in theory. In a twist that I’m sure absolutely none of you saw coming, the system crashed and has been down for over an hour. As a result, bookings were only briefly open before almost […]
Disney fans get ready to experience your favorite attractions like never before. We have full dates and details for 5 BIG overlays coming soon! Great Attraction Overlays Thrill seekers both young and the young at heart can’t get enough of their favorite Disney attractions. At certain times throughout the year, our favorite Disney attractions receive […]
Do you love Coco? Be sure not to miss this experience when it hits Disney Parks! Coco Disney fans delight in original storytelling. When Disney and Pixar’s Coco debuted in 2017, it was an immediate hit. In fact, Disney fans were especially excited at last year’s D23 where Josh D’amaro teased blue sky concepts for […]
Sunshine Seasons in The Land Pavilion at EPCOT is serving up two Figment-inspired Passholder-exclusive treats for V.I.PASSHOLDER Days.
Sunshine Seasons is currently home to a temporary Annual Passholder lounge beside the Living with the Land attraction, and we recently had the opportunity to try some of their new, exclusive offerings.
Raspberry Lemonade Tart – $6.99
Shortbread tart filled with lemon mousse, raspberry jam and raspberry mousse
This tart is excellent. It’s not too sweet and has just a bit of a sour taste.
The tart is crunchy, giving the treat a good texture.
The orange Figment wings are white chocolate.
There are white chocolate flakes in the dome, which are a nice extra touch.
A Spark of Grape Shake – $8.99
Grape, guava, passionfruit, orange and lime
If you like grape-flavored Hi-Chew, then this is the shake for you. It’s thick and sweet. It felt less like a milkshake and more like a sugar drink.
The whipped cream had a citrus flavor that, if mixed in with the shake, resulted in a very sour treat. The same white chocolate wings don’t add anything except decoration.
If you only choose one of these treats, go for the tart.
Walt Disney World Annual Passes were sold continuously from September 1982 until March 2020. Since then, the price had increased dramatically, and multiple tiers were introduced with various blackout dates and benefits to match. At times, the resort even encouraged guests to become Passholders through advertising at the parks, around Central Florida, and through benefits like discounts on merchandise and food.
Of course, at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, that all changed. Walt Disney World did not go the route of Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Resort by canceling every Annual Pass and issuing refunds, nor did they resume sales immediately as the Paris, Hong Kong, and Shanghai resorts did upon reopening. Passes remained valid and renewable after the COVID-19 closure concluded in July 2020, although new sales were halted almost immediately upon reopening. At the time, Disney assured guests it was a “temporary” measure due to capacity restrictions at Walt Disney World.
Beginning in April 2023, Walt Disney World Annual Passholders can visit the theme parks after 2:00 p.m. on most days without a park pass reservation. This perk does not include Magic Kingdom on Saturdays and Sundays, when a reservation will still be required.
Will you be visiting the new lounge at EPCOT soon? Interested in returning as an Annual Passholder or becoming one for the first time now that they are available once again? Let us know in the comments.
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