Trader Sam's Grog Grotto

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Trader Sam's Grog Grotto
Park	Disney's Polynesian Village Resort
Type	Bar
Opening date	March 2015

Trader Sam's Grog Grotto is a Trader Sam's bar at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort.

History

Background

Trader Sam is an ancient, magic-using merchant and mixologist. In the mid 1930s, he and his affiliates at the Jungle Navigation Company opened up a bar in the Polynesian isles. Following the success of this bar in the late 1950s/1960s, Sam and JNC manager Skip Dockmonkey opened up a new location in the Great Ceremonial House of a Polynesian village along the Seven Seas Lagoon. The Grog Grotto operated at-least into the 1960s and quite possibly well into the 1980s while being connected to various affiliates and acquaintances of Sam's.

House Rules

1. Keep the porthole closed at ALL times!!
2. Never throw Annette into the sea.
3. The grotto is not zoned for slap dancing.
4. (Redacted)
5. NO HARASSING THE HIPPOS!
6. Don’t ask for Humuhumunukunukuapua sushi.
7. Cannot serve on duty skippers.
8. Management is not responsible (Redacted) for any reason.

Development history

Creation & Changes

Trader Sam's Grog Grotto opened in the March of 2015, the second of the Trader Sam's bars with the first having been Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar in the Disneyland Hotel. The bar used to have a shrunken head motif which was removed in 2021 due to its vilified stereotyping of Indigenous South American peoples. This included the name of the Shrunken Zombie Head turning to simply the Zombie Head and shrunken heads being removed from the, "Family tree".

Racism

Trader Sam was created as a stereotype of the Jivaroan peoples of the Amazon. In the Spanish Colonial Period, conquistadors perpetuated a myth that the Jivaro are the antithesis of, "Civilization" in retaliation to being unsuccessful at conquering Jivaroan territory. Sam being a cannibal was based on general myths as the Jivaroan are not known to practice cannibalism nor are any South American Indigenous tribe. Sam's dark-skinned design also seemed to be more based on an African

Shrunken head trading is inspired by how in the 1910s, many South American Indigenous peoples were pressured into selling shrunken-heads to European colonists who considered them to be exotic souvenirs. Traditionally, shrunken-heads are religious items used to bind the spirit of a potentially vengeful enemy, not items sought after for profit or collection.

These bars were based around the character of Trader Sam. Because of this, many of the harmful stereotypes identified with the character were perpetuated in the bars. Amongst these were a shrunken head motif and various references to Trader Sam and his family (represented by shrunken-heads) being cannibalistic. Many of these references were removed in 2021. The bars also revealed Sam to be a magic-user and possibly immortal, an adaptation of the, "Magical Native American" trope which has been criticized for being a minority-token trope that ostracizes Indigenous peoples, exploits Indigenous people as, "Exotic", and trivializes Indigenous spiritualism as Western perceptions of occultism and magic.

Summary

Drink effects

• HippopotoMai-Tai: These drinks are served in glasses depicting Maui as he appears in Disney's Polynesian Village Resort. When ordered, the skippers shout, "Two shots (of rum)" and gun shots are fired into the ceiling.
• Krakatoa Punch: This drink is named for the historic volcano Krakatoa which erupted in 1883. When ordered, the volcano outside of the windows erupts.
• Mosquito Mojito: This drink causes a mosquito sound-effect while skippers serve it with a fly-swatter.
• Nautilus: The mug for this drink is modelled after The Nautilus, a victorian submarine from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The voice of the nautilus' late captain Captain Nemo is heard while a vintage submarine-helmet bubbles with water. A giant-squid's arm mounted on the wall then comes to life and pours the drink. Amid this, a portrait of the Nautilus in the submarine lagoon of Vulcania begins to glow.
• Polynesian Pearl: This drink's mug is modelled after a large pearl and emerges from the clam-shell, "Shelly".
• Shipwreck on the Rocks: When this drink is ordered, a ship-in-a-bottle depicting the pirate-ship The Wicked Wench from Pirates of the Caribbean springs to life. The skippers act like sailors on a sinking ship while the Wicked Wench sinks into the faux waters of its bottle.
• Uh-Oa: This bar is named for Uh-Oa, the goddess of disaster from The Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management. When her drink is ordered, the skippers chant her name while water pours like rain. Atop the ceiling, a tiki sculpture of the goddess Uh-Oa lights up and she shouts.
• Zombie Head: This drinks are served in mugs of zombie heads, modelled after the heads of ghosts from the Haunted Mansion. When ordered, the room goes dark and spooky noises play while a black-light fills much of the room. Skippers move a stick with a, "Curtain ghost" on it and hover it around the orderer of the drink.

Holidays

• Tropical Snowstorm: Triggers a volcano outside the window to erupt snowflakes.

Trivia

• The Grog Grotto is referenced in Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar with mentions to plans of building a new location and the Polynesian Village Resort's mascot Maui appearing on the entrance to the Tiki Bar.
• The mugs for HippopotoMai-Tai are made in the likeness of Maui. In the Enchanted Tiki Bar, they resemble the Gill-Man from The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).
• There are several easter-egg props within the bar:
  • The ship in the bottle is Captain Barbossa's ship The Wicked Wench from Pirates of the Caribbean.
  • Car-keys belonging to J. Thaddeus Toad from The Wind in the Willows and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is hung over the bar.
  • On the wall is a menu from the South Seas Club, a Hollywood nightclub from the film The Rocketeer.
  • There is a life-preserver labelled, "Vesta v Gruppen" which comes from the village scene of the defunct attraction, "Maelstrom".
  • Within the display-case there is a wooden carving of Lampie from Pete's Dragon and the Orange Bird from Sunshine Tree Terrace. There is also a book titled, "Lava; Songs of Hawaii" referencing the Pixar short, Lava.
  • Tikis from the since closed Tangaroa Terrace.
  • There is a post-card from Hathaway Browne, a character from the defunct Adventurers Club.
  • A sign labelled, "Samoa" references the defunct shop Samoa Snacks from Disney's Polynesian Village Resort which was replaced with the Moana Mercantile.
  • Many of the easter-eggs are for related to Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room:
    • Uh-Oa's tiki sculpture comes from the Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management.
    • Several of the Tiki Gods from the Tiki Room are scattered throughout the bar.
    • There is a mobile of seashells made to resemble the bird-mobile of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room. On the mobile is the name, "Rosita".
  • There are many tributes to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea:
    • There is a diver's helmet from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage.
    • The squid-arm belongs to the Giant Squid which sank the Nautilus.
    • The turtle-shell guitar of Ned Land made on Vulcania is on one of the shelves.
    • There is a photograph of Walt Disney promoting 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and holding the squid's arm.
    • There is a portrait of the Nautilus in the submarine lagoon of Vulcania from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage.