Walt Disney Imagineering is the creative arm of the Disney Parks and they often themselves on the stories they create to craft for every experience. Whether it’s a new ride or a new churro stand, great attention to detail and story is often a hallmark of what they produce. For the new Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disneyland a bunch of fun story elements and hidden surprises are packed into both the queue on the ride… if you know where to look!
Here’s our closer look at some of the intricate details at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disneyland.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This posting was updated 12/7/24 to include reference to the beignet frying in the pot.
Main Story Details
For Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the entire queue helps to paint the picture for the story that’s unfolding before you board your log. There’s no dedicated pre-show moment but the details are laid out if you’re paying attention!
Timeline
Often times, the storylines for many Disney Park attractions is fairly fluid. There might be a general era of time — for instance, the old west for Big Thunder Mountain, fairytale medieval Europe for Fantasyland, etc. — but for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, we’re squared in on a very specific day in the life of the Princess. It’s so specific, in fact, that it’s confirmed on a calendar on the wall in her office. The events you are experiencing on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure took place on February 26, 1927.
Some of the other notable events on Tiana’s calendar include a February 5th interview with the New Orleans Business Journal, a February 7th reminder to pick up posters at Bellerose, a February 24th reminder for scheduled delivery from Wong Family Groves, and a recurring Congo Square appointment on Sundays. Congo Square is a real historic gathering place in New Orleans where both formerly enslaved Africans and free people of color would frequently congregate on Sundays to drum, dance, and preserve cultural traditions. By the 1920s, it had become a crucial foundation for jazz, blending African rhythms and improvisation with other musical influences from the area to shape the uniquely-American new styles of music.
The Party!
A chalkboard in Tiana’s test kitchen can be seen with the hand-written note reminding everyone to come over to the party — TONIGHT!
Don’t Forget! Celebration at my house, tonight! Everybody’s welcome! See you there! – Tiana
Party Prep
Tiana has a to do list and if you read it carefully you can see there’s a few steps that are still not yet completed… and therein lies the musical adventure in which we will soon find ourselves immersed!
To Do List:
- Eudora – Finish Tiana’s dress ✔
- Carmen: Call radio station ✔ Send invitations ✔
- Charita: Order decorations ✔ Order silverware ✔
- Leah: Gumbo ✔ Beignets ✔
- Naveen: Chop veggies ✔ Finish setting up for party __
- Louis: Hire band __
Tiana also has another chalkboard To Do list outside the main offices for Tiana’s Foods. There’s one item still un checked and she’s circled it as a final step. Let’s get going!
For Party:
- ✔ Prepare Daddy’s gumbo
- ✔ Fry beignets ✔ Decorate
- ✔ Set up chairs
- ✔ Clear patio for band
- ( Coordinate band with Louis )
Backstory Details
Awards and Accolades
Newspapers
Several newspapers have been preserved highlighting significant milestones in the life of Princess Tiana including headlines that read:
- Princess Expands “Palace” Into Business Empire
- Highlights from this article in the New Orleans Business Journal include her brand new business, Tiana Foods, which is an employee-owned co-op just outside of New Orleans. It also notes that she is the Princess of Maldonia and owner of Tiana’s Palace restaurant and entertainment venue. It further shares that now that renovations are complete on the new business, Tiana also aims to teach gardening and cooking classes to children of all ages and to teach coworkers on running businesses of their own.
- An ad in the paper also advertises free concerts outside Tiana’s Palace by Orquesta Jarabe who are performing Saturday evenings in February.
- An additional ad featured Tiana’s Foods original Hot Sauces including Original Hot Sauce, Red Chili Hot Sauce, Roasted Garlic Hot Sauce, and Roasted Pepper Hot Sauce.
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Tiana’s Palace Opens to Royal Praise
- Highlights from this article in the New Orleans Business Journal include high praise from editors at the paper including buzings of being a frontrunner for Best New Business Award. It shares Tiana’s work ethic being a product of her hardworking mother Eudora, a dressmaker, and father James Rogers a chef and soldier in the 369th Infantry Regiment who gave his life defending his country.
- Tiana is quoted saying “Good food has the power to bring folks together from all walks of life. And never, ever lose sight of what’s really important” — two life lessons she learned from her father.
- Local Gator Shares Love of Jazz with Crescent City
- The news paper clipping talks about Louis’ journey from bayou gator to trumpeter extraordinaire for the Firefly Five Plus Lou band which plays nightly at Tiana’s Palace. Louis credits Tiana who “always taught me to appreciate myself as I am.”
Awards and Recognition
Throughout the queue, you’ll find several acknowledgments of recognition for Tiana’s merits including both of her businesses, Tiana’s Palace and Tiana’s Foods. We also learn through various pieces of ephemera that Tiana’s last name is Rogers! The attraction is the first time that we get confirmation of the character’s last name.
Personal Mementos
Self Affirmation
A small piece of paper on Tiana’s desk has a framed aspirational quote.
