Disneyland’s Year of Limited Time Magic continues this week with the start of “A Salute to the Golden Horseshoe Revue.”

While the show plays gratis throughout the day, the last show of the evening at 6:30pm currently plays only to Annual Passholders who have purchased a ticket in advance. The price is $35, and includes a box dinner, mint juleps, a souvenir mug, a CD, and the chance to not have to make a mad Pamplona bull run rush over to the podium for tickets in the morning.

Seating is at shared tables–if you’re not there with a party of four or more, you should probably be prepared to make new friends. Possibly close ones, if you end up at one of the packed-in tables in the center of the bottom floor.

Last night being the opening evening, even Disneyland President/soon-to-be WDW President George Kalogridis was in attendance.

The food was actually better than it had initially sounded to me–roast beef and ham sliders, with sides of potato salad, carrot salad, and berries, in trays similar to the ones used for the World of Color picnics. The sandwiches were pretty filling with condiments of honey mustard and horseradish sauce (packed in fairly tricky-to-open containers–I saw at least one commit suicide from the balcony in front of me) and the various salads gave a nice variety of flavors.

But let’s be real: The main reason you’re going is for the souvenir boot mug filled with Fritos. Oh, they may tell you those are generic “corn chips,” but you and I both know the Frito Kid had Klondike mine those Fritos just for us, as in the days of Frontierland yore: http://angryjim.com/fritokid/

The show’s MC is Miss Lily, taking over from Slue-Foot Sue, and it’s basically twenty minutes of fairly rambunctious song and dance, along with a lengthy segment where Miss Lily roams the floor searching for a fella. If you are the sort of audience member that prefers to watch without participation, maybe don’t sit in the front or on the aisles.

I think the only quibble anyone had about the show was wanting it to be longer–the original show, which can be found on YouTube, seemed more like 45 minutes. All of the Wally Boag material was cut, which seems like a missed opportunity, given that we were able to see one of Boag’s successors in the show do a bit last year at the True Legends of the Golden Horseshoe tribute (I blogged about it here: /blogs/lauragilbreath/2011/09/ready_true_legends_of_the_gold_1.html )

Here, in an inexpertly shot video by me, are some of the highlights of this charming show:

As the show ended, they handed out small cakes with a photo of Walt and Lillian’s 30th Anniversary party at the Golden Horseshoe printed on the top.

Then, for an extra surprise, they also gave out CD copies of the old LP “Slue-Foot Sue’s Golden Horseshoe Review,” printed complete with original album art.

The show itself (understandably, given it was the first day for it) seemed a little technically rough–some of the audio seemed occasionally hard to make out from where I was sitting and some of the performers were placed so as to block some of the stage view from the sides–but nothing that probably won’t be ironed out after the first week. While initially, I had thought that $35 seemed a little pricey for a sandwich, I really thought that this particular AP event had enough special touches that it was very worthwhile.

With the recent high increases in the costs of the Disneyland annual passes, and the frankly underwhelming recent local discount offer, bringing back a nostalgic favorite like the Golden Horseshoe really goes a long way towards combating the creeping feeling that money, more than magic, is the main concern of the park.

Walking out of the park after closing, with a mint julep in one hand, and a bootful of Fritos in the other? Well, perhaps you still can find some happiness in this harsh world…and magic, too–even if it’s only for a limited time.

The twenty minute show plays multiple times throughout the park’s operating hours, and same-day reservations can be made in person, at the Saloon.

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