I stand by my guarantee that my performances will be consistently of the highest caliber but I add that I CAN vouch for a whole lot of the other performers as well, many of whom are excellent and put their heart into their performances. I won’t name them here, but they are in their own right worth coming to see our show.

I just can’t vouch for ALL of the performers all of the time. Check out my blog for more from me: http://www.thecasualreporter.com

It pains me to read the negative reviews, especially knowing that they are honest and accurate. And it thrills me to read the positive ones, which I also know are honest and accurate. The truth is some performances are better than others.

I can guarantee when I’m playing that Buffalo Bill will be energetic, dynamic, and fun, and the show will probably be outstanding. I can’t vouch for the other performers. The food and service I have no control over.

Your best bet, honestly, is to email me from my blog, http://www.thecasualreporter.com and find out when I’m working. Feel free to do so. (There’s a link from there to “Buffalo Bill’s Blog” my other blog, although the content is nearly identical.) Come when I’m playing if you have a choice. You’ll be glad you did.

The food seems to have deteriorated, the potatoes were soggy and soft and the meat very fatty.

The addition of Mickey and friends is completely pointless and spoils the show as the whole thing is disjointed, there were only 2 races which were over in the blink of an eye so not much chance to get into the spirit of backing your team. Certainly not the enjoyable dinner spectacle it once was.

If you are going to go don’t bother paying for the ‘premium’ seats as you have a clear view from wherever you sit as they have only introduced the 2 different prices in the last couple of years.

The atmosphere is nice, such as waving your free hat around and shouting ‘YEEHA!’ and some of the food is ok, but it can get a bit tedious at times. Nobody really knows what’s going on and it can get quite boring. The animal parts are quite exciting though.

Good for a Disney change, but its a one-time thrill. And definitely not recommended if you have small children with you.

To start,I know that the characters involvement is controversial, but the experience as a whole was lacking.

There was a character meet n greet set up in the bar, but we didn’t linger so I have no clue who was there or for how long. The preshow was much much shorter than I previously remember it. Three audience members were dragged on stage to mime to a short burst of the Blues Brothers. This was a huge downgrade from some of the genuinely talented acts who’ve filled this slot before. We were then taught “Y’all Come” (or whatever it’s called) by the band who were accompanied on stage by Goofy, who seemed to serve no other purpose than to remind us that characters would be present.

It was then time to enter the arena. We were seated in Red River Colorado (we were originally assigned to Green, but Mum asked to swap as we’d been Green before). We were seated on the front row about half way along the arena on a table of 4. It was a perfect view, but not the perfect place to sit as it turned out for reasons I’ll explain later.

As a premium ticket holder we were treated to a non-alcoholic cocktail at our table. If by non-alcoholic cocktail they mean half a glass of Five Alive then they certainly delivered.

As people took their seats it was genuinely sad to see whole rows left completely empty. I’d say it played to less than half capacity in the end (this was a 9:30 show). There was a very vocal group of teens who were celebrating a birthday in the Greens and without them the wait for the show to start would have been very boring.

The show started in the usual way, but very quickly Auguste(sp?) introduced us to Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Chip n Dale. I can’t remember the context, but it was along the lines of them presenting it I think. Anyway, they went away and the show continued as normal.

Meanwhile on the service front, as we were at the very end of a section on our own we were often overlooked for drinks etc. as the jugs were empty before they got to us and the didn’t come back. Through the whole show my Dad on the very end got one refill of Coke and that was because we called a server over. Likewise with the food everyone else would be half way through theirs while we were still waiting. Whilst we’re talking about the food it was mediocre at best. I’ve never considered the food part of the draw at BB’s, but with the show so bad now it’s got to step up to the plate and sadly it didn’t. The potatoes were horrible (none of us ate them) and the meat was merely ok.

Anyway, on the show front everything was going along nicely (atmospheric Red Indians etc.) until Annie Oakley came out. Her part has always been a bit hokey, but the inclusion of Mickey and Minnie to hand over the medal for the best shot was completely unecessary and just slowed things down. It also gave me my first clue that the characters would be around more than I’d hoped.

