Disneyland has opened Tiana’s Palace, a new restaurant inspired by The Princess and the Frog, in New Orleans Square.
Tiana’s Palace has replaced the French Market Restaurant and is based on Tiana’s dream restaurant in the 2009 Disney film.
Disney took inspiration from the movie for the restaurant’s interior, which includes a large mural of the bayou, as well as frog porcelains, cookbooks collected by Tiana, her father’s favourite gumbo spoon, personal letters, and a childhood photo of Tiana.
“Just as the Disney Animation team did for The Princess and the Frog, our Imagineering team put in a tremendous amount of research to help create Tiana’s Palace in the true, authentic spirit of New Orleans,” said Kim Irvine, executive creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering.
“This restaurant is filled with the festive beauty and charm of Tiana’s dream restaurant in the movie and is meant to be a gathering place for family and friends to enjoy delicious meals, just as Tiana and her father James dreamed of.”
The F&B facility serves New Orleans-inspired cuisine, including the 7 Greens Gumbo, gulf shrimp and grits, beignets and various regional dishes using select ingredients sourced from Louisiana.
“When developing the menu for Tiana’s Palace, the Disneyland Resort culinary team took inspiration from Tiana’s lifelong dream to open up her own restaurant serving beignets and gumbo,” said John State, the resort’s culinary director of food and beverage.
The Princess and the Frog in Disney parks
“We made every effort, through research and our team’s collective years of global culinary experience, to represent the flavors of New Orleans through dishes that we imagined Tiana would serve, sourcing local ingredients from the area where possible.”
Next to Tiana’s Palace is the Mint Julep Bar, which has also reopened and is serving its famous mint juleps and Mickey Mouse-shaped beignets.
Also new in New Orleans Square is Eudora’s Chic Boutique Featuring Tiana’s Gourmet Secrets. Next year, Disneyland will open the new Tiana’s Bayou Adventure attraction.
Images courtesy of Disney
