Rumor Bye Bye (Tiki) Birdies?

[HMF]

The TDO executives should be fired; I thought Burbank took them over since a little while ago?

You really think Burbank has good taste after "Mission Cashgrab"?

 

[xdan0920]

'm originally from New Jersey, been in South Florida almost 20 years. I own a record store and won't sell country music in it. I just really don't like it

You only sell music you like? Doesn't that somewhat limit you? Off topic I know, this just struck me as odd.

I predict that in 10 years something new will open somewhere at the resort

JT, is that you?

 

[ford91exploder]

I've been in those storage rooms. They're still fully decorated with the old masks, stuffed animal heads, and ships in bottles. It's kind of depressing to see show-ready shops filled with cardboard boxes.

Yes but a decorated shop costs more to operate than the slatwall monstrosities which look like seasonal pop ups in the local mall which is what passes for Disney retail today, Example The beautifully themed 'Notes from Civilization' at the Poly replaced by the depressingly vanilla slatwall hell called 'Moanas Merchandise'

 

[ford91exploder]

I do get the impression sometimes that a lot of people in charge of the Parks now are forgetting how important it is to have various types of Attractions and experiences for Guests to enjoy.
The mix of different offerings is what makes the Parks so special, as there is literally something for everyone and any age bracket.
Every single experience does not need to be a mega-thrill or 'E-ticket'.
It is good to have some 'Ds' and 'Cs' in the mix, too.


This is one of the things I love so much about Disneyland out in sunny Southern California - that special 'mix' of thrills, mellows, and simple amusements.
When I'm feeling in the mood for a adrenaline rush, I'll visit one of the many 'Mountains' in the Park.
If I need a break but still want to enjoy some unique entertainment, I'll visit the Enchanted Tiki Room or another Show.
When I want to zone out and just relax, I'll sit on a bench and people watch or just enjoy the environment on Main Street or Fronteirland.
The 'lesser' Attractions and the 'major thrills' balance each other out and as a whole make for a wonderful varied experience.



Over the years, that mix has been slowly whittled away at WDW.
Simple pleasures or 'mellower' experiences are being phased out or just outright removed....benches included.
This messes with the balance I spoke of earlier, and what you end up with is a Park primarily full of a lot of thrill focused Attractions and retail / dining.

That is a Six Flags experience...not a Theme Park experience.

I'm not saying that is what the MK is now...but if they keep going in that direction it will feel like it in a few years.
The less intense or just plain leisurely experiences are becoming an endangered species now.
Someone within the upper ranks needs to be reminded that the 'smaller' less intense offerings are just as important as the thrills.
It's the entire package that makes a great experience.


I prefer the Disneyland original of the Enchanted Tiki Room, but I will be sorry to see WDWs version fly the coop if that does indeed end up happening.
I can only hope whatever fills that space afterwards is a worthy 'replacement'....and the outer building facade is kept.
It's a beautiful sight in Adventureland, and it would be a shame to lose that too.

-

They dont care anymore, Now its what BRAND manager has sufficient clout to get their IP shoehorned into a park.

 

[peter11435]

Yes but a decorated shop costs more to operate than the slatwall monstrosities which look like seasonal pop ups in the local mall which is what passes for Disney retail today, Example The beautifully themed 'Notes from Civilization' at the Poly replaced by the depressingly vanilla slatwall hell called 'Moanas Merchandise'

Yeah it was so much better with those plain white ceiling tiles and standard 70s/80s merchandise racks you can still find at old hallmark stores.

https://goo.gl/images/erjYYH

 

[Tony the Tigger]

You only sell music you like? Doesn't that somewhat limit you? Off topic I know, this just struck me as odd.
?

Nope. We specialize in certain areas (especially the ones typical record stores tend to minimize) and go "deep catalog" in those areas, making for very loyal and happy patrons!

 

[rushtest4echo]

The world's most visited park has an older, expensive to run attraction that is lightly visited. They have similar offerings a few hundred feet away (HoP and CBJ) that consistently outdraw it. They've already attempted an ill-fated overlay of the show that flopped. They "brought back the original" and still can't manage to draw decent attendance. They're considering changes. THOSE MONSTERS.

 

[Seabasealpha1]

In my head I wonder...would Walt have kept the tiki room this long? He was one for change and knew that there had to be fresh stuff...so...would he have kept it?

Talk amongst yaselves...

 

[Goob]

Maybe the Imagineers were told to open a time capsule in 2017, inside was a message from Walt to remove the Tiki Room.

