The perfect recipe for a fairy tale includes lots of pixie dust, creativity, and an impeccable imagination for making the impossible real and true stories magical. For the Disney Parks attraction Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, a Gold Rush of pixie dust encompasses the creation of the highly lauded experience, and three Xavierites—Stella Chase Reese, Myla Poree (’03), and Varion Laurent (’01)—helped to wave the magic wand. 

In 2009, Disney introduced its first Black princess, a native New Orleanian named Tiana, whose big dream was to someday own a restaurant. Throughout her journeys, she falls in love (with a frog who is actually a prince), befriends a trumpet-playing alligator, and carries her family’s tradition of hard work and passion. Crafted in the spirit of legendary Chef Leah Chase, the cartoon princess pays homage to the authenticity of the Crescent City and the Chase family motto – “Pray, work hard, and do for others.” Chase, who also has Xavier ties, received the Francis Anthony Drexel Medal, Xavier’s highest award given to a civilian. 

Stella Chase Reese, photo courtesy of Axios 

Creating the themed attraction for Disney Parks, a second chapter for Tiana, meant digging a little deeper. Disney Imagineers knew the perfect person to venture down that bayou with was Stella Chase Reese, Chase’s daughter, and president of Dooky Chase’s Restaurant Incorporated. Reese, an Associate Member of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, was chair of the St. Katharine Drexel Chapel Fundraising Committee at Xavier. 

Given the title of Honorary Imagineer, Reese shared insights and helped Disney Imagineers with their research into New Orleans’ history and culture. 

“I’ve had the privilege of traveling with the Imagineers and given a hard hat to wear with [them] to celebrate Princess Tiana,” Reese said. “As I traveled [with them, I noticed], they even looked at blades of grass to make sure everything was naturally New Orleans, as they put it. They did so many things, including [getting] artists from our area, musicians from our area, getting ideas from people from our area.” 

Reese cherishes the continued inclusion of authentic New Orleans and the uplifting of her mother’s legacy. During an opening event for the attraction at Disney World, she thanked Disney for the honor.  

“[My mother] was a person who believed in unity,” Reese said. “She was a person who believed that you had to appreciate yourself, love who you were, and then open your doors to love other people as well, so we thank Disney for selecting the Chase family and for including us so that my mother’s values of entrepreneurship, faith, love of all people, and appreciation of who you are and your values and your culture, can live on for many years.”  

Family, culture, history, and legacy are critical components of Tiana’s story, and the dedication to keeping things New Orleans was vital to the Imagineers. As such, all the artists involved in bringing the project to life are from the city, including Varion Laurent, a visual artist and a graduate of Xavier’s Mass Communication department. 

Varion Laurent ('01), photo by Leslie Rose 

On one of their exploration trips, Disney visited Xavier’s Art department. During the meeting, Laurent received a phone call asking him to come over for something, but he had no idea what it was. Upon his arrival and after casually being handed a non-disclosure agreement to sign, Laurent realized he had been invited to share insights with Disney for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.  

“Disney was doing a deep dive into the culture of the city – I hold my city and my culture in high regard, so to be able to make sure that a company of such global status valued the input from all of those that were there was completely amazing to me,” Laurent said. 

As Disney reps made their way around the room to thank participants for their openness, they mentioned to Laurent how they were working with area artists to create work for the attraction, to which Laurent advised them he was also an area artist with work on tap to show. 

“[The rep said] I’d like to see if you’d be interested in working with us,” Laurent recalled. “Now inside, I’m doing back flips. Inside, I was losing it. And on the outside, I was cool as a cucumber. I said, ‘Yeah, absolutely, I’d be totally interested in entertaining that. Absolutely. Let’s have the discussion.’ From there, after several conversations, Zoom calls, a ton of paperwork, and more NDAs, I was commissioned to create an official fine art piece for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. It just completely was a dream come true.” 

Prints of Laurent’s piece “Bayou en Fete,” which depicts a moonlit celebration featuring characters from Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, are available at the attraction’s gift shop. 

Now, what’s a story about a cooking princess without special spices? For this portion of the experience, New Orleans native Myla Reese Poree, a Division of Business graduate, was tapped to manage product development, including ideation, design, contracts, launch, and distribution for a spice line sold at the attraction’s gift shop. 

Myla Reese Poree ('03) 

The line includes Gumbo Base, Fried Chicken Seasoning, Meat Seasoning, and Seafood Seasoning, all under the name Dooky Chase’s. “[The decision to launch this with Disney] was easy for us,” Poree said. “It’s going to be at both parks and online at Disney. And then when you come to New Orleans next time, it’ll also be at Dooky Chase’s.” 

Poree’s work on the product aligns with her expertise. It allows her to uphold the community culture of her hometown and carry on the legacy of Chase, her grandmother, and the significance of the social impact of Dooky Chase’s Restaurant.  

“The restaurant was started to have a place where African Americans could celebrate parties, birthdays, and proms, but also, how innovative our grandparents and great-grandparents were,” Poree said. “When they had the restaurant, no banks would work with Black [people], so what did they do? They allowed the individuals to come and cash checks there. There were so many different things that they knew the community needed. So, [we] made sure that they were able to house that at Disney. It wasn’t just about the food; it was about the community and how can we help the community when no one else is. It’s about continuing the legacy of our grandparents. And so, this is our way.” 

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is an authentic Louisiana experience, complete with scenes from the bayou, foot-tapping music, and the scent of sweet beignets. It opened at Disney World this past summer and at Disney Land this November. The attraction includes the thrilling ride culminating in a 50-foot drop and a gift shop experience that provides items like Dooky Chase’s seasonings and other family-friendly gifts and accessories to commemorate the experience.