In the Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room! Have the song in your head yet? You will after this secret history of the Enchanted Tiki Room! This lovable Disney show hosted by a handful of singing macaws has been around for decades. While it's gone through some changes, it remains one of my favorite attractions, yet! And I can't complain about those delicious Dole Whips, either.
Hop here for the Enchanted Tiki Room wait times, ride details and more!
The Secret History of the Enchanted Tiki Room
Opening as the first attraction ever to feature Audio Animatronics, Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room was originally intended to be a dinner show. The Magic Fountain you see in the center of the room? That was supposed to be a coffee bar! When it was decided the Enchanted Tiki Room would entail too much technology and complexity to be a dinner show, the Disney Imagineers got busy creating it as a Disneyland attraction.
The attraction was also the first to be fully air-conditioned at Disneyland! Via theFW.com, this was thanks to because of all the computers the show required to function. The design was perfect for the popular Polynesian-style of the era. The Enchanted Tiki Room opened officially at Disneyland in 1963 and guests absolutely loved it. Hosted by four singing and talking macaws (Jose, Michael, Pierre and Fritz), each of the birds talked with their own accent: Jose spoke with a Mexican accent, Michael spoke with an Irish one, Pierre had a French accent and Fritz spoke with a German accent! Their colors also represented the flags of these countries, but these colors have all changed throughout the years.
Those famous Dole Whips you now enjoy while watching the show? That's because Dole took over the attraction's sponsorship in 1976! The first sponsor of the Enchanted Tiki Room was United Airlines. Because the show was such a hit, an identical attraction opened at the Magic Kingdom in 1971, but was called Tropical Serenade. This was changed to the Enchanted Tiki Room and then again in 1998, the attraction was renamed The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management); it was literally "under new management" with lago from Aladdin and Zazu from the Lion King!
Finally, in 2011, Magic Kingdom's version dropped the "Under New Management" and opened as Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room with the storyline matching the original one at Disneyland. Now, you can sing along with these colorful birds in Tokyo Disneyland, as well! Except Stitch will interrupt your show.
The Enchanted Tiki Room Fun Facts
- The Sherman Brothers, who created the famous song sung in the Enchanted Tiki Room, are also responsible for tunes on "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh," "Mary Poppins," "The Jungle Book" and other Disney films!
- There are around 225 birds inside the attraction! Around 120 of them sing.
- You'll only find the delicious Dole Whips in Magic Kingdom, Disneyland and Dole Foods in Hawaii.
- Does Fritz sound familiar? Maybe so - that's Thurl Ravenscroft's voice. He also voices Tony the Tiger, and you'll hear him on the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction and as Uncle Theodore on the Haunted Mansion!
- Via Disneyland Detective by Kendra Trahan, the cast of the Enchanted Tiki Room includes 12 tiki drummers, 4 totem poles, 54 singing orchards, 24 singing masks and more!
- It's said that Walt Disney had a mechanical bird in a cage in his office, which inspired the Audio-Animatronic birds you now see in the Enchanted Tiki Room!
Are ya singin' yet? I hope so because I am! Be sure to check out our Enchanted Tiki Room wait times and ride details. If you have any great stories or questions about the Enchanted Tiki Room, let us know in the comments below.
Stay cool!
