"Hey Murph, you sure you got these brownies from the Main Street bakery?"
Just a reminder. Nighttime at Walt Disney World is a great time to visit. There’s an array of entertainment that shouldn’t be missed. The Class of ’27 is presenting an old time revue in the Diamond Horseshoe nightly. The Character Cavalcade includes some new floats and all the Disney Characters. For something really different, catch the Aristocat Band in the Plaza Pavilion (pictured above). Those cats really have their act together.
– Eyes and Ears of Walt Disney World, 1 July 1974
There’s something about the lack of exclamation points in this paragraph that creeps me out.
The original Hoop-Dee-Doo cast at rehearsal, June 1974
On this day in 1974, the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue held its first public performance in the timbered hallows of Pioneer Hall at Walt Disney World’s Fort Wilderness campground. The show got its start when Disney managers felt the need to better utilize the large performance space of Pioneer Hall, which had opened as a dining facility for campground guests earlier that year. Bob Jani, then Vice President for Live Entertainment at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, started a ball rolling that would eventually lead to the rootin’, tootin’ cast of the Hoop-Dee-Doo rolling into town on the stagecoach.
That first summer, the Hoop-Dee-Doo would be performed by college students, who had arrived in Orlando thanks to the Walt Disney World College Fine Arts Workshop. This program, an early example of Disney recruiting college talent for summertime work, helped staff a number of other Walt Disney World performance ensembles as well. From the 1st July, 1974, issue of Eyes and Ears of Walt Disney World:
Some other performances well worth seeing are the bands formed from our summer college program. Students from all over the country have come to Walt Disney World to learn and participate in the Entertainment field. Don’t miss the All American College Marching Band, the Bahamian Police Band and the Kids of the Kingdom in the Magic Kingdom. Over in Pioneer Hall, there’s a brand new dinner show called Hoop-Dee-Doo, featuring more of our students. Catch these shows, the kids do a fantastic job.
The people did indeed catch the show, and the Hoop-Dee-Doo wound up being a major hit that summer. So big a hit, in fact, that Disney found themselves stuck when fall rolled around and the raucous cast had to return to school. Realizing that they had a hit on their hands, and that this would be more than a seasonal attraction, Disney retooled the show with a professional ensemble, moving it from the purview of the College Workshop, and the rest is history.
So grab a pail of ribs and a washboard, head back into the kitchen for a mess o’ straw-berry-short-cake, play Shenandoah on the hi-fi, and wish – like I do – that you were Hoop-Dee-Doo’in it tonight. Ya-hoo!
If you looked closely, you'd see tiny, angular carnies
The official Disney blog has released new artwork for Florida’s Fantasyland remodel, and it shows a new and revised perspective on the Storybook Circus area which will be based on the film Dumbo.
This “mini-land”, which occupies the space formerly belonging to Mickey’s Toontown Fair, has always been defined fairly nebulously, and was one of the vaguest elements of the original Fantasyland announcement. As construction begins, the design has been refined, and while we don’t know many of the details we’re getting a better look at what the Imagineers are going for here.
Compare the new image, above, to the following artwork, which comes from the last major update we received:
Storybook Circus, circa late 2010 or early 2011
One obvious thing you’ll notice is that in the new rendering, the budget for the area’s marquee has obviously been cut, because it’s nowhere near as massive as the one depicted earlier. Also missing is the calliope, which seemed to have been intended for this location. The replacement for the old Toontown train station, however, has grown more elaborate in the new artwork. It’s less “circusy” and more substantial, now being made of brick with a wooden annex.
Also less circusy is the Barnstormer queue, which was just a vague splash of big-top tents in the earlier design. Now, it’s clearly a refurbished version of the current attraction with a new color scheme. Recall that WDI seems to have considered several different thematic overlays for this kiddie coaster (once actually announcing a plan for it to be based on clowns), so it makes sense that its design was only locked after its final theme was determined.
The area itself has taken on a different aspect in the new rendering. It’s now not as spacious and open in its layout; the tents are huddled closer together, and a new small circular tent covers the formerly open area between them. Their colors are more vivid, as well. Disney has yet to announce what is actually in these large structures, but a shop and large dining facility are all but confirmed.
Recall that in early renderings, the Casey, Jr. Circus Train was used as a series of food stands? Well as we’ve known since the last release of artwork, the train will now be the centerpiece of yet another water-heavy play area for children. It’s now tucked between the train station and one of the big-top tents, instead of in a much more exposed plaza.
Overall, I’d say it’s looking good. I like the new color choices on the tents, and the area looks much more green and shady with trees than the earlier artwork. The less-sprawling plan better suits the material, I think; many of us thought that the circus hardly warranted a major themed area in the park, but this layout just seems like a nicely-themed enclave that will not draw more attention to itself than is warranted. It seems snug, which is much preferable to a giant, open area that would be yet another heat sink in the unforgiving Florida sun. It looks more inviting. The new train station seems far more “theme-agnostic” with regards to the circus, which is fine by me, and architecturally it looks nice – it’s not just a pre-fabricated steel overhang.
And is that water underneath the flying Dumbos? If so, that’s a design flourish we’ve yet to see in other renderings…
So hurrah for the iterative design process, and for making things better. Of course, if WDI wants to throw in a real Casey, Jr. train or Ward Kimball’s old Mickey Mad House, then who’s to say them nay?
Disney animation stalwart Andreas Deja has set up his own blog with which to share his vast collection of vintage artwork and stories of working with the legends of Disney animation. I’ve no doubt it will be a project to follow with great interest…
It began, like so many things, with one little spark…
Although this was not a spark of imagination, but of conflagration. More specifically, a fire that took place this last January in the Magic Kingdom’s Enchanted Tiki Room – Under New Management attraction. Since this was far from a popular show, the big question at the time was what would happen next?
