With Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opening at Disneyland Park later this year, two shops are being reimagined and coming soon to Critter Country! Louis is so excited about this news, he can’t help but blow his trumpet around New Orleans Square!
Two Reimagined Merchandise Shops
Inspired by Walt Disney Animation Studios’ The Princess and the Frog, Ray’s Berets and Louis’ Critter Club will soon be two new reimaged merchandise shops in Critter Country at Disneyland Park.
Ray’s Berets
First, Ray’s Berets will be taking over The Briar Patch and transforming the current merchandise location to Ray and his firefly kin’s new home in Critter Country. The shop will continue to carry headwear, apparel, accessories, toys and more but with a bayou theme. Let’s hope that Disney Parks Merchandising Group creates specific themed merchandise for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and Ray’s Berets that can only be found in these two reimagined locations in Critter Country.
Louis’ Critter Club
Next, Louis’ Critter Club will be taking over the left-hand side of Pooh Corner. The reimagined section of the shop will sell apparel, accessories, home decor and more featuring some of your favorite critters and Princess Tiana! So again, let’s hope for some new merchandise specifically themed to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, these two reimagined shops and Critter Country.
And for anyone with a sweet tooth who loves to pick up some sweet treats at Pooh Corner, don’t worry! The treats side of Pooh Corner will remain as is with Hundred Acre Wood merchandise and sweet treats like Tigger tails, candy apples and more.
Critter Country Temporarily Closing
To transform these reimagined shops, Critter Country will temporarily close beginning May 1, 2024. At that point, everything from the Haunted Mansion courtyard all the way to the Hungry Bear Restaurant will be closed in Disneyland Park which will continue to cause grid-lock in the area and massive crowds in other parts of the theme park. I still can’t believe that the Disneyland Resort closed two major attractions located side-by-side at the same time. In my opinion, this was poor planning from the resort management and Walt Disney Imagineering. Don’t get me wrong, I am excited for these enhancements to the theme park, but taking on these two projects at the same time causes guest dissatisfaction and an entire area of the park to be completely under construction. Hopefully both projects will wrap up quickly in time for the summer crowds to arrive at the resort.
According to the announcement today from Disney Parks, “Teams are working hard to bring Tiana’s Bayou Adventure to life, and Disney is continuing to invest in the improvement of overall pathways and surrounding areas to help provide a great guest experience when the attraction opens.1“
An opening date for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure hasn’t been announced nor has a reopening date been announced for Critter Country after it’s closure on May 1, 2024. The reimagining of the merchandise shops should be a quick change but unfortunately I have a feeling that the entire area will be closed until Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is ready to open.
Final Thoughts
Are you excited for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure? And are you excited about the reimaging of two shops in Critter Country. It will be nice to see more theming from The Princess and the Frog around the park as long as the Disney Parks Merchandising Group develops new and exciting new merchandise for the new attraction and reimagined area.
To learn more about new animatronics coming to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, read my post here.
And as always, I’ll “see ya real soon” Mouseketeers!
1 Disneyland Announces 2 Shops Inspired by ‘The Princess and the Frog’, Disney Parks Blog, March 18, 2024
