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

I realize that this photo is pre-Tiki Room, but my stepmom just sent me this pic. She was at Disneyland on the opening day, July 1955.

I think this is the old entrance to Adventureland. Notice the skulls on top of the poles. Are those still there? I don't remember if they are or not.

stuff-o-rama,

That is an amazing photo! Looks like 1955 to me! You can just make out a corner of the original Tahitian Pavillion... Really nice - thanks!

So - wow! Everything looks great! I even like the entryway marquee. I wonder who designed it? If Kim Irvine was art director, that's a good thing. I was in a meeting with her once back in my WDI days - she seems very nice...

I'm just going to link to a few photos here to show how nice it looks! Nice job TikiCutie....

The colors look great, everything looks new... I can't wait to go back in person!

See Barker Bird - I told you there was nothing to worry about!

[ Edited by: Tangaroa on 2005-03-15 10:08 ]

On 2005-03-13 12:14, bigbrotiki wrote:
...Only thing I noticed that was odd is that the Tangaroa tree now only has two Tiki baby styles that drop down, the Tongan and the one that Jody Daily designed the shot glass from were not there anymore.

I thought there was something different about that. Will that be changed Tiki Cutie?

TBird.

[ Edited by: Tiki Bird on 2005-03-15 11:42 ]

Looks great! I can't wait to go!

I flew down to Disneyland from the Bay Area last night, just to see the new Tiki Room.

WOW.

I just want to tell anybody and everybody who worked on this project what a fantastic, fantastic job they did. The Tiki Room is one of my favorite spots in the world, and the reason a lot of us are into tiki. I have never seen it look or sound so good.

Hat's off to a classy job!

-Mr. Fishy

Got to see the Tiki Room on the re-opening day. While I'm disappointed that they didn't restore the old iconic A-frame marquee tower, the new entrance is very nicely done. And, the lania area looks fantastic. Likewise, the interior of the Tiki Room looks fabulous. Highest compliments and thanks to everyone who worked on it for making this beloved attraction sparkle again. And, special thanks to TikiCutie for her fine work and reports here. There is just one thing about the show that I found disappointing. My friend and I sat in the back row, where I've sat many, many times in the past, and found that our views of the birdmobile and the drumming tikis were partly blocked and obscured by the singing orchid planters. It seemed like they had repositioned them (maybe moved them forward towards the center of the room some, or lowered them). It is unfortunate, because the blocked view really diminishes enjoyment of the show from the rear seats. About a third of the birdmobile was obscured and I could barely see any of the drumming tikis. Maybe this is something they can remedy at some point. Other than that, everything is wonderful. I look forward to more of Disneyland getting such great TLC and the tarnished magic restored.

Thank, TikiTorchy! Great report. I'm planning a quick "run down the 57" to Anaheim to see for myself, perhaps the first week after Easter, mid-week. BTW, I'm in Pasadena, too. Perhaps a Bahooka run is in order as well?

Aloha!

:tiki: :drink:

I don't know what year this is, but it sure brings back some wonderful memories.

Nice shot Unga - see how nicely that "A" Frame looks in the entrance?

I'm just sayin'...

See how many thousands of people are getting crunched in that pinch-point? See how people are tripping over that throng of strollers?

See how nobody, NOBODY is even looking at the TikiRoom, as they rush past it on their way to rides that AREN'T invisible?

hehehehe.... :wink:

The placement of the Tiki Room RUINS the traffic flow of that area. That left turn is a huge problem.

They should've removed the Lanai and put it out the back. Turn the Tahitian Terrace into the new Tiki Room Lanai, and made the current Lanai open walking space.

Nahh. Even that doesn't solve the traffic issue. The bad left turn is still there, and there's no weenie to keep folks moving. Oh, and the bathroom crowd is all milling right there too.

It's the only traffic nightmare that's right at a land entrance. They've gotta fix it!

BOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Hey - I signed up at Gnomon yesterday - hope you're happy....

AWESOME!

OT. But Awesome!

Was lucky enough to get over to see the Tiki Room this evening, and I thought it was marvelous. The most polished I have ever seen it, the lighting was clean and bright. I think the general lack of dust from the cleaning and refurbishing restored much of the luster. Did I say luster? Bravo everyone involved!

More nice photos from Laughing Place this morning:

Large size: http://talesfromlp.com/lp/lotion/pics/SS20050322-DLAround/big/P01-003.jpg

Large size: http://talesfromlp.com/lp/lotion/pics/SS20050322-DLAround/big/P01-005.jpg

Not sure about the painting on the OA pieces... but still is nice to see it all taken care of!

