Okay, you can all breathe now. It appears Disney Parks Blog has decided to address today’s rumor on the Enchanted Tiki Room in a recent post:
A little birdie told us there are some rumors flying around about our beloved Tiki birds at Walt Disney World Resort. We’re sorry that our fans are being fed incorrect information by unscrupulous sources. While “toucan” play at that game, we deal in facts here at the Disney Parks Blog. Although we won’t address every rumor, we want to set the record straight: there are no plans for our feathered friends to fly the coop any time soon. We’re constantly evolving our stories, but these birds will continue entertaining our guests at the Magic Kingdom Park just as they have done since 1971.
While we at WDWNT do not take kindly to being called an “unscrupulous source” by the Disney Parks Blog (which regularly tells people incorrect “facts” about where new specialty food and beverage items are located and released), when dealing with rumors, nothing is absolute and everything is subject to change. Also, after we prematurely announced a fairly large percentage of Disney’s “big reveals” for the 2017 D23 Expo, I don’t think such a statement holds any validity.
First off, as we mentioned, the Moana rumors indicate an OVERLAY of the existing Tiki Room, not the removal of any of the birds. I am still unsure that the wording Disney used today actually denies any updates to the show, but I won’t get into semantics with them. Adding Moana characters or music from the film would be “evolving the story” though, so we’ll see what happens.
Do note that while Disney decided to address the rumor about the Enchanted Tiki Room within hours, it has yet to release a statement in the course of a week-and-a-half regarding the Country Bear Jamboree. So while plans have seemingly changed as far as Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room in Walt Disney World, Disney’s silence leads us to believe that they are moving full steam ahead with plans on replacing the beloved Country Bears with the planned Toy Story marionette show (unless Thomas Smith has another piece he’d like to rush out).
Also, I would like to add that this post from the Parks Blog is the most unprofessional statement the company has released in its history, in my personal opinion. We have had open communication channels with the Disney Parks PR teams for over a decade and we would have been happy to run an update with an official statement.
We will keep you posted on this story as more develops.
Well for all the negative postings about this site, sure does seem this site is doing something correct,. Last time I checked Disney was a fairly large company that has the option of picking who or what they address and when.
is it just me, or are they not allowing comments to be made on the DPB post? i was going to ask them why disney seems to suddenly hate it’s longtime guests…
Yup. I couldn’t reply either. Makes me wonder if the 11 posted replies are fake.
Considering I think 10 out of 11 mentioned country bears I don’t think that’s fake…they’d curb that for sure
Have you actually taken the time to read the Terms of Agreement for use of the DPB site? Just because you make a post to the site, it is in no way guaranteed to be published. They are the gatekeepers. It’s their sandbox. You only play in it.
Well I for one always believe what Disney says. I’m on my way to get on Stitch’s Great Escape right now.
Gee. Sounds like Chapek got tired of Tom spoiling all his announcements for D23.
The Disney company makes me facepalm a lot recently. This being one of those instances. Glad they aren’t removing the birds, but still very salty about my favorite bears.
Too bad you can’t confront them and have them deny a Moana overlay
Agree with the lack of professionalism. Downright tacky imo.
Thank the Lord! I was legitimately worried.
I agree that this is an inappropriate response. Does this now mean Disney is setting a precedent to confirm or deny every rumor?
The first word in your headline was “Rumor”. Love how DisTwitter somehow mistakes that word for Fact…..
I actually didn’t mind the lighthearted way they presented that.
It’s definitely concerning seeing the official parks blog single out and target a specific blog like this. I think Tom’s assessment is correct and the lack of details gave them the ability to deny the rumor by saying the birds aren’t leaving and discredit the site, while appearing honest. I can’t believe anyone trusts the official parks blog to be honest about this. Sounds like to me, the birds aren’t leaving because it’ll be a typical cheap Moana overlay. I’m still significantly worried about the fate of the CBJ. Seems like Disney wants to squash the fan outrage and turn us against each other so they can proceed as planned. WDWNT has a credible track record and I’m hopeful their rumors won’t be true, because fans had the opportunity to unite and oppose these poor, shortsighted decisions. Maintain and plus these attractions to the quality they deserve Disney, and I think you’ll find the seats full.
Basically Mr Smith appears to have his feathers ruffled that WDWNT has spilled the beans about CBJ, so they jump at the chance to sorta half deny another rumor (which leaves a lot open for interpretation).
Projection much Thomas Smith? 🤩
“Although we won’t address every rumor…” so, since they haven’t addressed the Country Bear rumor and quickly squashed this one I’m guessing that the Country Bears’ days are numbered.
Disney doth protest too much…and the fact remains that the Country Bear “rumor” (let us pray it remains so) is actually a worse threat to WDW than the proposed desecration of Tiki (since its true “original” iteration would still be preserved at Disneyland anyway).
Plus OMFG why on Earth would we need more Toy Story attractions?
Wow, seriously DPB?! What an unprofessional statement released, “unscrupulous sources”! Most of the stories you report end up coming true. It seems weird that they would address this rumor and say nothing about Country Bear Jamboree….?? Suspicious?! Also a few weeks ago a rumor story was posted by MiceChat about a survey about It’s a Small World in Disneyland, and that they may remove It’s a Small World and people went crazy and MiceChat said it is just a rumor! DPB said nothing rude about that crazy rumor. Keep reporting and thanks for keeping us all in the loop!
Sad to hear this. I log in daily to your site. Your articles always say “rumor”(when not confirmed facts) and you make it quite clear that it is only just that…a rumor. Even the Country Bears stories made it quite clear that there are “rumors.” I never felt mis-lead by anything you’ve posted. As a former journalist I know how important it is to make sure a headline is clear and often includes words like “alleged” or “sources” when one cannot be confirmed. You guys definitely CYAs. I never go to Disney Parks Blog anymore after discovering your site.
