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Credit: Disney ParksOn March 4, millions of Americans around the country celebrated Mardi Gras, AKA Fat Tuesday. It is a day full of parades, millions of beads, and indulging in delicious food and drinks. Mardi Gras is the day before Ash Wednesday, and the day before Christians around the world give up some of their favorite things for Lent.
Of course, the biggest Mardi Gras celebration takes place in New Orleans, but that does not mean that people outside the Southern city can’t celebrate. Even Disney tried to get in on the festivities, but things didn’t exactly turn out the way the company was hoping.
On Mardi Gras, Disney posted a video on social media of Tiana and Louis from Disney’s hit animated movie The Princess and the Frog. Tiana tells viewers that she and Louis are prepping for their own Mardi Gras celebration, and she wishes everyone a happy Mardi Gras. She and Louis then dance in front of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
While the short video was meant to be fun, commenters took issue with many things, including Disney’s apparent inability to “read the room.”
Happy Mardi Gras from Tiana and Louis! 🎺🎉 #DisneyParks #MardiGras #TianasBayouAdventure
Happy Mardi Gras from Tiana and Louis! 🎺🎉 #DisneyParks #MardiGras #TianasBayouAdventure pic.twitter.com/8OBKvuNMoY
— Disney Parks (@DisneyParks) March 4, 2025
Related: Live-Action ‘Princess and the Frog’ Poster Goes Viral, ‘Stranger Things’ Actor Included
Disney’s post came just one day after it was announced that a planned Princess and the Frog series, Tiana, had been canceled. The series, which was a Disney+ original, was set to follow the new Princess of Maldonia on a new adventure. However, on March 3, Disney announced that it was abandoning long-form content for Disney+ and the show was not happening.
Fans were shocked that Disney would cancel a show that had been promised for years, and then promote the princess — Disney’s first black princess — that the show had been about.
This is….I know that this was supposed to show that at least the parks have Tiana, but it’s a bad look given how Disney nixed the project.
This is….I know that this was supposed to show that at least the parks have Tiana, but it’s a bad look given how Disney nixed the project.
— Cerita Stein (@1Flew0rain0Enuf) March 5, 2025
Others called out Disney for its seeming lack of care for its newest attraction, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. The attraction replaced Splash Mountain, which was closed in 2020, and officially opened at both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort in 2024.
Sadly, almost since the day the attraction opened, it has been plagued with problems. In the beginning, ride breakdowns occurred nearly every day. And then, there’s the animatronics. While they looked fantastic, guests frequently share on social media that they are not working or malfunctioning in some way.
Most recently, guests visiting the Magic Kingdom noticed that the Louis animatronic was splitting at the seams and looked like his throat had a slit in it.
All of these criticisms were on top of the fact that Disney didn’t have a real Mardi Gras celebration this year. Tiana and Louis said that they were getting ready for a Mardi Gras celebration, but there wasn’t an official one.
The Walt Disney World hotel, Port Orleans – French Quarter, celebrates Mardi Gras every day and has a special parade for the special day. However, there were no celebrations in the parks. This is in stark contrast to Disney’s biggest competitor, Universal Studios Orlando, which makes a month-long event out of the event.
Do you think Disney failed at “reading the room” when it came to its Mardi Gras post? Was it tasteless to promote Tiana and Louis just one day after canceling the Tiana series? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!