Disney Holiday Loops: Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar

Listen to Podcast

We’re celebrating the end of Christmas in July by taking a look at another Disney Holiday Loop. This is one of my favorite area loops and a perfect soundtrack if you’re looking for a Summertime Christmas fix. This is the Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar Holiday Loop.

If you are not familiar with Disney area loops or their holiday counterparts, you can check out the first entry in the series where we dive into the concept and also take a look at the Christmas tunes of the Buena Vista Steet area in Disney California Adventure.

But today is not about the big band, jazz and swing tunes of Buena Vista Steet, it’s all about the island vibes of Trader Sam’s.

Photo of the Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Room entrance sign.
Trader Sam's photo by Steven Miller

Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar is located just outside the Disneyland Hotel, which is itself located just outside the Disneyland gates in Anaheim, California. It shares a building (and a chunk of the menu) with the Tangaroa Terrace Tropical Bar & Grill, both located in the hotel’s pool area.

As you may have deduced from the name, Trader Sam’s is a Tiki-themed bar. It opened in 2011 as part of the multi-year renovation of the Disneyland hotel that was themed around nostalgia and paying tribute to the early days of the park. The Tangaroa Terrace and conjoined tiki bar are the spiritual successor to the Tahitian Terrace, an Adventureland restaurant that operated from the early ’60s to early ’90s and featured a dinner show with firewalking and hula dancing.

Photo of the Tahitian Terrace restaurant in Disneyland.
Tahitian Terrace photo by Gene Spesard

But that’s not the only Adventureland connection. The name Enchanted Tiki Bar is itself an homage to Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room and the bar’s fictitious proprietor, Trader Sam, was initially introduced through the Jungle Cruise attraction where Sam was the “head salesman” of the equally fictitious Jungle Navigation Company.

This takes us to the uncomfortable portion of this episode. Tiki bars and Tiki culture in general can be a form of cultural appropriation. It often steals elements of Polynesian, Hawaiian, Caribbean and other cultures, including music, art, customs and traditions, then blends it all together into a homogenized, romanticized product called Tiki, which replaces the history of violent colonization throughout these areas with a menu of tasty rum-based drinks.

There is also the problem of Trader Sam himself. A character developed for the Jungle Cruise attraction, Sam was depicted as a racist stereotype of South American Indigenous Peoples, a practicer of cannibalism and a purveyor of shrunken heads. An audio-animatronic character of Sam previously appeared near the end of the ride where he offered to trade you “two of his heads for one of yours.”

Photo of the Trader Sam animatronic from the Jungle Cruise attraction.
Trader Sam photo by Steven Miller

I say previous appeared because Disney, who had already been slowly removing racist elements from the Jungle Cruise (as well as other attractions), took advantage of the extended COVID closure of the California parks to do some serious deep cleaning. All mentions of cannibalism, shrunken heads and the Trader Sam animatronic itself were scrubbed away.

And though Sam is no longer physically present in the park, his backstory continues to grow and develop. The current version of Trader Sam is a world traveler who has rubbed shoulders with pirate royalty from Blackbeard to Jack Sparrow, accompanied Teddy Roosevelt on his expedition to the rainforests of Brazil and frequently assisted Dr. Indiana Jones on his archeological adventures, including a trip to the Lost River Delta of Cusco, Peru to excavate the Temple of the Crystal Skull.

This lore also includes Sam dropping anchor in the Polynesian Isles something in the 1930s to open his bar, the Enchanted Tiki Bar. I’m not sure if implying that the real Enchanted Tiki Bar is less a result of cultural appropriation and more the result of a fictitious character’s 200+ years of collected travels, trinkets and ephemera really moves the needle for folks who are put off by tiki culture. And that’s OK.

Personally, I gravitate toward the Polynesian Pop aesthetics, the tropical music and the tasty, rum-based drinks of Tiki while attempting to be mindful and not trivialize or marginalize the real cultures, customs and religious symbols it was based on. I’m not sure if that is the right place to be, but it is the space I’m currently occupying.

The Disneyland Hotel version of Trader Sam’s seems to be in the same orbit. The bar’s interior was crafted by Imagineers with the same attention to detail they put into the theming of an E-ticket ride. The place is packed to the ceiling with easter eggs and references to Sam, his famous friends and their globe-trotting adventures. It also contains several animatronics, lighting and sound effects that are triggered by thirsty partons when they order specific tasty rum-based drinks.

Photo of the Trader Sam bar area.
Trader Sam's photo by Chris Jepsen

This immersive theming carries over to the music too. There is a standard music loop that plays inside and around Trader Sam’s and features a playlist of tracks by early exotica artists like Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman up through to modern Tiki acts like The Waitiki 7 and The Tikiyaki Orchestra.

Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar Area Loop

As with most of the other Disney area loops, Trader Sam’s switches to a unique holiday playlist for the Christmas season: a mix of classic holiday tunes performed by Hawaiian and Surf Rock artists, with a smattering of non-Christmas exotica and modern Tiki tunes tossed in.

Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar Holiday Area Loop

Before we get into the music, I want to point out a few unique things about the Trader Sam’s holiday loop.

First, it’s long. For those of you counting along, that’s 43 tracks, by 17 different. And, while most Disney holiday loops are between forty-five minutes and an hour, the Trader Sam’s soundtrack completely eclipses the average with a run time just shy of two hours.

Second, it’s one of the only Disney holiday loops to include non-Christmas songs in its playlist. Now, it’s not totally exclusive category…there are a few others, like the Art of Animation Hotel Lobby loop at Walt Disney World, which we’ll be covering in a future episode and which coincidentally also features a surf-heavy Christmas soundtrack. But, unlike Art of Animation which shoehorns in a handful of non-Christmas pop songs and covers from various Disney and Pixar films, Trader Sam’s is a more organic blend, using instrumental pieces to transition between the holiday tracks.

