Enchanted by the Tiki Room

Jeff Heimbuch flocks together with tiki birds of a feather

- by Jeff Heimbuch, January 21, 2011

With 'The Enchanted Room - Under New Management' at Walt Disney World out of commission for the next month or so, I thought it might be a good time to look back at the origins of the attraction and share some of my hopes for its future.

A Tiki Dissection

When the original version of 'Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room' opened in Disneyland in 1963, it was the first attraction ever to feature audio-animatronics. For its time, The Enchanted Tiki Room was a major leap forward in theme park innovation. It set the bar for other attractions to come. But how did the Imagineers come up with such a ground-breaking concept?

According to legend (which, of course, is how most things go in Disney lore), Disney was motivated to create the tiki bird quartet after purchasing a pair of small mechanical birds. While it's hard to say exactly where these birds came from (some reports say Asia while others claim it was an antique shop in New Orleans), what cannot be disputed was the profound effect they had on Walt. He kept one as a present to his wife, Lily, and took the other to his Imagineers for dissection.

The bird fascinated Walt.

He wanted to know how it worked and whether he could use it in one of his attractions. From the bird's mechanical innards, the Imagineers built the basic blueprint they used to create the sophisticated audio animatronics of the Tiki Room.

Tiki Room: Disneyland

The show was originally designed to be a restaurant, featuring a tropical cast of characters singing and entertaining the guests as they ate their meals. In concept, a wonderful idea, but in reality, it never would have worked. The restaurant never would have reached the high 'guests per hour' that Disney required. And the Imagineers were afraid that, after finishing their meals, guests would stick around to enjoy the songs and banter of their fine-feathered friends cavorting above their heads.

An unconfirmed source also claimed that eating underneath birds, audio animatronic or not, might cause some guests concern over 'extra additions' to their meals from on high!

Some remnants of the original concept still exist. The magic fountain in the center of the Tiki Room has a storage compartment in its base as it was originally conceived to be a coffee station. The original chairs ordered for the restaurant were used in the attraction until they were replaced in a 2005 refurbishment with padded bench seats.

So, the decision was made to turn the restaurant into a show instead. The Polynesian craze then sweeping the land helped make the Tiki Room a huge success when itopened on June 23rd, 1963. Also, since it was one of the first shows ever to be run by a computer, it was also held in Disneyland's first fully air-conditioned building.

As most of you know, the show is hosted by four international macaws: Jose (from Mexico, voiced by Wally Boag), Michael (from Ireland, voiced by Fulton Burley), Pierre (from France, voiced by Ernie Newton), and finally Fritz (from Germany, voiced by Thurl Ravenscroft). These four lovable characters lead a cast of birds, plants, and tiki totems through a whimsical musical adventure that has largely remained unchanged since opening day.

Juan, the infamous barker bird, was stationed outside the Tiki Room. He perched out there day after day, enticing passers-by to come inside and enjoy the show. As mentioned earlier, these auto animatronics were very advanced for their time, so Juan wound up doing more harm than good. Crowds of people would gather near him to see him talk, causing traffic jams that made foot traffic in Adventureland come to a standstill! Juan was eventually removed to help alleviate this problem.

Before going into the main theater, guests were treated to a pre-show that included Hawaiian music, a brief documentary on the history of pineapples, and Hawaiian gods. Rolly Crump, famed Imagineer, sculpted many of these statues himself. Strangely enough, Rolly had never sculpted before in his life, so these audio animatronics are a true testament to Rolly's amazing work.

[Bob's Two Cents: We have an interview scheduled between Jeff and Rolly Crump! Check back soon.]

The original sponsor of the show was United Airlines. Their sponsorship ended in 1976 when Dole Foods took over. With Dole came the world-famous Dole Whips!

(If you've never had a Dole Whip, I suggest you get yourself to the closest Disney Park and fix that hole in your life immediately!)

