Along with new Frontierland props, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has gained more foliage. Crew members have also been working on the queue and train station stairs.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Construction
When we visited the construction site last Thursday, several crew members were working on the mountain, which is becoming a salt mine for the story of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. They were mostly around the mill, where guests ascend the attraction.
While most of the foliage and flowers covering the salt mine are fake, real plants have been installed around the outdoor section.
Crew members were on scaffolding in front of the mill. One crew member was in a safety harness.
It looked like they were putting finishing details on the area.
We saw crew members installing fresh grass.
When we returned a few days later, crew members were still working on the scaffolding around the mill.
But scaffolding had also been removed from further up on the mountain. This gave us a view of freshly-planted foliage along a ridge below the drop opening.
The new plants are a slightly brighter green than the fake moss and yellow-green grass.
Recently, Imagineers were seen testing the ride’s drop.
Briar Patch Gift Shop
A few weeks ago, dark scrim was put up across the entrance to the former Briar Patch gift shop. The scrim is now gone but the windows remain covered from the inside.
Disney announced last month that the Briar Patch at Disneyland would become Ray’s Berets and a portion of Pooh Corner would become Louis’ Critter Club. These names may be used for Walt Disney World gift shops, too, but that hasn’t been officially announced.
Frontierland Train Station
Over at the Frontierland train station, only one staircase is open as the exit and entrance to Walt Disney World Railroad. Crew members are constructing a new entrance staircase to the right.
On Thursday, we heard and saw crew members working in this area.
The next time we stopped by, there was no active work on the stairs. But there are now steps covering the lower half of the staircase framework.
There are also planks of wood on the landing.
Rumors indicate that no new play area will be constructed beneath the train station. The Splash Mountain-themed Laughin’ Place play area was demolished last year.
We also learned that construction walls will move sometime soon. Currently, guests can walk under the red barn-like section of the train station to reach restrooms. The construction walls will reportedly flip, with this area closing and a tunnel opening up where the playground used to be.
Prop crates and barrels were installed in a flowerbed in front of the train station and queue.
The crates act as a wall at one edge of the flowerbed, which was just full of straw. The rest of the flowerbed is lined in a wood fence.
The props feature labels for soap, lanterns, horseshoes, whiskey, and more Frontierland-appropriate items.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Queue
Behind nearby construction walls, work continues on the queue for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. We reported last week on a new gate installed at the edge of a curved walkway.
One half of the gate has since been painted a dark blue to match the fencing around it. The other half was removed and sitting nearby to be painted.
There’s a lilypad design on one side of the gate.
It appears to lead directly into an area that will eventually be filled with plants, implying it will just be for Cast Member access.
New flooring has been installed at the landing of this staircase directly behind the train station. These stairs lead to a Cast Member entrance.
The bottoms of the metal railing supports were wrapped in red plastic to protect them during flooring work. Red caution tape was also across the stairs.
On the other side of the queue’s yellow barn, new plants have been installed in some of the flowerbeds.
The plants are behind themed black railings. Some of the old Splash Mountain fencing still remains throughout the queue.
We saw crew members working on the window of the barn, which was recently revealed with new panes of glass.
They were drilling new framing around the window.
Flume
Down near the end of the attraction, after the drop, we’ve seen crew members working on the poles and concrete around this loop of the flume.
We saw some fake rocks sitting on the edge of the flume.
These appear to be rocks that hide speakers, which were being replaced or refurbished.
One rock sat next to the steel mesh framework of a speaker rock.
The fencing in front of the access staircase was also removed.
The crew members were doing some kind of wiring work on these wood poles because the next time we stopped by, wiring dangled out of them.
There were also log vehicles in the flume during this next visit.
Nearly every pole around the loop had visible wiring.
Some speaker rocks were also still awaiting work.
It looks like the railing of this staircase is being refreshed.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is scheduled to open at Magic Kingdom this summer.
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