New Orleans chef Leah Chase was inspiration for Disney's Princess Tiana

• Disney is converting Splash Mountain into Tiana's Bayou Adventure and making it a "love letter to New Orleans."
• Leah Chase died in 2019 at the age of 96.

Zoom out: Stella Chase, daughter of Leah and one of the family owners of Dooky Chase's, has been on research trips with the Disney imagineers and is involved in brainstorming, they say.

• "I'm an honorary imagineer," she says, only half joking.
• She tells of how she went to Avery Island with the Disney team and took them to Canal Street for a night parade.
• Visitors are deeply interested in Princess Tiana, she says, and come from all over to eat at her restaurant.

Of note: Stella Chase and her family hosted a special dinner for Disney last week — and Disney brought the magic with a visit from none other than Princess Tiana.

• She wore her green ball gown, posed for pictures and called everyone "sugar plum" as she moved through the dining room.

• It's the first time the character version of Princess Tiana had ever visited the restaurant.

Zoom in: Tiana will be wearing "adventurewear" for most of the ride — "she's not going to the bayou in a gown," says Ted Robledo, executive creative director at Disney Imagineering.

• But, Disney staffers hinted there could be some wardrobe surprises soon.
• They also spent a significant amount of time working with the character's hair and making sure they understood and celebrated Black hair.

What we're watching: Imagineers said they would return to Essence Festival in a few weeks and hinted there could be more details released then about Princess Tiana and the attraction.