Fowl Stuff At Disneyland - The Enchanted Tiki Room Barker Bird

(This is the first of a three-part series on "Fowl Stuff" at Disneyland.)

Today's post features The Enchanted Tiki Room's "barker bird", which sat on a perch over the entrance to the attraction when it first opened back in 1963. The idea was to have one of the audio-animatronic birds outside talking to the crowd below, trying to get them to come inside and see the show. Supposedly he was so popular, that he bogged down the flow of traffic through the area and was eventually removed. The photo below is courtesy of Major Pepperidge (thank you again, Major!) of Gorillas Don't Blog and shows one of the audio-animatronic birds that was used (there was also one with blue plumage).


For a while, one of the barker birds was on display inside The Walt Disney Story in the Opera House on Main St. He sat in this showcase which now contains a display of past, present and future Disneyland attractions.


Below, is a photo of the same showcase taken in 1997. The barker bird can be seen sitting on his perch at the bottom of the display.

Here's a closeup shot.

If we zoom in, we can see the cords that were used to provide the bird with sound and movement.

I was going to attempt to include footage of the barker bird doing his thing outside the Tiki Room, but being AV challenged, I just couldn't get it together. However, footage of the barker bird can be seen in the "Wonderful World of Color" episode, "Disneyland's 10th Anniversary" which aired in 1965 and is included in the DVD set, "Your Host, Walt Disney" (released in 2006 as part of the Walt Disney Treasures series.) There is also a short audio snippet available on one of the CDs from the "Musical History of Disneyland" boxed set (released in 2005 for Disneyland's 50th anniversary.) I should also mention that Wally Boag provided the voice of both the barker bird and the show's host, Jose.

***POST UPDATE*** - May 13, 2011:

Here is some footage that I found of the Barker Bird on display in The Walt Disney Story. I shot this footage in 1997.





And here is that footage from "Disneyland's 10th Anniversary" showing the Barker Bird in action.

Walt Disney Sat Here!

Today we will be visiting the Main St. Opera House at Disneyland. All of the photos from today's post were taken over the recent Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend.

Notice how The Walt Disney Story/Steve Martin film marquee is now missing from the facade of the Opera House.


Posters on either side of the doorway announce that Lincoln is coming!


Inside there is more Lincoln artwork. The sign says "Opening Later This Year - In Celebration Of His 200th Birthday," but a cast member informed us that Lincoln would be ready HOPEFULLY by the end of the year.....and if not, then hopefully by February (in time for his 201st birthday.)

The film, "Disneyland, The First 50 Magical Years" still plays inside, but on a smaller screen.

I asked the cast member if he thought this film would ever be released on DVD and he said they get plenty of requests for it and that they do pass that information on to management. I'd buy a copy!

The large glass case in the main room that had previously been covered up, now has a new display. There is a sign above it that reads, "Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow."

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Let's work our way backwards here, shall we. First let's look at "Tomorrow." A new Star Tours? That's it??? Why do I find it hard to get excited about this? Maybe it's because we've been hearing about it for years now and it should have happened already! And what about the rest of Tomorrowland.....Honey I Shrunk The Audience, Innoventions, an abandoned PeopleMover track? Need I say more?

Next we have "Today." Hey, didn't the Pooh ride open like back in 2003? Isn't it now almost 2010? And they want to BRAG about this attraction? Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through....EXCELLENT!!! And I do enjoy the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (maybe not as much as the original subs), but I don't like the way they crammed more seats into the subs. If you're 6 ft. or taller, you better just hope that they don't stick you in one of the new seats that hangs over the bottom of the stairway.....NOT FUN!

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Last up, we have "Yesterday." It's very sad looking at these photos and realizing just how many wonderful attractions have been destroyed over the years. The ones that I miss most are The Carousel of Progress, Adventure Thru Inner Space, Country Bear Jamboree, and Nature's Wonderland Mine Train. Which attractions pictured do you miss the most? Oh well, I guess we will have a new Star Tours sometime in the future....and we'll always have the newly painted swings and ferris wheel to ride across the Esplanade.

Well, I'm going to end this post with something positive! Here are a couple items that are currently on display in the foyer of the Opera House.

This first one is a bench from Griffith Park and it is THE bench that Walt Disney sat on and dreamed about a place where "parents and children could have fun together" while his daughters were riding the merry-go-round.

And here is an actual horse from that merry-go-round. It is currently on loan to Disneyland from Griffith Park.

There wasn't a plaque for this peanut cart, so I don't know if it is just there for atmosphere, or if it is the actual cart that Walt bought peanuts from back in the day. It's even filled with bags of peanuts!

Well, 2010 is almost here and that means the park will soon be celebrating it's 55th birthday. Here's to hoping that there's more in store for Disneyland in the near future than just an updated Star Tours attraction. And here's to a brand new Abraham Lincoln....one that hopefully won't require "surround sound" headphones or 3-D glasses to enjoy!