Country Bears Refurb!

[prberk]

About as hard to explain as good-natured Pirates selling and chasing women, bombing towns, and drowning people to find gold (and overrated movie characters). Or about as hard to explain as skeletons and ghosts singing in a graveyard while a ghost bride happily tells passersby that she axed all of her previous husbands. Sorry, I'm neither embarassed nor bored by Country Bear Jamboree. Now, if we're talking Under New Management...that's embarassing (and painful).

I cannot agree more. The CBJ is in Frontierland, for goodness sakes! Westerns may not be as popular any more, but are clearly something that are part of our fabric -- and the story still presents drinking as a distraction.

The songs are actually faithful reproductions of real songs that were part of traveling medicine-shows and real jamborees of the time period represented. The attraction does a great job of preserving the past in a way that children can understand.

I think it should stay, but be thoroughly remastered for great sound. And please bring back the Christmas program!

Paul

 

[ghostlyguitar]

When we went in April, there was always a moderately large crowd for Country Bears. There were a few times when we passed and saw the line hovering out of the building a couple minutes before the next showing. Everybody in the theater we saw it with enjoyed it, genuinely. Especially the kids.

That being said, the show was in pretty poor shape. The audio was horrendous; the volume levels jumped all over the place, the sound was pretty muffled some of the time, and many of the speakers sounded worn or blown. The animatronics were a little dusty, but not too bad. They seemed to be in decent working order, if needing a little oiling here and there.

If there's anything in the park that needs new sound, it's this attraction. They haven't maintained the audio for the show at all, and it's really showing. And for a music-based attraction, you'd think they'd want it up-to-date and in prime shape. It's good to know maybe it will be soon.

-Adam-

 

[JWG]

I noticed the bears were a bit "jumpy" during or trip last summer, not very fluid in their movements.

I didn't so much mind knowing they weren't real, but you would expect more from Disney and if I were a kid I guess I'd wonder why the bears all jerk so much - do they need more V8?

 

[CThaddeus]

I noticed the bears were a bit "jumpy" during or trip last summer, not very fluid in their movements.

I didn't so much mind knowing they weren't real, but you would expect more from Disney and if I were a kid I guess I'd wonder why the bears all jerk so much - do they need more V8?

Wacky tobaccy and moonshine will do that...

 

[spectrodanny]

as popular as the Original show may be I wonder when the Executives at WDW will Finally give The Vacation Hoedown another chance. Think about it The Original show is FULL of songs that Disney has to pay Royalties on to use while the Vacation Hoedown has what *3* (I don't think the Parodies count.

 

[momofnine]

Hi, now that we are closer to the referb., has anyone heard if they are getting it ready for Christmas? I hope so, we went 3 years ago for our anniversary, it was our 1st ever Christmas trip. The next year we took our kids, we told them how neat the country bears show was for Christmas. We got into the show and , they didn't have the Christmas show .
We are going this year....fingers crossed and reeeeeally hoping.:sohappy:

 

[Master Yoda]

Hi, now that we are closer to the referb., has anyone heard if they are getting it ready for Christmas? I hope so, we went 3 years ago for our anniversary, it was our 1st ever Christmas trip. The next year we took our kids, we told them how neat the country bears show was for Christmas. We got into the show and , they didn't have the Christmas show .
We are going this year....fingers crossed and reeeeeally hoping.:sohappy:

If I had to guess we will not see a seasonal overlay for the country bears again. From what I understand the current management is not a fan of the overlays.

 

[momofnine]

That makes me sad.. Is there any reason why they don't like it?

 

[Master Yoda]

That makes me sad.. Is there any reason why they don't like it?

No return on investment and it takes an attraction out of service.

 

[RiversideBunny]

No return on investment and it takes an attraction out of service.

And they go around saying, "Bah! Humbug!"

