Critter Country
| Critter Country | |
|---|---|
| Opened | March 4, 1972 (as Bear Country)
|
| Theme | American backwoods and woodland animals
|
| Status | Renamed Bayou Country in 2024 |
Critter Country was a themed land at Disneyland Park in the Disneyland Resort, California, occupying the park's north-western corner beyond New Orleans Square, along the Rivers of America. It operated under that name from 1988 to 2024, having opened in 1972 as Bear Country, and on November 15, 2024, it was renamed Bayou Country to accompany the opening of Tiana's Bayou Adventure. A separate land called Critter Country, created for Splash Mountain, continues to operate at Tokyo Disneyland.
History
Bear Country
The site was originally Indian Village, a Frontierland exhibit of Native American dwellings, crafts and dances that operated from 1956 to 1971. Disney rebuilt the area as its seventh themed land, Bear Country, which opened on March 4, 1972, over about four acres. Its centrepiece, the Country Bear Jamboree, opened three weeks later: an Audio-Animatronic stage show of singing bears, adapted from the version that had opened at the Magic Kingdom in Florida the previous year. The land also held the Golden Bear Lodge restaurant — renamed the Hungry Bear Restaurant in 1977 — the Mile Long Bar, whose mirrors stretched its interior visually, Teddi Barra's Swingin' Arcade, and the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes on the river.
Becoming Critter Country
In 1988 the land was renamed Critter Country in anticipation of Splash Mountain, a log flume based on the animated sequences of Song of the South (1946), which opened on July 17, 1989, Disneyland's 34th anniversary. The name change acknowledged that the land's population was no longer only bears: Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, Br'er Bear and dozens of smaller animal figures, many of them relocated from the closed America Sings attraction, now inhabited the mountain at the land's end. The Mile Long Bar became the Brer Bar, and the land settled into a loose Pacific Northwest backwoods setting of log buildings, pine trees and river frontage.
The Country Bear Jamboree, in its later Vacation Hoedown form, closed on September 9, 2001. Its two theatres were converted into The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, a dark ride through the Hundred Acre Wood that opened in 2003, with carved figures of three Country Bears preserved inside as a tribute. Pooh Corner, a shop and confectionery, and regular meetings with Pooh and his friends extended the character's presence in the land.
Final years
For two decades the Critter Country line-up changed little: Splash Mountain, Winnie the Pooh and the canoes, with the Hungry Bear Restaurant serving from terraces above the river. A path built beside the restaurant in 2019 gave the land a second role, as the walking route from New Orleans Square to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.
In June 2020 Disney announced that Splash Mountain would be rebuilt as a ride based on The Princess and the Frog (2009). Splash Mountain closed on May 31, 2023, and the land closed in stages during 2024 for the conversion and a general refresh, including a Country Bears-themed reworking of the Hungry Bear as the Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree and two new shops named for characters from the film. When the land reopened on November 15, 2024, it did so under the new name Bayou Country, ending Critter Country's 36 years at Disneyland.
Attractions at closure
- Splash Mountain (1989–2023)
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (2003–2024, continued in Bayou Country)
- Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes (continued in Bayou Country)
- Country Bear Jamboree (1972–2001)