Disney just loves keeping us on our toes — and the progress over at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Magic Kingdom has kept us occupied for quite a while now.

We’ve seen plenty of concept art, had our first sneak peek inside the ride, and recently learned new details about what we can expect in terms of animatronics and Splash Mountain easter eggs! Not only that, but we’ve noticed quite a few updates being added to the ride in Magic Kingdom — and we think the ride may be closer to opening than Disney may be letting on!

We’ve been keeping up with the progress at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure ever since the ride was first announced, and from what we’ve seen things seem to be moving along quite nicely over in Disney World! New details were just revealed about the ride, and we’ve also seen our first look inside. With construction seemingly going smoothly, we think this Magic Kingdom ride could open sooner rather than later — and we’ve got the updates to prove it.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is set to debut in Disney World and Disneyland later this year, and will pick up where the story leaves off — more specifically, “after the final kiss, and [riders can] join Princess Tiana and Louis on a musical adventure – featuring some of the powerful music from the film – as they prepare for their first-ever Mardi Gras performance.” 

Tiana gets to live out her dream of owning and operating her own restaurant, Tiana’s Palace. During a Mardi Gras celebration, she realizes an ingredient is missing and sends us as riders on a mission to help her find it as she journeys through the bayou.

The ride is projected to open in late 2024 in both Disney World and Disneyland — at least according to the original announcement. But, we’ve been seeing signs that Tiana’s could open even earlier than anticipated — at least in Disney World.

But, in a recent blog post, Disney removed the word “late” and stated that the ride is just opening in 2024. With Disney typically being pretty specific about their use of language, we can’t help but think this may be a good sign.

As far as the ride construction goes, well, we think we’ve spotted some good signs over there too. Disney recently started adding all the incredible and lush foliage to the exterior of the ride which we had previously seen in the concept art. It’s hard to tell there was ever even another ride here with how much they’ve added!

You can see in the concept art just how many trees, lilypads, and other foliage appear, and it looks like we’re getting pretty darn close to that on the outside.

Seriously — just check out this close-up. It’s not just greenery that has been added, but beautiful, colorful flowers as well. You might also notice something interesting on the righthand side of the opening where the drop is… can you spot them? Look closely!

Yep, some bottles are hanging up there! More specifically, they’re lanterns — but not just any lanterns.

They’re Mama Odie’s lanterns! You may remember Mama Odie from The Princess and the Frog, and Disney has paid a nod to her by adding these lanterns to the ride.

Disney shared way back in 2022 what this will eventually look like — all those glowing lanterns will be hanging above the area right before the big drop.

Plus, we’ve already seen concept art of what this Mama Odie scene might look like right before the drop — here she is surrounded by colorful lanterns made of bottles just like the ones we’ve now spotted in Magic Kingdom.

According to Disney, this scene is where Mama Odie is joking with guests after showing off her magic. “The two-hundred-year-old Bayou Fairy Godmother, with her eccentric belongings and ‘seeing eye snake,’ Juju, is comically eccentric, yet wise and all-knowing, throughout the adventure.” And, Jennifer Lewis, who voiced Mama Odie in The Princess and the Frog, is reprising her role for the ride.

We also recently learned that several Tiana audio-animatronics will be used throughout the ride!  It’ll be like Tiana is actually talking to us and taking us along on this journey. These animatronics will feature the same advanced tech that the Frozen Ever After attraction uses in Hong Kong Disneyland. 

So, while we may not have an official opening date for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure just yet, we can’t help but think Disney may be speeding things up. Fans weren’t too happy about how long the EPCOT Transformation has taken or how long it took to build TRON (though the pandemic-related closures likely had a hand in those delays), so it’s possible they’re trying to underpromise and overdeliver with Tiana’s.

Either way, we’ll be here to keep up with every change — no matter how big or small it may appear from the outside!

Stay tuned to DFB for more news and updates on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and the latest Disney World planning tips!

We Just Learned NEW Details About Tiana’s Bayou Adventure — Click Here!

Are you excited about Tiana’s Bayou Adventure? Tell us in the comments.

The post How Close Is Tiana’s Bayou Adventure to Opening? Check Out These 2 Big Updates! first appeared on the disney food blog.