Country Bear Jamboree closing for lengthy refurbishment in August

[Animaniac93-98]

The condition of the show looks great, but why cut so much?

I'm sure the "sophisticated" audiences will love that half the finale is missing.

 

[aladdin2007]

Saw the show today in person. Yes there is not all the chit chat and talking that went on before between the bears and or melvin and the others etc....but it did not feel butchered at all like so many seem to be saying. It flowed, the audience seemed to have really enjoyed it, and everything looked good and fresh. The strong smell of paint was everywhere.
Blood on the Saddle (while shorter now I think) is still there, Mama Dont Whoop Little Buford is still there, that was a surprise. There are some new lighting effects, and all the bears and melvin and buff etc have received new fur and costumes and look clean. The movements of the animatronics were very fluid.
Maybe bonnie, bubbles and beulah use to sing a couple more songs, now its just one. What I thought was still tacky and not changed that should have been are the old faded slides on the screen while those three bears sing. Too expensive to update that???
But I did not feel the show has been ruined and not nearly as bad as some are making it out to be. They could have cut/changed so much more and they didnt, they retained the feel and spirit and classic characters of the show. Just less talking and some shortened numbers. Theres still plenty of clapping and stopping.

 

[J.E.Smith]

Well at first I thought they should have kept the first verse of the finale, but maybe they couldn't because they wanted Big Al's reprise of Blood on The Saddle to end at the right time (I guess keeping the first verse and cutting out the bears hollering would have messed up the timing or something)

 

[EnchantedTikiResponse]

The opening curtains were removed, the opening story intro was removed from Henry, and 2/3 of the Buff, Max and Melvin comedy parts were shaved away. Henry and Big Al have never looked better aside from that I was embarrassed for the attraction and WDW management. They are so out of touch and desperate it's pathetic.

 

[asianway]

Marty called: Wants more units pumped through

 

[Captain Chaos]

Does it make me a terrible Disney World fan to say this?:

Thank goodness! I have always HATED this ride! The best thing that they could do was reduce the torture! I am usually forced to get on it once per trip, but this should make it "bear"able. Haha.

Except that I always liked Big Al. They should have left him alone. But the rest I am fine with. MORE than fine with

Yes cause it isn't a ride, it is a show... LoL... kidding..

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

The only thing that makes sense is that the need for more cycles is preplanning for FP+, suggesting Ops think wait times will increase as a result of the new system.

Makes me wonder just how concerned they are about FP+ making a mess of wait times...

I'm not up on the whole new FP thing, seems like a lot of C & D tickets will being getting it. I am a big fan of CBJ, the original show and the Christmas and Vacation shows, but I doubt anybody will plan their day around a CBJ FastPass. I remember that maybe a couple years ago the attraction would get a crowd before the next show and that was it.

 

[GoofyMagic]

If they want more people to see the show, they shouldn't close it before the park closes.


Anyone else notice they didn't even get rid of the the second "Nothing Ever Seems to Work For Me" slide even though that second refrain(or verse?) was removed?

Liver Lips & Gomer did NOT need those outrageous changes and "Buford" should have been removed without a doubt. Maybe CBJ fans would settle for the pointless cuts and edits and re-arranged audio if they didn't change costumes and bear appearances so much.

I also don't care for the audio speakers that are now lit up by the extra lighting added to each bear's stage, though I do like the lighting.

I do wish they left in Terrance's (I think, right?) & Henry's eyebrow movements at the end of his set , there was no reason to take that out since it's still in the show, and instead they replaced it with the blinking light.

It's funny, like you guys said they're cut a lot of the "live show" elements, but they moved Henry's clearing of the throat to another area (like a live show) , and at the beginning the spot light "finding" Henry are both things that fit with that live show idea...

Thanks for letting me express some of my feelings about the changes.

 

[J.E.Smith]

Liver Lips & Gomer did NOT need those outrageous changes and "Buford" should have been removed without a doubt.

Well I have no clue what they were thinking with giving Gomer that hobo goatee look, but with Liver Lips the point is he's supposed to be an ugly bear ("She ain't purty, well I ain't too...") and I guess they gave him that crazy wild hair to make him look more unkempt.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

As much as I agree with you that I'd love to see more holiday overlays, there is one thing we are ignoring. Walt Disney World is NOT Disneyland. The major difference between the two parks, is that Disneyland's guests are almost always returning guests, or going to become returning guests. A majority of Walt Disney World guests are Once in a lifetime guests. The guests at WDW are coming from around the world, and the country specifically for a once in a lifetime vacation. Yes, it has a HUGE return rate. But still, that return rate is based on people getting to experience as much as possible. When you close an attraction, even for a short while, you cut off that experience to hundreds of thousands of new guests. This in turn has shown to decrease the amount of people willing to come back. When a new guest comes, and they see too many refurbishments, it dampens their experience and they are less likely to return.

I 100% see your point of view as an already returning Disney Guest. But to new guests, disney already lacks in amount of attractions compared to their local amusement parks (I know we would never compare the two), but to a new guest this is a big deal. When they come to WDW and see closed attractions, they feel cheated. And rightfully so.

Just a thought.

WDW is building tons of DVC units, for returning guests, and installing a next gen FP system, primarily for returning guests. If you are a first time visitor to WDW, how in the world are you supposed to go online and figure what your favorite rides are? In these economic times, WDW can't afford to ignore any segment of guests, and they are targeting repeat customers with the next gen initiative.

Then you seem to argue that MK's CBJ shouldn't shutdown because it has so few attractions that they need all of them to stay open . . . to get repeat guests! Either you want repeat business or you don't.

