Jenifer Lewis On Why Her Involvement in Disney’s New Princess Tiana Ride Is So Significant (Exclusive)

After a highly anticipated four-year journey, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is finally here! The princess’ attraction is the latest to take over Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, and fans of all ages are gearing up to ride Splash Mountain’s replacement. Promised to be unlike any other water ride, riders will journey through Tiana’s life about a year after the events of the animated musical that premiered 15 years ago.

Riders will see flashbacks of her life before opening her own restaurant and where she is in her entrepreneurial endeavors in New Orleans, Louisiana. Expect music true to NOLA and the characters to come to life magically before the build-up to the 50-foot plunge along the log.

PopCulture attended a preview of the attraction ahead of its official debut. Earlier in the evening, Jenifer Lewis, who stars in the film as Mama Odie, joked that having her voice featured in two Disney attractions – one for Cars’Radiator Springs Racers in Disneyland and now for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Disney World – makes her feel like she “owns” Disney. Her character plays a vital part in the new attraction.

“Cars was one thing. I was very happy to do that role and working with the cast was amazing. And then having the cafe, which is in Disneyland, added another special element,” she told PopCulture exclusively at the media preview for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure launch. “When we went to the premiere of the ride car, I walked into the cafe. I went, ‘Hey everybody, I’m Flo.’ And the guy said, a young guy, he went, ‘Ma’am, would you like a hamburger?’ He didn’t know me. It was so humbling. And so they took us, the cast, through the ride. And I heard my voice. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I’m at Disneyland. My voice is in Disneyland. And it’s forever.”

But she says hearing her voice and seeing her as Mama Odu come to life in Tiana’s Bayou Adventure did something different for her soul. “With Mama Odie, I don’t know if anyone saw the video I posted [to my social media]. When I first saw the animatronic…seeing her was one thing. Everybody knows she looks a little more human than the other character. But when I heard my voice come out of her, I was blissful because I literally felt like I had breathed the breath of life into this little short woman over an animatronic.”

Tiana’s Bayou adventure is scheduled to be open to the public on June 28 at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. A Disneyland attraction in Anaheim, California, will debut later this year.