Adventureland Themed Backyard

Here's some photos of my "Adventureland" themed backyard. The land features various signs seen at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. All of the signage was created by me except the "Adventureland" and "Tarzan's Treehouse" signs which were made by Dave Hansen of Lake Tiki.

[ Edited by: Tikinaut 2010-07-23 19:35 ]

Those are nice reproductions. I need one of those "cast members only" signs for the bamboo bridge at The Ocularis Foris (also known as the backyard at Lund Manor).

Now you need to make one of these

Take a 1x2x3 foot piece of styrofoam and cut away everything that doesn't look like a hippo.

Tikinaut, I recognize the faux palmtree form a previous post, it turned out good. Speaking of Bengal BBQ, anyone have a good recipe for their beef kabobs with pepper sauce?

Great Hippo! I would love to do a full jungle cruise! But living in Wisconsin can be prohibitive. My backyard will be full of snow in about two months!

Yes, the faux palm tree. Not sure how that's going to hold up over winter. I'll keep you posted though.

"Never get out of the boat. Absolutely goddamn right."
-Apocalypse Now

Great signs, Tikinaut. Now if you could get some audio animatronics going, that would really be something. :wink:

MadDogMike - I PM'd you the recipe.

Looking good Pete!

Let's hope the fall and winter rain and snow go easy on your yard.

Thanks again for the opportunity to do your Adventureland sign!

Hi Mad Dog, here is the official recipe for the Bengal Beef Skewers:

Sirloin Beef Chunks
Bamboo Skewers

Sauce:
1 cup Soy Sauce
1 1/2 cups of water
1 Tbspn Black Pepper
3 Tbspn Sesame Seed Oil
1 Teaspn Ground red pepper
1/2 Teaspn Cayenne Pepper
1 Tbspn Granulated Garlic
3 Tbspn Cornstarch

Combine all sauce ingredients and bring to boil.
Add cornstarch to thicken.

Soak Bamboo skewers in water for 1/2 hour.
Place Beef on skewers. Grill 3 min on each side and brush with sauce.

Spicy and great!! :)

Taking things even one step further, here are a few photos I found online of a father who made a Jungle Cruise playhouse for his young daughter. (Sorry I lost the original link). I wish I had the space (and time) to do something like this!

Wow! I'm getting some serious flashbacks! I used to be a jungle cruise captain back in the day. Nice job guys!

Thanks for the recipe Tiki Kate and Mr. Pupu Pants. I'm seriously jonesin' for some kabobs, maybe this weekend

Your Adventureland themed backyard is awesome!! I'm a big Disneyland fan myself as well as tiki. Great job!! Check out my Enchanted Tiki Bathroom photos at General Tiki-topic is Tiki Bathrooms!

Some recent additions to my backyard Adventureland themed backyard. These are directional signs for the various "lands" within Disneyland. My next project will be an Adventureland themed trash can. Stay tuned...

[ Edited by: Tikinaut 2010-07-23 17:19 ]

Taking things even one step further, here are a few photos I found online of a father who made a Jungle Cruise playhouse for his young daughter. (Sorry I lost the original link). I wish I had the space (and time) to do something like this!

We talked a little about this place in this link in beyond tiki:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=31072&forum=6

It has the links to the dude's website that created that fantastic backyard.

Great addition! I love the directional poles! - I really like your south seas traders sign too.

Love the hippo and Jungle cruise building with all the detail, very cool!

amy

Another big Disneyland nut here--really, really loving what you've done with your backyard. Fan--tastic!
Details are everything and your place has them to spare :)
Just the picture of the directional signs on the post alone look as though it could have been taken right in the park.

That's a one of a kind backyard.

Here are two Jungle Cruise signs that I made for my backyard. These were actually pretty easy to make. Here's what I did: Flickr has an enormous amount of Disneyland photos posted by its users. There's a ton of hi-res images of various signs that you can download. I found photo images of both of these signs, printed them on my 11x17 printer and attached to thin plywood using adhesive spray. I then coated the sign with several layers of clear shalack spray. Once that dried I added a coat of semi-gloss polyurethane spray. These make great conversation pieces to anyone's Adventureland themed backyard or home.