As expected the characters came out during the campfire singsong and led us in a few choruses of “If You’re Happy and You Know It” amongst others. Needless to say this went over real well with the 9:30pm crowd of mostly adults. This section went on far too long. Obviously they have to give us time to eat, but it was boring ultimately.

When the games began the characters stuck around and kind of acted as unofficial mascots for the different ranches, but their purpose on stage was never really explained. During this part the Rodeo Clowns did their best to keep the half-empty arena enthuised and they did a good job, but I don’t remember them being so mean-spirited before. The Green Clown took my Dad’s hat and stomped on it. I was not impressed. I noticed the Blue Clown doing similar as well.

As it turned out our ranch won, but they really struggled to find volunteers to go on stage.

Back on the food/drink front they took our cold drinks away half-drunk to bring round the coffee (which the server knew we wouldn’t be drinking) so we were drinkless for the rest of the night. They did this in stealth mode whilst we were watching the show so it was done before we could say anything.

The show then carries on with the heist with Mickey et al getting in on the act at the end.

I’m a bit patchy on the ending as if I’m honest I’d started to lose interest. The moving finale is still intact, but I do remember Mickey and pals coming out at least once more before the end.

Ultimately, the show was lacklustre. The best bits were the atmospheric moments with the Red Indians and the finale (read: the bits they left alone), but ultimately the characters killed any kind of atmosphere that could have been present. This was only made worse by two things; first, the shows small audience and second, the fact that some of the performers seemed like they were going through the motions. There was no sense of excitement like there had been before. I could barely care if our medicine ball made it to the stage let alone into the basket. What enthuisiasm there was seemed forced and unnatural.

This coupled with the mediocre food and poor service made this show the lowlight of our trip. I really feel like we wasted the chance of a good meal elsewhere.

The whole of my party felt the same.

I spoke to a couple of retail CM’s in the Village after the show and they all agreed that the show was better before.

As an epilogue, I had a customer satisfaction survey waiting for me when I got back (I hadn’t been in the park 10 minutes on my first day before I was asked if I would give them my email address) and I certainly made sure they knew what I thought.

I would rather they ripped it out and replaced it than let it mosey off into the sunset like this.

Well worth the money. If you take a package, get this as an extra and you get a discount. Yeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!

WARNING:
Don’t go to the show thinking that it really is unlimited free drinks. This is a lie! The server comes round twice, maybe three times to fill up drinks. As the glasses are probably half pint glasses then you get around a pint and a half of drink. My tip. Buy a drink at the bar when you first go in. Take your glass in with you and get them to fill up your glass that came with dinner and the glass you took in with you. You at least get a lot more for your money that way!

10/10 in my opinion

This is worth going to see and worth every penny, I took my wife and daughter to see it last year 2007 and my wife can`t stand anything to do with Westerns, but to my astonishment she loved every minute of it..

I was sat beside her and watching her from the corner of my eye and I could see just how much she was enjoying the feeling of being part of the Wild Wild West….

The atmosphere was ELECTRIC you could see just how much everyone was getting involved in the show, and the Rodeo Clowns what can I say FANTASSSSTIC….

And what made it all worth while my wife made a comment saying that even though we were having our food they didn`t stop the show, but hey the stars of the show The Horses, Buffallos how well trained they were..

This show I would deffinately agree for everyone to see and we will be going again this year 2008 providing its open as last year it was only open for two nights before closing down for some time, so we timed it right at going at that time of year to get the show in….

I would say the highlight was when the Rodeo Clowns got you roped in to boo and hiss your rivals (As there are 4 sections) Taking your hats off and waving them in the air when your team in the arena wanted support, it was a total laugh and very enjoyable…..

A CREDIT TO ALL STAFF INVOLVED IN THE SHOW AND THE ANIMAL TRAINERS…….

100/10

The show is breathtaking! Some of the stunts that they perform are incredible! The food is average, they dont give you long to eat! The audience participation makes the show really exciting, parents be warned you may be sent down into the ring!!!

So grab those cowboy hats and give a big “YEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAA”