Nathan's Right about the new Tiki Room

[finchsw17]

On today's (well, July 30th) podcast, Nathan put the changes to the Tiki Room on the same level as the Stitch ride. I agree wholeheartedly. The original Tiki Room was inviting to children and non-confrontational. Yes it was sappy, but at least preschoolers rarely cried. The new Tiki Room is dark, loud, and scary- thunder, lightning, glowing red eyes. While I had no problem with the story, both of my children were scared just short of wetting their pants. They were expecting the Tiki Room from the Disney song CDs, which has the original music on it. Now, they have vowed to never return.

Stitch is along the same line. Did some imagineer actually say, "It's Stitch, a kids' favorite, so let's make it really scary". For Stitch at least, the height requirement keeps preschoolers out, but the Tiki Room has no such requirement- and boy, I sure wish I'd known what it was going to be like when I took my kids the first time 2-3 years ago.

So, I'm curious - what are your thoughts about the ride?

[prickle]

I went in the new Tikki room this past June. My two kids are 10 and 16 now and of course were not frightened, but after watching the new show I could imagine how the little kids would be scared. I enjoyed the old Tikki room much more than the new version.

[nick.jeschke]

I have been to the old Tiki Room many times and LOVED it, so did my Dad. It was his most favorite thing. But when they changed it, I hated it. I wanted my Tiki Room back. I think it is even WORSE than Stitch! I have never gone back to the Tiki Room ever since they changed it because I wanted to, I just use it as a time killer! I just hate it!

[vixen101485]

Hello Finch and Prickle! Welcome to the site.
How old are your kiddos Finch?
Considering my downstairs bath is done in TIKI ROOM motif, I guess you could say I like it. I did have the opportunity to see both versions. The old one was cute but it was a bit dated and dare I say a little boring. Not much of a story line, just kinda-go in, watch some little robots sing and dance and leave-thing. My older DD was 5ish when we saw it and even at that age was not overly impressed. Dont get me wrong now, I think it was great for what it was at the time in terms of engineering and robotics technology. People now want flash and bing bang boom for their bucks.

The new version wasnt at all scary to my younger DD when we went last Sept. She was 2 1/2 at the time. No tears, no screaming and she wanted to see it again. "AGAIN MOMMA, YAGO(her way of saying Iago) AGAIN" She loved the speil he does at the end. He sits just above the exit door and cracks jokes, dont leave till he is done. We stood there and held her up so she could see him better. We were the last ones to leave.
We also sat front and center for the show so we were only a few feet away from UHOA! and her birdie buddies. From just looking at the seating the front row is not quite as dark as the rest of the theater. You might want to try sitting up closer.

All kids react differently to different situations, but if you make it fun for them (oooooo....look at the pretty red eyes on the lady and can you make a thunder sound too? WHHEEE look at the pretty lightning, ETC) most children will adapt and enjoy rather quickly. I have even applied this principle to other ppl's kids if I see them getting scared of something and it has worked. Kids will pick up on your feelings too, so if you are scared or disgusted or happy they will emulate you.

I also researched all the rides thoroughly(sp?) before we went so I knew what to expect on each one as to whether it would be appropriate for my DD. The only attraction in the parks she even got a little jumpy at was Fun to be a Bug at AK. The part where it gets pitch black she was a little clingy but as soon as she saw the spiders hanging down, she was fine and laughing(I myself, was ok with the dark-the spiders on the other hand...UGGG)

[PinkTink918]

I really don't like the new version. My mom was less than impressed with it when I took her in June.

[MissMinnie]

Ok, I had my husband take our daughter into the Tiki room, but my vote for the worst attraction is the Country Bear Jamboree. The only redeeming factor was the air conditioning!

[finchsw17]

Hello Finch and Prickle! Welcome to the site.
How old are your kiddos Finch?

Thanks for the welcome!

I have a girl (7), a boy (5), and a girl (8 months). The last time we were at WDW was for my now-5-year-old's third birthday, back in Apr 2004 (well, it was coincidentally his birthday, but we won't tell him that). I'm not sure if we went to the Tiki Room for that trip, or the one in Feb 2003 (which would have made the kids just shy of 4 and 2).

I am hoping that this trip they will be more adventurous, but signs don't look good. We recently went to Six Flags over Georgia and they didn't show any desire to try larger rides, even the "kiddie" roller coasters. But I have high hopes...

[Minnie_Mouse007]

A Little off topic, but in reply to finchs post, Six Flags over Georgia, no offense to fans, but it stinks. I wasn't expecting good service, but I was expecting nice, cheery, employees. NOPE. The showed no desire to be there and made my experience VERY unpleasant.

Okay, now ON topic. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to see the older version of the Tiki Room, because my parents never wanted to see it. I recently saw the new one and I liked it. It's very cheery and enjoyable. It made me sing along at first and it was just very nice to see some familiar faces from Disney films. I would have LOVED to see the old Tiki Room, but I am happy with the new one.

[DisneyFREAK91]

Wow stop complaining people

I think it's a cute ride ok. Sure, the old one might be better, but let's face it, it was getting old. I MUCH prefer this new one to the old one. The old one just got boring.

And Stitch is fine. My goodness. So many purists

[o8catrina8o]

didnt even know there was a change lol opps

[captainaustrail]

As a West Coast/Disneyland "native," I have many fond memories of the original Tiki Room.

When we planned our trip to WDW, I was looking forward to seeing the update for this classic attraction.

I thought the basic idea was good. Including characters known to today's audiences seemed like a nice way to plus the show. The animatronics and "inside the biz" jokes of pre-show were a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, for me, the show itself didn't work. While the original was bright and bouncy, this version was strident and abrasive. My wife hated it. Since we don't have kids, I won't comment on that angle.

So if you prefer the Tiki Room as it was, come on out to Disneyland! They recently did a complete (and much needed) refurb with fresh paint, new feathers, and bringing some long dormant background figures back on line. It's like being there in the 60s!

Speaking of which, did anyone ever visit the Tiki Room in Disneyland in its earliest days? They had Jose sitting outside above the pineapple drink stand. He'd crack jokes, whistle at guests, and do his best to lure people in for the show. They eventually took him down. Among other things, he tended to draw a crowd with people gaping up at him. That's a pretty narrow area for crowd flow as it is, and it sometimes caused a real traffic jam.

[shadesofgreen96]

I never got to see the old tiki room , never thought of going in , we just passed it alot..

I saw the new one last time I was in WDW ( March aka spring break and crowded time ) I thought it was pretty good , of course , didn't scare me , scared the 5 year old a little though..

I would love a good scare about now..

[Shere_Khan]

Wow stop complaining people

I think it's a cute ride ok. Sure, the old one might be better, but let's face it, it was getting old. I MUCH prefer this new one to the old one. The old one just got boring.

And Stitch is fine. My goodness. So many purists

And you wonder why people on this board have been giving you a hard time.

You have your opinion on rides, as do others. That is what this board is for, to discuss what we like and what we don't care for. They are hardly complaining...

[DisneyFREAK91]

I'm sorry.

I am a very open person

plz forgive me. My only problems lie in the VMK board

I promise not to let them leak

[Shere_Khan]

It's ok DFreak, I think you mean well and come off a little wrong. It's hard to tell what people really mean over a message board so you just have to be careful how you put things.
It's cool that you like the new tiki room better, but if someone else doesn't I don't think they will enjoy being called a complainer just because they don't care for something.
That's all....I also apologize if I was being rude. My day has been **** so I vented wrongly.