Re-looking at the Country Bears

unkadug

unkadug

Follower of "Saget"The Cult
SeaCastle said:
In its defennse, they will probably never build another Country Bears again. Musical audio animatronic-intensive shows are a thing of the past. I would not be surprised if it closes and Pecos Bill's undergoes a growth spurt. If it's receiving poor ratings, why pay money to maintain the attraction when you can turn it into a direct for-profit venue?
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Why not close all attractions and make them all into direct for profit venues? Isn't that what we pay admission for...so we can have the privilege of spending more money. To hell with entertaining us, just take our money!
 
SeaCastle

SeaCastle

Well-Known Member
unkadug said:
Why not close all attractions and make them all into direct for profit venues? Isn't that what we pay admission for...so we can have the privilege of spending more money. To hell with entertaining us, just take our money!
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Heck, we're practically donating money to Disney now. (And I realized aftermy post that the Little Mermaid is exactly the kind of attraction I predicted was extinct...foot meet mouth.)
 
Walt Disney1955

Walt Disney1955

Well-Known Member
SeaCastle said:
In its defennse, they will probably never build another Country Bears again. Musical audio animatronic-intensive shows are a thing of the past. I would not be surprised if it closes and Pecos Bill's undergoes a growth spurt. If it's receiving poor ratings, why pay money to maintain the attraction when you can turn it into a direct for-profit venue?
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A thing of the past? Outside of Disney where are all these audio animantronic shows? No clue. Plus some of the best quality attractions (COP, HOP) are animantronics.

Now that's ridiculous. Get rid of an original attraction just so we can enhance a restaurant? I'm glad this line of thinking isn't widespread.
 
SeaCastle

SeaCastle

Well-Known Member
Big Phil said:
A thing of the past? Outside of Disney where are all these audio animantronic shows? No clue. Plus some of the best quality attractions (COP, HOP) are animantronics.
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I was making a point that rides like Pirates and Mansion and HoP wouldn't be built in today's corporate climate. They were built by people who cared about show, not the bottom line. Folks running the parks these days seem to only care about the bottom line. Why spend $100 mil on an audio animatronic flume ride when you can build a $70 mil 3D arcade shooting game like Midway Mania and still have the same effect?

Now that's ridiculous. Get rid of an original attraction just so we can enhance a restaurant? I'm glad this line of thinking isn't widespread.
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Imaginnation and Horizons were original attractions, what matter did that make? Disneyland ripped out Mission to Mars to put in Red Rocket's. I'm simply saying thatsince CBJ seems to be getting a lot of complaints, why would the TDO we know keep the attraction open when they could make money off of an expanded F&B location? I certainly wouldn't want to see that happen, but it makes sense from a business perspective.
 
puntagordabob

puntagordabob

Well-Known Member
Update the technology is a great idea!

Adding show versions to all run concurrently every day is a great idea......simply changing the show like they did in the Tiki Room is a Spectacularly BAD idea as many of us are painfully aware.

Running MULTIPLE show versions every day is something that would be very worthwhile for WDI to accomplish (give us back our Tropical Serenade show WITH the Magical fountain in the Tiki Room too!)..... with today's modern tech this can be done...it might be expensive to initially implement, but the possibilities this allows will allow these attractions to "live forever".....giving new content opportunities to exist with the show versions we already know and love..... and if your party of three or whatever each has a favorite show version, then that party will be on the attraction MULTIPLE times to accomodate their desire to each see their particular show version.

WDI can do this...and in this case Disney can keep all the visitors happy (99.99% anyways lol, there is always a CRAB in the lot for the .01%), how often can THAT happen?!?!? Imagine the possibilities.....
 
Walt Disney1955

Walt Disney1955

Well-Known Member
SeaCastle said:
Imaginnation and Horizons were original attractions, what matter did that make? Disneyland ripped out Mission to Mars to put in Red Rocket's. I'm simply saying thatsince CBJ seems to be getting a lot of complaints, why would the TDO we know keep the attraction open when they could make money off of an expanded F&B location? I certainly wouldn't want to see that happen, but it makes sense from a business perspective.
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There's a cult of people that are irritated with Small World too. But there are a lot that love it as well. Ditto for Country Bears. It still hits the hearts of the people which is really what seperates Disney from pretty much everything else in the world including Universal
 
Scooter

Scooter

Well-Known Member
Big Phil said:
There's a cult of people that are irritated with Small World too. But there are a lot that love it as well. Ditto for Country Bears. It still hits the hearts of the people which is really what separates Disney from pretty much everything else in the world including Universal
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While I would agree that certain attractions have a Disney cult-like following like Small World and COP, judging by the lines or lack of lines, Country Bear Jamboree doesn't seem like one of them.