I agree that their statement was rude and unprofessional ! And when I read their article to me it didn’t seem like they were denying a Moana overlay or adding to the attraction. It just seems like they wanted to make it known that there wasn’t going to be anything taken away ! Can’t wait to hear about a Moana overlay from them lol
Still, I saw the word “shuttered” in the previous article, not so much “overlay.” Overlay would be different. Shuttered made it seem like the whole Tiki Room as we know it would go away in favor of something new taking its place indoors. But….glad to see it’s false. EDIT: Okay, later in the article it said overlay (I re-read it). But the word shuttered came first and that’s what struck me, sorry.
I think the person writing the articles gets us worked up by saying shuttered and then we kind of ignore overlay or make overlay sound more serious. Does that make sense?
I’m wondering about all the downvotes on posts sticking up for WDWNT — were some Parks Blog “supporters” sent over here to bust the place up?
I thought the exact same thing! Seemed very strange to me.
As you pointed out, a Moana influence/replacement/overlay/what have you, has been rumored for a long time and by more than WDW News Today. I think assuming they are calling this site unscrupulous is an unwarranted assumption. They could be speaking in general, but I actually read it more to mean that the “sources” for this information were being unscrupulous. Presuming you did not make this up of your own accord, then you are not the source, and therefore not the allegedly unscrupulous party they are referring to.
And while I agree that the statement does not preclude the Moana presence, I’m still very glad to hear that the birds are not going away entirely any time soon. I and my family still love the show. My 9th grader picked up the Tiki Room Spirit jersey as her birthday present when we were there in May.
Whether these rumors turn out true or not, these fan sites are way more entertaining than DPB.
Tom, I’m a big fan of this site and visit daily, but I need to ask, how well do you source your rumors?
Seems like the folks at Disney could be getting frustrated by rumors that serve only to ignite fan outrage (i.e. The Land/Living Seas rumor from a couple months ago) and have little chance of actually occurring.
Maybe you could assign weights to the rumors you post depending on the trustworthiness of the source. A popular consumer electronics rumor site I frequent does likewise.
Based on the 500/1 ration of them panning out, I think I trust them lol
Well – only you know your sources, but what I’m suggesting is a rating system based on how likely the rumor is to occur based on a combination of the reliability of the source, how convinced they are that the rumor will happen, how convinced you are that it will happen, etc. Basically, it would help to “soften” rumors that are a bit out there, while lending extra credibility to those that are almost “definite”.
The minute he starts catering to DPB tacky behavior, is the minute I quit counting on him. He labels rumors as rumors. That’s enough.
I think I was in the extreme minority of people who actually liked the Iago/Under New Management overlay of the Tiki Room, and I thought it sort of reinvigorated the space for awhile. Absolutely no candles held to the original show, but it felt like they were trying to keep it relevant, which I appreciated. A Moana overlay might be OK in the same way, assuming it doesn’t last forever…?
One thing about this: it seems like Disney is leaning hard into new Tiki Room merchandise in the parks, at the Polynesian, etc., and that it’s getting sold. That makes me believe them a little more that they think the brand still plays and, therefore, can be shown mercy and doesn’t have to yet be crushed by Bob Chapek’s steel jaws of sadness. Not true for CBJ (or Carousel of Progress…or Gran Fiesta Tour…or a lot of other meaningful attractions that don’t yet feature Forky), which seems to be a mostly forgotten piece of the MK/DW brand in the new merch portfolio and therefore seems more likely to be on the way out in that regard.
There is nothing unscrupulous about WDWNT. You guys do a great job.
It was hard for me to believe this rumor to begin with since there’s so much Tiki room merch out there right now. There are spirit jerseys, fancy dresses, and even a BRAND NEW Pandora charm that was just released a few weeks go just to name a few. Why would Disney do anything to this attraction if it’s still getting business and they’re able to capitalize on the popularity with merch?
I do believe you might want to use different wording because the word overlay is temporary i.e. nightmarebeforechristmas overlay…in the original article you said permenant overlay…those 2 things are very different maybe if you claim such journalist integrity be more clear with your wording in the future please. Is frozen ever after just a permanent overlay? Or perhaps the play pavilion is a permanent overlay because the original rides haven’t been demolished?
Seasonal versus permanent
Guess I’m still not seeing it what are other examples of permanent overlays? I’ve never heard Disney use the term permanent overlay before
The Incredicoaster
To me, overlay suggests just what they did with “under new management”- keep many of the show elements but add a few and change the audio.
I hope they give this much attention to the list you put out of what doesn’t work in the attractions and need to be fixed !
Just wanted to pop in and say how much I enjoy and deeply appreciate WDWNT.com! While I have only begun following the last two months or so, your coverage and reviews of merchandise, food offerings are deeply, deeply enjoyable. So much so, I have stopped visiting the DisneyParksBlog altogether — thank you for all that you do! I’d be happy to continue following — especially after the “unscrupulous sources” note. Really, Disney?
My response to Disney Parks Blog is what did the little birdie tell you about Country Bear Jamboree? Please keep Country Bear Jamboree!
Don’t let them get to you! You are consistently accurate and detailed in your reports and well, Disney is being Disney. Just them taking the time to call you out tells me you know more than they’d like you to.
To give Disney the benefit of the doubt, I think the unscrupulous source would be whoever leaked the information to WDWNT. All you do is report what you hear. They need to look at their own staff for the leaker.
THANK GOD! DISNEY WOULD HAVE SKIPPED ZOOTOPIA! and I would’ve been VERY angry!