On Wednesday, guests at Magic Kingdom Park witnessed an unexpected malfunction on the Tiana’s Bayou Adventure attraction. One Disney Park guest shared their recollection of one of the advanced audio-animatronics failing during the ride’s finale.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, which opened at Walt Disney World Resort in June 2024 and at Disneyland Resort in November 2024, replaced the controversial Splash Mountain attraction. The rethemed log flume ride takes guests on a musical journey through the New Orleans bayou, featuring characters from The Princess and the Frog (2009). Original cast members Anika Noni Rose (Princess Tiana), Michael-Leon Wooley (Louis), Jenifer Lewis (Mama Odie), and Bruno Campos (Prince Naveen) all reprised their roles. The ride does not include the villainous Dr. Facilier, who Keith David voices.
The early days of Walt Disney World Resort’s version of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure were rocky. Several operational issues caused early shutdowns during Disney cast member and Annual Passholder previews. Even after its official opening, the attraction experienced frequent stops, evacuations, and problems with its audio-animatronics.
Now, nearly a year later, the ride runs more smoothly. Still, it isn’t immune to glitches. On May 14, Reddit user u/rrsafety rode the attraction twice and noticed that the Princess Tiana animatronic was completely still during the finale.
“We thought the grand finale was quite underwhelming,” the Magic Kingdom Park guest wrote. “Some of us were arguing if it was even Tiana at the end standing there singing. LOL. Got back to the room and went to YouTube to realize the star of the show was actually broken for the final number.”
This isn’t the first time this animatronic has caused issues; Disney Dining experienced the same problem during a ride in January. Whether this latest malfunction was fixed overnight remains unclear. As of the article’s publication on Thursday, May 15, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure was still welcoming Walt Disney World Resort guests.
Have you ever seen an animatronic malfunction at Walt Disney World Resort or Disneyland Resort? Disney Dining would love to hear your story in the comments!
Back in 1978 when the park first opened, I went with my aunt who lived in Florida to Disney World, When we went into the Hall of President’s and while watching it got to the part where Abraham Lincoln was doing his speech and all of a sudden there was a pop and he fell back into his chair. We thought it was part of the attraction with him being assassinated. Obviously it wasn’t but the timing was perfect
If they left Dr. Facilier out of the ride, I know I dont wanna ride it. He was awesome!