UPDATE: Disney has since addressed this rumor in an informal post from the Disney Parks Blog, but they have yet to address other rumors, such as the Country Bear Jamboree project. For more information, click here.
Yet another opening day Magic Kingdom attraction might be on the chopping block ahead of the park’s 50th anniversary.
Last week, we told you about the rumors that the Country Bear Jamboree would be closing soon to be replaced with a Toy Story attraction. This week, we are weaving a very similar tale of a classic, original show (created by Disney Legends and Walt Disney himself) being shuttered for the inclusion of a “relevant intellectual property”.
According to sources inside the company, Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room will close to receive an extensive overhaul and ultimate overlay related to the Disney animated film Moana. While this rumor has certainly been around since the movie was released in 2016 (not that it’s hard to connect the dots from a Polynesian movie to a show with a similar aesthetic,) this is the first time we have heard more solid information and a timeframe for such a change.
Just like the replacement for the Country Bear Jamboree, Disney would like the new, “IP leveraging” overlaid version of the Enchanted Tiki Room to open just in time for Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary on October 1st, 2021. The two show theaters are actually connected to each other, so it is possible that both the Country Bears and Tiki Room would close around the same time. Do note that this would not be a temporary, but a permanent overlay to the attraction.
If it comes to fruition, the Moana addition would be yet another one of the possible 50 new or updated offerings property-wide that will be used to lure guests to visit during the multi-month, 50-year celebration.
You may recall the the original Tropical Serenade show was removed in 1997 and replaced with The Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management the following year. The show was not particularly well received, to the point that when a small fire damaged the show, Walt Disney World took the time to restore an abbreviated version of the original in 2011. Now they want to undo all of this work after just 8 years.
Whether you love singing birds or bears at The Magic Kingdom, it seems that Mr. Chapek has a wonderful magic trick for you: he’s going to make them all disappear. We expect an announcement to be made regarding this potential change at this year’s D23 Expo.
