Diamond Horseshoe Restaurant

[bjlc57]

well i for one really miss it .. and I wish it would come back.. that being said.. why would the current management do any thing that the really disney fan's want? they are too worried about the bottom line and MAXIMIZING PROFITS.. to the point of a drop in revenue..

 

[Heppenheimer]

I actually hated the Diamond Horseshoe. I'm sure in retrospect, it was a wonderful show. But from my childhood perspective, this was keeping me from going on rides. My parents loved it, and they always wanted to see it on our first day at the parks. They usually reserved a table for an early lunch performance, which meant unless we arrived at rope-drop (which was never going to happen in our family with 4 kids), we maybe had a chance to go on one ride before we needed to get in line for the revue. I'm not sure why we needed to get in line so early for something we had reserved anyway...

So, by the time we watched the show, it was early afternoon already, the park was at mid-day attendance levels and we had gone on approximately one ride, if that. And because my parents didn't want to spend the money to eat lunch during the show (they ordered sodas for us, thus purchasing the bare minimum required for a table), we still needed to eat our meal.

I probably shouldn't blame the show, rather, my parents poor use of time management. But as an impatient kid, waiting for months to ride the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain, having to waste valuable park time at this hokey western show was torture.

Love you, mom and dad, thanks for all the great childhood vacation memories. But we could have planned our Disney visits a little more efficiently.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

did the diamond horseshoe always operate with reservations and table service until it closed? Or was it ever like modern day Disneyland where you just wander in and out and order at the “bar”?

 

[steve2wdw]

I wish it would come back, too. Here's a picture of the crowd (those lucky enough to score a reservation after a dash through the park after the rope drop), waiting to enter the building just prior to the show. This photo is from 1976 or '77.

 

[HongKongFooy]

....from my childhood perspective, this was keeping me from going on rides. My parents loved it, and they always wanted to see it on our first day at the parks.

You too!?

HAHAHA.... I wonder how many more of us are out there.

 

[Heppenheimer]

You too!?

HAHAHA.... I wonder how many more of us are out there.

I'm sure if I watched our home movies (my dad recorded EVERY moment of EVERY attraction on one trip with his giant shoulder-mounted betamax VCR camera), the segment with the Diamond Horseshoe probably inadvertently captured glimpses of bored, fidgeting kids, and complaints of "Can we go on Big Thunder Mountain NOW?"

 

[Disneyfanman]

I remember reading, way back when, that they originally stopped the show when they opened Hoop D Doo because that theater show was a larger, more elaborate, more EXPENSIVE version of the same experience. Now, however, many years later, I think it’s really that they don’t need the expense because people eat at the Horseshoe anyway.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I remember reading, way back when, that they originally stopped the show when they opened Hoop D Doo because that theater show was a larger, more elaborate, more EXPENSIVE version of the same experience. Now, however, many years later, I think it’s really that they don’t need the expense because people eat at the Horseshoe anyway.

Hoop opened in 1974. The horseshoe operated daily until 2003. When it closed it was a much smaller show, it couldn’t have been that expensive to operate, literally comparable to the Citizens of Main Street.

In 2013, they did a “Haunted Horseshoe” show the week of Halloween. That had to be a test for possible future entertainment. It featured a piano player, magician (Jack diamond from Citizens of Hollywood who used to be at the horseshoe), a saloon girl singer, and the dapper dans. It was a really fun show.

 

[Heppenheimer]

I haven't seen either show since I was a kid, but I recall the Diamond Horseshoe Revue being more Music Hall/Vaudeville, whereas the Hoop D Doo seemed more like a wild west hoe down. But my memory on that may not be accurate.

 

[Victor Kelly]

You too!?

HAHAHA.... I wonder how many more of us are out there.

Me as well. Good show and all but I wanted to do other stuff. It was not until I was older that I appreciated it.

 

[Victor Kelly]

I haven't seen either show since I was a kid, but I recall the Diamond Horseshoe Revue being more Music Hall/Vaudeville, whereas the Hoop D Doo seemed more like a wild west hoe down. But my memory on that may not be accurate.

