Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room opened on June 23, 1963 and was the first attraction featuring audio-animatronics.  Sometime in 1963, an audio-animatronic bird sat at the entrance beckoning people to come inside for the show.  However, since this bird was the first of it’s kind, it often times caused traffic jams and made it difficult for people to get in and out of Adventureland.  Looking out for the best interest of the park, Disney decided to remove the bird from the entrance to keep the traffic flowing.

Walt’s original plan for the Tiki Room was as a restaurant, where mechanical birds would come to life and entertain guest while they enjoyed a nice meal.  Upon seeing the over-whelming response to the “entrance bird”, Walt decided to change it into a show instead.  This way, more people would have to chance to come in and enjoy his new creation.  The Enchanted Tiki room soon grew to become not only Walt’s favorite attraction, but also many other guests’ favorite attraction as well.

The outside waiting area for the Tiki Room really makes you feel like you have been transformed to a Polynesian country.  There are flowers overhead and real tiki torches burning near by.  Here you will also see a “pre-show” as some of the statues come alive to welcome you to the Tiki Room.  While you are waiting for the show to begin, you can enjoy a refreshing pineapple whip sponsored by Dole.

Four macaws host the show itself: Jose, Michael, Fritz and Pierre.  As you enjoy the show, everything around springs to life as the birds, flowers and even totem poles join in the adventure.  Although, we must caution you about thunderstorms: sometimes all the celebrating upsets the gods and then you never know what may happen!

The Tiki Room went through an extensive seven-month refurbishment in 2005 in preparation of Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary Celebration.  During this refurbishment, the seating was changed from chairs to benches and restored it back to how Walt originally wanted it after deciding against a restaurant.  Many birds were also restored by adding feathers that had fallen out and fixing some of mechanisms that had become old and not working properly.  This refurbishment restored the Tiki Room to its original glory. 

So, the next time you visit Disneyland, make sure to stop by the “Tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki room”.  Amazing things happen inside as the birds sing words and flowers croon.  We don’t think you will be disappointed.