Saturday, January 19, 2013

A Salute to the Golden Horseshoe Revue - Disneyland - January 19, 2013


Disneyland recently announced that there would be a limited run of A Salute to the Golden Horseshoe Revue at its Golden Horseshoe venue.  In addition to regular shows during the day, they were also going to have a separately-ticketed 6:30pm show only for annual passholders.  For a cost of $35, APs would get to see the show on a guaranteed date, and they would also receive dinner and a souvenir.  I'd heard a bit about the show that used to be at the Golden Horseshoe but didn't really know much about it.  A group of friends wanted to attend a show, so the husband and I decided to join them.

We were given wristbands to allow us entrance into the show, and we lined up to wait to be let in.  They let us in around 6pm, and we made our way into the theatre.  A cast member asked how many were in our party, and when we said 8, we were directed to 2 tables which each sat 4 people.  We were about half-way back from the stage and still had a pretty good view.

The tables were already set up with the souvenir plastic boots (filled with corn chips), a small bottle of water and plastic cutlery and a napkin.


Table set-up.  Our table was missing a boot, and when we informed a cast member, she brought us another one.


The tables are pretty small to accommodate four people, but we managed to squish everything together enough to make it manageable.

Cast members then came around to hand us our packaged meals.


Meals consisted of half a black forest ham sandwich, a "slider" sandwich of roast beef, mustard and horseradish sauces in little containers, shaved carrot salad with raisins and nuts, small fruit salad, and potato salad.


Dinner is served.  (This is a better view of the boot as well.)



I thought both sandwiches were pretty good.  The sauces were ok, though they were pretty mild.  I'm not particularly fond of shaved carrot salad or raisins, so I only picked out a few of the nuts to eat, but I did very much enjoy the potato salad and the fruit salad.

The cast members also told us that if we wanted mint juleps or soft drinks, we could just go get them from the bar with no added charge.

We had a bit of time to eat, and then at 6:30, the lights dimmed and the show started.  The small band that accompanies the performers was seated right in front of the stage.

I very much enjoyed the show.  I have nothing to compare it to as I'd never seen the original show and don't know much about it at all, but I did enjoy the show they presented, and I love the costumes.  Another friend and I agreed that we wished the show was longer, but then, I could have sat there for an hour watching the dancing and the singing and been very happy.


One of the lead performers comes out to interact with the audience.  (I know, she has a name, but I can't remember what it is.)  She was terrific, just the right mix of funny, sweet and flirty.


Dancing girls!


At the conclusion of the show, they invited everyone to share a slice of cake like the cake that Walt and Lillian had to celebrate their 30th anniversary.  Cast members then came around to pass out little cakes to everyone.


The cakes had a picture printed on top.  I haven't eaten my cake yet, but my friends who had theirs said it was a white cake with berries - likely raspberries.


After we were all finished, we gathered up our things and got ready to leave.  It seemed odd that there was a slow-moving line to exit until we realized they were passing something out at the exit.  We were each given a CD of the old Golden Horseshoe show labeled as a gift to APs attending these shows.


Front and back of the CD.


I had a wonderful time, enjoying the food, the show, and sharing the experience with friends.  Based on the reaction of the audience, everyone seemed to have a good time.

There's always the age-old question of "was it worth it?"  I had a good time and enjoyed myself, so it was worth it to me.  But paying the extra price for the extra amenities is certainly not necessary to enjoy the show itself.


Performances of the show currently run Thursdays through Monday, ending February 4, 2013.  The 6:30pm show is the only one reserved for APs and the dining package.  The rest of the shows during the day are open to all visitors for no extra charge, and refreshments can be purchased.  I'd like to be able to see the show again during one of the open performances, but I'm not sure I'm going to get a chance to do that.  I would definitely recommend trying to catch the show if you can.  I hope that the show gets a positive enough reaction that Disney will decide to bring the show back, so that the Golden Horseshoe stage can be shared between this Salute and Billy Hill & the Hillbillies.