That is my take on it

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Hoop opened in 1974. The horseshoe operated daily until 2003. When it closed it was a much smaller show, it couldn’t have been that expensive to operate,

It's not that expensive to do the Country Bear Christmas either, but when you run Disney World like a mall where everything must turn a profit and drive growth by an arbitrary % every quarter, nothing is seen as "inexpensive". It's usually the cheap, easy things that get cut because management thinks nobody will miss them like the Sword in the Stone ceremony.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

It's not that expensive to do the Country Bear Christmas either, but when you run Disney World like a mall where everything must turn a profit and drive growth by an arbitrary % every quarter, nothing is seen as "inexpensive". It's usually the cheap, easy things that get cut because management thinks nobody will miss them like the Sword in the Stone ceremony.

So true. And the wonderful Banjo Brothers and Bob. - I had always hoped they would let banjo brothers perform in the saloon like they had billy hill in California for a while. That would have been nice.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

So true. And the wonderful Banjo Brothers and Bob. - I had always hoped they would let banjo brothers perform in the saloon like they had billy hill in California for a while. That would have been nice.

When I first went to DLP in 2013 they had a Dixieland jazz band doing alternating sets at Plaza Gardens and the Lucky Nugget. That was nice too.

An empty, quiet stage is just sad to look at, especially when all the tables face it. Now that Disney has a higher guaranteed income thanks to fixed meal prices and alcohol sales they actually have the money now to put on a show...but they won't.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

When they first started doing the Christmas parties they would have Mark and Jim (the 2 Main Street piano players) alternate playing Christmas music in the saloon as people came in to enjoy the cookies. I didn’t particularly care for the Christmas party, I mostly was there for the parade and fireworks so I spent a good amount of time sitting in the lower balcony cove and listening to the piano players.

 

[tirian]

It's not that expensive to do the Country Bear Christmas either, but when you run Disney World like a mall where everything must turn a profit and drive growth by an arbitrary % every quarter, nothing is seen as "inexpensive". It's usually the cheap, easy things that get cut because management thinks nobody will miss them like the Sword in the Stone ceremony.

And when Disney Commando fans say they never stopped to watch the show anyway (which is their right, tbh), those are the comments the Disney team pulls to justify the cuts.

 

[RobWDW1971]

The budget for the show specifically came from the food services purse. The show was supposed to pay for itself with the restaurant profits, but the venue was too small to generate enough revenue. It didn't help that plenty of people, like my penny-pinching parents, only ordered the bare minimum.

The Diamond Horseshoe was unique in this matter.

It was a double whammy as people would camp out to see the show, order the minimum, and the tables wouldn’t turn.

Without a show the tables turn regularly and no entertainment cost. You can only imagine with today’s AP mindset (especially at DL) what it would look like today if they tried to do a full show. It would have to be a $50pp charge to have it make sense.

 

[Heppenheimer]

did the diamond horseshoe always operate with reservations and table service until it closed? Or was it ever like modern day Disneyland where you just wander in and out and order at the “bar”?

It seemed that you always needed reservations (but this is based on my memory as a kid). On our first day at the Magic Kingdom, my dad always went straight to Town Hall on Main Street to make reservations. See above for more on my childhood frustrations at all the valuable park time that was spent on this show instead of going on rides.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

It seemed that you always needed reservations (but this is based on my memory as a kid). On our first day at the Magic Kingdom, my dad always went straight to Town Hall on Main Street to make reservations. See above for more on my childhood frustrations all the valuable park time that was spent on this instead of going on rides.

It was reservations only until 1996.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

It was a double whammy as people would camp out to see the show, order the minimum, and the tables wouldn’t turn.

Without a show the tables turn regularly and no entertainment cost. You can only imagine with today’s AP mindset (especially at DL) what it would look like today if they tried to do a full show. It would have to be a $50pp charge to have it make sense.

They're already charging $39 + tax per adult, I'd be fine with an extra $10 if it got me a show.