News Country Bear Jamboree is getting new songs and acts

Roger_the_pianist

Well-Known Member
First off, I'm so sorry that Walt DIsney World screw it up for ruining the last performance of CBJ. I'm so lucky I don't live in Florida, no offense. Anyway, I found this mockup/prediction Youtube video where this user predicted which Disney songs that the Country Bears will perform. Keep in mind, this prediction is no guaranteed that this user will be right. Except Trixie's song.


This is pretty well done. I love Trixie's number and "Rainbow Connection"

I would think "You've Got a Friend in Me" is the finale.

"Blood on the Saddle" probably won't stay, although it's iconic. Would be a funny nod to keep the twangy guitar intro, then he sings something else.

Probably will be a spiel about how they have prepared a country fried salute to the Disney songbook.

The Yodel song from Snow White could have a fun country version, since classic country includes yodeling.

I think it's important to note this show was so popular because Eastern U.S. states, especially families visiting from southern states love country music, so it was such a hit in the opening days of WDW and then ascended to camp and cult.
 

ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ

HOUSE OF MAGIC
Premium Member
"Strange Things" from Toy Story would be a fun one to cover. "You've Got A Friend In Me" is too typical. I'm hopeful that Disney won't opt for the easy choice and instead try to put a spin on the lesser played, yet still well known Disney songs. Imagine a cover of "It's Not Easy" from Pete's Dragon. It'd be hilarious.
 
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lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Either way, they should have just opened the curtains! Or even run the show with the broken AAs. I'm sure if they made an announcement that some of the AAs are broken, the folks in line would have understood. But I guess that would have been bad show.
Everything is automated through the show control system. It seems doubtful that there would even be an option to just open the curtains as it’s not something that would be needed for typical operations. Depending on the fault with the figures, it’s similarly possible that the show controls would not allow the show to run.
 

EagleScout610

What a wisecracker
Premium Member
"Cast Member! I left my phone charger backstage! Open the door! Pleeassee!!!!"
Capture.PNG
 

J.E.Smith

Well-Known Member
Everything is automated through the show control system. It seems doubtful that there would even be an option to just open the curtains as it’s not something that would be needed for typical operations. Depending on the fault with the figures, it’s similarly possible that the show controls would not allow the show to run.
I thought the bears had some sort of maintenance mode where they have all the curtains open and AAs out.
Like when they did the Disneyland Passholder events where you could walk around the stage with all the bears out:



You can also see the bears in this state when they were doing the 2012 refurb, there's several shots of them working on the show with the curtains open and the bears turned off:



I'm curious why they didn't just switch it to this state for the walkthrough, unless the CMs couldn't put it in that mode on short notice.
 

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
I think the 2020s has seen the most changes to Magic Kingdom since the mid to late 90s, when a series of rapid revisions were made to "update" the park experience and improve operations (mostly by homogenizing retail and closing restaurants).

Historically, the park has benefitted from being ignored by management. It's enduring popularity and profitability has let it coast by for stretches of time while corporate focused its priorities on such other things as failed theme park launches and failed IT systems. In most cases, when Magic Kingdom is given attention, it's to fix things that aren't broken while ignoring the ongoing problems that genuinely plague the park and make visiting it such a chore (namely, an across the board lack of capacity and an entertainment budget wasted on meet and greets instead of more substantial shows).

Country Bears, a WDW original and near exclusive, being another victim of this mindset is appalling, especially when another theater show on the opposite side of the park has sat empty for years. A 350 seat theater with no room for expansion can only do so much to accommodate crowds to begin with and its the kind of attraction the park needs to absorb crowds while other suffer from the side effects of Genie+

What will a 4th version really accomplish that the other 3 didn't? Is a temporary boost in attendance worth the cost of creating a new show when rotating the current line up would probably yield similar results? Will having the bears sing Disney music really encourage people to pay for a streaming service and buy more merch? Is anyone who already thinks the show is dated or offensive likely to be won over by new songs and costumes while the basic premise remains? Why is this being prioritized over dozens of other potential changes to MK?

