Disneyland's Enchanted Tiki Room update (some rumors included)

I posted this in a reply to a thread in the Collecting Tiki forum, but I thought I should give it its own topic here. -Patrick

Here's an update from MousePlanet:

*Long-Awaited Rehab
The following three items are reported by David Koenig.
Beginning Friday, July 30, the Enchanted Tiki Room, the Plaza Pavilion and Aladdin's Oasis will be shuttered for a major, seven-month rehab. One source claims all three structures will be gutted and the interiors rebuilt.

Most in need of attention is the oft-neglected, termite-infested Tiki Room. "The Tiki Room interior will be completely rebuilt with the audio-animatronics sporting new technology," a cast member reported. "The show will NOT change to the one like Walt Disney World. Our Tiki Room will retain the original music and show."

The last few years Plaza Pavilion has served as an Annual Pass processing center, currently handling overflow with primary operations transferred two months ago to the Bank at Town Square. It will eventually be replaced by a permanent AP processing center in the San Francisco District at DCA. One rumor is that the Plaza Pavilion will get new kitchens and return from the rehab as a restaurant once again. Others claim the facility will be converted into a giant pin store/trading center.

The possibility of new kitchens will also determine the fate of Aladdin's Oasis, which had common food prep areas. Some speculate the area, now used as a storytelling venue, may again become the Tahitian Terrace.

Scheduled completion date is March 12, 2005.*

When I visited the Tiki Rook on July 17, the castmember I spoke with told me they were going to completely tear down and rebuild the show building. He also let me walk around and take flash pictures after the show, actually delaying the start of the next show until I finished. An interesting bit of trivia: the original main birds (Jose, Michael, Pierre and Fritz) are mounted back in the corners behind the current models. I managed to get a shot of the original Jose. I'll post pics after I get home from work tonight.

Patrick McNeal,
Lurker Extraordinaire

[ Edited by: Biotron2000 on 2004-07-27 08:21 ]

Here are the pics:
Old Jose:

Current Jose:

Michael:

Pierre:

Fritz:

A Toucan ('cause two can sound better than ONE toucan can!):

Some flowers:

And a slightly different kind of bird:

Enjoy!

Patrick McNeal,
Lurker Extraordinaire

[ Edited by: Biotron2000 on 2004-07-26 23:30 ]

Hot Damn Boy!
You even got the Glee Club in there.
Good job, did you get any other pics?

Hello - checking in from beautiful La Grande, Oregon!

The Tiki Room will NOT be leveled & rebuilt - totally untrue.... Just a super high-end rehab to the show the way it currently is! They are already spending so much on refurbishing the rest of the park - well, that rumor is just what it is - a rumor! God bless you mistaken cast member!

Just heard from my friend that Greg Emmer, VP of Operations at Disneyland, told him a few things about the Tiki Room revamp: He confirmed that the original show would still be there after the renovation (no Gilbert Gottfried thank goodness!) and that the tiki garden will be expanded with more features!

I read in the recent Disney magazine that starting in 5/5/05 and through 7/05 is Disneyland's big 50th birthday; all rides and attractions, including Space Mtn, are to be fully refurbished and sparkling in time for this event.

I think the Tiki Room refurbishment and its increased popularity at D-land lately are good signs that it's here to stay.

On 2004-07-27 12:17, wrongdimensionboy wrote:
Just heard from my friend that Greg Emmer, VP of Operations at Disneyland, told him a few things about the Tiki Room revamp: He confirmed that the original show would still be there after the renovation (no Gilbert Gottfried thank goodness!) and that the tiki garden will be expanded with more features!

wrongdimensionboy, how are you?! Miss you buddy, was looking at your lenticulars the other day.

Well, you can't get much more in-the-know than Greg Emmer. A fellow I know who was contracted to look at the refurbishment options also told me that the plan is to not change the show. He was skeptical about how they would keep the creative people involved from wanting to change things, but I'm really not worried, I'm feeling pretty darned good about the direction at Disneyland lately.

On 2004-07-27 12:27, dangergirl299 wrote:
I read in the recent Disney magazine that starting in 5/5/05 and through 7/05 is Disneyland's big 50th birthday; all rides and attractions, including Space Mtn, are to be fully refurbished and sparkling in time for this event.

I think the Tiki Room refurbishment and its increased popularity at D-land lately are good signs that it's here to stay.

