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Originally, the main attraction found in Bear Country was the Country Bear Jamboree. The Jamboree, comprising a review of singing bears, originally opened at Walt Disney World in 1971; its soaring popularity led to its installation at Disneyland the following year. Because of the large crowds waiting to see the show in Florida, it plays in two theaters here at Disneyland, compared to just one at Walt Disney World; therefore, the lines here are never as long as those in Florida. The most popular character in the show was without question Big Al, a slightly dim-witted bear voiced originally by country music star Tex Ritter; Big Al's song "Blood on the Saddle" always brought down the house. Big Al's popularity with his fans prompted his likeness on postcards, as well as a plush character souvenir. Buff the Buffalo was voiced by Thurl Ravenscroft, the narrator of the Disneyland Railroad, as well as the voice of Tony the Tiger in television commercials. In the mid 1980's, the show at the Country Bear Playhouse was changed to the Country Bear Vacation Hoedown, featuring the bears singing about what they do in their spare time; for the holiday season, this show was replaced by a Christmas show. The show has now closed, and this area of the park will be home to a new Winnie the Pooh attraction. Splash Mountain, the most recent addition to Disneyland's "mountain range," opened in 1989. Splash Mountain tells the story of Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox and Brer Bear while taking guests on a log flume ride featuring a fifty-foot drop into Brer Rabbit's Briar Patch; this drop is the steepest of any log flume ride. The cast of over 100 Audio-Animatronic figures was taken from Tomorrowland's America Sings attraction when it closed. One unique fact about this ride is that most all of the sets and props are made from concrete instead of wood, due to the moisture from the log flume. During the ten minute ride, guests hear three songs from Disney's "Song of the South": "How Do You Do?", "Laughing Place" and "Zip-A-Dee-Do-Da." Nicodemus Stewart, the original voice of Brer Bear in "Song of the South", reprised his role for this attraction. While this ride has guests sitting front to back in hollowed out logs, the Walt Disney World version, which opened in 1992, features side by side seating, with four rows of two seats each. The side by side arrangement allows for a larger guest capacity per hour. A picture is taken of guests as they come down the large drop, offering them a souvenir of their amazing ride.  |
Passing from New Orleans Square into Critter Country,
guests find themselves in a wooded country area surrounded
by tall pine trees. This land, originally called Bear
Country, opened in 1972 as home of the Country Bear Jamboree;
the bears changed the name to Critter Country when all kinds
of critters moved into Splash Mountain in 1989. Most all of
Critter Country falls into the category of attractions which
lie outside the railroad boundary; guests get to the Country
Bear Jamboree by walking underneath the tracks of the
Disneyland Railroad. In the early years of Disneyland,
this area was home to an Indian village, where guests could
watch a tribe of Indians perform ritual dances, but the
Indian Village was removed to make way for Bear Country. At
the entrance to Bear Country once stood a cave which was home
to Rufus Bear, who guests could hear snoring as they walked by.
Rufus's cave was moved to the top of Splash Mountain when the
attraction was built; however, the name on the mailbox has since
been changed to Brer Bear to keep with the ride's theme. In
addition to Splash Mountain and the Country Bear Jamboree,
Critter Country contains Teddi Beara's Swinging Arcade and
the Hungry Bear Restaurant, a two story wooden eating
establishment. Despite the addition of Splash Mountain, one
of Disneyland's most popular attractions, Critter Country has
kept its charm as a quiet, off-the-beaten-path corner of the
park.