Bayou Country
| Bayou Country | |
|---|---|
| Opened | November 15, 2024
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| Theme | Louisiana bayou and woodland animals
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| Status | Operating |
Bayou Country is a themed land at Disneyland Park in the Disneyland Resort, California, situated beyond New Orleans Square on the banks of the Rivers of America. It took its present name on November 15, 2024, when Tiana's Bayou Adventure opened there, and it is the third identity of the same small land: it opened in 1972 as Bear Country and was known from 1988 to 2024 as Critter Country. Its setting now joins the Louisiana bayou of The Princess and the Frog (2009) with the older backwoods character of the land it replaced.
History
The area began as Indian Village, a Frontierland exhibit that operated from 1956 to 1971. Rebuilt as Bear Country, the park's seventh land, it opened on March 4, 1972, with the Country Bear Jamboree as its centrepiece, the Golden Bear Lodge restaurant, and the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes on the river. Renamed Critter Country in 1988, the land gained Splash Mountain, a log flume based on Song of the South, on July 17, 1989. The Country Bears closed in 2001 and were replaced in 2003 by The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
In June 2020 Disney announced that Splash Mountain would be converted into a ride continuing the story of The Princess and the Frog. Splash Mountain closed on May 31, 2023, and during 2024 the land closed in sections while the flume was rebuilt, its restaurant reworked and two of its shops replaced. At the D23 fan event in August 2024, Disney announced that the land would reopen as Bayou Country alongside the new ride. The renaming took effect on November 15, 2024.
Attractions
Tiana's Bayou Adventure is the land's headliner. Set after the events of the film, it follows Princess Tiana and the alligator Louis as they gather animal musicians for a Mardi Gras celebration, travelling by log through bayou scenes of new Audio-Animatronic animal bands before a final drop of about 50 feet down the former Splash Mountain route, in the salt-mine setting of Tiana's Foods, the character's employee-owned food company in the ride's story. It opened at Disneyland five months after the Florida version.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, retained unchanged from Critter Country, is a dark ride in honey-pot vehicles through scenes from the Pooh stories, including a flood, a blustery day and a room of Heffalumps and Woozles. Winnie the Pooh and friends meet guests near its exit. Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes also continue to board at the land's river dock, paddling guests around Tom Sawyer Island on busier days.
The land itself is compact. One path wraps around the flume from the Haunted Mansion side of New Orleans Square to the shops at its far end, while a second, beside the restaurant, continues to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.
Dining and shops
The Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree is the land's restaurant, renamed in 2024 from the Hungry Bear Restaurant, which had served the land since 1977. Its barbecue menu is themed to the Country Bears, whose music and references decorate the two levels of shaded terrace seating overlooking the river — a deliberate retention of the land's first attraction in its new form.
Two shops created for the renaming carry the film's bayou cast: Ray's Berets, named for the firefly Ray, sells headwear in a setting built around his family's jars, and Louis' Critter Club, named for Louis the alligator, occupies part of the former Briar Patch shop and sells clothing and souvenirs tied to Tiana and the ride. Pooh Corner, at the land's end, continues as the Winnie the Pooh shop and confectionery. The three shops give the land two character areas — Tiana's at its entrance and Pooh's at its far end.
See also
- Critter Country
- Disneyland Park
- Rivers of America (Disneyland)
- Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge (Disneyland)