Disney Just Made Big CHANGES to Country Bear Jamboree – What They Got Right & Wrong, Full Song List

The Country Bear Jamboree at Magic Kingdom invites guests into Grizzly Hall for a 16-minute musical celebration with a cast of singing bears. This historic attraction is one of the last ones that Walt Disney himself personally helped create so it holds a lot of nostalgia in the heart of Disney fans.

Country Bear Jamboree at Magic Kingdom closed in January for a full refurbishment to update these audio-animatronic bears with new outfits and change the setlist to feature favorite Disney songs in different genres of country music like bluegrass, pop-country, Americana, and rockabilly.

The preview of the NEW Country Bear Jamboree debuted today at Magic Kingdom so keep scrolling to see the new song list plus our thoughts from a nostalgic Country Bear Jamboree fan on what they did right and what could have been improved!

Country Bear Jamboree NEW Set List Revealed

The introduction to the show retains the same playful banter between Henry (the master of bear-emonies) and Melvin, Buff, and Max (the mounted trophy heads on the wall) before launching into its first musical number.

Here is the full set list in order including what song is performed by which bear!

• “Country Bear Musical Jamboree” – Five Bear Rugs
• “Try Everything” from “Zootopia” – Trixie with Bunny, Bubbles, and Beulah
• “Kiss the Girl” from “The Little Mermaid” – Romeo McGrowl
• “A Whole New World” from “Aladdin” – Wendell & Teddi Barra
• “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” from “Mary Poppins”- Ernest the “Dude”
• “Fixer Upper” from “Frozen” – Terrence “Shaker”
• “Remember Me” from “Coco”- Big Al
• “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from “Toy Story” – Henry & Sammy
• “The Bare Necessities” from “The Jungle Book” – All the bears
• “Come Again” – Henry & Sammy with Max, Melvin, & Buff

Disney did tell us early on that at least one song from the original setlist would remain and that turned out to be “Come Again” which is the same finale song from the original. Sorry Blood on the Saddle fans, that one did not make the cut. However, if you pay close attention you'll notice a small callback to that fan favorite song in the show!

Now let's get into my thoughts on these covers, which ones I loved, and which ones may have been a miss!

Country Bears Jamboree New Song REVIEW

The set starts out with Country Bear Musical Jamboree sung by the Five Bear Rugs and it is quite similar to the original setlist including a clap along beat that the entire audience engaged with. It was a good move to start out the set with such a classic country bear sound, I immediately felt good about it!

Unfortunately, the song that followed is what I consider to be the biggest miss on the song list. Trixie, along with Bunny, Bubbles, and Beulah, sing “Try Everything” from “Zootopia.” They did add a bit of country twang but it still came across far too pop and did not match the aesthetic of the bears at all.

There are far better songs that could have been used here. This song has been heavily featured leading up to the show by Disney which may have also led to some nostalgic fans feeling more resistant to these changes. This song is far different than the others on the setlist so it is a strange choice to be the one that was featured so predominantly when it doesn't match the tone of the show.

This stumble is quickly remedied in my mind as it is followed up by Romeo McGrowl harmonizing to “Kiss the Girl” from “The Little Mermaid.” I died laughing at this one between his side swept hair, outlandish outfit, and the heart projections on the stage. This is easily one of the best songs of the set for the humor alone.

Before you can fully recover from this side splitting song, Wendell & Teddi Barra put on another hilarious rendition with “A Whole New World” from “Aladdin.” Teddi Barra hangs from her flower swing in this duet with a backdrop inspired by the film.

Wendell, notice his Aladdin inspired attire, plays from the stage with a nice little fog effect around him.

The next two songs include “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” from “Mary Poppins” and “Fixer Upper” from “Frozen.” These two songs mainly just feature the chorus of both sung by Ernest the “Dude” and Terrence “Shaker.”

Both these songs fit well and the musicians behind this transformation did great matching the Country Bear aesthetic.

The intro to the highly anticipated song from Big Al starts with the same notes of Blood on the Saddle which had the entire audience cheering before transitioning into a hysterical rendition of “Remember Me” from “Coco.” This was a big hit and the Imagineers did perfect with this match up for Big Al. The hilarity of the goofiest (or most handsome?) Country Bear singing this heartfelt song in this slow, country twang was a slam dunk.

Henry & Sammy then put on a quick chorus of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from “Toy Story” and this is where those updated animatronics really shine in the raccoon character of Sammy. The show looks refreshed and new which is what these iconic bears deserve.

All the bears join in to sing “The Bare Necessities” from “The Jungle Book” and this feels like the big hit song of the show for obvious reasons. The lyrics fit perfectly but also the changes to the harmony of the song continue to perfectly capture that country vibe the bears succeed at. The entire crowd was clapping along again to this beat which is a good demonstration of success from the musicians and Imagineers that worked on this project.

The show ends with the same finale from the original set list with “Come Again” sang by Henry & Sammy with Max, Melvin, & Buff. But of course, it is slightly interrupted by Big Al trying to continue his melancholy cover of “Remember Me” which just brings further laughter. Big Al is a timeless hit, I am so happy he is here to stay!

Is the New Country Bear Jamboree Better?

Nostalgia is a powerful thing and fans that held a deep love for the original Country Bear Jamboree setlist might feel a bit resistant to the changes. But it easy to see that Imagineers brought a ton of care and devotion to this project, they love these bears as much as we do!

It is honestly notable that the Country Bears even still exist as they are long gone from Disneyland. The result could have been much worse and gone the way of Frontierland Shooting Gallery by being removed completely. So if the trade off is having an updated set list, with some IP music replacing the original songs, then that's a trade off nostalgic fans should be willing to take.

Personally, I can appreciate the hilarity (and often slightly offensive) of the original setlist while still enjoying the updated setlist that will resonate more strongly with guests. The only song on the list that was a miss for me was “Try Everything” from “Zootopia” but everything else fit naturally into the aesthetic of the show.

I think the biggest improvement is easily the transformation of Romeo McGrowl and his crooning of “Kiss the Girl” from “The Little Mermaid.” The character received a much better personality adjustment, name, and then was given a song to match.

Big Al is another character Imagineers treated with care, especially since he's such a fan favorite, with keeping the small Easter egg of his original notes of Blood on the Saddle before launching into “Remember Me.” Once the audience realized what song he was singing, everyone erupted in laughter. This was handled so perfectly and a perfect song choice for everyone's favorite Country Bear.

Another fun Easter egg I caught was Henry introducing Ernest the “Dude” with the line, “And he used to play with the Mineral Kings!” This is a reference to the ski development that Walt Disney was planning when he died that the Country Bear Jamboree was original developed for.

And honestly, some of the prior songs from the original set list (like the one pictured above!) were so out of place for a family theme park. It's not TOO surprising Disney was eyeballing this attraction for a change!

I admit I was one of those fans that was originally resistant to this change but like with most improvements Disney brings to the park, this was done with extreme care and devotion which is especially evident in the end result. I love this new Country Bear Jamboree experience and I can't wait to continue incorporate it into my Magic Kingdom park days. 

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