Unfortunately, Space Mountain is not scheduled to reopen until November 2005, but they are going to open a new Buzz Lightyear ride in Tomorrowland, hopefully by next summer.

Ya'll are aware that they shortened the show about 4 years ago, right?

They took out the Offenbach piece.

(You stay off of my bach, and I'll stay offa your bach).

I have to say, the show's popularity improved. People used to walk out during that number, and I haven't seen any walkouts since.

New technology? But I don't WANT the flowers to stop clacking!

Oh well... given all the much-worse possibilities, this all is very good news. :)

They're constantly updating the lighting and the sound system.

Now that Thunder really BOOOOMS!!!!

It's all good.

I just got back from D-land, where 3 cast members assured me that the Tiki Room is closing August 1st, rather than today (July 30). I assume it's because they want to keep it open for the weekend... So if anyone was in a fix trying to get there today, don't worry - you've got 2 more days.

I was there (along with about 5 other people)for the first show of the day; I asked, and I actually got to wake up Jose, as well as hang out after the show and take many interior pictures! Tres cool!

Oh, and the mugs are long sold-out in the Bazaar. Gonna hafta wait until the mythic "September Shipment" from Tiki Farm I guess.

Tikibelle and I were there yesterday. Same info to report as Doctor Z - Tiki Room will stay open for the weekend and there are definitely no mugs left in the Bazaar. We had one of the best crowds in the Tiki Room that I've seen for many years. Every seat filled and everyone singing along to the songs. I didn't spot any Tiki Centralites - mostly families with children. Reminded me of the old days in the 1960s.

Sabu

I was there yesterday too (I went to the last show of the day) I thought it would be cool to see the last show before any changes were made. I got the same story Dr. Z got about it running through the weekend...and nope, no mugs to be found, although they did have some Tikihead hats. In the 2 times I have been there in the past 3 weeks they haven't had the tiki torches lit up? Pourquoi?

[ Edited by: DawnTiki on 2004-07-30 19:14 ]

who wants to do a road trip from Northern California this weekend with MR Smiley and maybe one more? Leave maybe tonight(FridaY) and come back Sunday/sunday night??? Call me ASAP!! --bruce

UPDATE-no one called--I ended up nursing (as in Doctor-not nipple) a hurt kitten instead.

Have a nice Tiki Day!

[ Edited by: mrsmiley on 2004-08-02 16:43 ]

Great pictures! Brings back memories, gosh, twenty something years ago I was working at Imagineering and we did the new tiki room for the brand new Tokyo Disneyland, and we had a small crew feathering and painting up the birds and the perches, etc. What fun it was. My favorites were the girl birds on the birdmobile because they had lipstick and turquoise eyeshadow, really funny. And the feathers on the top knots were tricky, you had to take scissors and crimp them to get just the right curve to them. And the toucan beaks were fun to paint because they had really bright color blends on them. We had a great artist from Disneyland at the time, Cindy Bothner come up and give us all feathering lessons! There was quite a strict procedure to it, every feather had a certain place. They were mostly dyed turkey feathers.
I used to visit with Harriet Burns in the model shop from time to time and she created the art techniques for the birds in the original show, and she used to tell me stories about working with Walt Disney and how interested he was in all the details. Boy did she have the stories!
But I remember quite a few if not all of the real originals from DL were pulled and rebuilt at the same time. The birds from the original show had hand-laid fiberglass bodies, (they were in pretty bad shape at the time, brittle and cracking) and the new ones had new 'kydex' bodies, a vacuum-formed plastic material that they've used ever since.
I've always loved the tiki room. I hope they keep it forever.

[ Edited by: pariartspaul on 2004-07-31 11:25 ]

[ Edited by: pariartspaul on 2004-07-31 11:26 ]

Paul! You are a figure finishing god...

-Chris M

Well, last night I heard a disturbing rumor from someone in the know that the Lanai (pre-show area with the Rolly Crump) Tiki Gods may indeed go through some signifigant changes... They are supposedly redoing the benches, planters, etc. & changing locations of the Gods to make them "easier" for guests to experience all at once. Shows what I get for shooting off my big mouth that nothing will change....

I really hope this rumor is wrong - I love the Lanai more than the show itself, and wouldn't enjoy it as much if they started changing things around....

Well, it hurts to look at right now, but here's a recent photo of the queue area- ouch! I also hope it doesn't get significantly changed.
http://www.dldhistory.com/disneyland.asp?Tab=Disneyland&Page=135&ID=1610&Land=misc

Hard to tell what's going on in that pic - are the steps up to the main door behind that tarp?

