Today, Disneyland looks like Epcot just a few months ago. There are structural walls as far as the eye can see in some places and more are expected to be closed at Disneyland in the coming weeks. The good news is that when the walls fall, the park will be more beautiful than ever and this morning it was revealed that a place is undergoing a renovation that is sure to tempt visitors’ taste buds. The Hungry Bear restaurant in Critter Country will receive a menu and musical review encouraged by the former tenants of the land, the Country Bear Jamboree.
When the Hungry Bear restaurant reopens, it will do so under the name Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree. The original restaurant takes its name from the Country Bear Jambroee that once stood right next door. While this charmer (which just got a primary update to Magic Kingdom by removing a longtime character) has been closed at Disneyland for more than 20 years, the new version of the fast-food spot embraces the bears even more . And that’s just one of the reasons why it’s wonderful news for old-school Disneyland fans.
The Country Bear Jamboree has been closed for two decades at a California-based park, and it’s one of Disneyland’s vanished attractions that many enthusiasts wish would see return. I’ve advocated turning Hungry Bear into Tiana’s Palace in the past, given the upgrade at Splash Mountain, but if that doesn’t happen, I like that the new location is reminiscent of Disneyland’s past.
The Bears may not be at the new restaurant, at least not physically, as this latest announcement in particular indicates that it will possibly not be a place to dine with character. However, they will be heard. The new restaurant will allow consumers to enjoy food “accompanied by a soundtrack of their greatest hits”.
This may mean that Disneyland will not only be the only U. S. Disney park where guests will be able to hear the original music from the Country Bear Jamboree, but it will also include the music that is part of the new Country Bear Musical Jamboree at Disney World. where bears play popular Disney songs with a country twist. The music alone explains why to visit, but the food should not be overlooked.
The Country Bears themselves are the only piece of Disneyland history returning to the park with the new restaurant. The Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree brings back the taste of food that hasn’t been found inside the park since the structure began in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Most of the land was used to build Disneyland’s Star Wars “behind the scenes” terrain that visitors never saw, however, there is a portion of the park that had to be demolished to build the planet Batuu. Big Thunder Ranch, a Western-themed domain that, for more than 3 decades, included a petting zoo, live entertainment, and the Big Thunder Barbecue, which many Disneyland enthusiasts considered one of the park’s most productive dishes at the time.
While Hungry Bear Barbecue’s menu has not been revealed, the new dining spot will, at the very least, bring a taste of the cuisine back to lovers of fried ribs and poultry. And it wouldn’t be unexpected if the new location reused the recipes from the old location. Disneyland already knows that other people liked this list of deals, so why reinvent the wheel?
I’ll be honest, I rarely stopped by the old Hungry Bear Restaurant, because it rarely had anything I wanted to eat. While it might occasionally have a unique beverage that tasted good on a hot day, the standard food menu was basic hamburgers and chicken strips. While many people go to theme parks specifically for those kinds of vittles, I’m always looking for stuff more unique, and it was hardly the best food at Disneyland.
I’m now much more likely to eat at Critter Country, as the Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree is more my style. It has a menu that you couldn’t possibly find anywhere else in Disneyland, and of course, it will carry a lot of nostalgia for an old attraction. No opening date has been announced for the place, but I will actually be there at my first opportunity.
Dirk, a CinemaBlend theme park addict and Disney amateur historian, began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. In the past he held positions as editor and game editor at Array, but more recently he transformed his true hobby into his task as administrator of the site’s Theme Parks segment. In the past, he worked as a freelancer for gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as an editor, he worked for 12 years in sales for consumer electronics industry corporations. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Davis. He is a president of Imagineer, Epcot Stan, a member of Future Club 33.
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