June 23
TIKI TIKI TIKI TIKI TIKI DAY
How lucky we all are that Walt Disney changed his mind, and instead of opening the Bird Cafe, a Chinese restaurant with an animated, talking Chinese elder spouting Confucius-type bits of wisdom, he created the Enchanted Tiki Room. On this day in 1963, the sounds of Polynesian drums heraldedthe opening of Disneyland’s first Audio-Animatronic attraction.
If you’ve never been inside the Enchanted Tiki Room, where all the birds sing words and the flowers croon, you are in for a refreshingly innocent 15 (used to be 18) minutes of entertainment. If you’ve experienced this Disney delight, you’ll most likely agree that, after all the thrills and chills of other attractions, the Enchanted Tiki Room is the perfect place to chill out (literally, it’s air-conditioned) and let the Tiki gods take over.
In the tropical garden outside the Enchanted Tiki Room, the Tiki gods and goddesses, Maui, Koro, Tangaroa-Ru, Hina Kuluna, Pele, Negendei, Rongo and Tongoroa set the mood, telling you of their South Sea legends.
The Enchanted Tiki Room entertainment troupe consists of 225 singing, talking birds, flowers, tiki gods and drummers. Emceeing the sit-down show (230+ guests) is the multi-colored Macaw parrot, José. José, speaking with a Spanish accent, brings the show to life, introducing his parrot comedic partners, Michael from Ireland, Pierre from France and Fritz from Germany. The South Seas show is appropriately sponsored by Dole Pineapple and is complete with tropical rain storm ... don’t worry ... you won’t get wet in the Enchanted Tiki Room (although some redesigning has been done and the Tiki gods in the garden now occasionally squirt water at unsuspecting guests).
Other new additions are Iago and Zazu, Disney’s feathered friends from Aladdin and The Lion King, respectively.
José doesn’t mind changes in the script and partnering with the new Audio-Animatronic additions. He loves to entertain, and says he’ll stay forever, as long as the Enchanted Tiki Room isn’t turned into a taco stand.
Our show is delightful. We hope you’ll agree.
We hope that it fills you with pleasure and glee.
Because if we don’t make you feel like that,
We’re gonna wind up on the lady’s hat.In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room,
In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room,
All the birds sing words and the flowers croon,
In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room.
Those Were the Days, the Today in History service from 440 International
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