Welcome to Extinct Attractions. This week, I’ll be taking a look back at one of Disneyland’s Limited Time Magic events.
CinemaCon, the official convention of NATO : National Association of Concessionaires
Via NACOnline
CinemaCon, the largest convention for movie theaters and studios in the world, wraps up today. Each of the major studios showcased some exclusive looks at their upcoming film slates and while there weren’t really any announcements in terms of new films or release dates, it was cool to get to see from afar everyone coming together to celebrate the theatrical experience. I’ve long been a fan of hitting the movie theaters for every new release, many of which ultimately feed the synergy machine that are these major studios’ theme parks. But today, I’m going to discuss an attraction based on previous material, although the show in question was simply based on a different theme park show.
In 2013, Disney introduced a special promotion called Limited Time Magic, where the Disney parks would have temporary shows or experiences in an effort to help boost attendance and excitement about the parks. At that point, the Golden Horseshoe Saloon Stage had stood empty for nearly six months after Billy Hill and the Hillbillies were moved to Big Thunder Ranch. In its place, A Salute to the Golden Horseshoe Revue began performances on January 10, 2013, one of the first Limited Time Magic offerings at the park.
As one could surmise from the name, the show served as a tribute to the original show, Golden Horseshoe Revue, that called the saloon home for over thirty years. What made that tribute even more special was that the assistant stage manager of the new show was the daughter of a dancer from the Revue and the choreographer had performed in the saloon’s second show, Golden Horseshoe Jamboree.
As the first revue-style show in the saloon in over ten years, the show was quite popular, especially with it only playing on Thursdays to Mondays. With that in mind, one could make a reservation for shows during the day and with the saloon also serving food, it made for a perfect midday rest stop. So without any further ado, let the show begin.
The show started with some live musicians making their way to the front area of the stage to play throughout the entire show. Once they had tuned up, the opening number was full of cowboys and can-can dancers singing and doing some light dancing. After the number, Miss Lilly came out on stage to do the typical sultry woman role that is so common in Western revues. She strolled through the entire crowd doing some singing, but mainly chatting with the audience and trying to find herself a nice man to take home. By the time she finished her walkaround, almost half of the show was complete, so it was time to move onto another dance number, with Miss Lilly popping out again towards the end to formally introduce the can-can dancers.
The can-can dancers performed a pretty risque number, especially for a Disney park with some cartwheels and high leg kicks making the show particularly scandalous. But after their performance, there was only one more song and the song then came to a close. The show ran a tight twenty minutes, but with it being a limited time experience, it was hard to expect much more out of it. Personally, I could have used a couple more different acts thrown in that did some kind of vaudeville act to make it feel a bit more like a revue or variety show. EIther way, a lot of people liked the show, but it wasn’t really my cup of tea because I’ve never been a huge fan of saloon shows.
Being a part of Limited Time Magic, the show was always designed to only be around for a little while, with the show coming to a close on February 4, 2013, less than a month after its debut. In a sad turn of events, Disney began cutting live entertainment around that time, so there was no replacement for A Salute to the Golden Horseshoe Revue until Showdown at the Golden Horseshoe, a dueling piano show that debuted in 2019 and isn’t quite the same level of performance as was typical in the saloon. But it’s better than the nothing that was there before at least.
Via The Gamer
As always, don’t forget to check out my interactive maps of the Disney Parks throughout the years where you can watch or learn more about all the attractions from every Disney park around the world.
Thanks for reading and have a magical day!