At Florida's Disney World, Magic Kingdom alone represents a large part of company founder Walt Disney's original vision for theme parks. That's true in several ways, including the fact that after decades as a dry park, Magic Kingdom still only offers alcoholic beverages at some of its restaurants.
This is particularly curious given that Walt Disney (DIS) – Get a free report Florida's second theme park, Epcot, was practically built around alcohol.
The “World Showcase” section of the theme park offers food and drinks from 11 national pavilions. It's almost always more than that, as Epcot has a full calendar of festivals, featuring additional food and drink kiosks set up around the world.
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“Drink the World” has become a big deal as Epcot's adult visitors engage in a type of fun that Disney's founder actually thought wasn't necessary at his company's theme parks. It's hard to know what Walt would have thought of Disney World's two other parks, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, since both were built long after his death.
Magic Kingdom, however, still retains not only much of its original charm, but also some of its opening day attractions.
Many of these first day attractions have been updated and modernized over the years, but “Haunted Mansion”, “Dumbo the Flying Elephant”, “Frontierland Shooting Gallery”, “Haunted Mansion”, “Cinderella Carousel”, “” It's a Small World”, “Jungle Cruise”, “Mad Tea Party”, “Enchanted Tiki Room” and “Grand Prix Raceway” were present on the first day of Magic Kingdom.
Another opening day attraction, the “Country Bear Jamboree”, survived until January 26, when it was expected to have its final performance before closing for a complete reformatting of the show.
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An old attraction says goodbye
The original “Country Bear Jamboree” dates back to a time when entertainment standards were different.
“Enter the rustic theater known as Grizzly Hall and take your seat before the lights go out. Clap your hands as 18 Audio-Animatronics redneck bears play and sing during this 16-minute, stomping celebration. Listen to a medley of original tunes and classics, all performed by the craziest creatures in the woods,” Disney shared on its website.
When it opened, the idea of animatronic bears singing was impressive technology, and “cele-bear-tion” was a clever play on words. In recent years, the attraction has survived mainly because parents are homesick and force their children to sit down.
Since real estate is so valuable within the Magic Kingdom, Disney executives made the decision to close “Country Bear Jamboree” and its final show was scheduled for Friday, January 26. That show, however, did not take place.
“The show was temporarily closed after a pair of Audio-Animatronics broke down during a show. Cast members were attempting to reopen the attraction for the hundreds of guests waiting in line, but were unable to get it working again and had “to close the attraction of the night”, BlogMickey reported.
After 52 years, that was an especially sad way to end the trip.
Disney's Country Bears will return (sort of)
While the current Country Bears show has closed, Disney is bringing back a version of the classic attraction. It's a pretty major overhaul, making it difficult to argue whether this is a new attraction or a continuation of the original show.
“The Country Bears are preparing to perform a new show that pays homage to Nashville's Opry-style shows. While the 'Country Bear Musical Jamboree' will feature Easter eggs from start to finish, including a familiar tune that fans they will remember. “The bears will sing new reinterpreted Disney songs in different genres of country music, such as bluegrass, pop-country, Americana, rockabilly and other styles,” the company shared on its website.
Basically, Disney will use the bears as another way to spread intellectual property (IP) that is better known and much more familiar to children and teenagers than the previous show's content.
The new “Country Bear Musical Jamboree” will open sometime in summer 2024.
