Adventureland Pix
Here are four photo scans from the "Dream Team" of Irene, Bruce, and James! It is likely that these are from the mid-1990s.
First up is this nice shot of "Aladdin's Oasis", which had taken the place of the much-missed Tahitian Terrace. AO opened in 1993, and for a year or two they had a live show, featuring signing and dancing to accompany guests during their meal. But I guess it was not cost-effective, and eventually the show was removed, but you could still dine there. Then it became a place where guests could hear the story of Aladdin and Jasmine. It is now the "Tropical Hideaway".
I have never eaten at the Bengal Barbecue, but I've heard good things about the food there. I like a nice kebab! Can I get a side of babaganoush? (I just wanted to say "babaganoush").
I don't know if they changed signs at some point, or if they had several of them, all using the "Tiger with a thing in its mouth" theme. I remember TokyoMagic! telling us that this sign used to be for "Sunkist, I Presume".
And finally, here is a steel drum band performing next to the Bazaar. I gotta get me one-a them shirts! I wonder why they needed to put these fellows behind a barrier? Were they trying to prevent a mosh pit from forming? "The Official Album of Disneyland/Walt Disney World" had a song by "The Steel Drum Band" (how did they come up with such a crazy name?!).
THANK YOU, Dream Team!
19 comments:
I never ate at Aladdin’s Oasis - probably in protest of the removal of Tahitian Terrace. Some people I know really enjoyed it ..... once. It wasn’t a restaurant that had enough repeat business in its original format. The biggest complaint was feeling rushed to eat your meal during the show , and trying to pay attention to the show. Ironically there was never that kind of complaint for WDW’s Hoop-Dee-Doo-Revue at Fort Wilderness. During the Eisner -Pressler era ( ERROR) when they were drastically cutting live entertainment , it’s amazing this show was given the “green light”. One fun thing was the waiting music for the restaurant - all popular music of the 60’s and 70’s done in Middle Eastern music arrangements.
Bengal BBQ I really like - over the years the prices go up and the serving portions get smaller and smaller. In its early years you got 2 skewers per item — then one — then a smaller one. My favorite : bacon wrapped asparagus and more recently :pork belly skewer!!
The Bengal BBQ sign originally played homage to “Sunkist I Presume” by using a similar shaped sign board - but it wasn’t the original as the original “Presume” signage survives. At some point the sign was replaced with a Fiberglas “lion” snd the space between the mouth made smaller to better reflect the gag that the lion is holding the sign in its jaws.
Enjoying these “documentation” style photos.
Mike, thanks for that info about the sign just paying homage to the original. So who has the original sign? Is it you???
Major, there were/are two signs for the Bengal BBQ. Both of them are seen in today's Dream Team pics. The first one is to the right of the restaurant (east side), and the other one is to the left of the restaurant (west side). And it appears they are still standing today, even after the clearing of the walkway a couple years ago, as a part of "Project Starcrap." The signs can be seen here on Google Street View.
Smaller Sign:
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.8115605,-117.9202092,3a,60y,280.65h,94.03t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1szHbC373oWy28RG9Zp0_xeQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Larger Sign:
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.8114679,-117.920394,3a,75y,16.67h,102.85t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sCAhdkG1XN7dTqM5aqGa14w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
I forgot to thank Irene, Bruce, and James, for these pics. And you too, Major!
Also, I remember in more recent times, when the Steel Drum Band would play on the rooftop of the Tropical Imports building. Maybe they were being mobbed at ground level, by their screaming fans?
I don’t have the original sign , but I do have the original 1960’s full-size color sign painters guide the one featuring the explorers and natives with the British flag and American flag with Dr. Livingston shaking hands etc. at one time I had all the various WED sign painters color guides for “Sunkist I Presume” but over time I sold or traded the others off.
The barrier was there to prevent thefts. Many guests misheard the name as the "Steal Drum Band" and acted accordingly.
Thanks again, Dream Team!
I hated Aladdin's Oasis. It always looked like it was dropped in place without regards to the surroundings. That and it replaced the beloved Tahitian Terrace.
Still it's great to see the steel drum band pic. Thanks, Dream Team.
