Opryland's Grizzly River Rampage Souvenirs: Bear Left

Once Upon A Time in Nashville, Tennessee, there was a legendary grizzly bear who lived in the Opryland amusement park.

 According to advertisements and merchandise for Grizzly River Rampage, the bear would emerge from the rapids to terrify raft riders.

Of course, this scene never actually existed in the ride, which opened at Opryland in 1982.  Amusement Parks are notorious for this sort of marketing scheme.

Grizzly River Rampage opened with a number of standard amusement park souvenir items for sale.  Drinking and shot glasses are part of the bear essential assortment of offerings.

How about a GRR floaty pen?

Even the floaty pen promised a scene that wasn't real.

 There was also a GRR floaty keychain.

The floaty keychain was a little bit more honest.

Nope, there's no ferocious grizzly popping up out of the water.

The rafts of Grizzly River Rampage did go through a cave and see a statue of what might have been a grizzly bear.

There may have been strobe lights to simulate movement of the bear figure.

My first and only visit to Opryland was in 1985.  Growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, I was part of the audience that saw the marketing blitz for Grizzly River Rampage.

Yes, you will get soaked on GRR.  A towel is an appropriate souvenir.

We visited Opryland in September of 1985.  It was chilly outside, but we had to ride GRR.  We stayed at the Opryland Hotel, which is huge and still exists today.

At the time of my visit, I don't remember seeing any Grizzly River Rampage souvenirs for sale (like this figural charm, which I would have wanted---but I was a fifth grader and did not have money to spend for that, so it wouldn't have mattered anyway).

I was obsessed with the marketing for this ride.

There was a wonderful comic-book style ad in the Sunday Birmingham News that I still remember to this day (it may have been in the comics section).  If anyone has that, please send it my way!

One of the nicest items is a Grizzly River Rampage stein.

Opryland and Grizzly River Rampage became a thing of the past when the park closed down December 31, 1997 and never re-opened.

A grizzly bear raft ride exists today at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim.  Check out Disney's Country Bears at Grizzly River Run in California Adventure.  There are no advertised grizzlies on that attraction, either (except for a mountain shaped like a bear).

Disney's Country Bear Jamboree At McDonald's

Back in 2002, Disney's Country Bears got stuffed at McDonald's all over the United States. They were part of a collection of eight Teddy Bears (including Ted Bedderhead, #7 in the series) used to promote the live action Country Bears movie.

The movie was loosely based on the long-running Country Bear Jamboree attraction that debuted in Frontierland at Walt Disney World in Florida in 1971. A new super-fan character named Beary Barrinson was introduced in the film.

With his tie-dyed t-shirt, you'd think that Beary would be more likely to follow the Grateful Dead Bears.

The most popular character from the Country Bear Jamboree is Big Al.

Like the plush Big Al that was sold for many years at Walt Disney World, the Happy Meal Toy Big Al (and all the other characters in the series) is a stuffed toy with a vinyl face.

I have to admit that I've never seen the Country Bears movie.

The Country Bears Happy Meal really stands out because the bears have some nice detail work and costumes for a fast-food premium.

In the Country Bear Jamboree, Henry is the host of the show, which stars Audio Animatronic (robotic) Bears.

In the movie, the Bears were actors in suits with animatronic faces, created by the Jim Henson puppet wizards.

The Country Bear Jamboree was so popular in Florida that a version was created for Disneyland in California (it opened in 1972 in a land called Bear Country, which became Critter Country when Splash Mountain opened in 1989). The Disneyland version closed down (it was replaced by a Winnie the Pooh ride) before the Country Bears movie hit theaters.

The Country Bear Jamboree also opened in Westernland at Tokyo Disneyland in 1983, and is still playing today (and in Japan, audiences get to see more than one show, including a Christmas Special during the holidays).

Trixie is one of the diva stars of the Country Bear Jamboree.

The show also stars a Mae West-type character named Teddi Berra. At Disneyland in California, visitors could visit "Teddi Berra's Swingin' Arcade," which featured unique games starring the Country Bears (like the show, the arcade is long gone).

The Country Bear Jamboree had cutting-edge technology when it debuted. However, even Disney has made fun of the show. Nobody can forget the "Lester's Possum Park" sequence of Disney's "A Goofy Movie" (1995).

Characters like Fred Bedderhead still have fans because bears, especially teddy bears, are extremely popular with collectors.

The Country Bear Jamboree characters were originally designed by Disney animation legend Marc Davis.

When the Country Bears movie was in theaters, I thought it could have been much more popular if it had been a computer animated film that used the original Marc Davis character designs---essentially bringing the robotic bears to life on the big screen.

