Memory 060 - The Enchanted Tiki Room

** Binaural Audio **
Time: 44:44
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Well so it’s been a few weeks since I last released a podcast, but I first wanted to start off by saying Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas or whatever you celebrate. Our family had an iteresting one to say the least, but I’d have to say I love watching my kids open up the gifts we got them, and then playing with everything while watching the Disney Christmas Parade on TV was probably the highlight of my day.

So this last year we lost a beloved version of an attraction... Ok, maybe not so beloved, but there were some people that liked it. Take for example Christopher. He wrote me this wonderful story:

I've recently found your podcast and I'm really enjoying it. You have sparked a lot of memories of year past when I was a child. My birthday and the school winter vacation always coincided and that is when my parents to the family to Florida and we stayed at my Grandparents house. Can you imagine spending every childhood birthday at Disney World, that was what I got. Well I'm 45 years old now and my parents are gone now. So thank you very much. You have brought back many memories I have forgotten.

I was wondering if you have any memories of the Tiki Room including the out side cue area. that was one of my favorites because it was out of the weather (heat or rain) and we got to sit down and enjoy the music and the AA birds. Some people don't enjoy this attraction as much as the others but this one has so many memories for me. The original was what I grew up with but the new under new management version is just as nice.

I’ve said it before, this is exactly the point of this podcast, to help spark those memories of ours. Some of those memories may be from a week ago, and others may be decades old, but there is something still amazing about listening to that attraction again that will bring a smile to everyones face. As I said in an email to Christopher, his story is very similar to mine. With a birthday just days after Christmas, often times we’d be down in Tampa visiting family for Christmas, and we’d take a day and head over to Disney World to spend a day there. So I’m sure our memories of the parks are quite similar.

So Christopher, I hope this memory is a good one for you. We’re going to get 2 attractions today in fact. I don’t have the recent re-released version of Enchanted Tiki Room from Walt Disney World, but I do have the Under New Management version, AND I have the original Enchanted Tiki Room from Disneyland. So that’s what we’ll get to hear instead.

We’ll start off with the original version in Disneyland. It’s a beautiful day in June 2010. We’ve been at Disneyland all day and Susie is starting to tire. We decide who wouldn’t like some Dole Whip and a show, so we go inside the waiting area as the preshow has already started. I’ll be walking around looking at all the tiki gods, trying to follow along to the narration, then we’re ushered into the show, which is surprisingly full for what everyone considers a classic attraction.

From here we’re going to jump to a memory from our Anniversary trip in 2006 again. It’s been a slightly rainy day which is bad because we were planning on staying for the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, but that’s another story. We’ll enter into the pre-show area well before the show begins. You’ll hear the music gently playing in the background behind the waterfall. We’ll turn to the left and make our way in to an empty tiki room and take our place for the show.

Memory 059 - Here Come The Muppets

** Mono Video **
Time: 17:28
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Merry Christmas!

I love this time of year, snow, presents, time off... what could be better. I know, MUPPETS!

So it’s been Muppet mania every where you look right now. It seems the Marketing guys are getting bonuses for the number of different ways they can push their product, and I think they’re going to get a big bonus. So I figured that this would be a perfect time to share with all off you an old video I have of a long lost attraction. I didn’t realize how unique this attraction was when I first saw it, or even until recently.

Here Come The Muppets was a temporary stage show featuring all your favorite pals in one place. Today’s memory was from Summer of 1990. My dad, brother, sister, and I are back in the Disney-MGM Studios. We’ve seen a few attractions already and decided to see this new Muppet thing. I’d read somewhere that Disney and Jim Hensen were working on a collaborative thing, but that would still be in the future, so this show as a little surprise to me. In any case, we’re going to join this memory in the waiting lobby. There is a small TV, which is a little hard to hear, but we’ll start by watching that. Then we’re ushered in to the main auditorium where we turn the camera back on, a few seconds into the show. You haven’t missed much but Kermet walking on stage.

Memory 058 - Celebrate! A Street Party

** Binaural Audio **
Time: 24:40
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So today kind of snuck up on me. As I went to bed last night I realized I had never sent out a message seeking comments on Twitter, Google+, or Facebook. So sorry about that folks, but I figured you’d rather have podcast. So I’m just rolling with the initial request I’ve got.

Today’s request is from Kyle (you know, the same Kyle from Memory 048). He had also requested Move it! Shake it! Celebrate it! As I explained to him, not living in Florida causes some limitation as to what I can record, one of those being the latest parades. So I decided to share the parade I do have, and it’s actually from Disneyland and not Walt Disney World.

This is our California trip for my brothers wedding in June of 2010. It’s our second day in California. We’ve had a great day at Disneyland already, but as much as it pains me, we must leave before closing. We are still on Eastern time, and while it might be 7PM here in CA, it’s 10PM to our bodies, and two-year-old Susie hasn’t napped all day. We’ve had a great time but we decide it’s best to head out, however to get out we must negotiate the parade crowd who’s waiting already. So half-way down Main Street, the parade begins and we’re stuck. We decide to just stop and watch. I take Susie out of the stroller and put her on my shoulders, then try a couple of different spots, but get told we’re blocking the path, or we’re blocking an entry way. So finally, we decide we should try to make it to a bathroom for Susie before the parade ends and everyone else does the same thing. Don’t worry, we don’t actually go in, but instead find a spot in front of the Carnation Cafe, and finish out the parade there.