Diana Lai - R.I.P. (Original VIP Hostess for Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room)

I pestered my stepmother in 2004 to write about her experiences of being the VIP hostess of the Enchanted Tiki Room when it first opened. I did this with the intentions of sharing the story with fellow Tiki Centralites who might find her story interesting. Unfortunately, the email she sent me was saved to a file without ever posting. With her upcoming 65th birthday approaching I have resurrected the saved email and am finally posting.

Date: Sat, 5 Jun 2004 11:56:39 -0700
Subject: Re: Tiki talk

Dano,
OK, you win. It is 5:00 a.m., I cannot sleep any longer and don't want to wake the kiddies by working in my scrapping center, so I have time to write some Tiki talk.

In May of 1963, when I was a freshman at Whittier College, I saw a flyer posted that would be outlawed today. It said that Oriental students were needed for a new attraction at Disneyland. I thought that it sounded like glamorous summer work, so I went there to apply. There was a pile of papers to complete first, including written verbal and math tests. I was told that I would be called when to come back for an interview.

A week later, I returned to be interviewed by Walt Disney himself! He told me all about his latest achievement, Audio-Animatronics, and said that he needed a VIP hostess to inform important visitors to the Magic Kingdom about the workings of the Tiki Room, his newest project "baby" in Adventureland. At the conclusion of the long interview, he said he liked two things about me: that I had background experience through hula that gave me understanding of the culture and Hawaiian language of the tikis in the Lanai patio behind the juice bar of the Tiki Room, and that I was educated and articulate enough for him to personally train to introduce his "baby" to special guests at his theme park. I was very flattered that he also thought me a "pretty little miss" suitable for his newest project. The show was originally planned to be walk-through in a restaurant setting, but the adjacent Tahitian Terrace was refurbished, and the Enchanted Tiki Room was developed as a separate attraction.

Needless to say for a 19-year old, I drove home floating on air about getting to talk to Walt Disney in person. I saw him on television every Sunday night. The next day I got a phone call asking me to report to Operations as soon as possible to sign a contract. I had been earning 95¢ an hour as hostess at 5 Lanterns, a Chinese restaurant, so I was thrilled to be offered $2.00 an hour, if I were to pay Teamster dues. That powerful union controlled the ride operators, and even after dues, that was a huge increase in wages for me.

Next came a big surprise. I was sent to Wardrobe to be fitted for a sarong and sandals, the uniform for Tiki Room girls. After passing the customary inspection for costumed park employees, I was directed to the Tiki Room. Walt Disney met me there and took me down to the basement of the building, where I was amazed by the technology behind the show. He told me that the mainframe computer with giant reels of 1" magnetic tapes had 14 audio tracks controlling the sounds and movements of the 225 Audio-Animatronic figures; then we went upstairs into the Tiki Room, where he pointed out the specific birds, flowers, and tikis for each of the 14 tracks. He signaled for the imagineers to begin the show. The precise synchronization of the animation with the catchy songs was truly amazing.

After the 17-minute show, I was asked to enumerate the different sound tracks. They were easy to recall after having just seen the show and with everything still in sight but now silenced. At that point, Mr. Disney insisted that I call him "Uncle Walt," now that I was an official member of the Disney family. I was told when to report for work and issued a security badge and employee parking pass.
My first week on the job in early June was for personal training by Uncle Walt. He told me precisely what to say about the development of The Enchanted Tiki Room. He took me with him as he guided visiting dignitaries and VIP guests through the basement and show, and then he observed me doing the same and gave me suggestions.

My second week on the job, I was joined by new hires. Our lead man, a moonlighting teacher, taught us about crowd control, safety measures, taking tickets, keeping accurate turnstile counts, and directing attention to the talking tikis encircling the entry patio: Koro, Maui, Pele, Rongo, & Tangaroa. We were shown how to move 200 people out of the Tiki Room while simultaneously ushering 200 incoming guests to their seats. We had 3 minutes between shows to do this, so the shows could run as scheduled every 20 minutes. We had to assure awed patrons that every seat was a good seat and keep them from running into the rattan chairs or over each other as their eyes focused on all the birds overhead. When guests were safely seated, we pushed the button to begin the Audio-Animatronics, then walked over to add realism to the show by tapping on the perch of a parrot to awaken him by saying," C'mon, wake up, Jose. People are waiting. It's showtime!" Our timed trial shake-down shows had us completely ready when the attraction held its grand opening on June 23, 1963.