Large size: http://talesfromlp.com/lp/lotion/pics/SS20050322-DLAround/big/P02-001.JPG

Large size: http://talesfromlp.com/lp/lotion/pics/SS20050322-DLAround/big/P02-004.jpg

Large size: http://talesfromlp.com/lp/lotion/pics/SS20050322-DLAround/big/P03-001.jpg

Can't wait to go see it!

I'll be there Monday Morning, day after Easter is usually a low turnout day for most theme parks. I'll try to take pictures, but I'm a lousy photog.

TikiCutie, are you still around? Do you know where they got the cloth for the sun shades? I like what I can see of the pattern from the pictures.

Here are my photos from last Thursday:

The two types of Tangaroa babies:

Pele in all her restored glory:

Is this new?

The stone floors: First, the floor within the Tiki Room itself and on the outside landing and steps. I believe this was the same as the old and was just finely sanded and polished. It looks fantastic.

Now, the flooring in the courtyard. I believe the old flooring had a smooth finish like the floor above, but the marble was composed of all small red stones (can anyone confirm this for me?). I know it had major cracks from experience, and checking the construction through the fence, I could see that it was completely removed.

Here's the new courtyard. Kind of a cobblestone of small pebbles. It looks great and really works with the color of the building and surrounding greenery, but I kinda miss the old marble:

The new drum:

Inside the Tiki Room I was completley satisfied and impressed. So clean and bright. All the wonderful vivid colors without that layer of dust. The sound was clearer and the birds movements were snappy and quick, and on-synch. So were the mouths of all the totem tikis, including the inner sets of teeth. I had visited last year when only one totem had been re-synched. Now they all work well. I was most impressed with the bird-mobile. I had never realized how dusty and grey it looked before. But now it is absolutely vivid in its whiteness. I sat with a full crowd - no empty seats available. Here are the few photos that didn't turn out blurry:

One of the kites and a closeup of the kite-mask

The Bird-Mobile:

Overall I was pleased with the restoration job.

Sabu

Ha haaa, busted! For the Tikis on the drum, they used those cheesy overly colored party store Tikis that come in all kinds of forms, don't know the dimennsions so these might be the lil' light chain ones. Goes to show how good they actually can look once painted in flat brown only!

question for the Imagineer types out there: what are the materials/fabrication techniques used on the torches? or to be specific, the "thatch" on the torch heads.

-Z

On 2005-03-24 11:35, Feelin' Zombified wrote:
question for the Imagineer types out there: what are the materials/fabrication techniques used on the torches? or to be specific, the "thatch" on the torch heads.

Most likely is metal or wire to simulate the thatch.....

On 2005-03-24 10:53, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
Here are my photos from last Thursday:

Is this new?

Yeah - a totally new designed tiki, along with the ones attached to the new marquee as well.... They did a pretty good job though...

On 2005-03-24 10:53, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
The two types of Tangaroa babies....

I have two types of Tangaroa babies (OK - one of them on the way) as well!

On 2005-03-24 14:14, Tangaroa wrote:
Most likely is metal or wire to simulate the thatch.....

I figured that. but how do you treat it? If you paint it a "thatchy" color, the paint would just burn off. but then I suppose it would blacken and look just fine. OK, so I answered my own question. Still, any extra insight would help (incase I get crafty this summer) Those are too cool and would look great in a suburban Detroit backyard. :)

Can someone do me a favor and take a few ultra-zoom close-ups next time you're there? My humble thanks in advance.

-Z

On 2005-03-24 11:10, bigbrotiki wrote:
Ha haaa, busted! For the Tikis on the drum, they used those cheesy overly colored party store Tikis that come in all kinds of forms, don't know the dimennsions so these might be the lil' light chain ones. Goes to show how good they actually can look once painted in flat brown only!

Good call, Sven! That's exactly what they look like. Gives me some ideas...

On 2005-03-24 11:10, bigbrotiki wrote:
Ha haaa, busted! For the Tikis on the drum, they used those cheesy overly colored party store Tikis that come in all kinds of forms, don't know the dimennsions so these might be the lil' light chain ones. Goes to show how good they actually can look once painted in flat brown only!

I seem to recall TikiCutie mentioning that she used the tikis from a light string for those drums some time back in this very discussion. :)

Cheers,
Gwen Smith

On 2005-03-24 18:49, Feelin' Zombified wrote:

On 2005-03-24 14:14, Tangaroa wrote:
Most likely is metal or wire to simulate the thatch.....