The steel drum band that played at Walt Disney World was originally known as "The Adventureland Steel Band" but was later changed to "J.P. and the Silver Stars" in the late 1970's.
The album is a enjoyable listen.
https://www.discogs.com/Walt-Disney-World-Adventureland-Steel-Band-Walt-Disney-World-Adventureland-Steel-Band/release/5210785
Mike Cozart, I would imagine that there were MANY Disneyland fans who were very unhappy with the removal of the Tahitian Terrace. I never got to experience the TT, but when I look at photos, I wish I had! The same is not true for Aladdin’s Oasis. I sort of like the faux-Moroccan architecture, but it feels a little out of place amongst all that bamboo and palm thatch. Re: the Bengal BBQ, I have heard similar complaints about the portion sizes on various podcasts. Do they think that the customer won’t notice that they are getting less for their money? Somewhere on this blog I have at least one or two pretty good photos of the old “Sunkist, I Presume” sign; thanks for clearing up my misconception that the Bengal BBQ used the same sign.
TokyoMagic!, I have ALL of the old signs! Didn’t I tell you? Someday Van Eaton Gallery will have an auction of my collection that will rival the Richard Kraft auction. I’ll have a month-long preview in an old Toys ‘R Us building, and everyone will get a free 1955 ticket book just for visiting. Don’t miss it! I was pretty sure that there was more than one Bengal BBQ sign, the two in today’s photos look different! I wish Disney had actually called the Galaxy’s Edge construction “Project Starcrap”, it has a nice ring to it. Thanks for the links to the current views! I keep forgetting that we can walk around the park via Google Maps.
TokyoMagic!, it was Steel Drum Mania - like Beatlemania only MORE insane. Girls threw their churros onstage, and all the boys dressed like their favorite steel drum musician. Ed Sullivan had died by the time the Steel Drum Band came along, but they did get to appear on “Dinah!”.
Mike Cozart, those color guides sound pretty cool! I guess all of us collectors have sold off stuff that we wish we still had, I still kick myself for selling certain items.
Chuck, it’s kind of a “Waste Please” situation (some Disneyland trash cans). “Well, if you insist. Honey, you got anything we can waste?”.
K. Martinez, hear me out: what if they’d replaced the Tahitian Terrace with “Jabba the Hutt’s Plush Emporium”? Lots of cute plush dolls on every shelf! How about an Eeyore with a little pith helmet AND a light saber? ADORABLE. Buzz Lightyear in a storm trooper uniform? Brilliant. The trouble with Disneyland is that there are only 25 shops that sell plush critters. I had that “Music of Disneyland and Walt Disney World” album when I was a kid - in fact I might have had more than one of them!
Tropical Hideaway is a much better fit there and I like how it's opened up and you can see the Jungle Cruise cruising by. I'm glad Aladdin's Oasis is gone.
I miss the rubber snakes and shrunken heads they used to sell around Adventureland during this time.
I love the Bengal Barbecue sign! Good kitty! (The Aladdin’s Oasis host ain’t too hard on the eyes, either.)
I remember the Aladdin entry, which I always sort of liked, but we never went in. Similarly, we never went to Tahitian Terrace when I was a kid.
All of us love the Bengal Barbecue food, it was one of the few places where you could reliably get vegetable food items and eat relatively healthy. Lighter and vegetarian options are more available now, thank goodness, and also my son doesn't date the vegetarian girl anymore, so we don't have to have all our meals at BB.
I haven't seen Tropical Hideaway yet, but it sounds like a good idea and good use for that space. If the BB menu is available there, the only thing missing would be a Mai-Tai.
@Kel, thanks for the information about TH. Being able to see the boats go by sounds great. There's something about dining by the water. Also missing the rubber snakes and shrunken heads.
Thanks to Major and the Dream Team.
JG
Kel, my husband proudly displays an Adventureland rubber snake and gorilla in his workshop area of our basement. :)
Project Starcrap - hahaha! I visited WDW's version of Project Starcrap shortly after it opened. I was not impressed (but I'm not a Starwars fan). A friend of mine is a CM there and she said people would walk into it and stand there and cry, because they were sooo happy. I could cry because I'm sad at what was replaced!
