Disney’s Limited Time Magic events have begun, and Disneyland is currently celebrating with “A Salute to the Golden Horseshoe Revue.” This is a nod to the original show that Walt Disney created in 1955.
The Golden Horseshoe at Disneyland
Show Details
The show features comedy, songs, and dancing set to a fun musical score that will make you want to dress up, put a feather in your hair, and learn to Can-Can.
Tables and Clean Glasses Available for Ladies!
Tuesdays through Mondays now until February 4th, the “flashback” show can be seen a few times a day with a special Annual Passholder only showing at 6:30. The annual passholder show is $35 and you must make reservations in advance though the annual passholders events line at (714) 781-PASS.
The Annual Passholder show is a $35 ticketed event that includes dinner & reserved seating for the revue. If you’re not a passholder, stop at guest services to get a ticket to one of the earlier shows.
Your Hostess for the Show: Miss Lilly
Golden Horseshoe Revue Tribute Show
Can-Can Dancers
Please note that the entertainment is exactly the same as the shows performed during the day. So, if you don’t feel a need to spend $35 or aren’t interested in the foods being served at the Annual Passholder event, I highly recommend you still go check out one of the Thursday through Monday tribute shows.
Eats
- Starter: Corn chips in a souvenir Golden Horseshoe boot mug
- Entrees: Black forest ham and roast beef sandwiches
- Sides: Golden raisin and carrot salad, Yukon golden potato salad, Very Berry fruit salad
- Children’s Menu (available upon request): 2 PB&J sandwiches with sides
- Vegetarian Option (available upon request): Vegetable and cheese sandwiches with sides
- Beverages: Mint Julep, water, coffee
- Dessert: Walt & Lilly’s 30th Anniversary Celebration Cake
We started off with our table being adorned with Fritos in a boot. My absolute favorite item of the evening: Crunchy, salty Fritos served up in a take home souvenir Golden Horseshoe plastic boot (which I plan to fill with root beer floats at home in the near future).
Drinks were then served, bottles of water or a bottomless Mint Julep if you prefer. We shared one at the table just to try it. I already knew I wasn’t a fan; now I know that my children and husband are not as well!
All You Can Drink Mint Julep
All 7 of us were served the entree of Black Forest Ham and Roast Beef Sandwiches. Unfortunately we were not offered the kids meal for the children in our party. Maybe because it was so close to show time? I really don’t know, but it was upsetting because the main entree wasn’t as kid friendly as it should have been.
Sides included fresh fruit, which was a great sampling of berries, melon, and pineapple; potato salad, which was also pretty tasty; and a carrot raisin salad, which was fine too.
Main Entree
Unfortunately I wasn’t “wowed” by this meal. It reminded me a bit of the World of Color Picnic type meals. When I first read about the event I pictured it more of a buffet or family style like Big Thunder Ranch BBQ.
I was lucky enough to snag a photo of a kids’ meal after the show. When I told the Cast Member what happened at our table, she generously let me take one to go.
Dinner is eaten before and during the show, which is about 20-25 minutes long. After the show, tables are cleared and you are offered more to drink: coffee, water, or Mint Juleps while cast members pass out the dessert.
Dessert was by far one of the highlights of the event. The individual sized vanilla cakes featured lots of frosting and a sweet raspberry-filled center. The top of the cake featured an edible image of Walt and Lillian celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary at The Golden Horseshoe. Adorable and tasty too!
A Tribute to Walt & LIllian's 30th Wedding Anniversary
Tips
If attending the dinner show, arrive early…like 6:00 early. Why? Well, we arrived at about 6:20 and there were NO tables left that could accommodate my party of 7. I wasn’t aware that you could come this early. Otherwise we would have.
When we got there, we learned of their “family style” seating, which basically means you will be sitting with other families if there is not a table large enough to accommodate your group. The problem for us, though, was that we had children with us that I refused to let sit ALONE with strangers (the cast members actually suggested that we split up the party and have the kids sit by themselves with other groups). Luckily, a nice couple at a larger table went to sit in another area so that we could sit together.
Also, if you want a children’s meal or a vegetarian meal, SPEAK UP. We had 3 children with us and were not offered the kids’ meal. They automatically brought the kids the adult meal and the food was totally wasted. I did not even see the kids meals until after the show. I was grateful that the nice cast member sent me home with one after the show after hearing that we did not have the option to order one.
Overall
Overall, I did enjoy the show. The Fritos in a boot and wedding “type” cake were awesome! It was also fun to bring home an audio CD Souvenir of the show.
