Enchanted Tiki Room

[interstate70s]

I thought I had read somewhere that you can 't eat your dole whip in the tiki room at wdw. Is this still true?

 

[Robo]

I thought I had read somewhere that you can 't eat your dole whip in the tiki room at wdw. Is this still true?

True.

Dole is not a sponsor of the Tiki Room in Florida.
And, the Dole Whip location (Aloha Isle) is not actually very close to the Tiki Room.

 

[BenKling]

I never got a chance to see UNM when I visited in 2010, but I saw the current version last year.

What. A. Bore.

And I was really surprised too, because I LOVE the "classic" rides. I could ride the JC all day and still be excited. So I was really surprised how much I couldn't stand this attraction.

I fully appreciate the history and I'm sure 50 years ago this ride amazed audiences. I can absolutely understand how and why people have a special place in their heart for this ride... but to me they are just some dusty fake birds that spin around.

 

[PJ]

By coincidence, we did the Tiki Room today for the first time in several trips. The first comment I made to DH was that I was happy to see the original version restored.

I agree that its more bland without Zazu and Iago, but I guess I don't think you should mess with a classic. I think its nice for people to have a glimpse of some of the original Disney magic.

Now of they would just restore the original Journey Into Imagination... (but that's a topic that's been covered under many other threads!)

 

[happy2go2wdwmom]

The "You're messing with me baby" goddess was the best part of TIKI. I also miss "Little Red" story at AK safari.

 

[brerdawg]

Nearly everything is worth doing at least once, and yes, it is air conditioned.

History:

The Enchanted Tiki Room was the very first AudioAnimatronics attraction ever built. (It premiered at Disneyland.)

Walt Disney himself had earlier designed and crafted a small mechanical dancing man puppet theater, but it was too complex to build full-scale.

So, Walt and his Imagineeers came up with the idea of building mechanical BIRDS as they are simpler to design and operate.
Mechanical birds had been built for many generations by European and Asian craftsmen with "clock-work" mechanisms, but the new AudioAnimatronic Disney design was truly "cutting-edge technology" at that time (early 1960's).

Disney's staff wrote a whole musical show around their new bird designs, and the Tiki Room presentation was born.

They set it all up in one of the Disney (movie) Studios and (after adding a lot of additional special effects that rounded-out simple bird-stars) they built the final showcase for the attraction at Disneyland, set everything up inside it and the show debuted in 1963 (wow!)
The Enchanted Tiki Room was a HUGE success with guests for many years.
And, naturally, when WDW's MK was built, another Tiki Room was included in the plans.

But, as with anything based on "cutting-edge technology"... the Tiki Room was soon upstaged by newer, more complex and amazing animatronic attractions.
The songs chosen for the show were becoming too out-dated ("Let's All Sing Like the Birdies Sing", even in 1963, was not exactly the "pop anthem of a new generation").

The simple ideas of "birds twittering" and audience "sing-along" songs became "quaint" and SLOW as audiences became more accustomed to bigger "thrills" at other newer attractions.

The Tiki Room inhabitants were playing to fewer and fewer folks in the seats below.
And many times I was witness to a "mass exodus" of folks just getting up mid-show and finding the exit.

So the Imagineers decided it might help matters to "update" the show by adding "name" characters (from recent films) and by making music choices that had an appeal to the audiences that were currently Disney's guests.

And I personally applauded this "newer" version of the show.
The writers clearly had a love and respect for the original version (as there many references to it, and actual RECORDINGS from the original still included.)

I will also say that since the new "Under New Management" show began, I have seen far fewer guests get up and "walk out" during the show than I had been seeing for many years prior to the update.

There are some who didn't like the UNM version of the show and wanted it restored to the original version.
And, I do think that old show (now the current version) was/is like a "peek into the past" (with Walt and his crew), but I think the way it was/is headed... playing to fewer and fewer guests... it could simply be REMOVED... and that would be a shame.

I too enjoyed the UNM themed attraction. Part of me would hate to see it go but at the same time I would not be upset if I skipped it on my next trip.

 

[larryz]

Does anyone else miss the Zazu and Iago version?

I'm disinclined to admit to any enjoyment from the UNM version. Means "no."