While Tokyo Disneyland’s summer plans resemble something close to normality (sans a castle forecourt water show) with plenty of attractions receiving wet and wild upgrades, one notable summer overlay is still missing — the Country Bear Vacation Jamboree.
Country Bear Vacation Jamboree
Every summer from 1994 to 2019, Tokyo Disneyland would convert the Country Bear Jamboree to the Country Bear Vacation Jamboree, based heavily on the Country Bear Vacation Hoedown from Disneyland and Walt Disney World. This summer tradition would traditionally begin in June and run through Halloween before the Country Bear Jingle Bell Jamboree conversion would come.
Though Tokyo Disney Resort has announced the return of Splash Mountain Get Wet MAX!, the wet course at Aquatopia, and the wet elements in Toontown, along with the Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare last year, the beloved Country Bears’ seasonal shows have not yet returned. No mention of the Vacation Jamboree was given in their latest press release for the summer. This is now the fourth year in which the seasonal events will not be put on, having missed every year since 2020.
When WDWNT contacted the public relations department at OLC to confirm, we were told the show does not currently have plans to return this summer, and a return of the Jingle Bell Jamboree this holiday season was undecided at present. The standard Country Bear Jamboree will run through the summer instead.
How do you feel about the Country Bear Vacation Jamboree not returning this summer? Let us know in the comments below!
Country Bear Theater at Tokyo Disneyland
Tokyo Disneyland’s Country Bear Theater has traditionally run not just one but three shows throughout the year! The standard Country Bear Jamboree has run since opening day in 1983 at the park, complete with the songs cut from Walt Disney World in 2012 like “Fractured Folk Song” and “Pretty Little Devilish Mary.”
Starting in 1991, Tokyo Disneyland began presenting the Country Bear Jingle Bell Jamboree, based on the Country Bear Christmas Special from the US parks — with a few changes. Henry sings “Jingle Bells” at the opening of the show instead of “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” Trixie sings that song instead later in place of “The Hibernating Blues,” Big Al sings a modified version of “Auld Lang Syne” instead of “Another New Year,” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” is the first song in the finale instead of “Let It Snow.” This version originally ran from 1984 to 2000 at Disneyland and until 2005 at Walt Disney World.
Following that, the Country Bear Vacation Jamboree debuted in 1994 as the most different compared to the original US versions. The song order is shifted around quite a bit, with Trixie singing “Achy Breaky Heart” instead of “Life’s No Picnic Without You,” Shaker and Dolores singing “Over My Head Over You” instead of “Two Different Worlds,” Ernest and the Five Bear Rugs singing “Mountain Music” instead of “Rocky Top,” “Nature,” and “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” Big Al singing “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” and the finale of “Thank God I’m a Country Bear” replaced with “V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N” and an original song to the tune of “Camptown Racers”
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