Will Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Have an Individual Lightning Lane When It Opens in Disney World?

The NEW Tiana’s Bayou Adventure ride is opening SOON in Disney World! Although we know it’ll open this summer, we’re still waiting for an official opening date (ahem…Disney, whenever you’re ready), but here’s the real question: Once the ride opens, how will you get on it?

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Magic Kingdom

Some rides at Disney World use virtual queues instead of standby lines, some offer Lightning Lanes with Genie+, others have Individual Lightning Lanes, and still more have just standby queues with no option to skip the line at all. It’s fair to say that getting on certain Disney World rides is COMPLICATED. So what will Tiana’s Bayou Adventure use? Standby line or virtual queue? Genie+, Individual Lightning Lane, or no skip-the-line option at all? Here’s what we know so far and what we’re predicting for when it opens.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is not really a brand-new ride. Instead, it’s a complete re-theme of the old Splash Mountain ride. So, we can speculate about what will happen when Tiana’s opens based on what usually happens with new rides combined with what Splash Mountain used to have back in the day (and by “back in the day” we mean…like a year and a half ago 😂).

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure construction

First, let me give you a quick overview of the new ride so that you know what we’re dealing with here (and whether or not you want to ride it in the first place!). Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is opening this summer (2024) in Disney World. The Splash Mountain ride has been closed for about a year and a half now for the refurbishment.

The storyline of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure takes place just after the movie The Princess and the Frog. Tiana has made her dream come true by opening a restaurant, and now she wants to say thank you to her community of supporters by hosting a big Mardi Gras party. But OH NO — she realizes she’s missing a key ingredient for the event and needs your help to find it!

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Concept Art ©Disney

Guests join Tiana on an adventure through the bayou, where they’ll encounter familiar characters like Louis the alligator, Prince Naveen, Mama Odie, Eudora (Tiana’s mom), Charlotte, “Big Daddy,” the King and Queen of Maldonia, and Naveen’s younger brother, Prince Ralphie.

©Disney Tiana’s Bayou Adventure concept art

There are also going to be some NEW characters, including a band of musical critters.

©Disney

Of course there has to be some great music on the ride if it’s going to live up to the music in the film. The ride will feature a mix of songs from the movie and original music. One of the features that we’re MOST excited to experience is actually in the queue because Disney has promised that the smell of fresh beignets is going to be pumped into the queue as a nod to New Orleans and Tiana’s signature dish.

Queue

So are you convinced that you need to try out this new ride? Alright, good deal. Now, let’s talk about how you’ll get on it.

Virtual Queue or Standby Line?

There are only a couple of rides in Disney World that are currently using a virtual queue in place of a standby line: TRON Lightycycle / Run and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. To get on those rides, you CAN’T wait in a normal, standby line. Instead, you must join the virtual queue on the app and wait to be called back when it’s your turn to ride.

To learn HOW to join a virtual queue in Disney World, click HERE.

Most new rides and attractions use a virtual queue when they first open in Disney World. Even the walk-through attraction Journey of Water — Inspired by Moana used a virtual queue for a couple of days once it opened in EPCOT. For that reason, we’re expecting Tiana’s Bayou Adventure to use a virtual queue for at least a little while when it opens. 

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

It’s possible that the virtual queue won’t last very long (it could even just be for the first week or so), but how long it lasts will likely depend on guest demand. Disney utilizes virtual queues to keep the wait time lower (so you’re not stuck waiting in a 5-hour line), but if not too many guests are joining the virtual queue, they might move it over to a standby line sooner rather than later.

If you’re going to Disney World within the first couple of weeks of the ride opening, though, you can probably expect to use a virtual queue to get on.

Individual Lightning Lane or Genie+?

So here’s the more complicated question: Will Tiana’s Bayou Adventure be part of Genie+ or have an a la carte Lightning Lane?

There are two different ways to skip the standby lines in Disney World. Lots of rides are part of Genie+, which you can purchase as a feature for any of the parks on the day of your visit. Using Genie+, you can reserve Lightning Lanes throughout the day, which means you’ll get to skip the standby lines.

Lightning Lane at Expedition Everest

Some of the most popular rides in Disney World, however, are NOT part of Genie+. Instead, their Lightning Lanes are available for purchase a la carte. You don’t have to buy Genie+ to buy Individual Lightning Lanes, and you don’t have to buy Individual Lightning Lanes to buy Genie+ — you can get either one, both, or neither.

Here are the rides that have Individual Lightning Lanes in Disney World:

You can buy Individual Lightning Lanes for up to two attractions per day. If you’re staying at a Disney World hotel or at the Swan and Dolphin or Shades of Green Resort, you can buy Individual Lightning Lanes starting at 7AM on the day of your visit. Everyone else can start buying Individual Lightning Lanes at the park opening time.

To learn how to use Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes, click HERE.

There are a couple of reasons why the “Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lane” question for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is more complicated than the virtual queue dilemma. One is that Splash Mountian was part of Genie+ — it didn’t have an a la carte Lightning Lane. It’s possible that will mean that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will be part of Genie+, too.

Splash Mountain Lightning Lane

Another complication is that guests are limited to only TWO Individual Lightning Lanes per day, and there are already two rides with Individual Lightning Lanes in Magic Kingdom: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and TRON Lightcycle / Run. If there are suddenly three options and the rule of only two per guest stands, then you’ll have to pick between the three and use either the standby line or virtual queue for the other one.

TRON Lightcycle / Run

So one option is that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will just be part of Genie+ when it opens, which would be a little bit surprising considering we’re expecting this to be a really popular ride and most of the popular rides have a la carte Lightning Lanes. However, this fits better into what previously happened with Genie+ in Magic Kingdom since Splash Mountain was part of Genie+.

The other option is that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has an Individual Lightning Lane, in which case Disney might make Seven Dwarfs Mine Train part of Genie+, or just have three Individual Lightning Lanes in Magic Kingdom.

©Disney

We’ll be there on the opening day of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure to bring you all the details and info you need to get on the ride ASAP. Stay tuned to DFB for all the updates!

Click here to learn more about the new Tiana’s Bayou Adventure ride!

Are you hoping to get on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure when it opens? Let us know in the comments!