Tiki Room: Disney World

When Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom opened in 1971, the 'Tropical Serenade' was a virtual carbon copy of the 'Enchanted Tiki Room'. The only difference between the two was a different pre-show. The Disney World pre-show featured a 'magic' waterfall that parted to reveal two birds named Clyde and Claude sitting on top of a Tiki statue.

Florida's version also spawned the popular, but now almost non-existent, Orange Bird. He was created when the Florida Citrus Growers sponsored the attraction and sometimes made personal appearances in the park. There was even a story album, narrated by Anita Bryant, all about him, featuring two songs by the Sherman Brothers.

Now, he survives only in merchandising form.

For some reason, the Florida version of the show did not have the same effect as its California counterpart. The show was upgraded (or downgraded, take your pick) in 1998 as 'The Enchanted Tiki Room - Under New Management', featuring Iago from Aladdin and Zazu from The Lion King. Disney purists were NOT happy with this change and cried foul. Disney was seen as integrating popular characters into old attractions to make them more 'modern' for today's audiences.

Growing up, I went to Walt Disney World often and 'Tropical Serenade' was always one of my favorite shows. I know, a 20-minute show about singing birds usually isn't at the top of a 7 year old's list of favorite things, but for whatever reason, it was at the top of mine.

For nostalgic reasons, I was a little upset when Disney changed the show, but over the years, the show has grown on me. (Maybe that's because I didn't have a choice in the matter - or maybe it's my love of Phil Hartmann's voice in the pre-show.) I even thought that the addition of the Uh-Oa was a semi-nice touch. The new show was slightly tongue-in-cheek, with Iago claiming the old show was boring and audiences wanted a more current take on it. Uh-Oa, in a way, stood for all the people who loved the original show and cried 'Blasphemy!' when this one opened.

Apparently, attendance numbers for the new show exceeded those for the old, at least initially, so maybe Disney did have the right idea. But now the attraction never runs at capacity unless there is bad weather or the lines for the Jungle Cruise are too long.

Besides, this wasn't to be the last time the show would change.

Over in Tokyo Disneyland, the show has been through three different incarnations.

The first was identical to the original attraction until a 1999 refurbishment re-themed it as 'The Enchanted Tiki Room: Now Playing - Get the Fever!', which was more like a Las Vegas nightclub. And then in 2008, it went through another refurbishment into its current form of 'The Enchanted Tiki Room: Stitch Presents Aloha e Komo Mai!,' this time integrating Stitch into the mix.

So What Now?

On January 12th, 2011, at about 5:30 PM, a fire broke out in 'The Enchanted Room - Under New Management'. Thankfully, the fire was extinguished by the building's sprinkler system. Even though it was put out quickly, the damage had been done.

Reportedly, Zazu and the rotating bird mobile animatronic suffered some minor damage. But the big news is that the Iago-1 animatronic, the one that hosts the majority of the show, is almost unsalvageable. Michael Crawford at Progress City, U.S.A. reported that Iago "looks like he had a bad run in with Sarah Connor".

Disney, as yet, has not released an official statement.

Disney has a number of options depending on the extent of the fire and water damage, and how much money Disney is willing to invest in the Tiki Room. If they choose to reopen 'Under New Management,' they're probably going to have to rebuild Iago-1 from scratch. Not only that, but Zazu, the bird mobile, and anything else that was affected by the damages will have to be repaired. The show has been in rough shape for awhile, so Disney may decide that this is a great time for a complete refurbishment.

On the other hand, since Disney must still have all of the original pieces from the old show, they might choose to replace the new with the old, bringing back the 'Tropical Serenade'. That would be a nice addition to the Walt Disney World 40th Anniversary celebration.

Or, the Tiki Room can sit, neglected, for years, much like the Fantasyland Skyway building. While this the most inexpensive solution, it is the one I truly hope they do not take.

Whatever Disney does, the show is going to be closed for awhile.

'The Enchanted Tiki Room', no matter its form, is a huge part of Disney history. Without it, most of the rides we know and love today would not be the same. I hope that Disney steps up and brings back one of the most beloved attractions at the Magic Kingdom.

In the mean-time, however, we still have Disneyland's version to enjoy.

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