Rumor Bye Bye (Tiki) Birdies?

[brb1006]

Not to mention Universal is able to have wandering characters without mass pandemonium. It adds atmosphere and spontaneity, two things modern WDW execs seem to have contempt for.

I remember being surprised to see Woody meeting guests outside the Universal Studios Orlando entrance since he's usually at the Kids Zone area.

 

[Yert3]

You guarantee that kids today love it? Some certainly will, but times have changed, for better or worse. This was impressive tech for the 60's, kids are tougher to impress today. My kids can take or leave it, but that doesn't mean I think it should go.

Why should the tech matter? It's charm is in its music and characters. At least it's not CGI video on screens like Universal rides or The Shanghai Pirates. Haunted Mansion was pretty much ruined with CGI ala Constance and the new hitchhiking ghosts. Newer doesn't mean better.

 

[Goob]

What's different from the Disneyland version? I just watched the DL version on YouTube and to me it seemed pretty much the same as WDW, except for the fountain.

 

[Yert3]

What's different from the Disneyland version? I just watched the DL version on YouTube and to me it seemed pretty much the same as WDW, except for the fountain.

The only difference I recall is that it has the "let's all sing like the birdies sing" sing-along still intact. At least it still was the last time I was there.

 

[WEDwaydatamover]

Yert3. Your right that the advanced CGI does not work well in the analog Haunted Mansion.

The Stitch AA was one of the most advanced ever developed when Great Escape opened and turned out the most hated attraction in Disney history.

All the technology in the world doesn't beat out great storytelling and simple magic done well.

 

[Yert3]

Yert3. Your right that the advanced CGI does not work well in the analog Haunted Mansion.

The Stitch AA was one of the most advanced ever developed when Great Escape opened and the most hated attraction in Disney history.

All the technology in the world doesn't beat out great storytelling and simple magic done well.

What happened to the Haunted Mansion reminds me of what Happened with the Star Wars special editions adding CGI to movies from the 70's and 80's. You're in this charming attraction built in the 60's/70's with amazing practical effects and all of a sudden... CGI! Takes you completely out of the time period and they stick out.

 

[WEDwaydatamover]

Exactly right.

 

[Biff215]

Why should the tech matter? It's charm is in its music and characters. At least it's not CGI video on screens like Universal rides or The Shanghai Pirates. Haunted Mansion was pretty much ruined with CGI ala Constance and the new hitchhiking ghosts. Newer doesn't mean better.

That's not what I was trying to say, as I totally agree. The other poster was claiming to "guarantee" all kids today love the current show just like in the 60's, which I don't find to be true. My kids know the history and appreciate attractions no matter the age and tech used, but it's just not a favorite of theirs, and I can understand why. I think we can agree this was much more impressive back then, but it doesn't mean there's no charm or story, and I still don't want to see it go.

 

[Sundown]

I'm a bit sickened hearing this news. Love the Tiki Room.

And we lose it for what? A damn Moana show? Ridiculous.

 

[PrincessJulia1207]

I mean, one of the dresses in the new and wildly popular Dress Shop at Disney Springs has a print that features the Orange Bird...so that says something about the attraction's importance though, right?
right?!

 

[JenniferS]

I wish there was official list of attractions that deem them untouchable. Tiki Room should be on list. Some things are just too good and/or historical to get rid of.

I scrolled to the end of the page and hadn't seen anyone answer this, so I'll give you MY list.
Carousel of Progress
It's a Small World
CBJ
Tiki Birds
Treehouse
Haunted Mansion
Jungle Cruise

Tweaks and cleaning and general maintenance - yes please; but a wholesale change of the integrity and "feel" of the attraction - nuh-uh.

I also think Splash is a perfect ride, but it doesn't have the nostalgia or history yet that the others do.

Except for Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise, none of the attractions I've listed are headliners, but to me they scream Walt!

 

[WDW1974]

How about Hei Hei's Polynesian BBQ and Tiki Bar Featuring the Enchanted Tiki Birds?

(No, I am not being serious. Just a joke passed on by a friend.)

 

[bjlc57]

Do you know the story of the 20K ride and its demise?

please feel free to tell us all the true story.. I know that YOU KNOW..

