The meaningful honest review of the year because this is what makes Walt Disney world stand out from others. The fact that they want to continue the legacy of the bears speaks volumes.
I think my main take away is that country bears has the most soul of all Florida attractions, and thats crazy to think with it bot being the OG (cali being) and its not the original show either. Thanks for taking the time to review and re set up the desk after the lost footage!
I saw the new version of Country Bears last month. The kids around me in the theater loved it ❤🎉 They were having a blast 💖 And that’s what it really is all about ✨
Love your review. As an older man now (61), I remember my first trip to WDW in November of 1971. To explain the experience now to individuals or even my own children was difficult. It was truly magical, a complete family experience that lives in memories and pictures. Long before photo passes, when they had what was referred to as “Kodak Spots”. When your parents could let you and your siblings roam alone inside the park with just a time to meet later was fantastic. It was really, in a way for myself of feeling independent, we could pick rides we liked out of our ticket books and decide where we wanted to eat. I still remember the veranda restaurant in Adventure Land and ordering the Polynesian Hotdog. Your review and love of the Country Bear Jamboree is greatly appreciated, however, it got me to thinking of things I miss from the early years of the park. So I thought that I would mention a few that help shape who I was to become and some of my passions. I’ve been extremely lucky to travel immensely through my life, not just our great states, but many other wonderful countries. These two attractions had a great deal with my love of traveling. I remember the Circle-Vision 360 film of “America the Beautiful” and “If I Had Wings”. Obviously at this time a great deal of the rides were presented by, Monsanto and Eastern for those attractions. Riding on the top of the keel boats at night was a unique experience, particularly the camp scenes or coming up on the Haunted Mansion. Even later when Lake Buena Vista opened, it was entirely different experience. Dinner at Cap’n Jack’s Oyster Bar or the unique shops. Things have always changed and grown throughout the Disney Universe and will continue to do so. I do agree with you that I’m glad they kept Country Bear Jamboree as a significant part of the WDW heritage. To you and the staff at WDW News, best wishes.
I am 68, grew up with entrenched non-traveling Depression-Era parents who would not drive or fly to California or Florida. My experience of Disney was the Sunday evening “Wonderful World of Color” which i watched on our small black-and-white TV. I missed so much of this history, and have been trying to make up for it (as much as possible) given that i had a job with little vacation time. But so many things have been erased or delayed.
The Country Bears in general became one of my special interests after this attraction came out. I listen to the attraction's soundtrack a lot. Animatronics in general can become a special interest to autistic people like myself.
I would totally get a Country Bear shirt if it’s anything like the feel and fit of the Tower ones. PARTICULARLY if it’s based on the slides from “All the Guys Who Turn Me On Turn Me Down”.
The value of Country Bears is (a) you can keep the basic attraction and just change it up. It will live forever as long as you don't let it go stale. (b) We need walk-on attractions. If Disney rationalizes that everything needs to be an E-ticket with a long line, then they're probably just trying to justify more LightningLane sales. Meanwhile many of us guests look at the long lines of other rides and find value in a nice, cool, indoors walk-on like Country Bears or Tiki Room. if you champion for the arguments that Country Bears is outdated, you are providing them fuel to take it away. No one wins. ( golf clap )
I love this comment! Theme parks absolutely need a variety of attractions. Us and the kids LOVE rides, but kids (and adults) needs breaks. It was amazing to grab a rootbeer float and dole whips and relax in the tiki room last visit. Everyone had gone in sweaty and cranky, but ame out ready for more. It's another reason I'm sad about Tom Sawyer Island. When kids start losing it you could head over... one napped on a bench, others ran through caves... Families need different paces and levels of intensity to stay sane at the parks! Going to miss the bone yard for the same reason. 😞
Found you during that prior Country Bear saga, so this feels like coming full circle! I’ve only seen the new show once, so I need more time to know how I fully feel about it, but so glad the bears are still in Magic Kingdom.
I love that the three heads are utilized way more. Plus the new energy of this show is way better than the so called original show (highly edited show).