I figured that. but how do you treat it? If you paint it a "thatchy" color, the paint would just burn off. but then I suppose it would blacken and look just fine.

Here's a better close up shot:

Looks like some chicken wire in there - but the "thatch" looks real to me.....! Is it like wire wrapped with non-flammable material? Perhaps....

I went yesterday and was very pleased. The host birds interact more (for example, turning to look at the singing flowers!) and they turn more - I like to sit under Michael (since he says "What darlin' people I have sittin under me!") and for the first time, I got to see his FACE during the show!

Everything looked so Spiffy! The new tree in the courtyard should make some good shade, too - hopefully it won't block the views of the goddesses and poor Ngendi (who's sign moved to the other side)!

I got a ton of photos and will go back after spring breaks are over to get more - but I needed my "fix" after waiting so long! THe Tiki Room is definately my special "happy place" - where I go to take a mini vacation and hide from the real world! I was having much sadness while it was closed!

Isn't it great to share the level of tiki-geekiness that we've attained by having extreme close-up photos of the torch flames?

Is anyone looking for "new" hidden Mickeys in the refurbished ETR?

I'm going to go tape my glasses back together now.

The 3 hidden mickeys I knew about inside the Tiki room are gone - and I asked the cast member if there were new ones - he said no, but that so many people were asking that he thought they'd probably come in and put in some new ones soon!

Well, last night I compared the photos I took of the updated Tiki room to the scrapbook I have from last year... way more details in my head now that I don't even need to know - but I can tell you more about the differences if you want to know.

Ngendi went from very colorful (I did a little sculpture of him to complete the tiki garden on my Tiki Room "big fig"!) to pretty much black and white... some touches of blue on the new speaker next to him but he and his sign are B&W... since he's stuck in the back (and now behind the new tree) it's too bad he's painted so plainly.

The rest of the Gods and Goddesses are painted with a greatly reduced color pallets - mainly blues of various shades, with the notable exception of Pele who is fabulous in her new "firey" colors. On some the reduced colors works well, on others, you kinda miss the "punch" of the accent colors.

Rongo is much more visible (for the moment) without the vegitation (although I wonder how long the bananas will last between him and his sign before getting way too big, even if they are dwarf varieties. He has fruits in his hat rather than plants - too many bananas and not one pineapple! (Speaking of which, the "sponsored by Dole Pineapple" sign is missing above the door of the tiki room.)

ALL the signs are higher up and more visible now, the details at the bottoms of the signs are lovely and it's noce to be able to see them now.

At the moment you can see the backs of the goddesses and Ngendi from Adventureland, but I'm sure (and I hope!) the bamboo planted back there will block the view eventually.

There's more - but I'm sure you all are saying "geeze this woman needs a LIFE" to be noticing all these differences.... but that's the thing - my life is chaotic and full - and the Tiki Room is my "escape" where everything is quiet enough for the birds to sing words and the flowers to croon...

Let me know if you want more or have questions!

Went to the tiki room last night (first time since the Grand Re-opening last month) and noticed in the Lanai Pre-show that the tikis were fired off in a different order. During the Grand Reopening weekend, the tikis spoke out in their usual order but last night they went in a "clockwise" direction ending with Tangaroa after Tangaroa Ru. Also, there was a conche shell blow before each tiki spoke out.

Anybody know if this is a permanent change?

On 2005-04-15 09:51, PolynesianPop wrote:
Went to the tiki room last night ...

Hey Pop, next time bring the family along, too!!!!! tee hee

We were thinking of going the day or so after Tiki Oasis. It'd be a weekday. Is it really crowded this time of year due to the Anniversary re-opening ,or is this a good time to go?

On 2005-04-15 09:51, PolynesianPop wrote:
Went to the tiki room last night (first time since the Grand Re-opening last month) and noticed in the Lanai Pre-show that the tikis were fired off in a different order. During the Grand Reopening weekend, the tikis spoke out in their usual order but last night they went in a "clockwise" direction ending with Tangaroa after Tangaroa Ru. Also, there was a conche shell blow before each tiki spoke out.

Anybody know if this is a permanent change?

Hmmmm - a "clockwise" direction, eh? Well - the conch shell is new, anyway...

Here's the original direction - counter-clockwise, starting with...

• Maui
• Koro
• Tangaroa Ru & Hina
• Pele & Ngendi

then skips over Tangaroa, and goes to...

