Disney Parks Reveals Innovative New Princess and the Frog Audio-Animatronics

Tiana's Bayou Adventure is getting closer and closer every day. Disney Parks revealed a behind-the-magic look at the new Princess and the Frog Audio-Animatronic figures — including restaurateur Tiana, her trumpeting gator friend Louis, and Mama Odie, voodoo queen of the bayou — before they drop into the re-themed Splash Mountain at Disneyland and Walt Disney World this summer.

Launching its new "We Call It Imagineering" YouTube video series, Walt Disney Imagineering shared details about its "most advanced Audio-Animatronic figures yet." The video, below, features a sneak peek at Tiana, Louis, Mama Odie, Prince Ralphie, and an original new character — Byhalia the Beaver — who will welcome riders embarking on a musical journey down in New Orleans as they help prepare for a one-of-a-kind celebration during Mardi Gras season.

 The newly-reimagined log flume ride is set after the events of the 2009 movie, which ended with Tiana achieving her life-long dream: opening her restaurant, Tiana's Palace. In this original, next chapter story for Tiana, she continues to grow her business with Tiana's Foods, an employee-owned cooperative. Picking up where The Princess and the Frog left off, Tiana's Bayou Adventure sends guests on a journey into the bayou with the Anika Noni Rose-voiced Tiana to find a missing ingredient for a Mardi Gras party. 

Other Princess and the Frog cast members reprising their iconic roles include Jenifer Lewis as Mama Odie, Tiana's two-hundred-year-old Bayou Fairy Godmother; Bruno Campos as Prince Naveen of Maldonia; and Michael-Leon Wooley as Louis, the talking alligator who dreamed of playing trumpet in a jazz band.

"Like Princess Tiana, I believe that courage and love are the key ingredients for wonderful adventures," Charita Carter, the senior creative producer leading the project at Walt Disney Imagineering, said when announcing the re-theme in 2020. "I am delighted to be a part of bringing this fun-filled experience to our guests."

The all-new Tiana's Bayou Adventure opens at the Disneyland Resort and the Walt Disney World Resort this summer.