The Country Bears have a groovy tour bus.

The Bus used to belong to The Partridge Family, until the Bears ate them.

The Country Bears tour was sponsored by Charmin, the company that shows us that bears do go in the woods.

The Country Bears refused to perform at Chuck E. Cheese.

Beary would like to see more of the Country Bears.

I bet Beary has a Country Bears website with fan art and fan fiction.

The Country Bears have also appeared in comic books, and I believe an animated series was planned at some point.

For more fun, check out Disney's Country Bears At Grizzly River Run In California Adventure.

Disney's Country Bears At Grizzly River Run In California Adventure

When I was a young kid, I was captivated by the advertisements for Grizzly River Rampage, a white water raft ride at the (closed) Opryland theme park in Nashville, Tennessee. Ads for the attraction featured a menacing Grizzly Bear trying to attack the boats. I finally got to visit the park and experience the ride when I was older, and discovered that the bear effect was not what I had imagined at all. It was a static figure in a tunnel. I don't think most people even knew it was there.

In October of 2008, I got to visit Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim. The park opened in 2001, and is located in what used to be Disneyland's massive parking lot. California Adventure's mascot (in the early days) was a Grizzly Bear. Items like this plush toy were available when the park first opened.


This appealing looking character tied in nicely with the park's logo, and Grizzly River Run, California Adventure's white water rapids ride.

Because of my childhood interest in Grizzly River Rampage at Opryland, I was eager to visit Grizzly River Run, even though it was kind of chilly during my October visit (ironically, my Opryland visit was in September of 1985, not the ideal time to go on a raft ride).



As theme park raft rides go, Grizzly River Run is among the nicest I've seen.


Grizzly River Run is lush, with a cool drop and a nice observation area. I also liked the Grizzly Bear statue at the entrance.

Grizzly River Run would have been even nicer if they had some bear figures near the flume. I know there were some animated bears seen on Walt Disney's old Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland at Disneyland, just as there are animated animals featured in that attraction's replacement, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.


Maybe they could have modeled the bears after the California Adventure merchandise.

In 2002, Walt Disney Pictures released a live action movie based on Disney's Country Bear Jamboree attraction. I have to admit that I've never seen this movie, which featured animated bear puppet costumes created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

The Disney Catalog had some great Country Bear movie plush toys that look similar to Disney's California Adventure Grizzly Bear merchandise.

Yes, these are the bears I used for my Country Bears version of Grizzly River Run. The Beary character was created for the movie. Here we see Trixie, too (she looks more like the show's Teddi Barra character here).

Disney's Country Bear Jamboree made its debut at Walt Disney World in Florida in 1971, in Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom.

Many Walt Disney World (and Disneyland) visitors probably remember seeing Big Al plush toys. They stood out because they had plastic faces!


The Country Bear Jamboree proved to be popular in Florida, and was imported to Disneyland in California in 1972 (it also opened at Tokyo Disneyland when that park debuted in 1983).

The Country Bears got their own land in Disneyland called Bear Country.

In 1984, the Bears started performing "The Country Bear Christmas Special" during the holidays.

In 1986, the Bears got a new show with some new characters called "The Country Bear Vacation Hoedown."

When Splash Mountain debuted at Disneyland in 1989, the land was renamed Critter Country, since all sorts of animals could be found on the park's new water flume attraction.


Critter Country also featured the unique Teddi Barra's Swinging Arcade, which had Country Bear themed games. The Hungry Bear Restaurant is one of the most serene eating locations to be found at Disneyland.

Disneyland had some nice Country Bear Jamboree bean bags during the beanie craze of the late 1990s.


Henry is the Master of Ceremonies for the Country Bears. In the original show, a raccoon pops out of his hat. For the Vacation Hoedown, it is a skunk.

I think Zeke is my favorite of this set.


The costumes that Liverlips and Big Al are wearing appear to be from the Vacation Hoedown show.


In 2001, The Country Bears were evicted from Disneyland. Another bear, Winnie the Pooh, got his own dark ride in the former Country Bear Playhouse. Max (a stag head), Melvin (a moose head) and Buff (a buffalo head) from the Country Bear show make a cameo appearance in the Winnie the Pooh ride.

Since the Country Bears are no longer at Disneyland, I think it would be a nice homage to have them at Grizzly River Run in California Adventure. They could be simple, semi-realistic bears wearing clothes. They wouldn't have to talk or sing. They could be atmosphere characters (which would be great at the attraction's observation spots) like the animated figures on The Jungle Cruise or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.


This Big Al Bobblehead from Walt Disney World nods in agreement with me.