Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room was the world’s first Audio-Animatronic show when it debuted at Disneyland. This weekend marks the 50th anniversary of the attraction.
Located in Disneyland’s Adventureland, guests who enter the Enchanted Tiki Room are entertained by animated singing birds, flowers, and Tikis. There are eight macaws, six cockatoos, 12 toucans, and close to 30 other birds along with 50 orchids, seven birds-of-paradise flowers, 12 Tiki Drummers and singing Tikis in the show. The theme song for the Enchanted Tiki Room – The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room – was composed by the Sherman Brothers.
The original plans for the Enchanted Tiki Room would have made it a restaurant with birds, flowers, and Tikis performing an after-dinner show. These plans were scrapped when it was determined that combining a show with a restaurant would be rather challenging. When it opened in 1963, there was no E-ticket for the Enchanted Tiki Room. Guests actually had to pay 75 cents for a special ticket to enter the attraction.
The Enchanted Tiki Room has four hosts – Jose, Michael, Pierre, and Fritz – each with their own unique voice. Jose is voiced by Disney Legend Wally Boag who also performed at the Golden Horseshoe Revue. Michael is voiced by Irish tenor Fulton Burley, also from the Golden Horseshoe Revue. Pierre is voiced by Ernie Newton, who created the voice of the singing knight at the Haunted Mansion. Fritz and the Tiki gog Tangoaroa are voiced by Thurl Ravenscroft, who is also the voice of Tony the Tiger.
The Enchanted Tiki Room continues to delight thousands of guests every day, some 50 years after Walt originally introduced us to Jose, Michael, Pierre & Fritz,” said Jon Storbeck, vice president of Disneyland Park.
The soundtrack for the attraction was improved in 2005 after Imagineers pulled the original audio tapes from the vault and restored them. They also installed new speakers and audio equipment to produce a clearer sound.
Happy 50th Anniversary to the Enchanted Tiki Room!