Take Home Audio CD
However, If I were to do this again, I wouldn’t waste the money on bringing children. In fact, I’m not 100% sure I’d do it at all. For $35 you can get a pretty nice meal at the resort.
I’m not trying to discourage anyone. You just need to decide for yourself if you think it might be worth it for you! I think it would have been really cool if the Annual Passholder showing featured one additional act or song just to make it a little different from the regular shows that play during the day.
And don’t forget, if you would rather not spend the dough, just go to a non-Annual Passholder showing earlier and buy your own eats — including monte cristo bites!
Heather Sievers is the Disney Food Blog’s Dining in Disneyland columnist. See more of her columns here!
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The anniversary party pictured on the dessert was quite an affair, and many of Walt’s friends among the Hollywood elite were invited (Spencer Tracy, Cary Grant, Gary Cooper). Walt, who not only chain smoked but also drank a good bit, got thoroughly wasted. ” . . . as the party was drawing to a close at the Golden Horseshoe Saloon, he had drunk a little too much and was firing imaginary bullets at the stage from the balcony. Diane [his daughter] had to drive him home, during which time Walt was ‘tootling’ through a rolled map of Disneyland as if it were a trumpet; then he sang a song and fell asleep holding the map” (Neal Gabler, Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination, p. 530).
Prof Brainard – Well, at least he had a good time, LOL!
As for this dinner, it really doesn’t seem worth it to me. I think I’d just buy my own seats and my own choice of food. What they are offering isn’t very impressive. It also sounds like they have a few kinks to iron out in the service too!
Wow, I wonder if it’s too late to cancel our tickets and just do the earlier show + Monte Cristo Bites option. 🙂
Also, thanks for the heads up on the raspberry junk in the cake—that would’ve been a huge disappointment! Maybe I can eat around it…
Hahaha! Yes, indeed, Walt had a grand time on that night!
I was never in the Golden Horseshoe in its heyday, but I was in the Diamond Horseshoe in the Magic Kingdom of WDW, and I assume they operated along the same lines. The Diamond Horseshoe was a free attraction, meaning that you could see the show even if you had only purchased a general admission ticket and had bought no attraction tickets. You simply had to make a reservation at the door in the morning for the particular showtime that you wanted. They served very simple snack/lunch foods before the show, things like prepared sandwiches, chips, cookies, sodas, served by wait staff who brought you your food from the bar area. The show itself was grand: Slue-foot Sue was the Master (Mistress?) of Ceremonies and the proprietor of the joint; Pecos Bill made an appearance; saloon girls kicked the can-can; and there was some audience participation (Sue always planted a big red kiss on the head of some poor old bald-headed man)! It was hilarious! It was also an experience that completely enveloped you in the theme of the Old West, mainly because it was performed by real humans instead of audio-animatronics. The effect was utterly complete. It stood out as a special pleasure in a place devoted to pleasure. Why on earth they don’t revive the original show is beyond my comprehension. Surely my fellow Americans have not grown so attention-span-deprived, so devoid of imagination, and so pretentiously sophisticated that they would not enjoy it. I cannot imagine anyone not enjoying it in its original form. It was an archetype of its form, nearly perfect.
Thanks for posting the picture of the mugs! I actually work for the company that makes them. In fact, I designed that mug. It’s fun to see them “in action.”
@Prof Brainard – Love it! Thanks for sharing!
@Lisa – You can see the show during the day without having to eat.
@Carrie – I would have LOVED to have Monte Cristo Bites instead!
@Michelle – The mugs were my favorite part of the dinner! Great job on them!
We went to the AP show on the last weekend and I have to say, as much as the food didn’t sound good on paper, it was actually pretty delicious. The carrot salad was my absolute favorite thing and I couldn’t stop eating it. Is there any chance of getting a recipe?? I would be forever grateful!
I was so glad to read your review. I too expected something better than cold prepackaged sandwiches. I thought maybe I was being picky but for the amount we paid for dinner I was very disappointed. I took my daughter and her husband as a surprise treat since we were visiting DL on vacation. We would have rather had the Monte Cristo bites and waited in line for a different showing. We actually waited 45 minutes in line as it was and sat in the very back of the room. We were wishing we had chosen the Blue Bayou for that price. We love Mint Juleps but these were watered down and not good. The boot was cute and the cake was the highlight. We went the first night and they didn’t even mention that we were annual passholders and at a special event. Definitely will be more careful about buying tickets to similar events. I guess the biggest dissapointment was wanting to have a really great experience for my guests. I called Guest services and the guy I talked to didn’t even seem to care.