I have no nostalgic ties to the Bears. I did not grow up with them and the first time I saw the show was last year before they shut down. That being said, I absolutely loved the new show. We had a packed house, everybody was clapping and laughing, and I left with a huge smile on my face. 10/10 renovation IMO
Blood on the Saddle comeback at the end would’ve been perfect. Also, I always thought Little Buford was a badly behaved dog. Not that Mama should shoot the dog either, but I didn’t ever think it was about a kid lol… The only thing I’m really salty about though, is that Bunny, Bubbles & Beulah have been relegated to backup singers. And their song was one of my favorites- especially with that silly slide show… always made me laugh. But hey, at least we got to keep our Country Bears!
This is super fascinating! Can y'all do more historical vlogging? Like Tom's trip abroad was cool, but I wanted to hear more of his prospective on the history of Disney and theme parks in general.
My third….probably last comment. This might well be my favorite of all your reviews ever! What I love the most about it was that you challenged us to view changes like this in a positive way….reminding us of what this can mean for the future of the bears (and any classic show or ride that is reinvented “well” in the Disney universe). Change can be good…if it’s done right. And we never have to totally let go of what was great in the past, thanks to our access to everything historical now thru the internet. Thanks Tom! “These are my bears” 🥰 🐻🥰
While I never cared at all about "The Bears". I would never dunk on it, because I know there are people who love it - the same way that I LOVE the Tiki Room *AND* It's a Small World - and *other people* hate *those*. I m glad they kept the Bears for those who love them, just as I hope they always keep the Tiki Room for people like me.
I thought having the name as musical revue than jamboree would be better to stand out as not the original but then you mentioned the tourists at Florida are least knowledgeable so they likely wouldn't know what revue was. Ps. Tokyo Disneylands lobby is a carbon copy of disneylands lobby. They took the interior of disneyland and the exterior of magic kingdom
I absolutely adore the Japan queue area. Those pictures are a small detail that makes it feel cozy and homey, like when I’d visit my grandparents in Alabama and see all the trinkets at their house (or more cynically, the vibe that Cracker Barrel always desperately wanted to have). This new version at WDW seems to have struck a good balance of bringing in IP and bringing in that same loving cozy detail.
As an original first visit at 11 in 1977 . Tom you are right had me in tears last few minutes of this ❣️You will be happy to know my 6 year old grand daughters ride I wrote about yesterday was figment 😊 New generations falling in love ❤
I have been to WDW many times but never stopped in to the Country Bears Jamboree until this last visit a few weeks ago, I loved it! Thanks for your review it was good to get a better understanding of the history.
I thought that they did a great job on the bears. The only odd thing was the Aladdin song in it other than that it works pretty well. Zippidity do da never would happen but would be amazing
The largest part of the heritage of Country bears is that it is the only remnant of Mineral King park ski resort. One of Walt’s last things he was personally planning.
Momma Don't Whoop Little Buford... After you said what you said about the old song not being original Disney songs I Googled that one. Boy, was I shocked by the rest of the lyrics! Woah!
Blood on the Saddle too. Oh and I’m not a Mr change anything person but I do understand some of the decisions I get it. As with the song by the Sunbonnets and Devilish Mary. But for those who do miss it all those song are on RU-vid and iTunes and other music sites even Spotify you can build the full show. There was blood on the saddle and blood all around And a great big puddle of blood on the ground A cowboy lay in it all covered with gore And he never will ride any broncos no more Oh, pity the cowboy, all bloody and red For the bronco fell on him and bashed in his head There was blood on the saddle and blood all around And a great big puddle of blood on the ground
@@CountryBear1994 Yes, I see. It's just surprising when you see all the lyrics of the songs. It's just helpful to understand why only smaller bits of the songs were in the show. The wee bits I did hear back in the day I found them to be funny.
I missed seeing the original Country Bears in-person, but I love the Bears and I love seeing them survive and thrive. I hope we will continue to see updates to the show about every 5-8 years or so with new songs and old songs returning.
I saw it and it’s ok. I miss the old one but I’m nostalgic. I understand updating it but I can’t forgive them removing the Bear Band Serenade. It’s legitimately one of the best attraction songs ever.