• Rongo

and finally ends with...

• Tangaroa!

Does this match what you saw?

On 2005-04-15 10:23, Tangaroa wrote:

On 2005-04-15 09:51, PolynesianPop wrote:
Here's the original direction - counter-clockwise, starting with...

• Maui
• Koro
• Tangaroa Ru & Hina
• Pele & Ngendi

then skips over Tangaroa, and goes to...

• Rongo

and finally ends with...

• Tangaroa!

Does this match what you saw?

Nope, it went in this order:

-Maui
-Koro

...then
-Rongo

...skipped over Tangaroa then went to
-Pele & Ngendi

...then
-Tangaroa Ru & Hina

...and finally to
-Tangaroa

A conche shell horn sound played before each Tiki spoke as well.

It kind of threw me off because I had my kids with me and I was trying to point them to which was going to speak next and those bastards changed the order!

Weird! Wish they hadn't done that....

But then again - I have to keep reminding myself that the Tiki Room could have easily met the fate of the Subs, PeopleMover or the Skyway during Paul Pressler's regime... so I'm glad it's still here!

I finally got to see the new improved Tiki Room on Sunday. First off, Tikicutie, I'm sure glad you use your awesome tiki powers for good instead of evil!

MAN what a beautiful job you and the rest of the team did.

About the order of the tikis. I really don't mind the order change. Rongo is kind of the lamest tiki, one that doesn't do anything, So I don't mind putting him a little earlier to help the build up.

I LOVE the new sound effects in the Lanai. The new music helps build the excitement. The sound effects replace the old lame-o buzzy sounds with punchy new effects. It always was kind of lame when Pele would erupt, accompanied by a 40-year old "powww" sound that more resembled white noise than an explosion. And the volume was so low on her "pow" that you could hear the much louder zap of the electric igniter lighting her fire. Now when she erupts, look out! "KABOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!"

I LOOOOOOOOVE the conch shell and drumming before every tiki, though I wouldn't have minded some variation on the sound (like a different variation for each). This sound REALLY helps rid the lanai of some of the cheeze factor of a bit of cornyness that doesn't date well. Instead of them just talking, now we're eased into the fantasy with a bit of drumming and conch shell, and it REALLY works to cut the harshness, and transistion us into the world of fantasy.

The SHOW is GREAT. Fantastic new lighting and sound. People actually laughed at Jose's jokes, mostly because for the first time the whole room could actually hear them! The shows were PACKED, with maybe 8 or so empty seats in the whole place, and NOBODY walked out (take THAT, Offenbach!).

I really can't get over the lighting. Wonderful specials everwhere. I love the highlighting of each type of bird as they are mentioned in the song.

Complaints (because there always are!):

Hostess who sucked. Here we had someone who didn't make the Jungle Cruise cut, and desperately wants to be funny. Laughs at own lame jokes, and embarrasingly keeps talking when she should just start the show.

on a related note:

CAN WE PLEASE lose "Hi everyone and welcome to the Tiki Room. Can every say ALOHA with me? One... Two... Three.." "Aloha""Aww, Come on, you can do better than that, ALOHA!!!!"

I want to say "No, YOU can do better than that old spiel." We had to play that same "Good morning teacher" game TWICE per visit, once before entering the tiki Room, and then again with the hostess. LET THIS DIE, everyone's sick of being goaded into it.

Another complaint. GET TWO or 3 people in the dole whip bar NOW! The line stretched WAY far down the lane, and the person did her best to serve those in the Lanai before the show started, but it felt like I was cutting in line.

MMMM, the dole whip float was great!

According to Al Lutz, the tiki room is BOOMING, and it's not just the fans who are coming out to support it. It's genuinely popular with the tourists, and it looks to continue its popularity for many years to come. Heck, little old tiny Tiki Room pulls in more people than Innoventions!

I brought my almost 2-year-old girl this time, and she LOVED IT! She wanted to go again and again (we did it twice). She loves the songs, and she loved her dole whip!

I was concerned that the lightning would be scary, but we cheered when it happened, and she loved it!

What a great show! We had a great time.

I was there on Sunday, too! Loved it! The Dole concession stand wasn't open as the people who had the opening shift didn't know how to start the machine. It wasn't running until Noon when someone who knew what to do got there. It's funny too 'cause a cup of pineapple juice cost less than a bottled water. We waited our 15 minutes patiently, at least there are places to sit while waiting, unlike the other 85 minute wait lines. The place also was packed to the gills. Sure it's a bit corny but that's the appeal for me. We sat underneath Jose and my nephew was creeped out because the bird was so realistic, it seemed to always turn around and stare at him. No complaints here.