"Never get out of the boat. Absolutely goddamn right."
-Apocalypse Now

[ Edited by: 2009-06-25 16:09 ]

[ Edited by: Tikinaut 2009-07-14 19:19 ]

Do you plan on also building structures in your backyard to go along with the signs-similiar to what the guy did who built the Jungle Cruise playhouse?

I know you said you dont have tons of room but do you have more plans to expand on your decorating theme?

[ Edited by: leleliz 2009-06-24 15:57 ]

The guy who built the jungle cruise building constructed an entire working structure. He apparently had plenty of room for that. All I have in my backyard is a hut (which is a concealed tool shed), wood deck, some bamboo walls and a rock terrace. Not a whole lot of room to play with unfortunately. Although, one way I've found to get around that is to build facades, like I did with my Tiki Room building. It's a work in progress so perhaps I may add some more structures. I'll post more pics as I add on.

My wife always kids me that if we had a larger backyard I'd end up building the other three original lands in micro as well. She's probably right. So the smaller space keeps me in check I suppose.

"Never get out of the boat. Absolutely goddamn right."
-Apocalypse Now

[ Edited by: Tikinaut 2009-06-24 16:10 ]

[ Edited by: Tikinaut 2009-06-24 16:11 ]

So the smaller space keeps me in check I suppose

no...just makes you more creative with the space you got! Your signs look GREAT and ORIGINAL! well done!

My Adventureland trash receptacle in progress. Built using wood, when completed it will resemble the two photos below. The actual metal receptacles used at Disneyland sell for $500. Mine costs only $50!

Any ideas for what I might use to simulate the rivets?

Almost done. Just need to add the graphics to the sides. Note rivets. The deco is actual Disney colors from Home Depot.

"Never get out of the boat. Absolutely goddamn right."
-Apocalypse Now

[ Edited by: Tikinaut 2009-07-26 13:54 ]

[ Edited by: Tikinaut 2009-07-27 16:54 ]

You can use 1/4 inch carriage bolts (smooth round-headed bolts) to simulate the rivets, available at any hardware store. Nice looking DL replica trashcan :)

My completed Adventureland trash can. Lettering on front was made partially from a stencil and the remainder hand painted. Again, I used the Disney color set which is available at Home Depot.

What to make next...?

On 2009-08-01 16:06, Tikinaut wrote:
...

What to make next...?

Maybe a reproduction of the Adventureland entrance? It would be awesome!

Your wood can looks better than the metal one, wood fits in better with the Adventureland theme.

Tropical Imports sign. Plastic fruit is on clearance at Pier One.

All the signs are dead on-great work.

I was wondering if you were going to also add any buildings to your backyard to go along with the signs? Kind of in the manner that the other builder did with that Jungle Cruise playhouse deal.

[ Edited by: leleliz 2009-08-15 19:33 ]

Oh awesome :)

I look forward to seeing it all come together!

What fun. I love the hippo! The signage is especially well done.

This is a blast. Your eye for detail is really great and you have the skill and creativity to pull off your ideas. The technique for reproducing the signage with printer copies and plywood is a particularly good idea.

The trash can cracks me up in that it's the sort of detail pert near no one would ever bother to reproduce. (And if they did I doubt they'd think about reproducing the look of the rivets.)

Spring has arrived in Wisconsin and I've been busy tweaking my backyard. I finally got around to making my Jungle Cruise bar complete with steel roof. I may add a facade to the front section to better emulate the cue building at Disneyland.

"Dumb Dumb" stands vigilant watch...

Would love to build these other "lands" some day...

The designs on either side of the Tiki Tiki Room sign were done by Lake Tiki.

