Tag Archives: Straw Hatters

Jambalaya Jazz Band

3 Comments Posted by on September 6, 2011

As I’ve said before, one of the biggest surprises for me during MYWTM is the amount of roving entertainment all around the park. Walt was a huge music lover and I knew about the Disneyland Band and the barbershop quartet known as the Dapper Dans, and some people in Victorian costumes who sing at Christmas, but other than that I had no idea about the little groups and bands that are all over Disneyland. I’m so glad MYWTM is making me slow down and enjoy the atmosphere because I really would have missed these fabulous gems just like I have every year before MYWTM.

The day I rode the Lilly Belle, I caught sight of these guys in New Orleans Square:

Natty outfits, swingin' tunes, New Orleans Square...

It’s the Jambalaya Jazz Band! Nope, it’s not the Dixieland Band, although they are often confused with each other.

Jambalaya. Jazz.

They even had Mardi Gras beads in their pockets that they tossed to a few of the little kids standing around. And said children didn’t even have to…*ahem*…do anything to get some beads ;).

I only listened to them for a song to  two, but like the rest of the bands I’ve discovered, they were lively, very fun, and fabulous to listen to. It’s so exciting to make these discoveries. So far I’ve stumbled across:

The Pearly Band, a jolly performance in front of the castle with special guest stars Mary Poppins and Bert!

Supercalimumblemumble

The Straw Hatters, a group of musicians clad in straw hats with special guest stars Pluto, Donald Duck, Mickey, and Minnie:

Over in the corner of Town Square

The Dapper Dans, which everyone seems to know about. No special guests that I saw but their singing is second to none, and their chime-playing (Kelli knows the proper term for that) is really fantastic.

About halfway down Main Street

The Hook and Ladder Company, a bonny group of firemen and their mascot Spot, who is nearly kidnapped by the evil Cruella DeVille, and we’re also entertained by Chip and Dale and Goofy.

Town Square right in front of the fire department (and below Walt's personal apartment)

Arrrrr, the grimy band of pirates, the Bootstrappers, singing traditional pirate tunes (sans ale) in New Orleans Square.

What's a pirate's favorite letter? Arrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

And of course, the Disneyland Band.

Middle of Town Square at the flagpole

Now that’s entertainment! And all of that entertainment–the kind you can basically trip over on your way to somewhere else–I think that’s a part of the Disneyland Magic, don’t you?

 

Adventureland, Things I Never Knew Existed , , , , , , , , ,

The Straw Hatters

3 Comments Posted by on April 12, 2011

Honestly, it wasn’t until I started doing this blog that I realized how much entertainment Disneyland has. I’ve really just gone from attraction to attraction and maybe done a little people-watching, but I’ve never stopped to listed to any of the roving performers.

What a mistake!

I’m so happy to rectify it now.

Theo and I were walking out of the park one day when I saw this small band of musicians over by Mr. Lincoln, so of course we pulled over to watch. Because when I say “walking” I really mean that I was walking and Theo was in the stroller. If he were walking it would take approximately 423,345,753 hours to get out of the park. He’s easily distracted.

Anyway, here was this band of merry musicians.

Nice pants!

They played some toe-tappin’ fun music and I was about to turn away when this happened:

OMG, Pluto's going to eat the trombone player!!!

The band then played a song they identified as being about a dog, and Pluto did a dance with his leash.

If our dog got ahold of his leash like this, the last thing he would do is dance with it

It was really fun, and actually quite nice to see Pluto get some alone time. He gets upstaged by that pushy Goofy all the time.

And just when I thought the fun was over, guess who showed up?

It's Donald!

Donald came out to challenge the drummer to a drum-off. It’s like a dance-off except there’s no dancing or burning trash cans.

I'm taking YOU down, buddy

Apparently the event was BYOD (bring your own drum). Donald won.

At this point, Theo was starting to get extremely antsy, so we went to head out, except…

Well hi there!

Mickey and Minnie showed up. THEY did, indeed have a dance-off.

Minus the burning trash cans, of course

Minnie won. Don’t be taken in by those oversized tacky heels–this girl can DANCE.

Immediately following that, the characters snuck off to the side to line up for autographs and pictures.

I had no idea what this group was called, so I asked around on the internet and found that they are the Straw Hatters, in reference to their…wait for it, wait for it…straw hats.

All in all, it was a very fun little performance. Keep your eyes open at Disneyland–you never know what you’ll see!

Main Street, Things I've Never Seen Before , , , ,

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