“When you start to lose yourself in the daily grind, step outside and breathe deeply. Appreciate the seeds you planted. Smell the fruit of all your labor.”
Family Recipes
Tiana being an awesome chef is built into the story of The Princess and the Frog and that legacy is further explored throughout the queue. We find that she is a published author with her own book: “Tiana’s Family Recipes: A Cookbook for Kids.” There’s also two other books on the shelf including one called just “Recipes” and another called “Meals of Maldonia” which shows Tiana widening out her cooking repertoire to pay homage to the heritage of Prince Naveen.
There’s also a few different recipes for those who look carefully including three separate recipe cards located in the test kitchen. One is an incomplete recipe for Tiana’s famous (man-catchin’) beignets and another for her Red Beans and Rice. The recipes are typed out on cards branded with “From the Kitchen of Tiana’s Palace” letterhead. Tiana has also framed a well-used hand-written piece of paper with “Daddy’s Gumbo” recipe on it and it’s complete with gumbo stains; it’s shown with the wooden spoon she uses in the film to stir it all up.
While you’re walking through the kitchen, you’ll be able to smell the fresh-made beignets that are sitting on the counter and although guests cannot step directly into the kitchen area, there actually is a beignet frying in the oil inside that pot on the stove! Our image of it below was provided courtesy of Disney — please do not climb over railings!
 
Image is © Disney. All rights reserved.
Personal Photos
Many of the photos found throughout the attraction were created by Disney artist Laura West.
Life in New Orleans
Opening Tiana’s Palace
Family Memories
With her mother, Eudora.
With her father, James.
With Charlotte.
Great with Children
Thus far, we’ve seen two different pieces that show Tiana’s warm heart with enriching the lives of children. Aside from her cookbook made for children, a newspaper interview reveals her intention to begin teaching gardening and cooking to children of all ages. There’s two additional details that support this backstory including a Children’s Garden in the outdoor queue and a bulletin board notice advertising Free Cooking Classes for kids, Mondays after school.
 
Community Involvement
As part of the renovations for Tiana’s Foods, new murals on the front of the building features several scenes that highlight Tiana’s involvement with the community. Panels depict both the gardens full of produce and kitchens full of aspiring chefs. Louis also makes a few cameos as her right-hand gator.
Tiana’s Business
A Salty History
Disney loves a good gentrification story of building a new story on top of an old one and for Tiana’s Foods, that legacy is built on top of a former salt mine. The caverns that serve as the queue for the attraction now serve story purpose as remnants of the previous mines harvested for salt. You can see crystals of salt in the earthen caverns and a few punny signs that Imagineers could not help themselves with that nod to the former history.
An additional practical bit of backstory is also layered into the loading station where you board your log. This area serves storywise as the shipping and receiving area for Tiana’s Foods. As you exit the attraction you come across the delivery van ready to pick up the latest shipments of product and produce.
What Do They Grow?
Now a food production and processing facility, the Tiana’s Foods compound is full of gardens growing a bunch of different vegetables including:
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Celery
- Crescent City Princess Peppers
- Mustard Greens
- Louisiana Gator Peppers
- Okra
- Onions (red and white)
- Pumpkins
- Purple Pod beans
- Squash
What Do They Produce?
Tiana’s Foods is a new bustling business as we’ve seen from some of her recent awards and various crates, boxes, and jars offer a peek at some of the items that her company processes including:
- Hot Sauce
- Original Hot Sauce
- Red Chili Hot Sauce
- Roasted Garlic Hot Sauce
- Roasted Pepper Hot Sauce
-
Oils
- All Natural Pecan Oil
- All Natural Peanut Oil
- Pickled Produce
- Hot Vinegar Peppers
- Whole Chili Peppers
- Sliced Jalapeno Peppers
- Whole Jalapeno Peppers
- Seasoning
- Cajun Seasoning
- Garlic Salt
- Pure Ground Pepper
- Seasoned Pepper
- Seasoned Salt
Suppliers
Tiana’s Foods can’t do everything on their own and backstory elements throughout the attraction and queue offer a look at some of the imports her company does from local businesses including Doreen Orchards for their red beans and dried chili peppers, Adeeman Mills for their flour, Wong Family Groves for their peanuts and pecans, and Eudora’s (you can see a reminder for Tiana to pick up aprons in her office).
Why Floating Logs?
One of the most fun details in the backstory for how Tiana’s Foods operates within this facility is the practical explanation of of why there’s a river and log system at Tiana’s Foods. A framed photo in Tiana’s office conveys the reason and it’s because the logs are not meant for human transport, they’re actually used to harvest from the gardens an float down the river to the loading docks.
Bayou Critters
As we find out, the main story of the attraction is to find some of the most talented musical critters in the bayou for Tiana’s party. By the end, we’ve found several talented musicians who have since fully ingratiated themselves into the critter community as evidenced by posters promoting their upcoming performances.