My attempt to emulate the wall of masks at the entrance to Adventureland. Just need to add some shields now:

Mick-Tiki:

Wood barrels are difficult to find. And the ones the sell online are very expensive, to say the least. The one you see in the foreground I purchased at a bigbox hardware store in Milwaukee called "Menards". It was a perfect half barrel meant to be used as a planter. I bought two and fastened them together to make a complete barrel:

"Never get out of the boat. Absolutely goddamn right."
-Apocalypse Now

[ Edited by: Tikinaut 2010-05-08 13:10 ]

[ Edited by: Tikinaut 2010-07-23 19:39 ]

To say "I would love to have a back yard like that" would be a huge understatement. You've done a wonderful job with all your replica signage and I can't help but feel some longing to visit Disneyland again. It reminds me that I really need to move somewhere with a modifiable backyard!

Cool! Like dumb dumb. Is he concrete? Like the Pirates Lair down by the stone wall. Looks very authentic.

"Dumb Dumb" is actually fiberglass. I bought him on eBay a few years ago. One of his kin also hangs outside the Foundation Tiki Bar in Milwaukee.

VERY smart idea with the half barrels - pure genius! What a fun yard you have - I was wondering if you keep that reed fencing on the walls year round (does it weather the winters there?) or do you have to replace it now and again? Things tend to rot here in the Seattle area after a while. Oh, and your "rough sketch" of your bar was far better than any actual working blueprint I could buy! Nice job.

The reed fencing you see in the photos has been up for over three years now and has held up quite well. Although we get a lot of snow here, our winters are actually desert dry. Not a lot of moisture in the air. The change in seasons though does beat the crap out of things after awhile. We're having our rainy season now. So applying some Thompson weather seal will definitely add a few years of life to the reed. You might want to try that in Seattle.

I also cover the exposed thatching with plastic.

Thanks for the info. I never thought about sealing the stuff! It just turns green here from all the moss and mold - so sealing is a great way to thwart that!

Tarzan's Treehouse sign...

I just need the treehouse now to go along with the sign! =-)

Always great stuff Tikinaut. I love it when a man has a dream and the 'nads to follow it through :D

Wow, I kinda feel like I'm arriving a little late to this party, but I'm glad I got here!
Amazing work!

I'm the guy who built the Indy Tiki bar and Jungle Cruise playhouse,. I got bored yesterday and googled my work (for the first time),and I couldn't believe how many times my stuff shows up on other sites! But this is by far the most interesting forum to me,and I just love the stuff you have done.

Regarding space, you would be amazed how much I've fit into a very small area.The bar area is only 15' wide,by the length of my house,and the playhouse was built into an unusable yard area, to maximize yard space.It's a very small,but quaint area.I need more signage though,and have been inspired by some of your work for sure. I am also working on plans for an artificial rock wall and waterfall, to go near the playhouse, a Schweitzer Falls of sorts....it's very cool stuff,and I'm using the same techniques as Disney's Imagineers...

Well if anyone still checks this thread out,give me a shout!
BTW
The tiki bar was featured at Popular Mechanics last month,check it out
http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/improvement/outdoor-projects/free-tiki-bar-plans

Mahalo!

Aloha Steve!

Your backyard was a HUGE inspiration for me. I really like what you did with the bar. Imagineering at home! And like me, you live where it gets REALLY cold in winter. Bravo for attempting all of that!

Please post some more detailed pictures of your projects here.

In the meantime, here's a pretty photo I took of the woods behind my home this past Saturday night. I used the "candle" setting on my digital camera to capture the green lit trees, waterfall and Tiki torch.

Pete
TIKINAUT

"Never get out of the boat. Absolutely goddamn right."
-Apocalypse Now

[ Edited by: Tikinaut 2010-07-22 08:51 ]

Ok here we go

Turned the yard into a Pirates Lair for my daughters 4th birthday..I also had a 5.1 DVD with the audio from the ride which I remixed.The skull at the entrance had the "psst..avast there matey" voice,and then as you entered it was the sounds of cannons,etc..and the smoke,very eerie!