First, there were only baseless yet fervent hopes and pleas for a return to the original Tropical Serenade. Then there were actual rumors, and then leaked information, and even more rumors. It soon became apparent that not only would the Tiki Room return, but it would return without some of the most offensive elements from the Under New Management show (which had either perished in the January fire or been ruined afterwards by the fire suppression system). There was even the possibility that the original show would return – or at least elements of it. But which elements? And why did the officially-announced reopening date keep getting pushed back?
The first real word was handed down at last month’s Destination D event in Orlando. At the end of a somewhat peculiar session discussing upcoming Imagineering projects in Florida, the voice of Tiki Room emcee José came over the convention hall loudspeakers and it was announced that the Enchanted Tiki Room would indeed be returning. But this announcement was tacked on to the end of the presentation and amounted to little more than “OhyeahtheTikiRoomiscomingbackkthanksbai.” There was no discussion of when it was returning, and in exactly what form; the announcement that Disney had tweeted approximately a half hour before the Imagineering presentation contained the bewildering phrase that the new attraction would be “reminiscent” of the original show. In this day and age, such vague verbiage is enough to send fans into fits of anxiety. What did they mean?
Thankfully, it appears that we have nothing to fear. Disney has announced that the Tropical Serenade will indeed return as simply “The Enchanted Tiki Room,” with a targeted opening date of August 2011. The tiki gods have indeed been kind; I can’t tell you how it truly warms me to the core of my soul to read – in an official Disney press release – the words, “The ‘new management’ has been let go.” Here are the other relevant parts of their statement:
The Sunshine Pavilion, featuring a show variously known as “Tropical Serenade” and “The Enchanted Tiki Birds,” debuted on Oct. 1, 1971, in Magic Kingdom. In 1998, following substantial refurbishment, it re-launched as The Enchanted Tiki Room – Under New Management, with two famous Disney birds – Iago from Aladdin and Zazu from The Lion King – taking control and trying to spruce up the show.
The “new management” has been let go and the future of the Adventureland landmark is in the wings and wit of José, Fritz, Michael and Pierre – four crooning parrot hosts who ushered in sophisticated Audio-Animatronics technology at California’s Disneyland in 1963 at The Enchanted Tiki Room.
In time for fall 2011 vacations, The Enchanted Tiki Room (as the Magic Kingdom attraction now will be called) is being prepared to reflect the show at Disneyland that represents a milestone in Disney theme park entertainment. While Walt Disney’s creative team previously had produced movable figures, none had the sophistication of the bird-brained cast of the Tiki Room. José, Fritz, Michael and Pierre produce movements when solenoid coils hidden inside receive signals recorded onto magnetic tape and are regarded as the first “true” Audio-Animatronics figures.
They introduce a musical presentation by more than 200 birds, flowers and tikis. Even the audience gets into the act, joining in during the musical ditty “Let’s All Sing Like the Birdies Sing.”
For the devoted Disney fan, there are victories and there are victories. Restoring the original Tiki Room show to the grand and glorious Sunshine Pavilion – a facility more lavish than its Disneyland counterpart – is a victory on the scale of D-Day. It’s been a long time since fans have been able to see a proper show in the Sunshine Pavilion, with rain falling outside the windows in front of a distant, smouldering volcano. It’s hard to believe that something so long hoped-for has actually happened.
Of course, for those of us who are never satisfied, this begs other questions. What will the pre-show be like? The building’s queue area has been walled off for some time now, so it seems certain that whatever appears there will be something new. The pre-show is something that neither the original Florida Tiki show or its 1998 replacement ever got completely right, so there’s certainly room for improvement here. The Tiki Garden, which acts as a pre-show for California’s Tiki Room, is far superior in both content and atmosphere, and would of course be a welcome addition in Orlando. Current rumors suggest that there’s something interactive planned for the queue, which would certainly fit with Imagineering’s current fetishes, but I hope that whatever appears is more focused on creating a mood than squirting guests with water.
Certainly, a re-thinking of the Tiki Room queue could help solve problems with the attraction’s usage statistics; a re-located entrance along the corridor between Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean would help scoop up more passing guests who might otherwise continue on unawares. There has been a problem in the past with guests entering the pre-show area but leaving before the show begins; could this be because the uninitiated believe the amphitheater-like queue to be the show itself? Or is there simply too much dead time waiting in the unairconditioned queue waiting for something to happen? That’s not an issue in California, where the Flavor of Hawaii film and Tiki Garden show (not to mention a booming trade in Dole Whips) help keep things interesting.
Even better than a new marquee and a more prominent entrance would be a return of the Barker Bird, voiced by the inimitable Wally Boag. Not only would it be a nice tribute to the recently departed performer, but it would be a return of one of those lost bits of texture that used to make the Magic Kingdom special.
And since I am, in fact, taking credit for this whole turn of events (Disney obviously is only doing it to cave to my demands!) I will finish with these two … requests: An actual tree, in the Sunshine Tree Terrace. Seriously. Bring it back. Also, I demand a return of the original Citrus Swirl. With frozen orange juice, not any of that soft-serve shenaniganonsense. Square all that away, and all will be well with the Sunshine Pavilion, and I will have no more demands.*
So yeah, Tiki Room!
* The management reserves the right to continue all demands, beginning with the removal of the Flying Carpets spinner in Adventureland
From the Progress City archives comes this collection of 33 tall tales and true from Disney history. Available in paperback, hardback, and ebook formats.
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