Disney World's Country Bear Jamboree now closed to reopen in the summer with new songs

Jan 27, 2024 in "Country Bear Musical Jamboree"

Gallery / 5 Photos
Country Bear Jamboree closed - January 27 2024

Posted: Saturday January 27, 2024 9:08am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The doors of Grizzly Hall at Magic Kingdom are now closed as the Country Bear Jamboree begins its transformation into the Country Bear Musical Jamboree.

Country Bear Jamboree closed - January 27 2024

There are no construction walls, just a sign letting guests know of the closure - "Bear With Us We're Rehearsing A Brand New Show"

Country Bear Jamboree closed - January 27 2024

A temporary stage is currently in front of Grizzly Hall, which will be used for the upcoming Cast Member service celebration.

Country Bear Jamboree closed - January 27 2024

Looking ahead to the new show, which opens in the summer of 2024, Disney says, "The Country Bears are getting ready to put on a new show that pays homage to the Opry-style shows of Nashville. While the Country Bear Musical Jamboree will include easter eggs from the beginning to the end including a familiar tune fans may remember, the bears will sing new, reinterpreted Disney tunes in different genres of country music – like bluegrass, pop-country, Americana, rockabilly and other styles."

New Country Bear Jamboree 2024 poster

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Blobbles8 days ago

Yknow, with all the closures happening in the Disney park and in general the theme park general this year, I am honestly way happier that the country bears got an update than I was before. With out the update, I don’t know how good I would feel about the CBJ’s Future. While I am sad we lost the original, I am very happy the bears have at least a good amount of time to remain on this earth, if not forever (hopefully). Big Al had a very close call.

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost12 days ago

I actually own this set! The Country Bear chapter is pretty much just his character design sketches and some WIPs of the animatronics, like Blaine Gibson's head sculpts and a photo of them applying some fur onto either Big Al or Buff.

aladdin200712 days ago

I don't know if it will help for what your doing but the table book 2 volume set called Marc Davis Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks has quite a bit of Country Bear material. its pricy but libraries may have it, or a used copy could be found for less.

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost13 days ago

Thanks a ton!

EagleScout61013 days ago

I'll send this to some of my friends who are CBJ fanatics. They'll definitely be able to help out

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost13 days ago

This is the most relevant thread I could think to post this in, since it's not necessarily Imagineering! I'm working on documenting all the design iterations of the Country Bears over the last 50+ years, in preparation for an art project I want to do where I draw the design evolution of the bears. I'm doing a lot of digging looking for the best quality and most accurate photos I can find, but I can't do it alone! If anyone wants to or can help me out, please do! Feel free to request edit permissions, too!

CompedNov 19, 2024

I saw it about 2 weeks ago and was disappointed. Everything felt pretty rushed, and only one or two songs even got close to working for me personally. The group I was with commented that "the costumes look cheap", although I tried to assure them that almost certainly was not the case. A lot of segments felt like an attempt by Disney to perhaps advertise a new country album, more so than fitting concept of the show and country music into the Disney canon. Which is funny because Disney definitely has a history of taking songs from one medium and putting them into another, most notably jazz during the '90s - but always with a little bit more care than whatever happened with the orchestration of most of these songs. Very disappointing. A huge letdown musically, even more so than when I saw the taped performances when it originally opened. Used to be a show I would see probably at least once a month, now I probably won't go back until they redo it or close it permanently.

tancNov 19, 2024

Saw it back on Nov 8th, great show! The updates are phenomenal, while the original is preserved in Tokyo, the new look of everything is spectacular in WDW.

JD80Nov 14, 2024

I saw it for the first time two weeks ago. Loved it.

EagleScout610Nov 14, 2024

Or they could've had the gag of them running around backstage like they did from the skunk in Vacation Hoedown

zipadee999Nov 14, 2024

They could’ve at least played backup for some of the other bears like they did with Ernest in the OG show

Steamboat71Nov 13, 2024

The Five Bear Rugs were done dirty in this new show. Bear-ly any showtime.

Charlie The Chatbox GhostNov 13, 2024

From what I've heard, they tried to keep Sammy as a hat, but couldn't get it to work with Henry's new cowboy hat. Having him behind the amp was a compromise to keep him in the show instead of cutting him altogether.