Rumor Bye Bye (Tiki) Birdies?

[AmandaS.]

Then "We Know the Way" as the finale.

Best song on the whole soundtrack. Gives me goosebumps.

 

[AmandaS.]

We went to the tiki room 3 weeks ago on our trip. The attraction was empty and I've been a handful of times, but honestly this time the show just seemed old and lack luster. The two 5 year olds with us enjoyed the show, but they weren't enamored with it. It definately not anything they bring up when they bring up their trip. I think a Moana overlay done right would really revitalize the show and get more people to see it. And yes the clack clack of the older animatronics was very annoying.

 

[Magicart87]

Of the following 2 options (and only those 2 options) which would you prefer and Why?

Would you rather:
A) See the Tiki Birds removed entirely?
or
B) See the Tiki Birds get an IP overlay treatment?

 

[Phil12]

I think many folks have missed the point of why the Tiki Room show was created. It was nothing more than an advertisement to promote tourism to the new state of Hawaii. The show was sponsored by United Airlines. I'm sure Walt's frozen head gets a good laugh when current fans fawn over his outdated sales pitch.

 

[SamN'Dean]

I like seeing the Tiki show each time I stop by the MK. However, there are two parts that grate on me: The ridiculously accented and unfunny emcee birds; and the horrendously pedestrian song, "Let's All Sing Like the Birdies Do."

So imagine a different intro featuring Moana telling us of the Polynesian culture including the Welcome to the Tiki Room song.

Then Moana's theme song with the bird choir.

Then Maui insinuates himself with an abbreviated "You're Welcome". Then he instigates the flowers and tikis to sing their songs which awaken the volcano god.

Then Moana sings the Te Fiti soothing song to calm the volcano.

Then "We Know the Way" as the finale.

This is a really solid idea, that keeps some of the charm of the original while injecting some much needed fresh material.
It sounds great to me, which is why Disney probably won't do it.

IIRC, spirit keeps saying that Moana isn't in the cards. So what *could* fit into the footprint of Tiki and continue having a Polynesian theme and still be "DIsney"?

The only thing I can see Disney doing is putting in an extended advertising show space for their resort in Hawaii.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I think many folks have missed the point of why the Tiki Room show was created. It was nothing more than an advertisement to promote tourism to the new state of Hawaii. The show was sponsored by United Airlines. I'm sure Walt's frozen head gets a good laugh when current fans fawn over his outdated sales pitch.

That is completely at odds with the building of a Tiki room in WDW, in 1971. With neither UA sponsorship nor a new state of Hawaii.

A case can be made for the Tropical Serenade as vehicle for Florida's citrus industry in place of Hawaii. But that would still miss a great many aspects about the purpose and origin of this attraction.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Love that we can all have differing opinions and still get along!

No we don't. Lifetime ban for all who would remove the Tiki Room from a Disney Park.

Maybe they can remove When You Wish Upon Star from the park too as being an outdated song for the nostalgics.

 

[DE_DISNEY]

Are they building something else nearby? When we visited a few weeks ago, there seemed to be a new "tiki" style roof under construction.

 

[Musical Mermaid]

No we don't. Lifetime ban for all who would remove the Tiki Room from a Disney Park.

When I heard the news that the Iago animatronic had been damaged in the fire, I looked at those birds in a completely different way for some time. Maybe they can take care of themselves. After all, they fired their awful management and had their show, well, most of their show returned to them. Was it all just an eerie coincidence? Either way, I don’t want to get on the bad side of the inhabitants of the tiki room.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Moana and the Tiki Room have nothing to do with each other. That's like saying On the Town and Escape from New York are releated because they both take place in the same city. One is the coming-of-age story of a yong woman reconnecting with her cultural heritage and in the process saving her village. The other is an early 60s lounge act performed by birds instead of people. The only way to make them work together is to completely change the musical score and personality of the birds, at which point it would stop being the Tiki Room.

The show has endured for 54 years because in doing a parody of entertainment at the time, Imagineering created their own celebrities who are timeless in their appeal and the "club" where they perform is still beautiful (and larger than the Disneyland original). No need to take a small, moderate capacity attraction that sells nostalgic merch out in favor of a movie that could be represented elsewhere with fewer limitations placed on it like Frozen Ever After.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Moana and the Tiki Room have nothing to do with each other. That's like saying On the Town and Escape from New York are releated because they both take place in the same city. One is the coming-of-age story of a yong woman reconnecting with her cultural heritage and in the process saving her village. The other is an early 60s lounge act performed by birds instead of people. The only way to make them work together is to completely change the musical score and personality of the birds, at which point it would stop being the Tiki Room.

The show has endured for 54 years because in doing a parody of entertainment at the time, Imagineering created their own celebrities who are timeless in their appeal and the "club" where they perform is still beautiful (and larger than the Disneyland original). No need to take a small, moderate capacity attraction that sells nostalgic merch out in favor of a movie that could be represented elsewhere with fewer limitations placed on it like Frozen Ever After.

