Crews are reconstructing the top of what was once Splash Mountain and will now be Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Magic Kingdom, plus have added more to the barn mural in the ride’s queue.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Mountain
A grid of steel mesh now covers the top of the mountain, where there used to be a tall tree stump. The tree was removed in April of this year.
The mountain is covered in scaffolding, but the rounded mesh stands out.
The mesh will eventually be covered in plaster and other elements to make it blend in with the fake brown rocks around it.
In addition to the new steel on the top of the mountain, we could hear construction work going on inside the ride.
The interior isn’t visible, so we can’t be sure how far construction has come along, but Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is scheduled to open in late 2024.
Through the scaffolding, we saw where some rockwork has been stripped away to be-done.
New moss and grass have also been added to the mountain in an attempt to make it look more like part of a Louisiana bayou.
Some of this new moss was especially obvious around the side of the mountain, near the Frontierland railroad station.
It’s darker than some of the old fake foliage.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Flume
In addition to the mountain façade, we’ve been keeping a close eye on construction around the section of flume that goes loops under the Frontierland bridge.
The peninsula in the flume loop is lined with green tubing. The water in the flume is from recent rainfall — the flume has not yet been refilled.
Trees were removed from the peninsula and new sod was placed.
Some of the rockwork around the edge of the flume has been torn out and re-constructed, just like some of the mountain.
We noticed a big hole in the rockwork of the lefthand tunnel.
The steel framework is visible through the hole. We didn’t see workers in this area when we visited.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Queue
Heading over to the ride’s queue and the Walt Disney World Railroad station, we noticed some minor work on the stair railings.
There are small pieces of tarp wrapped around the bottom edges of this railing.
From the railroad station, we can see the construction site below. The pavement has been torn up, although some fresh concrete was recently poured.
On the other side of the station, some pavement remains in the extended outdoor queue.
But there is scaffolding along the back of the queue and tarps throughout. Some trees have been removed.
Crews have begun dismantling the railroad station’s exit ramp and stairs. For now, they are sending exiting guests back down the entrance ramp.
A few days ago, we first noticed a new mural on the far side of the yellow barn in the queue.
More has been added to the mural, just barely visible through trees.
We could see the outline of new shapes and one arm painted dark brown.
The mural features people with various skin tones with flowers and brightly-colored stripes.
Hopping on one of the Walt Disney World Railroad trains, we took another look at queue construction. A tarp and two wood planks are over this doorway that looks into the queue.
Tarps also hang over the barn’s doorways and window.
From up here, we can get a better idea of just how much of the pavement is gone.
The mural isn’t visible from this side of the barn, but it’s possible it will be expanded to other panels of the building.
Atop the barn, the Br’er Rabbit weathervane holds strong.
Crews have worked on the roof of the barn, but still haven’t removed the weathervane. Some Cast Members have speculated that Br’er Rabbit will stay as a reference to the former attraction, but this hasn’t been confirmed.
Are you excited about Tiana’s Bayou Adventure? Let us know in the comments.
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