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.
Some more very disappointing news. I don’t think I would be so upset with a few of these new changes if some of the other proposed (and already made) changes haven’t been so ridiculous. Some of these attractions should remain as originally intended to add that connection to the past. No, it isn’t necessary to keep everything unchanged, but completely changing original Walt Disney touched attractions, bad!
Ok, Fool me once… Look, I’m sure that the Country Bears could be in the cross-hairs of Chapek. I can get behind that thought because it reeks of corporate idiocy. But, even though he is a business man more than a smart executive who can “read the room” when it comes to bad decisions and crossing his most loyal customers…I still can’t see Chapek taking out the Tiki Room. If anything, the Tiki Room is a bigger sacred cow than almost any other attraction at the Disney Parks. It is indeed a Walt Original. It is the anchor point for… Read more »
And yet the show had already been vandalized by Eisner-era idiots who thought screaming birds and a Hawaiian volcano goddess with a Jamaican accent (?!?) would be an “improvement”. This sounds exactly like the same short-term thinking that Chapek wants to be remembered for.
Did you see the version that had Iago (Gilbert Gottfried – Yeah, THAT voice) and Zazu? I saw it in late 2010 and it was soooo bad. They can blame a “fire” but truly I’m convinced that everyone hated it and a few months afterwards, Gottfried made awful jokes about the tsunami in Japan (Aflac dumped him) and so they restored it back to the original show in August of 2011.
The way things have been going under Chapek, I truly wouldn’t put it past them to overlay Moana permanently.
My next trip to WDW was for all the fabulous 50th Celebration and new experiences. There is room for the old and the new. The classics should remain. I will be writing Disney again just like I did when I heard about the Bears possibly leaving. My last trip to WDW was the best of all time. Magic start to finish. I had thought to not go back again. I’m in my mid 50’s and need to see the rest of the world..but then the 50th sounded exciting…but not at the expense of childhood classics that I visit every time… Read more »
If it does happen I wonder if the same will happen with Disneyland California.
I hope not!
The thought of that actually would break my heart. Don’t say it.
Will this be like a temporary thing or Tiki Room is going to be gone forever?
While a live-action floorshow is possible while still maintaining the birds, I think we all know what “Wreck-It Chapek” wants to do.
Absolutely positively NO! Disney can replace Country Bear Jamboree, Disney can replace The Great Movie Ride (Though I was very unhappy about it, Disney can remove and replace Lights, Cameras, Action or whatever that was called but if they start messing with classics like The Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room? No, just no. I know it’s a rumour but it better just go and die because this WILL NOT happen.
Why replace Country Bears? The advantage of Disney World is there’s plenty of space (uh, gator-infested swampland) to build on.
Honestly, its about attendance. Look at the lines (or lack thereof). Unfortunately these shows have outlived their lives. Nostalgia is great but lets face it, Disney is designed for kids, not 50 yr old adults. Lol
As we get older, the number of visitors will continue to drop. At some point in the future, these shows will have no audience.
Disney nostalgia enthusiasts triggered in….. 3….. 2….. 1…..
If we’re getting rid of Disney classics, how about we close the terribly misogynistic Carousel of “Progress”?
I know this will be an unpopular opinion on this site but as a Disney fanatic, but not a Disney World fanatic, I like this idea.
Maybe they can leave the majority of the animatronics and add in Moana/Maui etc. to make it a Moana based show. They would have to do a better job than they did with Iago/Zazu but I think it could be possible to pull together a good show based on that.
Depends on how they do it. The Tiki Room with Stitch in Tokyo Disneyland is actually very fun. If they can integrate Moana in without changing the core attraction, i think it would be fine. I mean, imagine them adding Heihei to the singing birds? Could be fun. It would also be smart for them to do it as a temporary overlay. I mean they’re just going to have to refurb it in 10 years anyway when the Moana IP isn’t as fresh. May as well save themselves time and money by planning it to be temporary from the get-go.… Read more »
The thing about this and Country Bears is that the way the date is mentioned is ambiguous. Like…is it permanent, or is it just for the 50th anniversary as a way to bring in more crowds and then will revert back to the original shows the following year?
The thing I don’t like is the Beauty and the Beast show coming to Epcot, as if there wasn’t already the same exact show in Hollywood Studios. I guess Hunchback of Notre Dame is too random to throw into the France pavilion.
A Hunchback show/experience would be amazing!
the only thing that needs to be going away is Bob Chapek
Here here! #moveon
My girls 3,8 both LOVE the tiki room. It’s as if chapek never once went to any Disney park as a child. He’s simply not a Disney fan to be approving these changes. It’s ludicrous!
Heck no! I just discovered the Tiki room in March, and my family loves it! (and yes the Tiki Room song is stuck in our heads still!!)
Why bother with Moana? They’re really trying to make it as popular an IP as Frozen, but it just lacks that Disney magic.
Now this would be devastating news! Our entire family… from 2 to 65 loves the Tiki Room!
I can fully see them “plussing” the Tiki Room with, say, a Maui pre-show and maybe a Moana song added to the show somehow, but removing a popular legacy attraction like the Tiki Room to *celebrate the legacy of the parks* seems like the dumbest idea possible.
Tiki Room should stay. Country Bears…. eh…. I’m on the fence. I like it, but don’t LOVE it.
But what about the update that no one ever talks about, and yet we all know is LONG overdue.
Let’s get an update to CAROUSEL OF PROGRESS! No one would complain about that, and it would be a huge feather in their cap to FINALLY do it!
Get on the update that’s really needed!
Now I have had it, I am calling for RoboChapek to have his motherboard fully inspected!
Wow… if this comes to fruition it will be yet another VERY sad loss. Add it to the graveyard of other attractions that didn’t deserve it: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Mr Toad’s Wild Ride, The Great Movie Ride… I fully understand “the only thing constant is change” but it is really more difficult to accept when it is an iconic, legendary attraction that the man who’s name is on everything, Mr Walt Disney, touched the attraction himself (this time the Enchanted Tiki Room)! Time will tell but please reflect on something if you will. What’s next? The Carousel of… Read more »
Boy, I hate rumors.
Leaks and rumors exist to test the waters — if the public flies into a rage, Disney execs can pretend they never intended to do that and all you folks got riled up over a rumor. Silly public!
This reeks of corporate ignorance to the history of the parks, or maybe just an irreverent, blatant disregard for it-I’m looking at you Bob Ketchup! The parks chairperson should be someone who gets what the parks are about, not someone who tries to quickly shoehorn in IP’s as cheaply and hastily as possible. Chapek needs to go back to sticking decals on ketchup bottles instead of Disney Parks attractions. A properly designed Moana attraction might be a good addition to Adventureland-a dark ride akin to Voyage of the Little Mermaid comes to mind. Frankly, using the Enchanted Tiki Room space… Read more »