Mister Toads Wild Ride had a lot of people complain when the attraction shut down, but the last two years it was open, it was a walk on. I remember at one point when my wife and I rode Mister Toad, we were the only ones on the ride from start to finish.

Country Bear Jamboree is an attraction that brings back many fond childhood memories for a lot of people, but the bottom line is that there's not a lot of draw for this attraction anymore.
Young kids aren't amused by whiskey swilling Hillbilly bears and the early audio-animatronics that made the bears so popular in the early 70's

I think CBJ was great for it's time, but the new generation of Disney fans want more stimulating and interactive attractions than whats being offered in the CBJ show.

I know...it meant so much to us when we were children, and there's a lot of nostalgia involved, but let's face it, when the youngsters are bored, and the lines are short, it's time to move on to something new.
 
unkadug

unkadug

Follower of "Saget"The Cult
Scooter said:
While I would agree that certain attractions have a Disney cult-like following like Small World and COP, judging by the lines or lack of lines, Country Bear Jamboree doesn't seem like one of them.

Mister Toads Wild Ride had a lot of people complain when the attraction shut down, but the last two years it was open, it was a walk on. I remember at one point when my wife and I rode Mister Toad, we were the only ones on the ride from start to finish.

Country Bear Jamboree is an attraction that brings back many fond childhood memories for a lot of people, but the bottom line is that there's not a lot of draw for this attraction anymore.
Young kids aren't amused by whiskey swilling Hillbilly bears and the early audio-animatronics that made the bears so popular in the early 70's

I think CBJ was great for it's time, but the new generation of Disney fans want more stimulating and interactive attractions than whats being offered in the CBJ show.

I know...it meant so much to us when we were children, and there's a lot of nostalgia involved, but let's face it, when the youngsters are bored, and the lines are short, it's time to move on to something new.
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I disagree, not every attraction has to appease to every demographic. That's what makes WDW so special, is that there is something for everyone.

Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it needs to be demolished. :rolleyes:
 
audiotinker

audiotinker

Member
While you have a point, not everyone has to like everything, I've said it before and I'll say it again, CBJ is just not something IMHO that should stick around forever. I personally can't stand it and it weirds me out, but if I were speaking to people who absolutely loved it I would say to them that its just not up to performance, audio, or even entertainment standards and at the very least should be re-vamped or, it wouldn't hurt my feelings, to be outmoded. We're talking Disney here. Go to the Japan Disneyland sight and tell me they can't do better. While there is certainly more money there, you can't tell me they couldn't do that sort of stuff on the cheap.
 
NMBC1993

NMBC1993

Well-Known Member
I think shutting down the attraction for half a year and get a complete refresh of everything in the theater would be the best idea, but we're all forgetting WDW's new marketing strategy "Wait...can't we just do something cheap?" I think CBJ deserves to stay at WDW, it's as much of a classic as Pirates or HM and deserves to be enjoyed.
 
Fable McCloud

Fable McCloud

Well-Known Member
Scooter said:
I think CBJ is hands down, the worst attraction in Walt Disney World.

The first time I saw it, I was not impressed at all. I thought maybe I was just having a bad day or something so on my next trip I gave it another shot and again, I thought it was horrible.

Why? Probably because of the out dated audio animatronics. I'm sure when it came out it was ahead of it's time and was considered awesome but now, you can hear the buzz and whrrrrs, and clicks of the 40 year old technology, not to mention the political incorrectness of bears drinking corn squeezins from gallon jugs singing about shooting Buford instead of whoopin him.

They need to close the place down...and if they insist on keeping the characters, they should haul them over to Pleasure Island, and install them in The Adventurers Club where perhaps the local AC junkies, who seem to enjoy things things that hang on walls and talk, will get a chuckle out of them.:p
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Totally agree with you, except isn't the AC gone? Or am I missing something big here?

Never was a fan of the CBJ, I always thought it reminded me too much of my crazy hillbilly cousins ::shudder:: and I only see THEM at Christmas.

Maybe they could turn them into another bad movie with Christopher Walken and then retire them completely? r else, put them in AK and do something fun with them there.
 
MarkTwain

MarkTwain

Well-Known Member
I definitely agree the attraction could use an upgrade - newer, more elaborate AAs, some queue entertainment, maybe including some more recognizable country songs (yet that are still "classic" - ie no Taylor Swift) into the mix.

