What do you do when Billy Crud carves you a six-foot tall tiki?
You build a home tiki bar to put it in!
Angela and Michael’s Enchanted Klinki Room is not a spelling error! It’s a play on their last name Klingenmeier also, Angela has been a fan of Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room since she was a kid, so I’d say Enchanted Klinki Room is the perfect name for their home bar. Not only did Billy Crud carve the first tiki for Angela and Michael, but he helped with the build of the tiki bar itself and the end result shows, the Enchanted Klinki Room is incredible! Here is Angela and Klink’s story …
What is the tiki scene like where you live?
Angela- Kungaloosh!! We live in Las Vegas, NV. The tiki scene here is definitely growing. We have two really awesome tiki bars here that are quite popular, Frankie’s Tiki Room and Golden Tiki. They are both always packed and we have quite a few friends with existing tiki bars or in the process of building one now.
What brought you into the tiki lifestyle and how long has it been part of your life?
Angela- In 2017 my husband had our friend, Billy Crud, carve me a 6’ tall tiki from Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room, which I have loved since I was a kid, for my birthday. We couldn’t decide where to display him so we went all in and built the Enchanted Klinki Room for him to live in!! Billy being a tiki carver started teaching me some history about tiki culture. We just got deeper and deeper the further along we got with the build. It became an obsession but we are still learning!!
Can you give a little history of how it all came together?
Angela- We started by knocking down a wall and removing our pool table! We got new tile and new couches for the conversation pit. We put up our Tapa, lahaula, and bamboo. Billy was here every day carving shelves, baseboards, chair rails, tikis, and totem poles. He even carved me a beautiful Moana pole!! After Billy finished carving the sign, we painted it together. I then started adding my special added touches! My wood, vintage parrots from Red Kat. Two of which were named after our grandmothers, Milli and Mimi. The other four are named for our sons, Turner, Dalton, Coleton, and Kaden. I have Hidden Mickeys, Hank the Septopus’ missing arm busting out of the wall, a vintage picture of my Mimi kissing Don Ho and other things that belonged to her including a giant hanging shell. Hand carved zombie tiki mug palm frond by Tank Bilt. Lots of art and handmade bamboo frames, a Little Mermaid skeleton and Flounder, too! A ships wheel with a Jungle Cruise skipper that never made it back!
My husband, cousin, and brother in law built the surf board bar top and it was hand pinstriped by the one and only, Frank Magoo. It turned out beautiful! Cool, vintage treasure chests. Our pet gator. Rattan bar stools found at a thrift store!! Our vintage rattan palm tree by Mario Lopez Torres from Glam Factory. Pufferfish lamps and float lights. Mugs and glasses from different tiki bars. Hand etched rum bottle with our bar name. One of my favorite additions are Michael and my shrunken heads, that look just like us! So, many fun details, including lots of nods to Disney movies and attractions. Too many to name! Of course, it’s not done yet! We still have more tikis in the works
Any story behind the name of your bar?
Angela- Obviously, it’s a play on Enchanted Tiki Room except it is Klinki because our last name is Klingenmeier and my husband’s nickname is Klink and I am Mrs. Klink! Therefore, Enchanted Klinki Room!
What is your favorite Tiki drink?
Angela- My favorite drink is the Three Rum Scum at Frankie’s because it is delicious and strong. They say you may spend a lot of time apologizing after having a couple. Ha-ha. I haven’t had to yet, luckily.
Michael’s favorite drink is the Dark and Stormy because he loves the taste of ginger.
What is your favorite Tiki bar? Not including your own!
Angela- In Las Vegas I would say Frankie’s. We love the ambiance, the mugs, the bartenders, and the yummy drinks. We both loved Aku Aku in Orlando. The service was top notch and the Tiger Fucker was scrumptious! They also have the Stardust Lounge downstairs displaying some cool Vegas memorabilia since Aku Aku was a famous tiki bar here in Vegas from 1960-1980. We recently visited Strong Water in Anaheim. Their food is soooooo good! We have trips to Hawaii and California coming up. We will be on a tiki tour soon!! I’m also going to Tiki Oasis for the first time this year!
Outside of great drinks, what do you think are essential elements in creating the perfect Tiki environment?
Angela- I truly believe a tiki room can’t have enough fun stuff in it!! You should notice something new each time you are there. Also, LIGHTING! The Klinki Room was cool to begin with but when we added all of our lights it became super bad ass!! A tiki room isn’t a tiki room until you have cool lights.
What does the future hold for you and your home tiki bar?
Angela- My immediate family has more than 60 people in it, in fact, the Klinki Bar proudly displays a large photo of most of them at our first Tikimas in there. We love to entertain them and all of our friends all the time. It’s been open less than a year and we have already been busy making memories with our loved ones. We are also going to be featured in a video with Cutwater Rum and in a Disney book!
Anything else you would like to add?
Angela- I want to thank all of our friends and family members that put in physical work and gave us gifts to add to the character and ambiance of the Enchanted Klinki Room! It took a lot of teamwork to get it done and looking glorious! Billy was my hero through all of this and Michael and I had so much fun being hands on, painting, sanding, staining, building, and creating our amazing space with him.
Artists and such featured-Crud Tiki, Scott “Sandman” Newman, Tank Bilt, Frank Magoo, Jeff Granito, Shag, Tiki Vato, McBiff, Buzzy Parks, Roger Brittan, Joe Klein, Dirk Vermin, Doug Horne, Terry Barr, Coleton Klingenmeier, Tiki Lee, Bosko, Tiki Tony, Brad Parker, Hip Original, Philippe Tilikete, etc.
Disney nods-Enchanted Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, The Little Mermaid, Trader Sam’s, Avatar, Pirates of the Caribbean, Moana, Tinkerbell, Mickey and Minnie, Orange Bird, Aladdin, Indiana Jones and Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar, Lilo and Stitch, Country Bear Jamboree, the Polynesian, Oga’s Cantina
Special Appearances-Ghost of Captain Cutler, Spongebob and Patrick
Instagram @enchantedklinkiroom
This Klinki Room is so awesome. It was done with so much love, sweat, and tears. It’s was so cool to watch the process. Turned out so beautiful and so many special memories are included.
This Klinki room is truly outstanding! I was lucky enough to visit it for Klink’s 50th birthday, and I must say I was very impressed. I’ll have to go back cause there is no way you are going to see all the details in one visit. It’s incredible!
This is amazing! Home Tiki Bar goals!! <3 See you at TO!