I know a lot of you have been to this website already, but for those who haven't.
It's kinda nice to revisit too.

Friends Of The Enchanted Tiki Room

Any idea what they are gunna do with all that old dusty stuff that really should be thrown away, but I will buy instead from the tiki room???????

I am pretty optimistic about the HUMONGOUS rehab currently taking place at the Enchanted Tiki Room. I am sure much love and care is being taken to spruce up this classic Disneyland attraction. That being said, yesterday I was in Adventureland and made sure to stroll by the wooden construction wall that surrounds this "world of joyous songs and wondrous miracles". WOW, it didn't take me long to notice a few things in the construction zone--the most obvious thing being that the old Juice Bar has been demolished! It is totally smashed apart and GONE; just some old boards and a pile of dirt left. Now, I am sure come March we'll have a brand new fabulous tiki juice bar that will just blow us away with its improved "pineappley goodness." Maybe it will even be rebuilt using the very same 1963 blueprints (though I kind of doubt it)...but, being a sentimental type of person, may I suggest that we all just pause for a brief moment and take off our hats to the sweet memory of all the many Dole Whips and pineapple spears we've enjoyed from that historical old building now gone to eternity. Before it was the Juice Bar, the compact little building was the Tiki Room ticket booth where folks paid 75 cents admission to see Walt Disney's newest concept in entertainment: Audio Animatronics. The design was pretty elaborate, sporting a towering A-frame structure which held an outrigger canoe, a wooden tiki named Uti (wearing big hoop earrings!) holding a functioning gas flame torch, and the legendary Barker Bird. Then, one morning in the year 2000, neglect and nature caused the A-frame's support poles to lean over and so the entire elaborate structure had to be removed...and sadly it was never restored. Instead, a simple umbrella has covered the turnstile area for the past four years. Our stalwart little Juice Bar, however, remained in place to give welcome refreshment to a few million more tiki fans.... right up until this past week. Friends, let us raise a cup of Dole to our beloved Tiki Juice Bar. It served us well and made our hands sticky for over 40 years. I'll certainly miss it.

My grandfather worked construction on the original Disneyland park. I recently found a box of his things and found an original tiki room brochure announcing the opening. I scanned and posted it in the "Tiki Finds" section.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=1099&forum=5&vpost=108388

[ Edited by: stuff-o-rama on 2004-08-22 15:15 ]

Someone out there has to have some insider info on getting some relics from the ench.tiki rm., PLEASE let me know!!, cash-a-burnin!!!!!

On 2004-08-22 12:17, Miehana wrote:
...the most obvious thing being that the old Juice Bar has been demolished! It is totally smashed apart and GONE; just some old boards and a pile of dirt left. ... Maybe it will even be rebuilt using the very same 1963 blueprints (though I kind of doubt it)...but, being a sentimental type of person, may I suggest that we all just pause for a brief moment and take off our hats to the sweet memory of all the many Dole Whips and pineapple spears we've enjoyed from that historical old building now gone to eternity. ... Friends, let us raise a cup of Dole to our beloved Tiki Juice Bar. It served us well and made our hands sticky for over 40 years. I'll certainly miss it.

Wow - me too...

While I remain optimistic as well, I'm starting to get a little worried... They demo'd the WHOLE Juice Bar???? That's sad. I worked there during the Summer of 1990, I loved the whole feel of the Lanai. The Juice Bar was a big part of that... I can only hope that the team is going to go back & rebuild the original "A" frame - but now I'm starting to hear rumors that are scaring me a little...

On 2004-08-23 11:02, Tangaroa wrote:
[...but now I'm starting to hear rumors that are scaring me a little...

Such as??
Any sources you can quote?

I wa there two weeks ago trying to grab a mug and the salesman told me that they were going to move the Dole stand inside the waiting area somewhere. Also that the tikis were going to be moved around or re-done. Don't know if that holds any water.

Ummmm - well, last I heard it was in "good hands" - whatever that means. So to hear that they took out the Juice Bar makes me doubt it a little... I have another good friend coming back from Japan soon, so I will check with him...
Not like there is anything we can do about it, but it's good to know what's happening....

Here is the response I received from Disneyland;
8/05/2004

Dear Robert:

Thank you for your e-mail to the Disneyland Resort.

