Why did Walt Disney build the Tiki Room ?

When POP opened in 1958 it started drawing more visitors than Disneyland. Walt decided to fight Tiki with Tiki and made some changes at Disneyland?
http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2007/06/08/why-for-did-walt-disney-actually-have-disneyland-s-submarine-voyage-built.aspx

[ Edited by: Ojaitimo 2007-11-07 09:40 ]

Nice find. Walt was a dreamer that made dreams come true. You can't be that and a pushover at the same time. The entertainment business across the board is as cut-throat as it gets, especially, back then before there were as many laws against piracy of intellectual property as there are now. He didn't get to be Number One for nothing. If you mess with the mouse, you'll get a Night on Bald Mountain.

Vary nice article and great postcards, thanks for posting. :)

Yes, that guy's research is great. I believe that the Disneyland Jungle Cruise was part of the original Disneyland, and so the P.O.P.'s Mystery Island/Beachcomber Ride obviously is one of those concepts CBS copied. Those carved posts and the native huts sure reek of Disney's "Adventure Land".

I believe Walt had the Enchanted Tiki Room built because he generally loved the Tiki theme. He frequented the Royal Hawaiian Restaurant (the one they had in Anaheim) and Kono Hawaii, and the initial plans for the Tiki Room were that it was supposed to be a restaurant, too. But when the animatronics machinery got to big, they had no room for food service anymore and it became an attraction in its own right.

Walt was also very aware of what else was out there already, and since there was already a "Tiki Room" in a bowling alley in another state, he had to name his creation the ENCHANTED Tiki Room.

It was a Tiki war of sorts between the parks in a good way, lucky for us because some has survived to this day. It would be cool to see alot more.
Walt did love Tiki no doubt with the many attractions he built having Tiki elements.
Todays Disney, not so much. Except for the obvious exceptions.
What is that Tiki cartoon with the alien? Isn't it real popular with kid's? I hope they bring a change sooner than later.
It's time for Disney to have another Tiki war, too bad POP's gone, maybe Knott's?. We can start a rumour, something like, "Hey did you hear Knott's is going to have Bamboo Ben reopen the Hedley shop in the new Tiki Land they are building? "
I remember Disneyland in the early sixties being much more Tiki, Adventureland had the Enchanted Tiki Room and The Hedley's had that cool store with something that every kid could afford to buy something.
The Enchanted Tiki room had just opened. Jungleland Cruise had the south sea village with natives back then didn't it? The Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. There was the Terrace restaurant and probably some others I can't think of.

Diane Marie Disney was the CEO until 1984 when Roy Disney went with Michael Eisner. Currently she is organizing the opening of the Walt Disney Family Museum at the Presidio in San Francisco.
Too bad she can't take over Disneyland again. I'll bet she remembers how cool it was and would like to see it like that again like we all would.
http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/exhibits/articles/presidio/index.html

[ Edited by: Ojaitimo 2007-11-07 09:24 ]

Walt Disney also visited the Kahiki restaurant in Columbus, Ohio so obviously Tiki was more than just a passing fancy.

Cheers and mahalo,
Jeff

http://www.yesterland.com/tahitianmenu.html

Cantonese rice, anyone?

http://www.rippop.com/mypark.htm

Tiki War! Tiki War! Oooo!

Cool thread, OT. Give those Imagineers some sharpened spears!

(ps: Premex told me last spring that Walt used to leave him with a baby sitter while he and Lillian made the scene at Trader Vic's 90210. His babysitter? Candice Bergen, as I recall. Nice.)

Tiki War. Oooo.