NEW ARTWORK!

Self

Digital Print
Created with Adobe Photoshop

©2025 Jason "Tiki" Tackett

Season 3 Opening - Mickey Mouse Club (MMC)

All For Love - Color Me Badd

Under the Sea - The Little Mermaid

Club at the End of the Street - Elton John

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf - LL Cool J

Conga - Gloria Estefan/Miami Sound Machine

I'm Going Bananas - Madonna

Opened in 1990, the Walt Disney World Dolphin is one of two hotels designed by Michael Graves Architecture & Design for the resort. Its postmodern design uses bold colors, oversized ornamentation, and expressive form to create a larger-than-life tropical paradise.

Entering the hotel from the porte cochere, you passed through a large room with palms, waterfalls, and a fiber optic starlit sky before entering an oversized oasis "tent" that served as the lobby and featured a central fountain with the hotel's iconic dolphinfish. The hotel's hallways featured beach-themed carpeting, walls that looked like a postmodern oceanside scene, wall sconces shaped like clouds, and room doors painted to look like individual changing cabanas.

With interior decor elements that reflected the eccentrically-styled exterior, staying at the hotel in its early days felt like stepping into a fantastic tropical oasis of exaggerated coconut palms, oversized fruit, tropical birds, magical dolphin fish, and cascading clamshell fountains!

In the 1980s and 90s, the architecture in Willoughby, Ohio was more "turn of the last century traditional". Wood frame houses and red brick buildings from the late 1800s and early 1900s made up the bulk of what I saw through the bus windows on my way to school each day. The glass pyramid of I.M. Pei's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum wouldn't open until 1994.

In 1991, my family took our first trip to Walt Disney World in Florida and I had no idea how much it would impact my life. Upon arriving at our hotel, I stepped out of the van and was blindsided by the most mind-blowing thing I had ever seen. It was as if every fantasy I ever had of Florida had manifested itself into a single hotel. Art deco elements of South Beach, enormous palm trees, tropical birds, cabanas, seashells, and waterfalls all welcomed me to the Sunshine State. Bright colors like terracotta, coral, teal, seafoam, and sky blue were everywhere. Leaving to head to the theme parks each morning was exciting and all, but returning to that tropical fantasy each night was the perfect end to the day.

That trip to Walt Disney World opened my eyes to "entertainment architecture"... but I had also gotten hooked on design and Disney.

My family would return to Florida in 1993. We stayed at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort (my second-favorite resort at WDW). In 1995, I would officially become part of the company by joining the Cast of Disney Store 482 at the Great Lakes Mall. 1997 would see me transfer to the Magic Kingdom in time for the resort's 25th anniversary, where I'd earn the "Tiki" nickname as a Host at Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room. Over the course of 30+ years, I'd end up having many other exciting and inspiring adventures and would eventually establish myself as a contributing artist on several amazing Disney projects. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I owe it all to that first stay at the Walt Disney World Dolphin back in 1991. It sparked an interest in design and artistic expression that formed the backbone of my career.

My Disney career was put on pause briefly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for eight months I lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When my job returned, I was able to move back to Florida and pick up where I left off career-wise at Walt Disney World. It felt like a new beginning... and to celebrate my return to Florida, I decided the guest room in my home would embody the joy I experienced the first time I had visited Florida.

I designed the colors and "feel" of the room around a single piece of artwork I had not yet created but could see in my mind. That finished art would hang over the headboard of the bed and serve as the focal point of the room.

I'm pleased to share the finished work with you here in time for the upcoming 35th anniversary of the trip that would change my life. I hope you can feel all of the memories and joy I put into its creation!