You will be please to know that we do not currently have plans to close the Enchanted Tiki Room. The
current refurbishment, which is scheduled through mid-March, is solely to update the show effects,
not to modify any content.

Again, Robert, thank you for taking the time to write. We hope you will have the opportunity to
visit the Disneyland Resort soon and trust your visit will be pleasant in all regards.

Sincerely,

Daniel Dandenault
Disneyland Resort
Guest Communications

No - they aren't going to close it - but how much are they going to change the pre-show? I know I'm being overly nostalgic, but that area always meant a lot to me...

"Oh mystic powers - hear my call...
From my limbs, let new life fall..."
http://www.christophermerritt.com

[ Edited by: Tangaroa on 2004-08-24 08:54 ]

Being a fan of Disneyland for decades now, I know two things:

Don't get stressed based on rumors.

The rumors that the average people working in the park repeat are completely uninformed.

TRUST me on that second one. I have YET to hear a rumor coming from a cast member about an attraction's future come true.

Disneyland's current management "gets it" about the Tiki Room. DO NOT WORRY.

Oh, and I read online that when the Lanai fell down, ridership went up! Apparantly people noticed the attraction better!

I still know people who never noticed the Tiki Room and dash on by thinking it's a restaurant.

Perhaps it's time to bring back the .....

Barker Bird.

I went to Disneyland last week, here are some photos of what's going on so far. it seems as if they've re-built the roof of the building and the Adventureland sign, there was a man on the roof replacing the thatch cover on the Tiki Room:

(View from the back, from the Jungle Cruise)


view through the fence slats


...and one Submarine in the old lagoon by the Monorail Station

This week's update on all things Disneyland at Mice Age included shots of the tiki room, including the roof at the Adventureland entrance pictured above with its new thatch:

http://www.miceage.com/allutz/al100504b.htm

thanks for the photos!.

This last trip I wanted to take pictures of Disneyland 50th Anniversary progress, as most of the buildings were covered in "shrouds." I wanted to document how dramatic the changes would be before & after. The entire castle is wrapped in blue, the Matterhorn had construction workers hanging out in the caves, and I noticed the train station at New Orleans Square's roof had severe wood rot. They were just getting ready to fix it up as well. It was kind of surreal...

Don't you guys in Cali want the whole show changed like the one here in Orlando Florida? Just Kidding. I remeber going to Disneyland out in Cali a long time ago. The show is very different from what we had or now have here.

excellent work stuff-o-rama, or should we call you spy-o-rama?

Update on Tiki Room rehab on MiceAge this morning:

http://www.miceage.com/allutz/al102604a.htm

I read somewhere a while ago that Shag was to be involved in the re-making of the Tiki Room. Apparently, it just re-opened. Here's the closest article I could find:

http://www.shag.com/tikiroom.html

On 2004-10-27 00:13, ShaTikah wrote:
I read somewhere a while ago that Shag was to be involved in the re-making of the Tiki Room. Apparently, it just re-opened.

No - and no. It reopens next year in time for the 50th Anniversary...

When I was a small kid - Disneyland fascinated me as much as any kid, I suppose. One of my favorite places for (some strange reason) was the Enchanted Tiki Room. When I got older, we visited Disneyland every once ina while and never went to the Tiki Room. Last year I took some of my younger relatives to see the Tiki Room, remembering how fascinating it was to me as a child. When we got inside, it looked the way I remember it. But when the show started, my ears were assailed by the very poor quality soundtrack, backed up by the incessant "clacking of all of the tiki masks and flowers. I could barely make out what was being said by each character above the din. The soundtrack is obviously the original and has the original voices (for the most part done by the same voice-artist that does the voices for The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, the old Monsanto "Innerspace" ride and others. I'm glad Disney is updating this wonderful attraction - one that we all hold dear. I only hope they do something to improve the audio quality as well. They could use the same script (although some of the material is VERY outdated and over most people's heads)and just use new voice-over artists.

Just my two-cents ...It's MaiTai time!

