By Elizabeth Manley
Staff Writer
Is Disneyland’s newest ride worth all the hype? Starting on November 15th, splash down into the bayou on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure! This brand-new ride is currently in previews for Magic Key Holders and a duplicate of the ride is already open in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. The new ride has you heading down the bayou on an adventure to find some musical critters for Tiana’s Mardi Gras party. Of course, your favorite characters like Tiana, Louis, Mama Odie, and Naveen will return as well as tons of new characters. This ride seems pretty awesome, but what are the drawbacks? Everything can’t always be all sunshine and rainbows, or can it?
There are some things that make Tiana’s Bayou Adventure a little less appealing. For starters, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure replaces a fan-favorite attraction, Splash Mountain. Splash Mountain officially closed May 31st, 2023 after 34 years of operation to make way for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. During recent months, construction has caused one of Disneyland’s many lands, Critter Country, and all that comes with it, to close. This includes the classic attraction, the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Don’t worry though, this attraction as well as many other areas has returned to operation in the newly renamed Bayou Country.
Disneyland’s newest ride is using the dreaded virtual queue system. Virtual queues are Disneyland and Walt Disney World’s newest way to wait in line for their brand-new attractions. The system is like a lottery. At 7:00 am and 12:00 pm, Disneyland guests can go on the Disneyland app and join the virtual queue. If done quickly, you’ll get into a boarding group. When your boarding group is called, you get to get in line and ride! However, you only have one hour from when your group is called to get in line. If you miss your time to come back or don’t get a boarding group, then you don’t get to ride at all. On top of that, the virtual queue doesn’t even make the wait time significantly shorter. If you want to skip the line, then the virtual queue system is not what you need, you’ll have to pay for Disneyland’s skip-the-line service. If you do buy the skip-the-line service, you don’t have to deal with the virtual queue, you just have to pay for it. Many people find the virtual queue system a hassle and a big mistake because it doesn’t help the wait time. Additionally, you aren’t guaranteed to ride the ride on your visit. Luckily, once the popularity of the new ride dies down, they get rid of the virtual queue system for that attraction.
Enough of general concerns and opinions, what are SOAR students saying about Tiana’s Bayou Adventure? Freshman Meredith Valladares stated, “I love Princess Tiana and am so excited for the new ride.” Another SOAR Student Victoria Amaya said, “I am excited for the ride, because it looks like an awesome ride. It did replace Splash Mountain, but I am very excited about the new designs they came up with for the ride.” Now that you know all about Disneyland’s newest ride, what do you think? Will you try and snag a virtual queue for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure on your next visit, or will you sit this one out?
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