Disney Dreamlight ValleyThe August update adds The Princess and the Frog‘s Tiana into the valley – and with it a new restaurant called Tiana’s Palace. That’s right, Ratatouille‘s Remy is no longer the only chef in town. On Tuesday, Disney Dreamlight Valley Developer Gameloft Montreal has announced its next update, which will include Tiana, her restaurant, and a new food stall selling prepared meals. It will also feature 1920s-style decor to Dreamlight Valley some New Orleans flair.
Disney just replaced its controversial Splash Mountain ride with a new attraction: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, so it’s the perfect time to bring the princess into the mix. Disney Dreamlight Valley Creative director Josh Labelle told Polygon that players can expect plenty of new, fun interactions between Tiana and the Valley cohort. “I especially love seeing Tiana swap recipes with Remy as they compare the intricacies of Cajun and Parisian cuisine, clash with Mother Gothel (of course), and share her culinary talents and New Orleans traditions with the Valley,” he said in an email interview.
In addition to Tiana’s appearance, developer Gameloft Montreal is completing its August update – the timing of which will be announced later – A crack in time Expansion by the Agrabah Palace of Aladdin.
Before the announcement, Polygon spoke with Labelle about Tiana, the end of A crack in timeand the future of Disney Dreamlight canyon.
[Ed. note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]
Polygon: Does Tiana’s palace work differently than Remy’s?
Josh Labelle: Tiana’s Palace is in fact a new restaurant for the valley and will have some of the same functions as Chez Remy, namely as a place where villagers can gather and enjoy player-served meals. I want to give a huge shout out to the artists on the team who have done a great job bringing Tiana’s Palace to life, with direct inspiration from the beautiful visual style of Disney’s The Princess and the Frog
What sets Tiana apart from Chez Remy is the new stand that will accompany her restaurant. At Chez Remy, players can purchase ingredients, but not full meals yet. Tiana will offer players a daily changing menu, including some dishes that are uniquely New Orleans-inspired.
With this addition, even players who don’t like cooking can now enjoy the benefits of a 5-star meal every day or stock up on gifts for their villagers.
Do you have any favorite moments or interactions (even small things!) related to the upcoming new content?
Tiana is such a fun character; the team did a great job creating interesting interactions between her and the rest of the villagers. I especially love how Tiana swaps recipes with Remy as they compare the intricacies of Cajun and Parisian cuisine, butt heads with Mother Gothel (of course), and shares her culinary talents and New Orleans traditions with the valley.
In the meantime, to conclude our expansion pass, Disney Dreamlight Valley: A Rift in Timethe team has done a wonderful job creating Jafar’s twisted version of Agrabah Palace for our players to explore, plus there are a few other surprises based on Disney history to create some special moments with a certain classic character.
What do you think about the players’ expectations of Disney Dreamlight Valley“Has this evolved in the last two years?”
With each update we learn more about our players. This direct relationship with the players and the community is something I love about my job. Disney Dreamlight ValleyWe are constantly working to improve and better respond to the needs of our players.
In terms of key learnings, this year has shown us once again the importance of putting resources into improving our existing features and making the player experience more fluid. In upcoming updates, we will focus on improving quality of life while also addressing some of the biggest requests from players, such as revamping our wardrobe and furniture catalogs and making it easier to sort these items.
We have also seen that players enjoy different aspects Disney Dreamlight Valley. Some players are here to adventure with their favorite Disney characters, while others love the customization and decor. We try to offer something exciting for every type of player with each update.
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Image: Gameloft
Can you talk about the features that will come in 2025 that will give people more opportunities to play together? How important was this functionality for Disney Dreamlight Valley Player?
As for multiplayer, we currently have two ways for players to play together: Valley Visits and weekly DreamSnaps contests. Valley Visits are a great addition to our game for players who want to share their designs, check out what Scrooge McDuck has in store in other Valleys, or show off their creativity and get inspiration from each other. We’ve improved this experience since launch, with the ability to do more activities in the Valley while visiting each other.
On the other hand, DreamSnaps allows players to share and rate images in weekly challenges for rewards, which has inspired a lot of creativity from our players. When talking to our players about multiplayer features, we’ve heard a few things that keep coming up: First, some players are very interested in multiplayer and would love to have more opportunities to play together, but just don’t know enough people playing the game at the same time as them, which limits our current Valley Visits feature. Some of these players are also a bit nervous about having to host people from their villages.
The new multiplayer features we’re developing for 2025 are aimed at these types of players, giving them the opportunity to play together and work towards objectives without having to be online at the same time and without having to host other players in their valley.
We’ve also heard from players that some simply aren’t interested in multiplayer and just use our game for a casual solo experience. I think that’s totally fine, and we want to respect those players and make sure they’re happy with the way we integrate new multiplayer features in the future.
In relation to A crack in time Finally: What have you learned from the Expansion Pass and how do people experience storytelling in Disney Dreamlight Valley?
With Disney Dreamlight Valley: A Rift in Timewe wanted to offer players an exciting side story that brings new villagers, biomes and optional features into the game.
As we work on future content for the game, we have learned a few lessons from the Expansion Pass. The first is the importance of pacing. Players loved that there was so much to do and so many new quests in A crack in timeHowever, unlike our base game, the main story required a lot of effort from our players in terms of the effort required to unlock new areas, and the gameplay experience wasn’t always as satisfying as it could have been. Going forward, we want to give players more opportunities to stop, relax, and engage with the sandbox without feeling like they’re being rushed to the next quest, and provide them with more interesting quests throughout.
In terms of our level design, we wanted to create a unique world full of secrets to discover. In some cases, we’ve heard from players that the world of Eternity Isle has a few too many twists and turns and is difficult to navigate and customize. For future biomes, we want to keep the thrill of exploration, but at the same time make them simpler and easier to decorate, with better and more visible landmarks that stay true to the Disney stories. We also want the secrets and surprises players find to be more meaningful.
A great success of A crack in time We hope to continue to build on this approach with new characters like Gaston, Rapunzel and EVE. By staying true to the associated Disney and Pixar stories and the core of our game, the team created hilarious moments with Gaston building a replacement LeFou out of coconuts, as well as an emotionally moving friendship with Rapunzel and a chance to bring EVE and WALL-E back together.
A crack in time has reaffirmed for us the core of the game that we want to hold on to and build upon: magical moments with beloved characters, set in a beautiful world that players can decorate and make entirely their own.
Can you tell us the current number of active players?
We have a healthy and stable player base right now and see that many of our players are excited to return to the game every time we add a new character they love. With that in mind, we’re currently very focused on building out a strong 2025 roadmap filled with Disney favorites. We look forward to sharing more of that roadmap with players soon.