Photo of the Trader Sam's Grog Grotto.
Trader Sam's Grog Grotto photo by Steven Miller

Lastly, it’s one of the only Disney holiday loops outside of the Main Street U.S.A. loop to appear at multiple parks. The Trader Sam’s holiday loop can be heard at both the Enchanted Tiki Bar at the Disneyland Hotel and Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto at the Polynesian Resort in Walt Disney World.

Ok, onto the music. This playlist is chock-full of great holiday music.

We’re going to start off with a controversial statement. This loop includes my favorite version of “Mele Kalikimaka,” an instrumental rendition by Jerry Byrd, featuring his signature lap steel guitar. Sorry Bing.

Jerry has a fascinating musical career that included joining the Grand Old Opry while in his twenties, being one of the first to sign an up-and-coming Country music star by the name of Dolly Parton and giving steel guitar lessons to many musicians including another famous Jerry, the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia.

Gerry D's Totally Rad Christmas Podcast
Totally Rad Christmas Podcast

And while we’re talking about famous Jerry’s, I’d like to take a moment to mention one more famous Gerry: Gerry D, the totally awesome host of the Totally Rad Christmas Podcast. Gerry recently invited me back on his show to talk about the obscure ’80s holiday special Lollipop Dragon: The Great Christmas Race.

I had a great time talking with Gerry and dredging up my long-suppressed Lollipop Dragon memories…including a reoccurring dream I had as a five-year-old, where I was chased by Baron Bad Blood through the Forest of Mirrors. And if that last sentence didn’t make a lick of sense to you, just wait until the episode drops later this fall. Thanks Gerry.

Ok, now, back to Byrd. This Jerry moved to Hawaii in the ’70s to work on reviving the steel guitar music on the islands, continue teaching and ensure the lap steel remained an important instrument in Hawaiian music.

Jerry Byrd's Christmas in Hawaii album cover.
Christmas in Hawaii album

He recorded Christmas songs at various points throughout his career, but the first and only collection was Christmas in Hawaii, released in 1897 and containing ten classic Christmas tunes, all in his signature lap steel style and including this version of “Mele Kalikimaka.”

Another highlight of the holiday loop for me is the inclusion of the four Ventures tracks. Something I’ve recently discovered as a man in his 40s is that I enjoy surf rock and, by extension surf rock Christmas songs.

The Ventures have released two Christmas albums. The first, titled The Ventures’ Christmas Album and released in 1965 contains surf rock renditions of a dozen classic Christmas tunes, including all four used in the Trader Sam’s holiday loop: “We Wish You A Merry Christmas,” “Frosty the Snowman,” “Sleigh Ride” and “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.” All four of these tracks are great, with my favorites being “We Wish You A Merry Christmas,” which incorporates a riff from the Ramsey Lewis Trio song “The ‘In’ Crowd,” and “Sleigh Ride,” which uses “Walk, Don’t Run,” the Ventures’ first hit song.

The Ventures Christmas Album album cover.
Christmas Album

The Ventures released their Christmas album, Christmas Joy in 2002. This album contained all-new recordings, including rerecordings of many of the songs from their 1965 release along with another handful of holiday standards including covers of “Feliz Navidad” and “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” This one is…not as good. To me, it lacks a lot of the energy and rawness that made the first Christmas album great.

There is one interesting note. The physical release had a song titled “Christmas Medley” in the middle of the album, a mash-up of Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” and Gene Autry’s “Here Comes Santa Claus.” This track has been removed from all digital releases. It’s not on Tidal, not on Spotify, not on Amazon Music. The closest was a cover of the medley by the artist Syldave…which I believe is a reference to the Syldavia, the fictional Balkan kingdom from the Tintin books.

Moving on from The Ventures, I want to talk about a couple of The Blue Hawaiians’ tunes. The band, a Los Angeles group who performs a mix of mid-century exotica, surf rock and everything in between, contributed seven tracks to the Trader Sam’s holiday loop.

The Blue Hawaiians Christmas on Big Island album cover.
Christmas on Big Island album

My top two are their cover of “Christmas Time is Here” and “We Four Kings (Little Drummer Boy).” I’m a sucker for good versions of any Vince Giraldi Peanuts music and The Blue Hawaiians’ version is solid. Maybe a notch below the Foo Fighters medley from SNL in 2017 that morphed Everlong into Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) before finishing with Linus and Lucy.

And apparently, I’m learning that I’m also a fan of medleys. The Blue Hawaiians’ song We Four Kings is a fast, surf rock mash-up that sandwiches Little Drummer Boy in the middle of We Three Kings.

Santa's Gone Hawaiian album cover.
Santa's Gone Hawaiian album

Finally, I wanted to talk about the Genoa Keawe version of Jingle Bells. Genoa, a Hawaiian-born artist began performing professionally before WWII, which led to a radio show and recording in 1946. She worked her entire life to preserve the Ōlelo Hawai’i language and is thought to have the widest repertoire of traditional Hawaiian Meles or songs, chants and poems.

In 2000, Genoa received a National Heritage Fellowship, the highest honor the United States government bestows in folk and traditional arts.

Her version of Jingle Bells, sung in Hawaiian is amazing and also one of only a few tracks on the holiday loop with vocals.

Cheers and Mele Kalikimaka!

Posted by Kevin Williams | Wednesday, July 31, 2024
Walt Disney World Tiki Surf Rock Music Exotica Disneyland Disney
Home