During the shows, we watched carefully for any animation that was not perfectly in sync with the sound track and immediately reported this information to the engineers in the basement. Birds realistically moved their heads, preened themselves, and even puffed their chests in deep breaths while their beaks moved to replicate singing. Giant orchids in ceiling boats and floral birds of paradise in wall baskets had tongues that vibrated while crooning Hawaiian songs. Tiki drummers high over the windows pounded rhythmic native beats. Carved tike poles suddenly came to life to chant the Hawaiian War Chant and roll their eyes at guests. A water fountain danced to the music of Offenbach. Thunder, lightning, and rain in the windows enhanced the tropical experience. I was constantly delighted by the oohs, aahs, open mouths of the guests, and their willing participation as we walked around the central fountain and coaxed them to "sing like the birdies sing” halfway through the show.
A week later, Barbara Phillips and I were selected by Uncle Walt to appear on the Tiki Room postcard. We signed release forms and were photographed singing around the fountain. 30 years later in 1993, I bought that same postcard in Adventureland. For 25 years the Tiki Room was our family resting place at the end of our annual day at Disneyland.
Having seen the identical show over 5,000 times has not diminished my appreciation for the artistic beauty, music, animation, and technology of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room.

Uncle Walt was a perfectionist and taskmaster in his domain. He noticed details and was reputed to fire employees on the spot for not meeting his lofty standards for appearance, cleanliness, or making Disneyland the happiest place on earth. Word flew fast when he was in the park, and lead men of each attraction did extra inspections for clean costumes and shoes, grooming from hair to fingernails, cheerful attitude, and big smiles. There could not be a speck of litter in sight. At the Tiki Room, we had to sweep the stone patio between shows to clear away natural sheddings from the colorful but messy jacaranda trees surrounding the Tiki garden.

On a personal note, Uncle Walt impressed me with his eye for details and his great memory. On my second week of work, when he was still protectively hovering over his "baby,” I reported to the Tiki Room with my right jaw swollen from the extraction of a wisdom tooth. Uncle Walt asked me about it and sympathized with my discomfort. I had bled too much, so the oral surgeon did not remove a second wisdom tooth until the following week. When Uncle Walt saw me again, he asked, " Wasn't the other side of your face swollen the last time I saw you?" I had to explain, but was surprised that he would notice and comment on such a minor detail. It made tolerable being called Li’l Darlin' and Sweetheart by my world famous big boss. Upon his death in 1965, I was pictured with Uncle Walt on the front page of the Orange County Register. Unfortunately, that article about the Enchanted Tiki Room being his last accomplishment has vanished from my box of treasured mementos. Soon after, the Pirates of the Caribbean ride opened in Adventureland, adding to the Audio-Animatronic attractions at Disneyland.

Before the park opened each day in the summer, canoe races around Tom Sawyer's Island were held for employees of each Land within the park. Adventureland challenged Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Frontierland and Main Street and usually won the races because of more male muscle. Although "Indians" guided the canoes, other employees provided the oar power. There was also a lot of employee camaraderie in the break areas and a few after-hours parties at some outdoor dance areas. The happiest place on earth was largely a happy place for most employees as well. A fringe benefit was being able to accompany a free guest anytime during off hours.

As they passed through the turnstiles into the patio, many people asked me to pose for a picture with them and questioned my racial background. I was claimed by every Pacific Rim ethnic group as looking like one of them! This Hawaiian Chinese student was the universal Oriental.

One day a very persistent guy in a trim Air Force uniform sat on a bench across the entrance to Adventureland and watched me for hours, whenever I rotated to outdoor crowd control duties. My co-workers teased me about it, and my lead man asked him to leave for causing the distraction. Instead, he came over to introduce himself with a phony line about being the twist champion of New Jersey now stationed at Vandenburg Air Force Base. So I introduced myself as Aloha, a Polynesian dancer now stationed at the Enchanted Tiki Room. When he returned to see me the following week, I was inside directing the show, and he asked my lead man to see Aloha. Again, giggles and excitement circulated among us, as I went outside to accept a first date from the Airman whom I married three years later. When we divorced in 1976, he claimed that from our first meeting in the Magic Kingdom until our final parting three sons later in Valencia, our relationship was for him "nothing more than a combination of fantasy and adventure," but now he had found his ideal blonde beauty and had to pursue his own dream. Imagine blaming the Magic Kingdom for not being able to cope with the realities of daily life!
However, he freed me to meet and marry my own Prince Charming, and we are living happily ever after . . .

Memories of Diana Lai Thayer, 2004

P.s. Dan-o, do what you like with this. It was a fun trip for me down Memory Lane. Mahalo for asking. Yikes! It’s nearly noon. Told you my tale would take a long time, even with a break for breakfast and dressing.

Additional notes from Dano: In 1997, Diana had a cerebral hemorrhage and stroke leaving her partially paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. Despite a 21-year age gap between my father and Diana they remained married for 31 years until my father passed away in 2007.