I think for a lot of folks, Christmas in WDW is special and a reason for repeat business. Some families come specifically to see the Osborne Lights . . . give folks what they want, more special Christmas stuff. I think a Christmas Show would bring in repeat business.

Plus . . . you are saying that somebody comes to WDW, doesn't get to go on CBJ's old show due to rehab, hasn't ever seen the show, and is crushed? Sorry, but there is a lot to see in the whole resort, can see taking one show down making that much of a difference.

Some people here say that TDO wants to kill CBJ, that it isn't (obviously) uber popular, and others argue that this precious attraction can't go down for an overlay. Which is it?!?

 

[GoofyMagic]

Some people here say that TDO wants to kill CBJ, that it isn't (obviously) uber popular, and others argue that this precious attraction can't go down for an overlay. Which is it?!?

I don't know....I can see what people mean when they say guests may get mad if something's closed when they are visiting for a small amount of time, but is there really a day , or couple days when a ride or attraction or show is NOT closed at WDW? I would think that is doubtful? I am not positive though...

 

[The Duck]

Like most here, I agree that the Bears animation seems much better but the cuts weren't necessary.
When they cut "Devilish Mary", they removed a key song that almost always gets the audience clapping their hands and stomping their feet. Were they getting complaints that too many people were actually enjoying themselves?

One bit of dialogue that was cut by the P.C. Gestapo was Buff's fat joke at Trixie's expense (That's not ALL that's big!). I happen to be a certified tub of lard and I always laughed at that joke but I suppose someone probably complained.

In short, I'm disappointed mostly with the dialogue cuts. Cutting out too much of the chit-chat and flim-flam has de-humanized the Bears (Yes, I know that's an oxymoron but you know what I mean). While they used to be a friendly, folksy bunch of bears, they've now become a little bit colder and distant.

 

[TalkingHead]

Anyone else notice they didn't even get rid of the the second "Nothing Ever Seems to Work For Me" slide even though that second refrain(or verse?) was removed?

Why am I not surprised? Disney doesn't seem to be the most detail-oriented organization these days.

 

[TalkingHead]

Like most here, I agree that the Bears animation seems much better but the cuts weren't necessary.
When they cut "Devilish Mary", they removed a key song that almost always gets the audience clapping their hands and stomping their feet. Were they getting complaints that too many people were actually enjoying themselves?

One bit of dialogue that was cut by the P.C. Gestapo was Buff's fat joke at Trixie's expense (That's not ALL that's big!). I happen to be a certified tub of lard and I always laughed at that joke but I suppose someone probably complained.

In short, I'm disappointed mostly with the dialogue cuts. Cutting out too much of the chit-chat and flim-flam has de-humanized the Bears (Yes, I know that's an oxymoron but you know what I mean). While they used to be a friendly, folksy bunch of bears, they've now become a little bit colder and distant.

It limits the "character" of the AAs -- something that the Marc Davis generation of Imagineers probably understood 1000% better than the current crop of designers.

(Take a look at Mermaid, if nothing else. Seems like characterization is sacrificed there for a medley of recognizable songs...as long as you're familiar with the movie.)

 

[The Duck]

It limits the "character" of the AAs -- something that the Marc Davis generation of Imagineers probably understood 1000% better than the current crop of designers.

They might as well start serving pizza because now it's not much more than a Chuck E. Cheese.

 

[mickey2008.1]

Now it's only a ten minute nap?! Glad they cut Big Al and "the blood on the saddle" down, worst part of the show for our family.

 

[J.E.Smith]

Like most here, I agree that the Bears animation seems much better but the cuts weren't necessary.
When they cut "Devilish Mary", they removed a key song that almost always gets the audience clapping their hands and stomping their feet. Were they getting complaints that too many people were actually enjoying themselves?

Yeah, why was Devilish Mary cut? Time or PC issues? Since they got rid of Devilish Mary they should have just replaced it with Rockytop from Vacation Hoedown. Solves the PC problem, plus it goes with cutting long pauses (The instrumental bit at the start of Mary...although I like that part). Granted, Rockytop is only ten seconds shorter than Mary, but it would still give the Bear Rugs their number at that part of the show and the audience could still really get going with it.

Now it's only a ten minute nap?! Glad they cut Big Al and "the blood on the saddle" down, worst part of the show for our family.

Actually Blood On The Saddle is intact.

 

[packwingfn]

They didn't cut Blood on the Saddle. It is the same length it always was as I just watched the original and the edited show and both blood on the saddle are still the same length besides the shortened finale

 

[VoiceInTheCrowd]

I'm sorry but I can't view any cuts to the show as improvement. Honesty they should've just closed the show and I'm a fan of the attraction. Think about it though, years ago they removed the holiday overlays and now they significantly edit the show. What's the point of keeping it open? It's clear in this circumstance they were just to cheap to replace it altogether.

Just think if it were to have received a proper refurbishment, possibly had a new song and even bring back the overlays. With all of that along with proper promotion there's no reason why the bears couldn't attract a decent crowd once again but alas, not quite.

I want to say it's funny but it's more a sad state of current management that the country bear jamboree just reopens with significant edits yet they're currently selling a big fig of Henry with the raccoon coonskin cap in uptown jewelers.

 

[GoofyMagic]

Yeah, why was Devilish Mary cut? Time or PC issues?

Couldn't have been PC issues because why would they leave in the animal cruelty (assuming that's what Buford song is about)?

correction: Did not realize it's a real song and they weren't singing about a dog. Still weird they'd leave that in there.