On 2012-09-22 12:56, lucas vigor wrote:Chef, has there ever been any discussion that you were privy to about just straight up re-opening the tahitian terrace on a perment basis? 

For the life of me, I don't know why they ever got rid of it.  The food and atmoshpere were great (best in the whole park) and this was the attraction I most looked forward to.  Aladin just lies fallow....

any insights? 

I don't have any official insights, but I have heard that re-opening the Terrace for an event like ours has been attempted before, including internally by Disney itself for a possible Annual Passholder event.  But it has proven prohibitive because the per person cost of paying for 10-to-12 performers to host a one-off dinner show when the venue only holds 100-120 attendees max is just too high for Disney to justify on its own - there'd be an uproar.  But they'll let private parties pay however much it costs, of course, so we have a sponsor that helped us pay part of the cost, and went as low as we could.  It's a total money losing venture for us, and for Disney to do it themselves, it would have to be a money earner.  But our purpose isn't to make money, it's to celebrate what was. 

Having said all that - I can't imagine that using the venue as the Tahitian Terrace permanently again would be anything but a success, but when they closed it, the reason must have been financial - i.e., it just must not drawn enough patrons.  Times are different now, and today's dining costs and entertainment expectations might make the idea of the Terrace re-opening more palatable, but the infrastructure has been taken apart and would be costly to restore (i.e., the banyan tree and waterfall curtain.)  I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Disney to reopen the Terrace as it existed before.  But as a tropical-themed venue?  Who knows?  And there are a lot of Tahitian Terrace champions in Imagineering.  I've learned to never say never.