Post #719429 by Hurricane Hayward on Fri, Jun 6, 2014 11:43 AM

EPCOTExplorer: Great to hear you have been initiated into the wonderful world of The Mai-Kai. Regarding the drink menu, I'm hoping you've been consulting my online guide:
http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/mai-kai-cocktail-guide/
It's also fun to call up this page on a smart phone while you're in the bar and try to figure out which recipes you can make at home. I'm still trying to figure out many of the:
http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/mai-kai-cocktail-guide/mai-kai-cocktail-recipes/
If anyone cares to follow along, I'll be posting more recipes and Mai-Kai cocktail stories in the coming months. I post any updates over on this thread: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=47293&forum=10

Regarding the old building to the north of the valet stand, that's the original gift shop (back when the current gift shop was a dining room). I'm pretty sure there are photos up on TC on another thread if someone can find them and post a link. It's been closed for some time, and I've heard that the damage caused by storms has made it very costly to repair to the point of making it unusable as a public space. They currently use if for storage. I was in there a few years ago when they were selling the old chairs, and they were being stored in there. I'm gonna ask Swanky to chime in here since he's the expert on exactly when it was built, closed, etc. The good news is that there are rumors floating around that it may be repaired and put back into use as a special event space at some point.

Speaking of Swanky, I'm going to refer you to his website for an excellent download of authentic South Seas music that I believe is very similar to what The Mai-Kai plays. He'll be able to speak more to that, but here's the link to his blog with info and a link to the downloads page:
http://www.swankpad.org/blather/2010/08/14/swank-vinyl-exotica-is-free/
Download "Swank Vinyl Exotica I" and also volume II. He's got some other cool stuff there too.

And regarding the old drink menus: I know there's a plan to make them available to the public, but I'm not sure when. A lot of them had to be cleaned up, re-bound, etc. I'm guessing we'll hear something at The Hukilau next week.

Also FYI, on the final day of the event (Sunday, June 15), The Mai-Kai will host an exhibit of artifacts from the archives during the afternoon while The Molokai Bar is open for appetizers and drinks. "Come and browse through the Mai-Kais precious historic photos, costumes, scrapbooks, mugs, dinnerware, menus and more."
http://thehukilau.com/2014/schedule-of-events/

The official blog of The Hukilau

Featuring The Mai-Kai Cocktail Guide

[ Edited by: Hurricane Hayward 2014-06-06 11:48 ]