TTK

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't even give them any ideas like that! They already tried to do that. Here's the scoop:

The Enchanted Tiki Room show soundtrack remained the same from it's opening in 1963 until the mid 90's. At that point they were toying the idea of bringing a new show. Eventually the new show went to Florida, it was a big flop there. Then they decided to re-record the entire soundtrack with the surviving cast in order to keep the same show but with better sound quality. Needless to say, the re-recordings made all the birds sound like senior citizens so it was never installed. You can find the re-recording of "Let's All Sing Like the Birdies Sing" on the "Theme Park Sing-Along" CD still available. What happened next is that they "remastered" the entire show and put new speakers in the show (with awfull sounding subwoofers. I remember seeing (and hearing) the complete show in this "remastered" version. This version dropped some audio elements such as the climactic gong. It also added some of the female vocals from the earlier re-recording. That is why, since then, a couple of songs such as "Let's All Sing.." and the Heigh Ho finale had extra added female vocals(bad choice IMHO)A few months later, the crowds were still leaving. At that point they decided to edit down the show. This is still the mid to late 90's and that is the version of the show we remember from recent years. Now cut to the present. Today, the entire show has been remixed, and restored with today's better technology (WAY better tech than what was available in the 90's, BTW). So.... while the complete restored version of the show will make an appearance on the Disneyland Box Set next May (including the pre-show, lawyer-permitting), it will still get the Offenbach piece axed. Some Imagineers I won't mention (cough....BG...cough)still feel that that piece would bore people.
Now I have not yet heard this new version (but will soon as I've been helping out on the box set)so I don't know if the new restored version get's rid of the female vocals added in the 90's and adds the gong back in. We'll have to wait and hope they make the right decisions.
Your friend,
Louis

On 2004-10-27 15:22, TheTikiKing wrote:
The soundtrack is obviously the original and has the original voices(for the most part done by the same voice-artist that does the voices for The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, the old Monsanto "Innerspace" ride and others.

Paul Frees (the artist you mention) is only one of the talented voice artists in the show - there are many others...

They could use the same script (although some of the material is VERY outdated and over most people's heads)and just use new voice-over artists.

I usually stay away from strong opinions on this board, in order not to offend, or start a flame war. But my 2 cents is - that is the absolute WORST thing they could do. Don't even bring that suggestion up - there are certain people at WDI who would loooooove to completely re-do & wreck this classic show (as they did in Florida, and to a lesser extent, Japan).
The show (minus the Offenbach piece, which I still miss) is a perfect slice of 60s era Tiki - created during Tiki's heyday - there is so little of that world left (preserved as it once was). Why on earth would you want to change it? If you want a good example of how a major change affects that show - go see it in Florida. I'm sure you will walk away annoyed and frustrated. Let's all hope they leave it EXACTLY as it is (or was - after they finish the rehab)...

"Oh mystic powers - hear my call...
From my limbs, let new life fall..."
http://www.christophermerritt.com

[ Edited by: Tangaroa on 2004-10-28 12:17 ]

OK - OK!!! I'm sorry... please.. don't hit me anymore!!!!

The sound system obviously needs to be replaced and maybe re-master the original soundtrack to improve the audio quality so we can understand what they are saying (and stop the clacking characters!!!). And I agree with you - it is totally representative of the 60's mentality and the Tiki culture from that time.

Please forgive me...

TK

On 2004-10-29 13:55, TheTikiKing wrote:
OK - OK!!! I'm sorry... please.. don't hit me anymore!!!!

The sound system obviously needs to be replaced and maybe re-master the original soundtrack to improve the audio quality so we can understand what they are saying (and stop the clacking characters!!!).

Please forgive me...

TK

No worries - I'm the one with the problem - not you! I just want everything to be frozen in 1963, that's all... By the way - I think the clacking may be from the fact that some of the characters & tikis are controlled by pnuematics - which is going to be noisy no matter what you do....

On 2004-10-28 12:16, Tangaroa wrote:

On 2004-10-27 15:22, TheTikiKing wrote:
The soundtrack is obviously the original and has the original voices(for the most part done by the same voice-artist that does the voices for The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, the old Monsanto "Innerspace" ride and others.

Paul Frees (the artist you mention) is only one of the talented voice artists in the show - there are many others...

[nitpick]Perhaps you meant Thurl Ravenscroft. As far as I know, Paul Frees had nothing to do with the Tiki Room.[/nitpick]
(Sorry!)

I'm hopeful they're doing a nice (and faithful) remastering job with the soundtrack. Goodness knows the modern tools can do the job acceptably!

I'm surprised (and impressed) that the original version of the audio has lasted this long in the park. Disneyland rerecorded the "It's A Small World" audio back in the early 90's, I think, and I remember hearing the new version and thinking what the!!!, you know? The new version was certainly well done, but it wasn't the same...all the sparkle was lost...