I grew up with the CBJ at Disneyland, and the bears have long been my favorites. I was crushed when the bears were taken away, but managed to get to WDW once to see them. That Disney is willing to keep the Bears alive for another generation speaks to how important they are, and even if I'm not super into the new show, I'm glad that the Bears still exist here in the US. I'll take what I can get.
I just saw this new show 2 weeks ago! I laughed, sang along, and cried. I had a smile throughout the entire time. I was so overjoyed by this show. I loved the old one, but its time was up. I did this over tianas. Been waiting a long time for your review.
54:43 It's nice to know that someone else also understands that today's "Figment" is NOT the same as the original. Whenever I think of the people who stand in a two-hour line for a popcorn bucket, I wonder if they understand what they may have missed--that they're settling for a lesser character than what used to be.
I love the country bears....I was scared about the "new" show, but after seeing it, I really enjoyed it. It definately needed to be updated and Disney did a great job
I really Loved the new show. I appreciate the adaptation and updated bears, songs, and jokes. Even if you don't love it... better this than no "Country Bear Musical Jamboree". ♥ There was no line on the morning of September 10, 2024. The first time I would have seen "Bears" would have been in 1973, and I’ve seen it multiple... times since.
I just thought about this, but this version of the show is both a continuation of the original Bears, but also a spiritual successor to the Mickey Mouse Revue. For those that don't know, the revue was an animatronic show in fantasyland featuring Mickey & Pals, The Three Little Pigs, Snow White and the Dwarfs, Alice, the Three Caballeros (now at Epcot), Cinderella, Prince Charming, and her Fairy Godmother, the Br'er trio from Song of the South, and a host of other characters including the Duck triplets, Baloo and King Louie, and Ludwig von Drake. It featured Mickey conducting a revue style show of classic Disney songs such as Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf, The Silly Song, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo, and Zip-a-dee-doo-dah (yes Song of the South had two attractions and only ever operated at the same time in Japan). While a very different execution and probably unintentionally done, it's pretty cool that these two attractions live on together as an amalgam of the two concepts.
Having just seen the new show, I have to say that I think Tom’s review is spot on. I was nervous to hear that the new show was going to be all Disney songs. But you can tell that the people who worked on the new show have the same love that a lot of us do for those bears. They obviously researched all three of the older shows and put some thought into songs and scenarios that would work for each character. And then add in the work that they did in the lobby, it does a much better job setting up the show for those who’ve never seen it and provides some great Easter eggs for the fans. Heck, thinking about the backstory of the bears that they’re showing off now, maybe some day they’ll try another movie that hits more of the right notes than the first one (pun completely intended).
I wouldve loved just a bit more comedy. Like if when it was Al's turn to play he started to play Blood on the Saddle "There was Bloo- -" "No Al! We're doing a different show this time, REMEMBER..." "Oh yeaaah...Reeemeeeemmmberrrr meeeeee" Just a little reference wouldve been a fun nod.
Great review, lovely review. But also low-key hilarious when your voice raises and your hand starts getting very emphatic indeed and you start sounding like an old Soviet leader denouncing the West but instead it's "The bears feel like the characters they have always been!"
Love the music in the updated Country Bear Musical Jamboree. I would absolutely buy a shirt if you could please make a long sleeve button up shirt. As a female, I would wear it as a jacket with a white tank under it. For me, I don't like the short sleeve shirts. So glad you like it. I sure wish I could also get a poster like the one in your video.
Tom, can you fix the Honest Reviews playlist on the channel? It only has 4 so there's a LOT missing including Toontown, Runaway Railway, Disney Wish, Avengers Campus, Beauty and the Beast, this, TRON, the Starcruiser reviews, etc...
@@WDWNT You're welcome! If you choose, you can toggle the sort option to be by upload date so the chronological order irons out the additions, but either way, thanks for making the playlist more comprehensive and easy to pull up! Now it'll be a lot easier to keep track of ones to rewatch since the RU-vid search keeps getting clogged with more nonsense.
