Country Bear Jamboree closing for lengthy refurbishment in August

[puntagordabob]

You're right about the Tiki Room. It's just as bad as CBJ. Both are old and stale and need to be replaced with something new. The hard core fans see these attractions as "classics" and consider any type of change to be blasphemy. Most guests just find them boring.

Please do not speak for "Most Guests" as you most certainly are just stating your opinion and it is most certainly not factual.


"Ruin it! And they will Not Come!"
The trouble with the Tiki Room at WDW in the 90s was quite simply it was NOT being maintained very well...was falling apart..roof leaks....even feathers falling off the birds.... naturally the numbers dropped and eventually we were given UNM show (something new so they listened to your opinion!)....something new is not always something better and in this case it was horrible....and after endruing over a Decade of this crap, they finally changed it back (or close to back anyways).....

NOW since last August 15 when it officially opened I have not once been to a show were the Tiki Room was much below capacity and in fact it is usually at least 2/3 full if not totally full at all times.....

Ive seen kids and adults "get into the show"....clapping...laughing....etc....having a grand old time..... and as a local I go quite a lot...

 

[pumpkin7]

Here's why CBJ needs to be shortened....

During the WDW grand opening TV special in 1971, they showed nearly 6 minutes of the CBJ show--- almost half of it! ( )

one thing i noticed from that was bunny, bubbles and beulah all used to do exactly the same moves. i'm glad they changed it because it looked a bit weird. lol

 

[unkadug]

funny when I attend each time the place is packed... not sure what you are talking about

He's just PO'ed that the CBJ aren't Rap stars.

 

[puntagordabob]

He's just PO'ed that the CBJ aren't Rap stars.

Hahah he was the one who suggested the Rap lol...... yeah that would be Horrible!!!

 

[MickeysStalker]

You're right about the Tiki Room. It's just as bad as CBJ. Both are old and stale and need to be replaced with something new. The hard core fans see these attractions as "classics" and consider any type of change to be blasphemy. Most guests just find them boring.

Log out...

 

[Rasvar]

Because it is lost on younger audiences is why it SHOULD stay.

Just like Star Wars, kids come for one reason and grow into another reason for liking the show.

My kids have seen it 5-6 times now and are growing into more and more of the jokes.

What once was the "cute bare show" is the "funny bear show."

It is something that reaches different ages on different levels. Which was why the different versions were so great as well. They hit different age levels with even more variety of experience.

Now instead we get everything focused on 6 year old girls or 8 year old boys. Maybe this is part of the reason why management cannot come up with an enriching enough experience for a new World Showcase attraction.

6 year old girl and 8 year old boy already have a hard enough time enjoying World Showcase. But adding a ride that doesn't offend the $48 a plate crowd that eats a thousand dinners there a night isn't easy.

I'm not saying get rid of it. I just think some of the music may need updating. Maybe some more current country music mixed in with the old classics.

I'm not sure Star Wars is a fair comparison. That is a franchise that has been renewed and is still alive. It is absolutely relevant across generations. Unfortunately, the only thing new with CBJ is an abomination of a movie that I pray never sneaks into the show.

It's not an easy fix. With everything said, I doubt there will be a new show. I suspect that it will be one or two numbers edited out and Big Al won't be one of the ones edited out. I really don't expect anything major with this refurb.

 

[jt04]

I'm not saying get rid of it. I just think some of the music may need updating. Maybe some more current country music mixed in with the old classics.

I'm not sure Star Wars is a fair comparison. That is a franchise that has been renewed and is still alive. It is absolutely relevant across generations. Unfortunately, the only thing new with CBJ is an abomination of a movie that I pray never sneaks into the show.

It's not an easy fix. With everything said, I doubt there will be a new show. I suspect that it will be one or two numbers edited out and Big Al won't be one of the ones edited out. I really don't expect anything major with this refurb.

I still think they need to program in a seasonal show that could be changed over within a day or two. The shows could be pre-programmed then it is only a matter of changing elements of the set which could happen in a few days.

 

[unkadug]

I still think they need to program in a seasonal show that could be changed over within a day or two. The shows could be pre-programmed then it is only a matter of changing elements of the set which could happen in a few days.

A few days? Stage techs change sets in seconds on Broadway.

 

[Rasvar]

one thing i noticed from that was bunny, bubbles and beulah all used to do exactly the same moves. i'm glad they changed it because it looked a bit weird. lol

I actually use to like that effect. Seemed like a weird play on the fact that they were identical triplets.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I love the Country Bears! I need them to get immersed into an American mood. That bit of country is essential to my Frontierland experience!

I still think they need to program in a seasonal show that could be changed over within a day or two. The shows could be pre-programmed then it is only a matter of changing elements of the set which could happen in a few days.

I've often thought exactly the same.

What am I missing? Where are the financial or other obstacles that would prevent the CBJ from getting seasonal overlays?
Maybe the equipment is really old, and not easily re-programmed like we would expect with today's equipment.

 

[Rasvar]

A few days? Stage techs change sets in seconds on Broadway.

