The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis teamed up with Walt Disney Imagineering to bring Hoosiers an exciting new exhibition celebrating Disney’s first Black princess.
“Tiana’s Joyful Celebration” is set to open at the Children’s Museum on March 7 and run through Jan. 3, 2027. The exhibition, which is an immersive continuation of Princess Tiana’s story, aims to help children and families discover that everyone has a “special spice” as they help Tiana and the folks of New Orleans prepare for a big event.
“Tiana is getting ready for a parade, and unfortunately, the parade has been moved up, and so she needs your help to put together all the final details,” Jennifer Pace Robinson, CEO of the Children’s Museum, said. “It’s a way to introduce people to Tiana’s life and story, but then it’s super hands-on and interactive, because you get to participate in all the activities that go along with producing this celebration.”
The Children’s Museum has been in talks with Walt Disney Imagineering for a while, Robinson said. This will be the third Disney exhibit the museum has hosted, following the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Doc McStuffins exhibits. However, this time, both parties wanted to create an experience that would emulate the magic of these beloved characters for those who might not have access to a Disney Park.
Just like Tiana’s Bayou Adventure ride at Disney Land, “Tiana’s Joyful Celebration” looks to the future, welcoming visitors into the next chapter of her story, Carmen J. Smith, senior vice president of creative development at Walt Disney Imagineering and Disney Experiences, told the Recorder.
READ MORE: Honoring Black Hoosier artists who have left a lasting mark on Indianapolis
“Tiana’s Joyful Celebration” is an interactive exhibit where kids and families will learn about their “special spice” — or what makes them unique and important, Robinson said. Through various activities, guests will help decorate a float, put together costumes and masks, help make hot sauce and gumbo, and work alongside bayou critters in the band, culminating in a dancing experience in the park and a reveal from Princess Tiana herself.
Real-life inspiration
Princess Tiana is loosely based on Chef Leah Chase, the “Queen of Creole Cuisine” and former owner and executive chef of Dooky Chase Restaurant in New Orleans. Though Chase passed at the age of 96 in 2019, her values are immortalized in Tiana’s kindness, generosity, inclusion and determination.
Chase was an integral part of her community and an ambassador for New Orleans, Stella Chase Reese, Leah’s oldest living daughter, said. Dooky Chase had its place in history — hosting meetings of Civil Rights activists and Freedom Riders and feeding them during their trials. Leah’s story and values live on through Princess Tiana, but she was also an important part of Black history that the Children’s Museum and Walt Disney Imagineering are dedicated to telling.
“We are committed to showing diversity and the experiences that we create, and making sure that we’re elevating stories that may have been underheard,” Robinson said. “I’m so excited to be able to have a princess who is African American, who’s got the story of being a strong entrepreneur, in addition to being a princess, and I think it’s a really good role model for the children who come through, but also it really fosters this feeling of belonging that you can see yourself in a Disney princess.”
Chase Reese took over running the day-to-day operations of Dooky Chase Restaurant after her mother passed, and said kids and families from all over the world still come to the restaurant to learn more about who “Princess Tiana” was.
Leah and Tiana’s legacy
Princess Tiana’s attributes are very much those of Leah Chase, including kindness, generosity of spirit, community, family and entrepreneurship. Tiana’s Joyful Celebration is also a “love letter” to those values, Chase Reese said.
“I think her attributes and characteristics are both aspirational and inspirational,” Smith added. “When you tell a great story, there are so many layers of elements in it that people, regardless of age or culture, can see themselves in it.”
When it comes to designing experiences like Tiana’s Bayou adventure and Tiana’s Joyful Celebration, Smith said it was imperative that the storytelling be authentic. Walt Disney Imagineering didn’t just work with Chase Reese, but also with Stella Chase and her husband, Xavier Chase, before their passing. They also collaborated with documentarians, historians, child psychologists and the New Orleans Historic Collection Museum.
“There’s probably not a place we didn’t touch in New Orleans to help us weave in that sense of place,” Smith said. “We wanted to make sure this was — you hear this a lot — like a love letter to New Orleans, to the Chase family, with respect. We think of that as great storytelling.”
Those visiting the exhibit will experience a little bit of New Orleans through the cooking, the music and the time period Tiana lived in, but also through unity and the “wonderful values that bring everyone together, knowing how special they are,” Chase Reese said.
Placemaking and storytelling
The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis was the number one choice for where Tiana’s story would launch its next chapter, Smith said. In addition to hosting previous Disney exhibits, Smith said the museum’s work on the Emmett Till and Ruth Carter exhibits demonstrated that the staff and creative team there had “their finger on the pulse” for making immersive stories accessible to families and children.
“We realized that we shared similar values when it comes to how we like to present ourselves with storytelling, our sense of detail, but also authenticity, and we couldn’t imagine being with a better museum than the Indianapolis Children’s Museum,” Smith said. “Knowing that they’ve been doing this for over 40 years — traveling exhibits — and being around for 100 years like Disney. … We share this amazing legacy of serving people and giving them a sense of joy and hope, excitement and joy.”
Imagineering is the pinnacle of creativity, exploration, dynamic design and immersion, Robinson said. Even though the exhibit is designed for children, seeing people in their late teens and 20s also getting excited for it makes her proud.
“To have this partnership really shows me that our team is on that same level, and that they’re actually learning from us about how we do family learning and interactivity, hands-on learning with families, and we’re learning from them more to be more convicted in our storytelling,” Robinson said. “That line between entertainment and education is quite fluid, and so it just feels really neat to be doing a project of this caliber with such great partners.”
Tiana’s Joyful Celebration runs at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, March 7, 2026-Jan. 3, 2027. The exhibit is included with regular admission. Following its closure, the exhibit will travel to 12 other museums across the country.
“I’m very proud of my mother … but also my wish is that each child or each person, especially those who visit the museum, will come up with some way which they can change history for the next generation, and they can be those inspirations,” Chase Reese said. “That’s the way the legends go on — by each one of us passing it on and encouraging everyone to use the talent that God has given them to make this world a better place.”
More information about supplemental programming and local partnerships with organizations such as the Madam Walker Legacy Center will become available in the summer and fall. For more information, visit childrensmuseum.org.
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.
Chloe McGowan is the Arts & Culture Reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper. Originally from Columbus, OH, Chloe has a bachelor's in journalism from The Ohio State University. She is a former IndyStar Pulliam Fellow, and has previously worked for Indy Maven, The Lantern, and CityScene Media Group. In her free time, Chloe enjoys live theatre, reading, baking and keeping her plants alive.
