Give me a little intro there, Gomer! Actually, give me this entire ride right now at any Disney theme park and I’ll pay good money for it. Some concept art has been released showing the Country Bear Jamboree dark ride that never was, and it’s such a shame it did not become a reality.
In 2001, the Country Bear Jamboree permanently closed in Disneyland Park and it upset a lot of people. It ended up being replaced in Critter Country by The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. That’s the same attraction which replaced Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride in Fantasyland in Magic Kingdom.
When attendance for the attraction dwindled in Disneyland, it was deemed time to go. There have been stories of the dark ride proposed to Disney executives with the hope that the bears could be saved in Walt’s first park, but it never worked.
Imagineer Christopher Merritt drew a poster (shown above) for the ride which was going to be a road race, of sorts, with all of the bears competing for first place. Nothing more has been revealed about that dark ride, but that is…until now.
Kirk Hanson is an artist who has worked for “Disney Features” in the past, and he has released these concept art images from the Country Bear Jamboree dark ride that never was.
While there isn’t much description or information provided for the images, you can almost figure out what is going on. It appears as if Henry, joined by Sammy in his hat, would be the announcers and flagman, respectively.
Below, Ted is using his corn jug blowing power to put some wind in his sail for his race vehicle.
The third piece of concept art from the Country Bear Jamboree dark ride has Gomer sitting on his wood box bench to drive the train-like vehicle. Sitting on top of the vehicle is Ernest who is controlling a couple of mechanisms.
While we may never end up getting this phenomenal Country Bear Jamboree dark ride, there is still the musical revue attraction in Frontierland in Magic Kingdom.
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