 

[Bocabear]

All this talk about making the Tiki Room a snack bar...does anyone remember when the snack bar outside the doors used to feature a giant orange tree along the back wall and canopied overhead with an animatronic Orange Bird, complete with a pepper's ghost effect thought bubble, and lights projecting through rotating screens to give the effect of filtered sunlight coming through the giant tree's green acrylic leaves? It was beautiful...and of course, stripped out and gone. I think the rotating light filters are still there (were last time I was there) but long disconnected. I would have a real concern that if it was transformed into an eatery we would see the theming slowly diminish until it was nothing more than a tropical footnote in a McDonald's style dining room.

 

[montyz81]

So is this really happening or is this still just a rumor?

 

[Tiki Queen of Outer Space]

So is this really happening or is this still just a rumor?

At the moment it is a rumor, but several trusted insiders are saying it's well on it's way to becoming true.

 

[Roakor]

Perhaps if they replaced it with a tiki bird restaurant (like it was originally suppose to be) then it wouldn't be too bad. I could get behind that. But I really can't see them putting anything else in that space that wouldn't just destroy the atmosphere even more than the more than the silly carpet ride did. The tiki birds is just a great place to get out of the heat and crowds for a few min and and simply enjoy the show. so much of MK is rush rush, got to be here at this time. got to wait in the mosh pit for this parade/show. I always found the tiki hut a nice contrast, no rushing, no pushing no wall to wall people.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I tuned out for a couple (dozen) pages... what's the leading candidate for replacement? Moana meet-and-greet?

 

[RobbinsDad]

I tuned out for a couple (dozen) pages... what's the leading candidate for replacement? Moana meet-and-greet?

God I hope not. Which means yes.

 

[rushtest4echo]

Does anyone else remember the Explorer's Club at Disneyland Paris? A table service eatery where in-character CM's interacted with animatronic birds during your meal. It's now Colonel Hathi's Pizza Outpost (and still a very well done eatery by the way). I can't find any videos of the original restaurant (it didn't last long) but if they could do something similar here at least they're preserve the feel of the original attraction. Of course, most of this can be accomplished across the way at the Canteen.

 

[FerretAfros]

Disney as a whole has forgotten about efficiency and moving Guests through an attraction. Just look at WED-era classic through-puts versus what you see today, even on those very same attractions the numbers are way down due to constant stoppages for ECV users.

The hourly throughput is what's most confusing to me about this proposed change. Unless it is being converted to a food or merchandise location (why not open one of the closed ones nearby instead?), the only thing that could really fit the small footprint would be a meet & greet.

A very conservative estimate earlier in this thread guessed that the Tiki Room currently gets about 10,000 guests per day, though I imagine the real number is higher (especially on busy days) due to a variety of factors. This only needs one or two CMs to operate, and seems to be low on the priority for overnight maintenance work.

A meet & greet can handle about 100 guests per hour, or 1,600 guests during an 8am-midnight operational day. Even if you double or triple that with a so-called "high capacity" multi-room M&G, it's still a tiny fraction of the current show. It also requires a massive increase in staffing, for character performers (enough for constant rotations), photographers, guest control, back of house/costuming, etc.

Sure, a M&G may be higher on some guests' must-do list, but the total number of guests who can possibly experience it will be far smaller than what the Tiki Room gets on a slow day. In a park that has known attraction capacity issues, removing attraction capacity makes no sense. Particularly with how FP+ has impacted operations, the park needs more minimal-wait diversions like the Tiki Room, not fewer.

 

[rushtest4echo]

^ It's not solely about throughput. If Disney has an underperforming attraction with poor attendance and poor guest feedback (which Tiki sadly has both of), then they'll trade a cut in capacity and even a cut in show quality if it results in much better feedback. I don't know if a M&G would accomplish that, and I truly hope that's not what's in the cards- but the fact still remains that they are willing to make that trade. They already did the same thing in Fantasyland.

 

[ABQ]

Does it truly have poor guest feedback though? I know a few folks on this thread are certainly not fans, but I don't know any personally and I haven't overheard people complaining that they just lost 15 minutes of their lives that they'll never get back when exiting the show. In fact most are stating how surprised they were after seeing the "cute singing birds, flowers and tikis."

 

[rushtest4echo]

Does it truly have poor guest feedback though? I know a few folks on this thread are certainly not fans, but I don't know any personally and I haven't overheard people complaining that they just lost 15 minutes of their lives that they'll never get back when exiting the show. In fact most are stating how surprised they were after seeing the "cute singing birds, flowers and tikis."

Tiki Room is rated beneath the other theater attractions at the park (except Stitch), most of which occupy the basement already. Sad but true.