I'm just fed up of how badly this park has been mistreated for decades now, and how everyone from the company's employees to its fans have shrugged that off because it's seen as the kiddy park and lesser Disneyland that always prints money no matter what. It deserves better, and would be a better experience for everyone if someone actually cared.
 

TalkingHead

Well-Known Member
I think the 2020s has seen the most changes to Magic Kingdom since the mid to late 90s, when a series of rapid revisions were made to "update" the park experience and improve operations (mostly by homogenizing retail and closing restaurants).

Historically, the park has benefitted from being ignored by management. It's enduring popularity and profitability has let it coast by for stretches of time while corporate focused its priorities on such other things as failed theme park launches and failed IT systems. In most cases, when Magic Kingdom is given attention, it's to fix things that aren't broken while ignoring the ongoing problems that genuinely plague the park and make visiting it such a chore (namely, an across the board lack of capacity and an entertainment budget wasted on meet and greets instead of more substantial shows).

Country Bears, a WDW original and near exclusive, being another victim of this mindset is appalling, especially when another theater show on the opposite side of the park has sat empty for years. A 350 seat theater with no room for expansion can only do so much to accommodate crowds to begin with and its the kind of attraction the park needs to absorb crowds while other suffer from the side effects of Genie+

What will a 4th version really accomplish that the other 3 didn't? Is a temporary boost in attendance worth the cost of creating a new show when rotating the current line up would probably yield similar results? Will having the bears sing Disney music really encourage people to pay for a streaming service and buy more merch? Is anyone who already thinks the show is dated or offensive likely to be won over by new songs and costumes while the basic premise remains? Why is this being prioritized over dozens of other potential changes to MK?

I'm just fed up of how badly this park has been mistreated for decades now, and how everyone from the company's employees to its fans have shrugged that off because it's seen as the kiddy park and lesser Disneyland that always prints money no matter what. It deserves better, and would be a better experience for everyone if someone actually cared.
Remember when the company understood how to leverage nostalgia? If I took the trouble to visit MK, the number of attractions I’d bother waiting in line for could be counted on one hand. And a couple of those would likely not have lines.
 

Brian

Well-Known Member
Everything is automated through the show control system. It seems doubtful that there would even be an option to just open the curtains as it’s not something that would be needed for typical operations. Depending on the fault with the figures, it’s similarly possible that the show controls would not allow the show to run.
It's possible to open the curtains and raise the various platforms independent of the show, but you're correct that's not accessible to the attraction's CMs. I'm also not too certain they would want to do that for a walkthrough anyway, as seeing AAs just sitting there stationary and not so much as blinking their eyes would be bad show.

There are no "faults" related to the AAs in CBJ (same with COP), but it would certainly be bad show to run the show if the AAs aren't functioning properly.
 
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peter11435

Well-Known Member
I thought the bears had some sort of maintenance mode where they have all the curtains open and AAs out.
Like when they did the Disneyland Passholder events where you could walk around the stage with all the bears out:



You can also see the bears in this state when they were doing the 2012 refurb, there's several shots of them working on the show with the curtains open and the bears turned off:



I'm curious why they didn't just switch it to this state for the walkthrough, unless the CMs couldn't put it in that mode on short notice.

These modes don’t exist like you think they do. You can’t just push a button and make that happen.
 

ChrisRobin124

Active Member
This ended up being the last show where Henry and Liver Lips froze up




Watching this brought a tear to my eye. Remembering how my almost 40 year old son got the whole Big Al thing for the first time 30 years ago. How we were still hysterical this morning remembering the time we saw Henry bow forward during Davy Crockett and not come back up again stuck in that position. As I listened to the crowd reaction.. doesn't it make you wish Bob Iger or some decision maker there got the same feeling, and could be so touched by something that generations grew up with. The family memories are invaluable. I wish management respected the history as much as most of us do. As well as the people singing along during what turned out to be the finale.
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
These modes don’t exist like you think they do. You can’t just push a button and make that happen.
I went to D23 event where they wanted a photo op in front of a scene from carousel of progress and even with planning it seemed complicated - with D23 staff and attractions staff arguing over what was possible and what was planned. In the end it did happen though! Haha
 

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