I'm still resonating nicely from that trip to the Tiki Room a couple of weeks ago. It looked and sounded so good. And it was LOUD at times. Sweet. Pele especially was a blast.

Can't wait! But I'm gonna... Gotta save my last 2 free passes for later this Summer when Space Mountain re-opens....

My little girl is almost 2 as well - I am so excited to show her the Tiki Room for the first time!

On 2005-04-15 17:00, Tangaroa wrote:
Gotta save my last 2 free passes for later this Summer when Space Mountain re-opens....

Tang, of all people here I would have sworn you'd have an AP!

On 2005-04-15 17:56, PolynesianPop wrote:

Tang, of all people here I would have sworn you'd have an AP!

Yeah.... wierd.

On 2005-04-15 17:56, PolynesianPop wrote:

Tang, of all people here I would have sworn you'd have an AP!

Ahhhhhh - until lately I couldn't bear to go & see how bad things had slipped. Thankfully, they are fixing things!

Also - I'm usually too busy to go! The expensive nature of going (parking, food, etc...) is a factor as well...

Here's some pictures I took of the Lanai in front of the ETR:

A poor picture of one of the Beachcomber Shell Lamps.

The pattern on the cloth of the new sunshade.

Maui

the edge of Tangaroa's branches & the kite behind him.

The door of one of the nicest Bathrooms in Disneyland.

On 2005-04-28 10:58, freddiefreelance wrote:

The pattern on the cloth of the new sunshade.

Wow - those shades never looked that good! Before the rehab they were really badly sun-faded & covered in leaves.... Wonder if they had any original bolts of cloth from 1963 still laying around to make new ones from?

The refurb is outstanding! I was expecting to find things different, and try as I might it was difficult to notice any changes. If I did notice things, it's either that they hadn't been changed at all, or at least improved! Thanks to all involved for preserving the very reason I'm here in the first place! And kudos to the usual supects at disney for having the decency to put tiki people on the job!

Now if we could just get them to actually staff the juice bar. Where's my flask?

Oh, and there's one thing I forgot to mention...

the show is POPULAR!!!!

it was PACKED when I went one afternoon on a very lightly attended day. Even during the dinner hour, they were literally making everyone scoot to fill every seat. The CM said they'd been at capacity since it re-opened, with attendence only slacking on cold weekends late-night around 10:30 or later. I remember when they never even had it open that late.

Just think, a few years ago we were all panicked that they were going to tear it down. I hope they're glad they didn't.

i just read this interview with Rolly Crump who helped design the Tiki Room, among other Disney attractions. Thought you might be interested in reading his story firsthand (source: http://www.startedbyamouse.com)

"The next thing, after I got done working on the Haunted Mansion and the illusions for that, our next involvement was to do the Tiki Room. The Tiki Room was originally designed to be a restaurant. And so I remember - and these are the things that I remember that are so special - our sitting in a room with Walt when he would come up with an idea. And then all of a sudden it was one of the attractions at Disneyland. Being there when the idea was first kicked off was very special.

One thing that happened was Walt said, "I want to do a little Tiki Room. I just want a little Tiki, Tiki Room for over in Adventureland. We're re-doing Adventureland." So we said, "Okay, fine."

So John Hench, one of our lead art directors was asked to do a rendering of what the Tiki Room would look like. And John did. He did a beautiful rendition of birds in cages and the interior of this thing and Walt took one look at it and said, "John, you've got birds in there." And John said, "Yeah," and Walt said, "Well, you can't have birds in there." And he said, "Well, why not?" "They're going to poop in the food." Yeah, he really said that.

And John said, "No, no, no. They're not real birds, they're stuffed birds." And Walt said, "Disney does not stuff birds." And John said, "No, no, no ... they look stuffed. They are little mechanical birds that cheep." And Walt said, "Oh, little mechanical birds that cheep. Well, maybe they can cheep and cavort with each other." And that's how we started the Tiki Room.

And then we went on and on and on and then all of a sudden we started to develop the works of these little guys and the sounds and everything. So all of a sudden that was in production.

And then Walt said to me, "Rolly I want you to design the pre-show Tikis outside so that the people waiting to go in ..." See at that time, it was still a restaurant. "... While they are waiting to go in, there will be a little show that goes on." So I say, "Okay, fine."