But gutting the theater completely? Terrible idea IMO. If for no other reason than there would be nothing to replace it with... CBJ has a very small footprint, so you're looking at at a large store at best; even a decent-sized restaurant would be hard-pressed to fit in that space.

Better to have a classic, yet underrated attraction in that space than another store - or worse, another abandoned building - in my opinion. ;)
 
PhilharMagician

PhilharMagician

Well-Known Member
Krack said:
Didn't they just do an audio refurb like a year ago?
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2008 was when the refurb was done. I was standing there with the few hundred people into the first show when it reopened, and was the 3rd person in line. I talked with one of the imagineers that was working on the refurb and they were still working on some of the AA's programs at the time, but all of the audio was now digital and all of the speakers were replaced and it sure sounded like it. The audio was great.

audiotinker said:
People will not agree with me here, but I'm not a fan. I think its terrible. One of the worst "rides" at DW. That being said, I'm sure it was fantastic in its day, but I've said this before and I'll say it again, I don't understand why its still around! I've seen it a few times and I've always been weirded out! :lol: People will argue that its nostalgic, people "love" it etc, but I think its outdated, in major need of repair, and could be replaced by something more loveable than a creepy dusty bear singing "blood on the saddle". :ROFLOL: I think I would even be ecstatic about them just updated the thing to a shiny new gleaming 21st century bear jubilee with fantastic animatronics, pertinent songs, etc.
Country Bears is not a ride. It is a show, attraction.

I will say though that I love the pre-Iago version of the Tiki Room. I hate that bird! :hammer: But I do make a habit of going every time I'm there. Who can help it! Its awesome (ignoring the changes) :rolleyes:
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NMBC1993 said:
I think shutting down the attraction for half a year and get a complete refresh of everything in the theater would be the best idea, but we're all forgetting WDW's new marketing strategy "Wait...can't we just do something cheap?" I think CBJ deserves to stay at WDW, it's as much of a classic as Pirates or HM and deserves to be enjoyed.
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That was done in 08'

spectrodanny said:
AGREED! it sucks that the Christmas show is no longer shown as aside from the '08 refurb the only time the bears got some love is the show transition periods in November and January
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I would really like to see the Christmas version or the Vacation Hoedown return to MK. It is really a shame that MGMT has discontinued these wonderful versions of CBJ!
 
Walt Disney1955

Walt Disney1955

Well-Known Member
Scooter said:
While I would agree that certain attractions have a Disney cult-like following like Small World and COP, judging by the lines or lack of lines, Country Bear Jamboree doesn't seem like one of them.

Mister Toads Wild Ride had a lot of people complain when the attraction shut down, but the last two years it was open, it was a walk on. I remember at one point when my wife and I rode Mister Toad, we were the only ones on the ride from start to finish.

Country Bear Jamboree is an attraction that brings back many fond childhood memories for a lot of people, but the bottom line is that there's not a lot of draw for this attraction anymore.
Young kids aren't amused by whiskey swilling Hillbilly bears and the early audio-animatronics that made the bears so popular in the early 70's

I think CBJ was great for it's time, but the new generation of Disney fans want more stimulating and interactive attractions than whats being offered in the CBJ show.

I know...it meant so much to us when we were children, and there's a lot of nostalgia involved, but let's face it, when the youngsters are bored, and the lines are short, it's time to move on to something new.
Click to expand...

Yeah but not every attraction has to be geared towards pandering to the attention deficit generation of 2010. What's next? Does Country Bears need 3-D glasses to fit in now? Come on. Things are timeless in WDW which is what makes it the best park in the world. Can the sound be improved? Sure, but other than that there are legions of people who still love this show. Hey, Small World is annoying to so many people why not get rid of that too and replace it with Hannah Montana? Let's be reasonable.
 
MarkTwain

MarkTwain

Well-Known Member
Big Phil said:
Yeah but not every attraction has to be geared towards pandering to the attention deficit generation of 2010. What's next? Does Country Bears need 3-D glasses to fit in now? Come on. Things are timeless in WDW which is what makes it the best park in the world. Can the sound be improved? Sure, but other than that there are legions of people who still love this show. Hey, Small World is annoying to so many people why not get rid of that too and replace it with Hannah Montana? Let's be reasonable.
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Country Bear Jamboree is 3D in a way Philharmagic can never be. :animwink:

Good post.
 

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