Event Recap - D23 Spotlight Series: Walt Disney’s Enchanted Adventureland!
D23 has been doing Spotlight Series events for a while now, but I have to say this could be my favorite yet. Taking place at D23’s home, the Grand Central Air Terminal, this event took a new twist by offering shopping at Walt Disney Imagineering Mickey’s of Glendale to attendees before or after the panel. This was a welcome change because the lines for shopping never seemed that long. But as much as the shopping was top of the list for a lot of attendees, for me, the panel was something I’ve been looking forward to for a while.
The event was actually split into three sections, starting with Francesca, Ed, and Kevin from Walt Disney Archives speaking about Walt and his travels that inspired Disneyland’s Adventureland. As a Disneyland boy, hearing these three speak of the early vacations of Walt and his family was very interesting, seeing how those trips would directly inspire some of the locations, including the Hawaiian islands and Polynesia, that really set the tone for Adventureland.
Since the event was centered around Walt’s Adventureland, they delved into the three attractions that he had a hand in creating: the Jungle Cruise, the Enchanted Tiki Room, and the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. It was enjoyable to hear stories about how Bill Evans meticulously assembled the Jungle Cruise using inexpensive plants and trees due to budget constraints. However, the highlight of the event was discovering that the Sherman Brothers had plagiarized their own music for the iconic theme song of the Tiki Room. It’s challenging to recount a story I’ve never heard, but this one truly stood out. One day, Richard Sherman was conversing with the folks at the archives and mentioned that they had borrowed the music from a song they had composed for a Disneyland episode titled “Escape to Paradise.” After some investigation, it was revealed that the song was titled “Swiss Family Calypso.” When they played us a clip from the episode, it became evident that they had simply rewritten the lyrics, as it was unmistakably the music for “In the Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room.”
After covering Walt’s Adventureland, it was onto what a lot of us were really looking forward to: Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar! For this part of the afternoon, Imagineer Kyle Barnes was brought out to share his work in bringing this location to life. Barnes shared that the origins date back to after Disney purchased the Disneyland Hotel and wanted to do major renovations to the center of the property, including Hook’s Pointe and Cast Member favorite The Lost Bar. Originally, there were talks of a Caribbean-themed bar, but connecting it back to Walt and his love of the islands the tiki theme won out. Barnes not only talked about how the bar came to life but also how the idea of an original drink menu was something that had been lost at the resort. All lounges had essentially the same menu, but for Sam’s, they reached back and found a menu created by John Hench that really was the inspiration for the unique drink wear you can still get there.
My favorite story Barnes shared was about the Zombie mug. They started off wanting it to be based on Shrunken Ned fortune-telling machine in Adventureland, but when they realized that the details would have been lost, they moved on to the current mug — which is actually based off of Ezra the hitchhiking ghost from the end of the Haunted Mansion.
To wrap up the event, bartender Tanner from Trader Sam’s came out and did a little mixology class to teach us how to make the Barrel of Chaos, which will be the signature drink for the 15th anniversary of Sam’s. It was great to watch him mix while talking to Kevin and Kyle about the bar and what he thinks brings people back, which he said was the storytelling.
Once the panel wrapped up, guests who hadn’t shopped prior to the event were invited over to Mickey’s of Glendale. But as an added surprise, all guests were offered the chance to try either the Barrel of Chaos (21+ or the non-alcoholic option as well as some popcorn. Yet, we all know it wouldn’t be a D23 event without a special gift, and for this one we got this beautiful pin celebrating Trader Sam’s 15th anniversary.
For future D23 events, be sure to check out D23.com and stay tuned to Laughing Place!