Great job! I’m so excited to see this in December!! CBJ was a fav of our family in the 70’s…we had the LP so I still have most of the old songs memorized! 🤣
Great review, well worth the wait! Didn’t know that Tex Ritter is John Ritter’s father(or forgot if I had lol) how fun they have 3 generations in the entertainment industry. And music licensing would make sense! They closed GMR due to not wanting to pay for movie rights & music rights can be really pricey!! And couldn’t agree more about how amazing it is to see Country Bear animatronics that are closer to A100/0 figures than Chuck E Cheese!! Well deserved & hope the lore is expanded tbh. Hungry Country Bears character meals, Henry & Teddy-Barra as walk around characters would also be great. Can’t wait to see the show in person
I just ordered noise activated birds from Amazon and I am delighted that they make the clicking sounds the entire time they go off. My family gets it, if a bit annoyed each time they go to the bathroom and the birds go off!
Great review! I'm glad you also brought up Pirates again because that Redhead scene is still so so rough lol. Also idk if I'd consider "Liver Lips" a slur, I think some people thought it's racial, but it's actually referring to McGrowl being an alcoholic... still understandable why they changed it, even if it'd only be offensive to alcoholics lmao #BringbackGreatMovieRide
According to the Imagineers who were at the D23 opening event Al is crying because its his final performance before retiring. Someone also said that there's something in the queue area indicating it's his final performance. And yes for the Country Bear shirt.
I think Grey DeLisle does a great job as the Redhead, even though the scene is a big downgrade overall. Recasting in general is hard, but especially when it requires the skill of puppetry.
Tom I am not sure if I am eligible to recommend retro honest reviews but I would love to see stuff like Soarin over California, Captain Eo, and reflections of earth be included in that because those attractions have meant a lot to me so if you could do it that would be great!
I’ve been waiting for this video…I love the new show…my big nitpick is it is too short. They combined a few of the character/numbers where they were solos before to cut down on time. I was worried about the songs…they did them beautifully with the c&w spin on them…they work! The “country bear musical jamboree” song …I was singing it my whole trip 😊. Again, you and your whole crew do a fantastic job of all Disney news and your channel is my Disney bible. When others say “oh, did you hear this, did you hear that about Disney”…my immediate follow up question is “where did you hear that”? If it’s not on your channel…I’m immediately suspect 🤔🤔🤔
Okay, I was there. I flew down to Orlando from Virginia on Wednesday, January 24, 2024. I had reservations at Animal Kingdom January 25 and planned to see the Jamboree one more time January 26. The closing was not announced till like the day before. Its last day was Friday Jan. 26,when i was at AK, and could not switch my MK reservation to that day. I was heartbroken, but the agony was lessened by hearing that the crowds were extremely heavy that day and the attraction broke down for the last two shows. I have orthopedic problems and some crowd anxiety, so i probably wouldn’t have been able to see it on the last day anyhow. I kept close track of the renovation news and was dismayed to learn that not one of the full original songs was retained. I read that “Blood on the Saddle” was too, ummm, bloody, and “All the Guys who turn me on, turn me down” was sexist. Many people would call me “woke”, but I believe in keeping the original songs as part of our heritage (and they were hilarious), and i am crushed that old hillbilly songs are replaced by IP. Disney seems determined to scrub the Americana out of its parks. Frontierland is disappearing - which i deem awful - even though i support American Indian causes and am a member of the Smithsonian museum dedicated to them. Jeez, these attractions are celebrating a period in American theme park history, when kids played Cowboys and Indians and we all dreamed along with Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn! Thanks for letting me vent. But i will not forgive Disney management for eviscerating the Country Bears.
I would like to see an “honest review” about the old River Country water park. I went there 2 or 3 times and loved it! Water parks were a rare thing back then and that was the very first one I had ever been too.
My only quibble is that they really needed to avoid songs that are also in Philhar-magic. I think that another song should have been picked for Teddy Beara- "I won't say I am in love", "Lavender Blue", or something similar could have been nice choices. This way we give a little love to songs not always featured in the park and avoid, the "same 20 IPs" Disney uses over and over and over. Esp since Phil-har-magic is not too far away from Country Bears
