Disney reveals key storyline and Audio-Animatronic musical critters to appear in Tiana's Bayou Adventure

Mar 26, 2024 in "Tiana's Bayou Adventure"

Posted: Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:11am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Walt Disney Imagineering Executive creative director of Tiana's Bayou Adventure, Ted Robledo, has shared an inside look at a key story element and the new musical critters that will be part of Tiana's Bayou Adventure at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

In the bayou, Princess Tiana is getting ready to throw a big party, but there's been a bit of a mix-up between Prince Naveen and Louis, and the princess suddenly finds herself in need of a band. A true Mardi Gras celebration isn't complete without music. Riders will follow Tiana and Louis into the bayou in a last-minute search for this essential missing ingredient for her party — musical critters!

In the first critter encounter, guests discover a group of critter musicians playing a rendition of "Gonna Take You There" from "The Princess and the Frog."

Ted says, "This raucous Zydeco musical recipe of fiddle, accordion, washboard, and other instrument voices will have you singing along as you float down the river under dancing fireflies."

The familiar melody is being played on charming makeshift instruments constructed from natural materials and some human-made found objects.

Here are some of the adorable musicians that bring the scene to life:

Byhalia the Beaver – Byhalia doesn't just build dams; she helps build musical instruments using natural materials from the bayou. As a strong-willed percussionist, it's safe to say Byhalia is the heartbeat of the band, as well as a natural designer and engineer.

Gritty the Rabbit – Always willing to dig a little deeper to help others, Gritty plays the washboard (a found automobile license plate) with a high-energy flair. It's the perfect instrument for someone who's often overzealous and digs to relieve her nerves.

Beau the Opossum – Seeing limitless possibilities, no one finds more wonder in the bayou and the sounds of zydeco music than Beau. All she knows is beauty, especially her own. You can find her plucking out the low notes with her upright gourd bass, which of course, involves some musical dexterity with her tail.

Apollo the Raccoon – Apollo loves transforming abandoned objects into works of musical art – like his squeezebox. He's full of energy and storytelling, especially about the objects he finds in the bayou. He's particularly close with Rufus and appreciates Rufus' calm demeanor.

Rufus the Turtle – Rufus may be a turtle, but he's quick to jump into rhythm with his harmonica. He's also the first to join in on new adventures! He's genuine and sincere but may come across as a little sarcastic at times with his habitual sighing. Rufus loves going on adventures with Apollo.

Timoléon the Otter – He's the eldest of the band, but Timoléon's fiddle-playing is inspired by all the 'kids' he spends his time around while in the bayou. When he's not sawing out a jig, he's famous for telling stories of days long ago about his explorations of every corner of the bayou.

Beau, Apollo and Rufus will also soon be available in the form of huggable plushies for you to take home.

Watch the video below to see behind the scenes at Imagineering as the characters are designed. 

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lightningtap34722 hours ago

Not worth an hour wait on a normal day, I couldn't imagine waiting an hour during an event where time is that valuable...

tanc1 day ago

It’s conflicting for me, I got group 11 VQ and ended up changing my LL. I really dislike the use of screens, and also the animatronic at the end was broken. The finale is cool but the usage of screens again takes away from it to me. Some of the redo is nice, but using projections for fireflies doesn’t work. While I think using lights for fireflies is fine. I could see why Disneyland is superior because I feel like there’s just not much going on at times. The critters are all well done I guess. I think really it just doesn’t feel like it was made as a New Orleans sort of flume. It’s obvious it’s just a fresh coat of paint on the old building. In a way kind of baffled they didn’t make original buildings for the queue, idk just doesn’t look right to me.

co100643 days ago

At this point I do not believe the yearly maintenance refurb will happen. Credit where credit is due, they have done a great job improving this ride’s reliability. It seems like any downtime at this point is solely due to weather.

HauntedPirate3 days ago

The refurb it needs won't happen. From my 2 rides in September - It's decent, at best. Mish mash of ideas that don't work together. Very thin story. Too many gaps in the main show. It confirms what I said from the beginning - This should be its own ride building and area.

tanc4 days ago

After watching like a hawk I finally got an earlier time. Kind of ridiculous this ride is still VQ or LL at this point. Wonder if it will go under refurb or they will skip it until 2026.

MisterPenguin5 days ago

Neither the Splash Mountain nor the TBA wiki pages mention that. Do you have a link?

JoeCamel5 days ago

Anyone can edit a wiki page.....

Brer Panther5 days ago

I just saw on Wikipedia a claim that somebody proposed retheming Splash Mountain to Robin Hood. Considering that, among other things, the description of this hypothetical attraction got Maid Marian's name wrong, I assume none of that is true.

tanc6 days ago

Got a lightning lane and plan to get a VQ for this ride, will report my thoughts. Hope I get a good boarding group, going during the first christmas party so hope the ride doesn't break down too many times.

Raineman8 days ago

If I was going to place a wager on what attraction would have the most breakdowns leading to an evac over a certain period of time, I would put all of it on TBA, based on the results so far.

EagleScout6108 days ago

I've heard most of the stuff from Splash was tossed due to the fast turn around and that only Disneyland’s Movin' Along Br'er Rabbit was archived. I'd love to be wrong, though.

EricsBiscuit8 days ago

At the very least, I can use seeing SM one last time as an excuse to justify another Tokyo trip to my wife! 😂

andre858 days ago

lol I had the exact same thought.