The Tiki Bar at Excalibur Happy Hour. The Strip

Excalibur spent thirty years as the budget castle at the south end of the Strip, which makes it a strange place for MGM Resorts to open its first ever tiki bar. That is exactly what happened in late December 2025. The Tiki Bar sits just off the casino floor next to the MGM Rewards desk, and the concept is a deliberate mashup: it riffs on Murphy, the dragon that lived beneath the castle in Excalibur's old lore, so the room lands somewhere between a dragon's lair and an island escape. Thatched roofing, lava rock walls, carved wood tables lit by votives, tropical scenes projected on the walls. Roughly 150 seats split between a lounge and a wraparound central bar.

The daily 5 to 7 pm happy hour is the reason to care. Tiki specialty cocktails and frozen daiquiris drop to $8, domestic beers to $5, imports to $6, every day of the week, which is rare pricing for a Strip casino bar. The bar team reportedly spent close to six months building the cocktail list, and it shows in oddballs like the Buzzed Tiki Torch, a mix of RumChata, Fireball, coffee liqueur, and banana liqueur, alongside the Whip Tai topped with pineapple whip. Classics like the Painkiller, Mai Tai, and Rum Punch are all here too, and a Tiki Flight of miniature pours lets the indecisive sample several.

This suits a few crowds well: tiki devotees who already know The Golden Tiki and Frankie's and want to judge the corporate newcomer, guests staying at Excalibur or Luxor who need a cheap sit-down drink without leaving the property, and groups killing time before a show. On Friday and Saturday nights a live band starts at 9, playing island sounds, reggae, pop, and R&B on a small dance floor, and there is never a cover.

A few practical notes. The central bar pours from 11 am, but the lounge seating opens at 5 pm, right as happy hour begins, so early arrivals get first pick of the tables. Weekend nights fill up once the band starts, so land before 9 if you want a seat. Souvenir tiki mugs and shirts are for sale if you need proof you drank rum inside a castle.