Polynesian Terrace Bird Cafe - Disneyland, California

When Disneyland first opened in 1955, the Adventureland portion of the park included the Adventureland Pavilion restaurant. You can see photos of the original pavilion in this earlier post.

In in 1963, with the introduction of audio animatronics developed at WED Enterprises, the Adventureland Pavilion was updated. Bill Martin (Disney Legend) who started his career with Disney in 1953 as an Art Director for Fantasyland, eventually became the Art Director for all of Disneyland. Bill's role as art director for this project involved taking the construction drawings and bringing them to life in Disneyland.




Note the name of the project at the time "Polynesian Terrace Bird Cafe & Tiki Garden"


It wasn't long before the concept of the Bird Cafe was abandoned and the project was transformed into "Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room".




Architectural drawing to transform the Adventureland Pavilion into the Tiki Room and adjacent Tahitian Terrace Restaurant. North Elevation as seen from the Tiki Garden.





West Elevation. Note the original exit stairs were going to lead off to the south directly into the adjacent restaurant. The plan was revised and the stairs now exit directly off the center of the patio in the middle of the drawing.


In the West Elevation drawing you can clearly see the basement structure and the stairs that lead down from the Tiki Garden. You can also make out the attic where the Bird Mobile hangs.







A conceptual rendering for new signage for the attraction with the introduction of Dole as the new sponsor.





The Tiki Room signage and Uti, the Polynesian Godess of Fishing