Tiki Room Postcard (Diana is facing camera)

Uncle Walt & Diana Lai

Modeled in the 1968-69 catalog for the Quon-Quon Co., one of the largest importers of baskets and decorative luau supplies. At the time, they were in business for 80 years with a showroom at 2801 E. 12th Street in Los Angeles.

[ Edited by: Danno 2016-01-27 11:37 ]

Wow Dano! Excellent post, what an Amazing Lady. Thank you. :)

Wow! Awesome post Dano! What a great lady. It's posts like this that make this site exceptional.

I agree. Thanks Dano for sharing this piece of her history with us! I love these types of contributions!

Funny, I must have been reading this the same time Bora Boris was posting... we had almost the same response.

Thanks Dano! She is one very lucky lady.
I think a lot of us would love to meet her.

[ Edited by: Jungle Trader 2009-01-25 10:47 ]

A nice story.
Thanks Dano.

Uncle Walt? :roll:

I really enjoyed reading this! Thank you!!

Great story Dano!,thanks for sharing,that was a blast to read.

Thank you for sharing this. It was such a great story to read!

That was a great story, Dano. Thank your stepmother for recording it for future generations.

This story has the bonus of mentioning the 5 Lanterns restaurant, from whence this three-face mug came, and which I am also very curious about:

This was a most lovely post! I have forwarded it to both of my daughters - one who works at Disney World and one who is aspiring to work for The Mouse. My eldest daughter met her husband while in culinary school in Orlando. She was working part time then in entertainment for Disney and her husband and his entire family are Disneyphiles of the highest degree. Disney really is an enchanted and magical place!

Thank you, Dano. I enjoyed this so very much.

Thanks to everyone for all the great comments! At first I was hesitant to post because it was a little lengthy. I will definitely pass along everyone's comments to Diana.

Sabu - I will see if there is anything interesting that she can relay about the 5 Lanterns.

Thank you for the wonderful post, Dano, and for sharing your stepmother's story! Here is an article from the LA times (June 20, 1963), and a few more pictures of Diana Lai with Walt. Thanks again! This is the kind of stuff we love to see on Tiki Central.
-Kevin Kidney

[ Edited by: Miehana 2009-01-26 02:31 ]

I think that's me in the second image you posted Miehana. :evil: Lower right corner. heheh

Great article and pictures Miehana! It looks like they got her name wrong in the article though (it looks like Diani Lao?). I forwarded the last picture you posted and here is what she had to say:
"This is the clearest 1963 Tiki Room shot that I have seen of me, even if Walt Disney's face is not verifiable:-) Have never seen this photo before, but I do recall that Uncle Walt was pleased when he found out that I knew all the words (not the meanings) that the tikis chanted. After all, by then I had danced the Hawaiian War Chant with uli ulis (feathered gourds) many times. I was always tempted to hula along during the show, but that would have distracted from the novelty Audioanimatronics."

Dano, Thanks for posting those great memories of Diana! Being a big tiki room fan, I really enjoyed reading stories from a first hand account of the whole process! And LOVED the photos too!!

Classic Beauty!

What a treasure! I nominate Miss Diana to be Tiki Central's VIP Hostess :)

Dano, thank you so much! This really is an amazing story and especially for me as I was probably ushered thru by Diana upon the first few weeks of the Enchanted Tiki Room opening. My 5th. birthday was in June of that year and we always went as a family to Disneyland the last week of June every year to celebrate. I remember what a big deal it was to my folks to see this new attraction and for me it was the true beginning of my love for tiki, and/or tiki style and/or tiki culture and/or Polynesian Pop Culture. Again, Mahalo to your step mom for taking the time to share...

What a beautiful post!! I got teary eyed! I worked at Disneyland in the 80's, when the Park was run by Uncle Walt's son-in-law. What she described about Disneyland was true even then, twenty years later. We were given manuals to study on how to create the "Disney Look", and it was taken VERY seriously. To this day, it's hard to me to point using only one finger, or talk to a child without crouching down to his level. And, yes, there were those crazy canoe races at 6 a.m.! It was an amazing, and seriously fun experience. Please thank your mother-in-law for me, Dano, for taking the time to write this down. Have you heard of the "E Ticket" magazine? (I think it's still in publication.) They might be interested in reprinting her letter in one of their issues.

I just checked out "e magazine" and it seems this is their last issue. That's a shame because this story would have been awesome for it. Those pics are just too cool.

Yes, absolutely! A most incredible and inspiring story. Thanks so much!!

Thank you. This is an incredibly read (and the pics are nice too)!

This is just so awesome. Thank you so much for posting it, and give my best to Diana!

