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As I’ve previously discussed, Disney uses music to manipulate your emotions. Still, the way that Disney incorporates music is novel. Think about your favorite animated classic, and you’ll notice that a song probably springs to mind. Disney wants theme park attractions to feel like three-dimensional movies, a byproduct of the way that company founder Walt Disney learned to tell stories. That’s why so many of your favorite rides come complete with soundtracks that are equal parts wonderful and impossible to get out of your head. Here are the eight attractions with the best musical accompaniments.

8. Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room

Just the thought of this attraction has likely put the word tiki in your head. You’re hearing it over and over again. You can’t make it stop. And I have bad news for you. It’s not going away anytime soon. Now you understand my pain in collating a list of the Disney attractions with the best musical accompaniments. It’s like an infinite loop of inescapable earworms.

And the earliest of Disney’s earworms, at least in terms of park usage, is this one. Interestingly, attaching music with lyrics to theme park rides was a bigger trend in the 1960s than during the early days of Disneyland. Most of the titles on this list were written during the same decade or so.

The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room isn’t the most memorable of them, but it is one of the three that are hardest to get out of your head. That’s because the song says the word Tiki 91 times…but oddly only once outside of the chorus. Anyway, the Enchanted Tiki Room is a classic piece of theme park history. Since the music is integral to the proceedings, it demands a spot on this list, no matter how lazy the lyrics of the main theme are.

7. Country Bear Jamboree

Sure, Country Bear Jamboree is Hee Haw with bears. And no, Hee Haw hasn’t been relevant at any point since the 1970s. Here’s the thing, though. Hee Haw aired for 23 years and continues to find new fans on home video and YouTube. People love that genteel sort of country music along with some corny comedy. Disney fans in particular eat it up, which explains why its longest running show is Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue.

Country Bear Jamboree is a frivolous, fun music show featuring fractured country and western tunes like All the Guys That Turn Me On Turn Me Down. What you might not realize is that most of the songs used during the show aren’t Disney originals. Instead, they’re bearish covers of either obscure or beloved classics from prior to the opening of Walt Disney World.

Image: Disney

In fact, I swear to you that Mama Don’t Whip Little Buford was a popular song by a country music duo named Homer and Jethro. Tears Will Be the Chaser for Your Wine is a Wanda Jackson hit from 1967. Disney haven’t to write a lot of new music for Country Bear Jamboree. They simply had to pick goofy stuff that already existed and then give it a hillbilly bear spin. While I readily admit that Country Bear Jamboree isn’t for everyone, there’s no debate on one point. The music is unforgettable, for better and for (much, much) worse. 

 
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