 

[RSoxNo1]

Any news in here since page 1?

 

[Casper Gutman]

I scrolled to the end of the page and hadn't seen anyone answer this, so I'll give you MY list.
Carousel of Progress
It's a Small World
CBJ
Tiki Birds
Treehouse
Haunted Mansion
Jungle Cruise

Tweaks and cleaning and general maintenance - yes please; but a wholesale change of the integrity and "feel" of the attraction - nuh-uh.

I also think Splash is a perfect ride, but it doesn't have the nostalgia or history yet that the others do.

Except for Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise, none of the attractions I've listed are headliners, but to me they scream Walt!

I'd add Thunder Mountain, Pirates, and Pan to that list (and I'd be willing to negotiate on Treehouse, but in a perfect world they all stay).

Honestly, it's hard to imagine a desecration more egregious then what happened to Horizons, WoM, and Imagination (and Cranium Command, but that's more personal). Even gutting Tiki pales in comparison to the removal of those totally unique attractions.

 

[The Duck]

I just had a horrible thought. What if the Tiki Room is going to be dozed to make room for ............... a dueling Aladdin Carpet spinner and Agrabah 2.0???......... Just joking! They wouldn't be THAT moronic, would they?

 

[WDW1974]

Capacity problems are cleary not a problem worthy of anyone's attention.

Just keep stuffing them in until guest spending drops...then maybe raise prices again.

Capacity issues are all self-inflicted. They largely come from the fact that many Guests have caught on that EPCOT is simply a huge outdoor bar and The Corpse of the Disney-MGM Studios typically has 3-4 attractions right now that the average Guest wants to do (this comes from ...well, someone in Guest Relations sorta ...) DAK is finally seeing more people because of night hours and RoL. But the fact is for the last 15 years or more, Disney has made one park more coveted than the others and done nothing to increase capacity at it. Add in FP+, add in shuttered facilities, add in dozens of hard ticket nights a year and you have a very crowded unpleasant park to be in most days of the year.

Now, there are all sorts of plans to ... how was it described to me? ... "open it up." What does that mean? Take a look at the Hub. Or the area behind the Castle now. I won't go into much detail right now, but -- very much like Disney's response to its transport issues -- they are on a destroy as much greenery and pave things over mentality. There are vast areas that management feels are underutilized real estate and ...well, there are ... as @marni1971 will attest to as well ... many plans floating around to fill in some of that space. There are also competing ideas for some of those parcels.

Fundamentally, though, Disney has to make it so Guests want to be at the other parks more than MK and actually add capacity to the original at the same time.

 

[Yert3]

I just had a horrible thought. What if the Tiki Room is going to be dozed to make room for ............... a dueling Aladdin Carpet spinner and Agrabah 2.0???......... Just joking! They wouldn't be THAT moronic, would they?

Well...
They replaced a classic dark ride for a meet n greet
Got rid of Alien Encounter for Stitch.
Changed It's a Small Worlds queue to resemble Disneyland's
Tomorrowland Speedway still exists
Added Johnny Depp to Pirates
Demolished SpectroMagic
Added that ludicrous queue to Haunted Mansion
Added the most annoying safety spiel to the Star Tunnel that replays every 10 seconds instead of every two minutes or so killing some of the best music in the park

So, yeah. I wouldn't put it past them to be that moronic.

 

[WDW1974]

Exactly. I can think of another park system that's based entirely on external IP and hate to see WDW move in that direction.

That's the direction they have been going since Bob Iger became CEO. Nothing is going to change. To argue the MK is still a theme park and not an IP/franchise park is to not understand just what a theme park is and isn't. ... Very much like the old debate here on decoration versus theming that many people don't grasp.

 

[V_L_Raptor]

There is a simple reason for this.

A vast majority of big WDW announcements since the opening of AK have been negative. Even the positive ones, like Pandora, come with sizable caveats.

I always wonder - if you knew and loved WDW in the 80s or early (or even late) 90s, how can you look at what it's become and not be angered?

I keep wondering just how this is supposed to play for the 50th Anniversary (not that management cares, I get that).

Angered, saddened, but most of all, resigned. After EPCOT Center, it's hard to skirt that resignation phase.