Oh my goodness, I don’t think it was a wise decision to try
to blog every day in March when I have a show opening the first week of April!
But I soldier on.
Since I alluded to it in my last post, I figured I’d write
something short and sweet about one of my favorite places, the Hungry Bear
Restaurant!
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| Hungry? |
This is the counter service place in Critter Country – it’s
easy to walk right by it, but when you really look, it’s pretty big, with both
upstairs and downstairs seating. The seating wraps around the side/back of the
restaurant, with views of the Rivers of America, a peaceful setting while you’re
eating. The Disneyland Railroad travels past the back of the upstairs deck, and
both the Columbia and Mark Twain sail by serenely, prompting my sister Maddie
to say one of my favorite Disneyland quotes (as the Mark Twain passed us while
eating at the HB), “You know, not to brag, but if I had a running start…and one
of those gymnastics-jumpy things, I could jump from this deck to that boat.” HAHA…or
maybe you had to be there. Ah, memories.
Restrooms are on the downstairs level – we’re familiar with
these since they’re large and never too crowded. To me it seems that the HB
opens late and closes early – they only serve lunch and aren’t open late at
night, but I never have trouble finding time to dine there!
I can’t completely vouch for all of the food at the Hungry
Bear, (take a look at their menu here, thanks to AllEars.net) because I only
get one thing every time I go. “The Fried
Green Tomato Sandwich - cornmeal crusted fried green tomatoes layered
with two slices of fresh heirloom tomatoes, topped with havarti, remoulade,
jicama-mango slaw and served on a multi-grain roll.” Served with sweet potato
fries. Hea-ven! DOUBLE tomatoes and the slaw is so so good. I’ve gotten the
Lemon “Bumblebee” Cupcake too, which was super pretty AND tasty. There’s only ketchup,
mustard and mayo at the condiments/silverware/napkins bar, but they have BBQ sauce
and ranch behind the counter if you ask. I do wish they served sweet tea here,
though. Hopefully it’s only a matter of time.
Another cool thing to do if you’re looking for something
different is to hang out at the Hungry Bear while a showing of Fantasmic! is
going on. Sit or stand on the upper deck, near the water. Because of the unique
view of the Rivers of America, you can see the floats go by after passing the
main show area and witness some of the backstage magic. If you’ve already seen
Fantasmic! traditionally and don’t feel like waiting with the crowds, you can
get a completely new experience watching this way. We saw cast/crew members
change the jungle floats to princess ones, as well as the characters getting on
and off the barges. We also got to see some of the smaller vehicles (Flotsam,
Jetsam, Tic Toc Croc) up close. It was strange to not see everything lit up
(which is why I didn’t get very good photos), but it was entertaining and
interesting – especially to “theater people” like us. Worth a try if you’d like
to try something new.
Something special I enjoy about the Hungry Bear is that it’s
what Disneylanders have left of the ol’ Country Bear Jamboree. Seeing the
references to the old show throughout the restaurant makes me happy. And
wistful. And also happy.
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