I just listened to The Steel Drum Band, and sure miss being in Disneyland! Thank you, Dream Team and Major, for these fun pictures!
Talk about the Tahitian Terrace makes me think about the sequence in Disneyland After Dark. The audience footage is classic. I always laugh out loud at the guy who adjusts his glasses!
@Lou and Sue - Awesome! I still remember the distinct smell of those snakes. :) I proudly carried mine on to a plane going home and freaked out one of the ladies sitting near us. She thought it was real.... snakes on a plane many years before it was a movie!
Thanks to the Dream Team and the Major for sharing the pictures.
On our first trip to WDW we saw the Steel Drum Band playing. They held our attention for quite a while. Well, mine anyway. I have to admit that I find the sound of steel drums strangely captivating. But that's just me. At any rate, somewhere in my pile of vinyl I have their album. Of course, my turntable has long since died, so it's been years since it has been played.
W
We used to eat at the Bengal BBQ pretty regularly, back in the nineties, but yes, the prices went up and the portions shrank. That's "typical Disney," for you! We just started making our own bacon-wrapped asparagus and cooking it on the BBQ. You just have to be careful of the flames! They leap up really high, because of the bacon fat/grease.
By the way, did everyone notice the little peacock, at the top of the Aladdin's Oasis entrance?
Just for fun if anyone cares and to connect to yesterday's thread, Daveland has a cool post of the DL stagecoach with a sign in the background of one of the images labeling it as a "Concord coach." Matthew has pointed out there that the rope seen yesterday is shown, too.
Nice images today - thanks, Dream Team!
Andrew and Matthew, I just saw Daveland's post, too. Maybe that's the 'other end' of our rope?? ;)
Kel, I’m glad you like the Tropical Hideaway, I haven’t seen it for myself. The idea of being able to see the Jungle Cruise boats passing by is appealing. Don’t they sell any rubber snakes or shrunken heads anymore??
Melissa, I do enjoy those toothy tiger signs! It’s only fair that there’s a male host for the ladies to enjoy.
JG, I know my dad would have loved the Tahitian Terrace (pretty hula girls!), I can only assume we didn’t eat there because my parents assumed that their four squirrelly kids wouldn’t sit still for a meal and a show. Maybe they were right. Ha ha, you dodged a bullet now that your son isn’t dating that vegetarian! ;-) I toy around with the idea of giving up meat, but… so far it hasn’t happened. I have friends who have done it though, and sometimes I’ll go to vegetarian restaurants with them, with mixed results. But I have reduced my soda intake! It’s a start.
Lou and Sue, those rubber critters would definitely be good accessories for your husband, a serious “car guy” in case the readers don’t know. Does he own any fuzzy dice by the way?? Or does he have a cool 8-ball gear shift? If not, you know what to get him for Christmas. That and some cardboard pine tree air fresheners. I didn’t know you saw the Florida version of “Galaxy’s Edge!” This is the first I’ve heard of it. Why the secrets? I feel so betrayed. ;-)
Sunday Night, I have a general memory of that footage, but not of the guy adjusting his glasses. Are they steamed up from a beautiful dancer in a grass skirt?
Kel, oh yeah, that rubber toy smell! It was intoxicating. Possibly addictive! I can believe the story of the ladies being freaked out by a toy snake; I once bought some postage stamps with pictures of spiders and bugs, and the lady at the post office refused to touch the stamps with her bare hands (she used a tissue).
Warren Nielsen, nice to hear from you! You shared a photo of the Steel Drum Band playing at WDW on this very blog. I think it’s fascinating that some smart people managed to turn steel drums into musical instruments. Ingenious! Have you ever considered getting a new turntable? I think you can get them for a reasonable price if you’re not trying to get too fancy.
TokyoMagic!, I’m going to have to try making that bacon-wrapped asparagus. I love asparagus anyway (I roast it in the oven normally), so wrapping it in bacon is a double win. Cooking it on a grill sounds good, but also dangerous. And I’m only just noticing that peacock now. I wonder if that was a detail borrowed from a background painting in Aladdin?
Andrew, I somehow missed Daveland, I’ll check it out!
Lou and Sue, somehow that hangman’s noose is kind of sinister.
I love the Bengal Barbeque sign.
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