Fun Details
Splash Mountain References
Often times, when Disney replaces one attraction with another (e.g. an Eeyore parking lot sign hidden in Indiana Jones Adventure, the Adventure Thru Inner Space Mighty Microscope pulling double duty as tech equipment in Star Tours, rocks shaped like mermaids inside Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, etc.) and the former Splash Mountain gets quite a few separate references that we’ve found.
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Small trinket figures can be found throughout the attraction but in three separate places you can also find pairings of a rabbit, fox, and bear — an homage to the attraction’s former leading stars Br’er Rabbit, Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear.
- We found figures in Tiana’s office, on the mantle of a fireplace at the beginning of the attraction queue, and more on another fireplace mantel at the exit of the attraction.
- The third reference is a little less direct and there’s several other critters mixed in amongst the figures which may actually be a tribute to the new characters featured in the various critter bands in the attraction or possibly to the other Br’er characters that were featured in the attraction in its former life as Splash Mountain.
- Less obvious of a tribute is a trinket of a paddle wheeler that is also on the mantle next to the rabbit, fox, and bear figures. While steam powered paddlewheelers play a significant role in The Princess and the Frog the ones shown in the film have a paddlewheel at the back of the vessel (like the Mark Twain on the Rivers of America). This particular one, however, has its paddlewheels on the side not unlike the vessel named Zip-A-Dee-Lady that was featured in the attraction’s former grand finale.
Internal References
B. Jolley and Eshenroder Dry Ginger Ale
In Tiana’s office, an opened box of B. Jolley chocolates and a bottle of Eshenroder Dry Ginger Ale can be seen inconspicuously sitting near her desk. Later on, we discover the same brands can be seen in the attraction being repurposed by the frogs for their musical instruments including the box of chocolates serving as a piano and the bottle caps as tops for drums. A box for fishing lures also finds new life as a bench, you can hear mention of this brand on the radio that plays in the queue.
Missing Rake and License Plate
In two different parts of the attraction, small notices are posted to employee bulletin boards including one from a young child named Mera (who is missing a rake that was given to her by her grandmother) and another by an employee named Avery (for a license plate missing off the Tiana’s Foods delivery truck)! The rake was last seen with an opossum and the license plate had LA-24 license plate with number 71975.
As it turns out, both items seem to have been “borrowed” by Lari, the bayou’s resident light-fingered armadillo. The rake can be seen repurposed by an opossum named Beau for use in a double bass made from a gourd. The license plate is being used by Gritty the rabbit who is playing it like a washboard.
Missing Typewriter keys
On the desk in Tiana’s office is a beautiful Royal typewriter but two of the keys are missing. As it turns out, Tiana has noticed and posted a note that the “A” and “K” letters are missing. “Has anyone seen my missing typewriter keys? – Tiana” is typed out on a slip of paper with the missing letters filled in by hand with red ink. Tiana’s signature is found at the bottom.
It looks like that same rascally band that is responsible for the missing rake and license plate is also behind this disappearance as the two keys are being used for the fiddle being played by Timoléon the otter.
Song Lyrics
Song lyrics from The Princess and the Frog are integrated organically in the attraction including on two separate pieces of needlepoint embroidery.
- There’s magic in the air tonight and anything can happen…
- When you find out who you are, you’ll find out what you need. Blue skies and sunshine, guaranteed!
Tributes
Eric Goldberg
Although unconfirmed, we saw one character in one of the photographs (on the far right) who looks quite a bit like Disney Animator Eric Goldberg. He was the supervising animator for Louis the alligator amongst an incredible resume for the Walt Disney Animation Studio that includes Genie (Aladdin), Phil (Hercules), and many more.
Leah Chase
Leah Chase was a renowned chef and civil rights icon, often referred to as the “Queen of Creole Cuisine” for her work at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in New Orleans. Her culinary talent and dedication to social justice was part of what inspired the character Princess Tiana character in The Princess and the Frog. There’s also a hook in the office with with her name on it and a light yellow sweater.
Charita Carter
As a project lead for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and Executive Creative Producer for Walt Disney Imagineering, Charita Carter has also overseen other projects for the Disney Parks including Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. She’s referenced a few times in the attraction including on Tiana’s Party Prep to do list (for ordering decorations and silverware for the party) and as one of the employees at Tiana’s Foods — her name can also be seen on the Tiana’s Foods employee time cards.
Carmen Smith
Carmen Smith is the Creative Executive, Vice President for Walt Disney Imagineering. She’s referenced a few times in the attraction including on Tiana’s Party Prep to do list (to call the radio station and also send invitations for the party) and as one of the employees at Tiana’s Foods — her name can also be seen on the Tiana’s Foods employee time cards.
Other Imagineers
Some of the other names on the time cards also belong to other Disney Imagineers who were involved on the project!
See it for Yourself
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure retheme of Splash Mountain officially opens at Disneyland on November 15, 2024. The Walt Disney World version in Magic Kingdom is already open.
MORE INFO: See all MouseInfo coverage for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
