3
Credit: The Walt Disney Family Museum Disneyland Resort has quietly embarked on an update to Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room, one of the oldest attractions at Disneyland Park. The family-friendly animatronic show has entertained Disney Park guests for more than 61 years.
Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room is a staple of the United States Disney parks. In 1963, the show opened at Disneyland Park as a testament to Walt Disney’s passion for Audio-Animatronics. In 1971, a version of the show called Tropical Serenade opened alongside Magic Kingdom Park. It later reopened as The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management), featuring two birds from Walt Disney Animation Studios films: Iago from Aladdin (1992) and Zazu from The Lion King (1994). After a fire damaged the Walt Disney World Resort building in 2011, Walt Disney Imagineers replaced the show with a version of Walt Disney’s original Disneyland Park attraction.
After over half a century, it’s only natural that Disneyland Resort’s Enchanted Tiki Room attraction requires occasional maintenance. However, the Southern California Disney park typically announces refurbishment periods, especially when they necessitate temporary attraction closures.
This week, Disneyland Park guests noticed unannounced exterior construction on the Walt Disney original attraction. Redditor u/burbankbagel shared these photos of an unusual addition to the building’s roof:
Tiki Room Roof
“Any idea what’s happening here?” the Disneyland Resort guest asked. “Are they reskinning it?”
Many Disney Parks fans pointed out that Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room shares its building with Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe, which is currently closed for refurbishment. Most speculated that changes on the Adventureland side of the building were part of that construction.
“It shares the building/roof with Jolly Holiday so it’s part of Jolly Holiday’s construction,” said u/JoeeyMKT.
“When in doubt, OSHA,” u/duck_mancer replied. “I’m not a contractor, but I’d guess they needed some sort of ‘guard rail’ or something that wasn’t just a plain 2×4 and that’s the best thing they had on hand.”
Should Walt Disney Imagineering update the Enchanted Tiki Room? Share your opinion with Inside the Magic in the comments.