The original Tangaroa Tree located just outside Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room in Disneyland Park has been rebuilt, and the nearly-complete tree is now visible again above the construction walls.
Tangaroa Tree Rebuilt
The Tangaroa Tree first appeared in 1963, which is when the Enchanted Tiki Room first opened to guests. The tree was originally voiced by Thurl Ravenscroft, who is also known for voicing Fritz in the Enchanted Tiki Room, one of the singing busts in the Haunted Mansion, and several Disney animated characters.
When it first arrived, parts of the Tangaroa Tree’s face would move as it talked and told stories matching the theme of Adventureland. It also had a special effect called the “New Life Fall” that involved the flowers on the tree’s branches blooming. The blooming effect stopped functioning since at least 2020.
As we first reported last month, Disneyland Park announced the Tangaroa Tree would be completely disassembled and rebuilt as part of a wider refurbishment of the Enchanted Tiki Room. The tree was scanned at a high resolution, so Disney was able to rebuild the tree as closely to the original as possible. Shortly after the announcement, this side of the Enchanted Tiki Room was wrapped in green construction scrims.
The branches of the Tangaroa Tree disappeared for a while as the original tree was disassembled. The upper tree branches are now visible again as the reassembled tree takes shape. Like the original tree, the branches are brown and leafless with several hanging flowers in pink and purple.
When viewed from the front, the upper half of the Tangaroa Tree’s face is also visible above the scrims. As Disney stated, the rebuilt tree appears to be identical to the original so far. However, our reporter did note that the rebuilt branches do appear to be a bit taller than the original.
The Enchanted Tiki Room’s refurbishment is likely part of a wider project to repair several classic Disneyland attractions during the park’s 70th anniversary celebrations. “it’s a small world” recently reopened from a similar refurbishment project that involved adding new dolls from “Coco.”
Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room closed on April 28, 2025, and is expected to reopen sometime this summer, though no exact date has been posted yet. It is assumed the rebuilt Tangaroa Tree will debut at the same time. Meanwhile, the Disneyland 70th Celebration kicked off earlier this month and will run through the summer of 2026.
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