Hey, it's Joy Ofodu.
Come along with me on this research trip
as we step into the shoes of a Disney Imagineer.
We're going to figure out what
here in New Orleans, Louisiana, inspired Tiana's Bayou Adventure.
I'm talking sights, sounds, music, culture, history, museum, jazz, beignets.
It's a little overwhelming, but the first stop on this next couple of days is real easy.
They told me it was going to be simple.
It’s a bayou tour.
Let's go!
Buckle up!
Where we're going to see
where they drew inspiration for that scene where they meet my friend, Louis.
I will be shocked if I leave here with the eyelashes I came with.
We've spotted our first gator.
Hi, buddy!
I don't have any beignets for you, buddy.
Oh, he's eyeing me, too.
Oh, hi!
So is this the part where they reveal this is one of the animatronics?
That was really cute.
And then the closer and closer he got it got really scary.
I know we're going to find Tiana’s secret ingredient in this bayou.
It's feeling really magical.
The sounds are gorgeous.
You can hear everything buzzing, humming, shaking.
There's another raccoon.
Hi, buddy!
What I learned is that the Imagineers were paying super close attention to the floral, the fauna
especially recreating lily pads, because they're just so darn cute.
I see why you actually have to be here
to understand and believe and recreate the magic of the bayou.
Nobody could really describe it to you.
I'm doing the best that I can.
Am I doing okay?
Our next stop, the world famous Dooky Chase Restaurant
to talk about Tiana's impact over the past decade
and the special connection Disney has made with the Chase family.
Our grandparents opened the door of the restaurant in 1941,
My father and mother came into the business
in the late forties
and began to help them
make the business grow to what it is now.
Well, I'm having a swell time, sugar.
I'm delighted to be here.
Our restaurant became a welcoming place to all.
So this is a unifying place, a place where everyone feels special,
like my mother wants them to feel.
We do all that every day right in this dining room
continuing the legacy of the Chase family.
We're here at The Historic New Orleans Collection,
where I'm an interpretive guide,
and it's my privilege to be able to show people
through the Williams Research Center, our archives
and research center, where Imagineering came to drink in the history
and the textures and the feel of the old French Quarter.
Hey, everyone!
We just saw The Historic New Orleans Collection,
where ten or more Imagineers have visited, sat with folks in the archives.
Do you know they opened up the archives for Disney?
They started to understand what was the art, the culture,
the dialects between wards of New Orleans, the furniture.
You don't think about these things, but the Imagineers think about these things.
And this is how they did research for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
We are currently inside The Jazz Museum.
I have a hunch we're going to hear something about,
I don't know, the music of Princess and the Frog.
The Jazz Museum has been a wonderful, wonderful resource for us
and we did bring, on several occasions,
different groups of people to come here and do research.
This drum served as a prototype for us in doing our design.
We found a 1920s and 1930s accurate radio and drum
and we’ve just been informed that both the drum set will be in the ride as well as the radio.
There’s like a little radio show.
I can’t wait to hear what they put together at the top of the ride.
And to make a cool trip even cooler, our last stop was at Mardi Gras World.
We got to see how the magic of Mardi Gras comes to life each year
and how they repurpose these beautiful creations between celebrations.
Being in New Orleans for the first time is an eye-opening experience.
I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait to see Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
Thanks, Disney!
It’s true. I love New Orleans.