This weekend marked the beginning of Disneyland’s most recent Limited Time Magic offering, the Bayou Bash. This event is actually running concurrently with the Salute to the Golden Horseshoe Revue which is still running, and is quite fun. As for the Bayou Bash, the offerings at first seemed kind of sparse to me. The Disney Parks Blog listed the itinerary as follows.
- Princess Tiana’s Mardi Gras Celebration
- Jambalaya Jazz Band
- Royal Street Bachelors
- New Orleans Traditional Jazz Band
- Character Greetings at Court of Angels
My first thoughts were that Tiana’s Mardi Gras Celebration was a re-tread of a show they ran a couple of years ago. It was good, but nothing new. The Jambalaya Jazz Band and the Royal Street Bachelors are re-treads as well. In fact, they run year long and have been for quite awhile now. I was though intrigued by the Jazz Band (there was mention of an Umbrella Dancer for this show) and the character meet.
So let me first say that I still maintain that it’s a bit redundant to include the Jambalaya Jazz Band and the Royal Street Bachelors. But I was probably too quick to dismiss Tiana’s Mardi Gras Celebration. It’s a very good, very fun show and is being brought back for good reason. Tiana herself had a lot of good energy, and her performances were strong. Prince Naveen was pretty great too, though he was kind of an afterthought to the show.
I think I enjoyed the Bayou Bash the most though for the background performers and the procession through New Orleans Square down to the stage on the Rivers of America. It shows more care and more daring than a pure stage show where the performers come out from backstage. It’s just more fun!
But the real star of the Bayou Bash in my opinion was the Traditional Jazz Band with the umbrella dancer. Let me just say, that young man was really in to his performance and he seemed to be enjoying every second of this very authentic feeling show. As with Tiana’s celebration, the show begins in the rear of New Orleans Square as the umbrella dancer leads the jazz band in an informal march down to the same temporary stage along the rivers of America. He does so with definite flair with his umbrella and whistle.
The music is great, the dancing is great, and even Goofy was there! I had so much fun just watching this show and watching the people really get energized by it. I also noticed that there were very few cast members keeping the guests at a distance. I in fact at one point was standing right next to the umbrella dancer. I’m not sure if this was by design, but I did enjoy that aspect of things as well. It obviously made for a much more intimate show.
And here’s a video with some of the highlights of the show. So much fun.
Bayou Bash | Limited Time Magic #3
In summary, it’s a pretty great show. Mostly because of the performers and their obvious enthusiasm for what they’re doing. It’s just one more way Disneyland shows they really do care about their guests. People often complain about the suits, and perhaps rightly so, but let me just say, the good people on the front lines really do make it right. The bayou bash is a success!