:xmas:

 

[spectrodanny]

so wait a Theater FULL of guests wich is what the Christmas Show always brought is considered to the new management as not getting a return on their investment?? what do they want an EMPTY theater

 

[Master Yoda]

so wait a Theater FULL of guests wich is what the Christmas Show always brought is considered to the new management as not getting a return on their investment?? what do they want an EMPTY theater

If those guest were explicitly at MK for the CBJ Christmas overlay then the answer would be yes. However, because the majority of guests that go to WDW are from out of state or the country and could care less about the overlay (they would be there anyway) then management sees no reason to do it.

 

[elchippo]

I think bringing back a Christmas overlay is perfect for this, for several reasons

-Obviously, a seasonal makeover gets people in there that might not go otherwise...

-Having it down in fall and first of the year during the changeover keeps from having it in operation during the slower parts of the year, which saves $

 

[Master Yoda]

I think bringing back a Christmas overlay is perfect for this, for several reasons

-Obviously, a seasonal makeover gets people in there that might not go otherwise...

-Having it down in fall and first of the year during the changeover keeps from having it in operation during the slower parts of the year, which saves $

1. Unfortunately in WDW a seasonal makeover does little to attract guests. It works in DL because the lion share of their business is made up of local pass holders. I seriously doubt that a family of 4 from Dallas will make the trip to WDW because of a seasonal over lay to an attraction that the average guest does not even know exists.
2. Having the attraction down for the overlay does not save money. The people doing the maintenance and installing the overlay have to get paid. All the while the attraction does not see a single guest.

 

[EpcotServo]

1. Unfortunately in WDW a seasonal makeover does little to attract guests. It works in DL because the lion share of their business is made up of local pass holders. I seriously doubt that a family of 4 from Dallas will make the trip to WDW because of a seasonal over lay to an attraction that the average guest does not even know exists.
2. Having the attraction down for the overlay does not save money. The people doing the maintenance and installing the overlay have to get paid. All the while the attraction does not see a single guest.

The real point of a seasonal overlay isn't to get more guests to come, it's to make the guests there have a better time.

Of course that's not what the suits think, so I don't really have a point. Nevermind!

>_<

 

[RiversideBunny]

No Christmas spirit for the Country Bears among the WDW managers?
They see no reason for a Christmas overlay?
Maybe they need to believe.

Here's a famous letter with a couple of words changed.

VIRGINIA, your WDW Managers are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

:xmas::xmas:

 

[progroupie]

as popular as the Original show may be I wonder when the Executives at WDW will Finally give The Vacation Hoedown another chance. Think about it The Original show is FULL of songs that Disney has to pay Royalties on to use while the Vacation Hoedown has what *3* (I don't think the Parodies count.

I loved the Vacation Hoedown! No one ever mentions it.

 

[Scar Junior]

I think this is the only established attraction that I've never seen. I think I remember it from 1989, but my parents claim they've never seen it.

Thus, I was abducted, I imagined things, or my parents are officially senile...

Either way I was in for a treat... that would go terribly wrong.

Regardless, I've never viewed this attraction as a Must See, but I know it's a cult classic.

I'm not against the Country Bears... I just don't get the hype.

As in several other Bear threads, I can simply plead ignorant.

 

[J.E.Smith]

No return on investment and it takes an attraction out of service.

Well its not like they close CBJ for a long amount of time like HM. The show's only down from anywhere from three days to a week. And the original is only replaced for a month(Well, it was two months the last time it ran because WDW decided to put all their Christmas themed stuff up in November instead of after Thanksgiving like in the old days). I don't see the problem about it.

 

[Master Yoda]

Well its not like they close CBJ for a long amount of time like HM. The show's only down from anywhere from three days to a week. And the original is only replaced for a month(Well, it was two months the last time it ran because WDW decided to put all their Christmas themed stuff up in November instead of after Thanksgiving like in the old days). I don't see the problem about it.

For the sake of argument let's say that you make a product that you would like to sell. Would you pay an advertising company $1000 for a promotion for said product that would shut your manufacturing process down for a week and not produce at least $1000 in increased revenue?

A seasonal overlay at WDW does exactly that. It costs money and does not increase revenue. All current management sees is profit and loss. Show and quality have become secondary.