Disneyland is considered hallowed ground for fans of Tiki culture who make annual pilgrimages in Hawaiian shirts, straw hats and puka shell necklaces to sip mai tais at Trader Sam’s and visit the crowning glory of the kitsch movement — Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room.
Disneyland’s Tiki history stretches from the Enchanted Tiki Room attraction, Tahitian Terrace restaurant and Don the Beachcomber food stand to the Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar cocktail lounge, Tropical Hideaway grab-and-go dining area and Tikiland Day annual event.
Tiki culture was born in the 1930s as U.S. travel opened to Polynesian, Caribbean, Hawaiian and South Pacific islands. Cultural appropriation spawned themed bars and Hollywood movies that tapped into Americans’ escapist fascination with the romantic and adventurous tropical settings. World War II soldiers gave the Tiki craze a boost when they returned from duty in the Pacific.
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Walt Disney tapped into that tropical fever with Adventureland when Disneyland opened in 1955 with a Hollywood movie set designer’s vision of the jungle and island regions of the world. Nearly 70 years later, fans of the whimsical trappings of Tiki culture are still drawn to Adventureland and the odes to a bygone era that continue to stir up nostalgic yearnings.
The annual Tikiland Day returning to Disneyland on Sept. 10 celebrates the fun, fashion and art of all things Tiki. Tikiland Day is an off-shoot of Adventureland Day — another unofficial Disneyland event that draws like-minded fans of tropical attire, cocktails and escapism.
The 1963 Enchanted Tiki Room show was the first Disneyland attraction to feature audio-animatronic animated figures created by WED Enterprises, the precursor to Walt Disney Imagineering.
The late Imagineer Rolly Crump — who hand-carved the Tiki mask sculptures for Disneyland’s Tiki Room — remains the…
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