Thanks for posting this, Dano, and thanks to Diana for taking the time to write it all out.. A very enjoyable read!
It's always interesting to hear about the inner workings of things.

Fantastic Post, Dano! :) Thank you for sharing Diana's story -- a fascinating read!

VERY well written. There is nothing better than hearing the personal story of someone who was there. Especially someone with such a good memory. Hell, I can't even remember what I did last week. Could be the rum.
Mahalo for sharing this with us!

Thanks for all the great comments! Well it looks like I am the King of Procrastinators. It took me a while before she wrote down her story and then 4 years to post it here. Too late for E Ticket magazine. But it can be found at Davelandweb at http://davelandweb.com/tikiroom/

For those who may be interested (Sabu) of her experiences at 5 Lanterns restaurant she wrote this to me:

"Nothing really to note about 5 Lanterns. During the college term I worked weeknights at 5 Lanterns and on weekends at Disneyland. On school breaks (Christmas, Easter, holidays and summer) I worked at Disneyland, and my sister Elaine filled in for me at 5 Lanterns. Its sister restaurant was in Covina, owned by the same family. I worked as hostess/cashier there for Mr. Chen, who could compute receipts faster on his abacus than I could on a Texas Instrument calculator that had to be plugged into a wall outlet. The old man let me read and study at the register, so it was ideal for 3 years in college. I had my wedding rehearsal dinner there in 1966. Even though my mother had a restaurant in Hawaii and was an excellent cook, I did not like or cook Chinese food until I worked at 5 Lanterns and ate dinner there every night I worked. The little Chinese I know was also learned from the employees there. I was queen bee among all those guys, so I enjoyed my job there a lot."

Diana and my Dad's Wedding picture 1976

Diana, Dad and Dano at my 40th - leaning up against my Bamboo Ben bar

I planned on sending her this link on her 65th birthday(Feb.7) but again, late as usual.

Dano Rocks!

Dano, hope I'm not too late to say thanks to you and happy birthday to your mom!

How cool is that! Totally missed
this the first time around.
Thanks for sharing this with us Dano!

I'd love to see Diana honored as a special guest at Tiki Oasis.

Wow that is really interesting reading, was well worth it.

I did finally forward this link to Diana and she was thrilled with all the great comments from everyone! So thank you to all of the people who posted!

Didier Ghez, who runs disneybooks.blogspot.com and publishes books about Disney artists called “Walt’s People” will re-print this story in a future volume of the series and has posted a link to this story on his website (February 16, 2009 post).

That was great, thanks for getting her to share her story.

[ Edited by: Wayfarer 2009-06-10 10:03 ]

As a fan of the Quiet Village podcast, I was thrilled when Mark (Digitiki) asked if I could arrange an interview between himself and Diana. We spent a nice afternoon chatting about her past experience working as the VIP Hostess at Disneyland’s Enchanted Tiki Room. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Check it out if you haven’t already:

http://www.digitiki.com/

Wow, what an awesome interview! I could have listened to her talk all day! Thanks guys for putting that together, that is truly a treasure! I've been telling quite a few people about how she posted on TC about her experience as Original Tiki Room host, and now we've got her voice and photos! You're awesome Dano and DigiTiki!!!

I'm always late to these things..but WOW! This was such a treat. Mahalos for sharing Dano. And many mahalos to Diana. Really an honor to read.

Since it recently was the 50th Anniversary of the Enchanted Tiki Room, I felt that this should be brought back to the surface, for those who did not get the chance to read it. It is an awesome story, and just wanted to see how Danno and Diana are doing? I hope all is well with them! Mahalos for the great read again, Danno!

Thanks for making this resurface!!!

On the morning of October 1, 2015, Diana Thayer passed away.

She was a beloved matriarch, dedicated educator, talented musician, creative maven of scrap-booking and card-making, and so much more. She will be missed by all who knew her.

I had the opportunity to introduce Mark Riddle of Digitiki.com to my step mother back in 2009. If you have some time, please take a listen to a great interview that Mark gave with Diana in Episode 18 of his Quiet Village Podcast.

Episode 76 of the Quiet Village show has been dedicated to Diana Lai. The link to the podcast, as well as a link to a nicely written introduction to the podcast are below. The introduction, written by Mark Riddle (aka: Digitiki), speaks of the recent passing of some of our Tiki pioneers and the need to celebrate the ones that are still with us.

Just a follow up on Mark's introduction to his podcast: There were several groups that contacted me to see if Diana would like to attend and speak at a couple of events, but unfortunately, when I brought those requests up to her she politely declined as it had become more difficult for her to travel after her stroke.

http://www.digitiki.com/index.htm

http://www.digitiki.com/podcast.htm