Yeah, but the cast can also change its own costumes too and don't need be manually reset and synched.

 

[Rasvar]

I love the Country Bears! I need them to get immersed into an American mood. That bit of country is essential to my Frontierland experience!

I've often thought exactly the same.

What am I missing? Where are the financial or other obstacles that would prevent the CBJ from getting seasonal overlays?
Maybe the equipment is really old, and not easily re-programmed like we would expect with today's equipment.

I am pretty sure it is still running with a late '80s early '90s show control system if it ever got an update at all. Maybe this rehab will replace that but I don't think it has had a system upgrade in 20 years.

 

[Clever Name]

I'm not saying get rid of it. I just think some of the music may need updating. Maybe some more current country music mixed in with the old classics.

They could use Elvis! Or even better, Elvis Stitch! This idea of yours has a lot of merit. They could use the "Under New Management" premise again and have Colonel Tom Parker running the new show. This would bring some much needed new life to the show.

 

[unkadug]

Yeah, but the cast can also change its own costumes too and don't need be manually reset and synched.

You talk as if these bears are still running on the cog and cam system. They are primitive, but not that primitive.

 

[dxwwf3]

They could use the "Under New Management" premise again and have Colonel Tom Parker running the new show. This would bring some much needed new life to the show.

Stitch in the Tiki Room makes sense. I may not like the character, but it makes sense.

But this part is a joke isn't it?

 

[jt04]

I love the Country Bears! I need them to get immersed into an American mood. That bit of country is essential to my Frontierland experience!

I've often thought exactly the same.

What am I missing? Where are the financial or other obstacles that would prevent the CBJ from getting seasonal overlays?
Maybe the equipment is really old, and not easily re-programmed like we would expect with today's equipment.

Seems like they could bring in a state of the art system without much expense. Computing power is so much cheaper and capable. It is a fairly simple show.

And the benefits would easily justify it. I think upgrading computer hardware should be viewed similarly to digitizing film. Many added features with modern technology.

 

[unkadug]

They could use Elvis! Or even better, Elvis Stitch! This idea of yours has a lot of merit. They could use the "Under New Management" premise again and have Colonel Tom Parker running the new show. This would bring some much needed new life to the show.

Ok, that's your first post on this thread that I don't find repulsive.

 

[JimboJones123]

THIS is the most important post of this whole thread.

There is NO reason not to do the seasonal overlay. Just management not wanting to be "bothered" to do it. It seriously takes about 5x the effort to put up the other Frontierland decorations for the holidays.

For MNSSHP, the whole land and Liberty Square swap over in about 90 minutes.

 

[JimboJones123]

I love the Country Bears! I need them to get immersed into an American mood. That bit of country is essential to my Frontierland experience!

I've often thought exactly the same.

What am I missing? Where are the financial or other obstacles that would prevent the CBJ from getting seasonal overlays?
Maybe the equipment is really old, and not easily re-programmed like we would expect with today's equipment.

It would take dusting off the old floppy and inserting it into they computer. Letting it load for 2-3 hours and it is ready to run.

The computer part is the EASY part.

Set decorating after further thinking about it, 3-4 people 6-8 hours.

So one day down in early November and mid January. Not killing anybody. Especially when the show can afford to be down for a few months starting at the end of summer.

If they are actually worried about time taken to reprogram, RE-EDITING THE SHOW IS WHAT IS TAKING MONTHS.

Let's say the edits add 3 shows a day. So it goes from 29 to 32 shows a day (again, I am too lazy to do the actual math here). If down for 8 weeks, it will take 77 weeks at the lower runtime just to make up the number of shows it loses being down 8 weeks.

1.5 years to payoff the 3 minute cut.

Stupid.

 

[Rasvar]

Seems like they could bring in a state of the art system without much expense. Computing power is so much cheaper and capable. It is a fairly simple show.

And the benefits would easily justify it. I think upgrading computer hardware should be viewed similarly to digitizing film. Many added features with modern technology.

It is not really all that cheap to upgrade. A lot of the show mechanics is still based on the original 1960's technology, much of which is incompatible with modern systems. Kind of the same reason why the ISS runs on mostly 1980's and 1990's technology. The cost is in pulling out all of the wiring and control systems, installing the new systems into the AA units and then doing a complete reprogramming of the show from start to finish. Now, once that is done, it is not as big of a deal to change shows. That would be closer to a three to six month refurb. Now it is possible they may do it in phases of shorter periods where they do prep work in this short period and then will close it again at some point next year to do the change over while doing staging the new equipment in the off hours. New conduits and electrical systems along with construction of space for new control machinery can be done in about a 1.5 to 2 month period. New equipment can then be installed and staged over the intervening months and the full change would be done on the next refurb period.

On a system of this size, it is never cheap or easy to do an upgrade. When I was doing technology work, it was always much easier to clean with no legacy hardware. Hooking old technology to new technology is always ripe for gremlins.

Edit addition: Not saying it shouldn't be done. It really needs it. I had a friend who worked on the DACS for Country Bears about five years ago and he called it disaster then. I'm sure it is not any better now.