I think a better comparison would be Frozen and the Norway Pavilion.

 

[John park hopper]

I have been going to WDW since 1972 (married and then with kids, now without) and all ways do the Tiki Room because -- it is not a roller coaster, it is not a dark ride it is simply part of WDW history. Most recent visit May of this year and for a slow time of the year it was filled. So much of the original WDW has been lost or changed the Tike Room is ageless, let's hope we don't loose this one

 

[Phil12]

That is completely at odds with the building of a Tiki room in WDW, in 1971. With neither UA sponsorship nor a new state of Hawaii.

A case can be made for the Tropical Serenade as vehicle for Florida's citrus industry in place of Hawaii. But that would still miss a great many aspects about the purpose and origin of this attraction.

A case can be made? The Florida Citrus Commission was one of the original sponsors at WDW and spent 3 million dollars back in 1969. That translates to about a 20 million dollar sponsorship in today's dollars. For that money they got the Tiki Room show and the Sunshine Tree Terrace. It was all to promote Florida orange juice.

Just as the DL Tiki Room was created to sell airline tickets to Hawaii, so too the WDW version was adapted to sell Florida orange juice.

TWDC created the Orange Bird to shill for Florida orange juice and hired Anita Bryant to sing her little heart out about the virtues of Florida orange juice. And I should note that the Orange Bird Song was written by the Sherman brothers:

 

[Phil12]

That observation is as irrelevant as the Disney Parks Blog's latest post.

But it's often empty and that fact illustrates that the attraction is not very popular. Or, to put it another way, the attraction is not much of an attraction any longer.

 

[Pixieish]

There are just some experiences that should be devoid of IP intrusion. It's just too prevalent to replace. I think it's a vital part of what makes Disney parks unique. I'm glad that whatever happens to WDW's hopefully won't change things at Disneyland, but still.....that is yet another deterioration that is hard to stomach. It makes all the other connecting experiences (Trader Sam's, Skipper Canteen, etc) meaningless if you chip away at park institutions. Soon it will be a nostalgia thing that only the small percent of park goers will understand. A continuation of the purge of their purist fan base.

Not to mention the fanbase that passes that fandom onto future generations. My kids are more hardcore Disney movie fans than I am, and I've been collecting (we have almost all of them) since well before my sons were born.

 

[TeriofTerror]

A case can be made? The Florida Citrus Commission was one of the original sponsors at WDW and spent 3 million dollars back in 1969. That translates to about a 20 million dollar sponsorship in today's dollars. For that money they got the Tiki Room show and the Sunshine Tree Terrace. It was all to promote Florida orange juice.

Just as the DL Tiki Room was created to sell airline tickets to Hawaii, so too the WDW version was adapted to sell Florida orange juice.

TWDC created the Orange Bird to shill for Florida orange juice and hired Anita Bryant to sing her little heart out about the virtues of Florida orange juice. And I should note that the Orange Bird Song was written by the Sherman brothers:

Side note: a case can also be made for Anita Bryant being one of the worst human beings ever.
(Sorry Elsa, but I'm a woman and a Cleveland sports fan. I never let anything go.
Oh, and since we're on the subject, the cold bothers me quite a lot.)

 

[ohioguy]

I've heard about the demise of the Tiki Room for over 20 years. The same goes for the speedway in Tomorrowland. Yes, it may happen eventually, but I'm not setting a clock by it

 

[MisterPenguin]

I've heard about the demise of the Tiki Room for over 20 years. The same goes for the speedway in Tomorrowland. Yes, it may happen eventually, but I'm not setting a clock by it

Check back in 2021.

 

[Pixieish]

So on one hand this is baffling, what could possibly be worth the minuscule square footage this take up?

On the other hand, selfishly, it isn't CoP or Country Bears and Disneyland will continue to have Tiki Room. So I guess unintended diversity between the two coasts is the only minuscule silver-lining.

Stitch just doesn't strike me as popular enough to reuse the AA at this juncture for a Tokyo style makeover. At least that wouldn't be a complete wholesale destruction if it was identical to Tokyo, although I'm sure many would see it as such.

Stitch is plenty popular, but so far what they've done with him is very lackluster. Re-theming Alien was a huge mistake...he could have his own ride (spaceship chase?).

 

[Pixieish]

I guess you've never been to the Tiki Room with kids around. I guarantee that the kids of 2017 love that show. Singing along to birds is as appealing to today's kids as the kids of the 1960s.

I would also venture to say that part of the draw of Disney World is a parent's ability to share their favorites with their children and grandchildren. It's a means for family to reconnect. It's the one place where all 4 of my small family can go and EVERYONE has fun...not just the kids while mom and dad are bored out of their minds watching them play on bouncy houses.