Made this last summer,carved from Cedar,adorned with artificial flowers.This used to appear on top of the Dole Hut, at the Tiki Room in DL.I see it is not there anymore.

Close up view of the mask.

Night time is the best out there..the view from the playhouse area.

The facade wall was inspired by the ticket booth part of the Jungle Cruise entrance, on the left. The sign was recreated by me,using stencils, freehand.The boat was created in Photoshop,printed on clear labels,and stuck on.It has faded considerably,and needs replacing.

Another night view

Two years ago we had a terrible winter here. It dropped to -15 for a whole month (unheard of here)! It killed the lawn, palm trees,and just made a terrible mess...

All I could do was dig it up and start over....

I raised the ground level a few inches,improved drainage and added lots of sand...


Bought some new trees...

And re sodded the whole thing....
I'm happy to say the the yard has flourished since then, and I've learned better techniques for winterizing my plants!

Cool shot,dude we would have a blast if we could get together for a beer!

Couple more shots

Did this for the Pirate party

And made this mast in about 15mins,its still standing,although I moved its location.

I'm gonna take more shots today or tomorrow to show how much the plants have taken over this year,stay tuned.
If anyone wants more info on anything,let me know,and I can focus in on it.

Makes me want to go to Disneyland! Nice work... I dig those night shots!

Amazing photos! You certainly utilized the area well in your backyard. The ship mast is especially creative. I wouldn't mind seeing more photos of that.

I lost my lawn about two years ago. We had over 100 inches of snow in 2008! This onslaught fell on top of an existing sheet of frozen rain and sat for four months straight with no thaw. Needless to say, it killed most of my grass.

BTW, how do you get tropical trees to survive a Canadian winter? I'm assuming you're leaving these outside???

Regarding the trees, and our winters. They are Windmill palms,and are cold hardy to about -20 C...Also, where I live (Vancouver Island) is a temperate climate. Less rain than Seattle, and warmer than them too. Its called the "banana belt" I believe...We get snow every winter for sure,but normally only a few inches, and it only lasts a few days to a week. BUT, the potential for more is always there,so as long as you wrap the tree in burlap to protect from frost and wind,especially when they are young, it will provide more than enough protection.My mistake was not wrapping them even though they were 5 years old, and they harsher winter did me in. This past winter was so mild, that I think the trees maybe even grew a bit! This is also the shady side of my house,and is very dark in the winter,so lots off moss,algae etc,but in the summer its always cool,and not as breezy as other areas..We have nice summers here,about 75 F on average.It hasn't rained in a month!
Today is too windy to take photos,stuff is blowing everywhere, so I'll post some updates soon.I don't have any more pics of the mast now,but will take some.

How popular is your yard with friends/family? How often do you use it?
Mine is the one and only place for family BBQ's, poker nights, you name it.
I even sell souvenir mugs,T shirts,and postcards with the Renata Outpost logo on them! I also host an outdoor movie night every year, followed by a hot tub party! I always invite the neighbors,and its quite a blast!

I also hope to build something new next year, if i can find the space for it.It's a 1/4 scale (approx) replica of a Jungle Cruise boat, that will actually house a picnic table inside. The boat will sit in a rock garden,with small ponds at the bow/stern.The throttle of the boat will turn on a pump and push water out the back of it! The only issue I have is that I am running out of "green" space that my kids can run around in,and sometimes they prefer that over using things made for them. I always find them playing "house" under the deck stairs,instead of the playhouse! Go figure!!!

Any wild ideas of your own?

[ Edited by: madhatter1138 2010-07-22 13:35 ]

hi TikiNaut, Great job on the yard, I love all the detail.

I noticed you said you had issues finding barrels, here is a link to Benson's in Cal, they are reasonable and they ship cheap. hope this helps

Amy

http://www.bambooandthatchetc.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=barrel&osCsid=3cf7f5cba545103bea8d10e8abebca42