Laura's Disney Lines

Tiana's Showboat Jubilee premiered at Disneyland on Friday, November 6. This colorful celebration features the stars of the the upcoming film The Princess and the Frog in a jazzy procession through New Orleans Square to the Mark Twain Riverboat. The show continues on board the riverboat as it steams around the Rivers of America and the live jazz band and cast perform musical numbers from the movie. There are multiple performances daily through January 3, 2010.

The procession begins towards the back of New Orleans Square (near the train station, I think), but the music doesn't actually start until they get to the terraced area in front of the French Market. Dancers carrying parasols and dressed in Mardi Gras colors lead the procession, followed by Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen, the jazz band, and more dancers who are handing out Mardi Gras beads.

The procession makes it way to the riverboat dock where they board the Mark Twain. The boat pulls away from the dock to the festive strains of "Going Down the Bayou".

The riverboat stops in front of New Orleans Square for a show that's about 15 minutes long. Tiana is featured in the first song: "She's Almost There".

Louis the alligator takes center stage next and performs "When We're Human".

The sinister Dr. Fasilier appears in a shower of sparks and a darker mood prevails in "Friends on the Other Side".

Then it's time to "Dig a Little Deeper".

The show ends with "Dreams Come True".

As the riverboat moves on, there's a reprise of "Going Down the Bayou".

Lee edited together some video I took which gives you a pretty good idea of what the show is like: (Warning - From personal experience I can tell you that a couple of the songs have serious earworm potential - listen at your own risk! :-) )

There are 20 or so guests that participate in each show aboard the riverboat. About 30 minutes before the show, costumed cast members are out in front of New Orleans Square selecting people to be a part of the show. They perform several roles: waving banners and oversized musical notes, and portraying a tamborine-playing gospel choir.

I really enjoyed this. It was energetic, colorful, and great fun to watch. It was also great to see that the guests selected to participate were really performers in the show who added something to it. It looked like something that would be a blast to do!

There were lots of guests watching the show on Friday. But it's really hard to get a spot where you can see both the procession and the show. The procession takes place on the terraced area and not down by the river (which is where the best spots for seeing the show are). So you have to pick and choose - or you do what I did, and watch the show twice - once to see the procession and once to see the show. :-) People were staking out the prime spots down by the river about 30 minutes in advance. For the show stop, the riverboat stops in the center of New Orleans Square, which is pretty much in front of Cafe Orleans.

If you have the chance, I highly recommend seeing this show!