So I started doing these little sketches and I got all this information out of the library about the different gods and goddesses of the islands of the Pacific so I'd be authentic because Rongo was the god of kite flying, Pele was the god of fire and everything, so I did all these little sketches and for one of them I got an idea. In the Orient, they have where they drip water into a little piece of bamboo and when it fills, it dumps. And when it comes back, it hits a log and scares the rabbits and the deer away. I thought, "Yeah, I'll do that." Supposedly, what he hits on top is his wife and that's the way the story goes, that's his wife between his legs.

So anyway, I'm showing all these pictures to Walt and Walt looks at them and says, "Are these all authentic, Rolly?" And I said, "Yes, sir, they are." "What's that the god of?" And he pointed right to the one with the bamboo. And I didn't know what to say. Luckily John Hench was standing next to me and said, "That's the god that tells the time." And Walt said, "Oh, okay." So when the meeting was over, John said, "You better find out who the god is that tells the time," which I did. I went to the book and it's Maui.

So anyway, Maui was then designed. All these were were little quick sketches that Walt bought off on. They weren't even in color. They were just little line drawings. And Walt said, "Build 'em." So I took them to the head sculptor and said, "Will you get started on these? Walt bought off on them." And he said, "Rolly, I'm too busy. I don't have time for that." And I said, "Well, who's going to sculpt them?" And he said, "You are." And I said, "I am? I've never sculpted before in my life." I want you to know that the first piece of sculpture I did in my life is Maui in the pre-show of the Tiki Room.

Anyway, what happened was, I said, "Okay, fine." And he started telling me how to build the armatures, how to put the clay on. And it was plasticine clay, an oil-based clay. And when it's cold, it's really hard to work with. And this is in the springtime and it was really cold in this little barn that we worked in. So I take them and put them on wheels and push them into the parking lot. And I actually put the clay and sculpted them in the parking lot. So I want you to know that all the pre-show Tikis before you go in there were sculpted in the parking lot. They were not sculpted in a beautiful studio with north light.

And from there, I sent them to Disneyland and they made them out of fiberglass. They sent them back to me. Once I got them, I painted them. Painted them all up. And then I took them to Disneyland, and I actually took a wrench and installed them. If you were to have that done today, you'd probably have about 50 people. There would have to be renderings done and engineering done. In those days, and that's why I call them my naïve days, we just did it. We did whatever it took to do it. In those days, again there were only 30 of us and that included the janitors and the people who worked in the accounting department and everything. So, it was marvelous.

The humor also carried on in this first building that we were in. I had this motorcycle and I had been riding it at lunchtime. And I came back in and I was just getting ready to park it when one of the secretaries said, "You know, I've never ridden a motorcycle before." So I said, "Get on the back and I'll take you." So I went through the building, right up to her desk and dropped her off. Well, Dick Irvine, the lead art director, opens up the door, looks out and says, "Oh, it's just Rolly," and shuts the door. That's because there was this constant fun that we had and it continued on forever.

Okay, now the next thing is that after we finished up the Tiki Room, and Walt basically said after we were designing it, "No one will leave the restaurant, so we're going to make a show out of it." So when you sit on those chairs, I want you to know those chairs were purchased for a restaurant. Because if that was meant to be a theater, there'd be bench seating all the way around.

And the other thing was that I sculpted the birds, actually, I sculpted 80 percent of the Tiki Room. The bird mobile that comes out of the ceiling, well, they sent me up on a Raymond Lift because I had to work on it 15 feet up in the air. And they sent me up and they let me down only when I had to go to the bathroom and when I wanted lunch. So that was kind of fun doing that. And again, like I said, they sent it over to the machine shop that made this damn thing that opens up and they sent it over and said, "Okay, Rolly, sculpt it." So anyway, that was that."

[ Edited by: Palama Tiki on 2005-05-21 20:07 ]

Brilliant post Palama! Very cool to read this, I love reading about the good ole days of Disney!

Hmmm - interesting how some of this is growing in Rolly's mind....

I conducted an almost 2 hour interview with Rolly (his son used to be my boss at Imagineering) about the Tiki Room, and I find it surprising that he's currently claiming to have sculpted about 80% of everything (including the birds! which were done by Blaine Gibson) - even though he strongly set the style for the Garden Gods - it really was a group effort by many, many people - including John Hench, Marc Davis - and many others... Rolly DID do a lot of sculpting & design & installation - but certainly not 80%!

Also - many of the tales he told me are a bit more "salty" - but this was for a Disney function - so I understand him making things a little more "PC".....