YeHaa Bob!

YeHaa Bob Jackson!

I had the idea to start a series of posts titled “Everything but the Parks” that focuses on, well, everything the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts have to offer outside of their fabulous theme parks.

There are a million and one activities in which to partake while on Disney property and so often families become park commandoes and forget to take the time to explore some of Disney’s other magical offerings. It’s also just hard to tear oneself away from the parks, isn’t it?

Over our President’s Day winter break, my girls and I headed to the World for a two-day dose of Disney magic on our way back north from our Miami road trip. We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside for two nights and did not set foot in the parks while we were there. Instead, we spent our time gallivanting around WDW and checking out all sorts of magical tidbits we don’t make time for when we are there for the parks. It was during this visit that we discovered a true Disney gem–YeHaa Bob–at POR’s River Roost Lounge.

Bob Jackson has been performing at the River Roost for about 14 years now and has a long history playing at myriad venues around WDW including the Diamond Horseshoe Revue at the Magic Kingdom and for many of the live shows on Disney property. His show at the River Roost is a combination of slapstick humor, hysterical audience participation (“You’ll never see these people again!”), incredible musical talent, and old-fashioned comedy. His piano playing ranges from ragtime to stride to boogie-woogie and includes everything from Elvis and the Beatles to the Hokey Pokey and the Oscar Mayer theme song.

The River Roost Lounge is one of the Disney resorts’ coziest. It features lots of delicious appetizers, nice wines, specialty drinks, and both bottled and tap beers. There is no cover charge for Bob’s show, but it’s best to arrive early to get a good table. We actually arrived after the 8:30 show began and were lucky enough to score a four-top that was being vacated by a family with tired kids.

It is important to note that Yehaa Bob’s show is absolutely family friendly. His jokes resonated for both adults and children alike and my three girls, age 6, 8 & 10, had a ball–although my shy 10-year old spend a lot of the show ducked down in her seat petrified that Bob would call her up to flap her arms like a chicken or something! My other two girls happily joined the kick line by the piano and stood up front performing Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes as fast as possible while Bob pounded out the tune on his crazy, rocking piano.

Bob’s shows are every Wednesday through Saturday night (unless otherwise noted on his website) starting at 8:30 p.m. Bob arrives at the River Roost around 8:00 to mingle and chat with lounge patrons gathering lots of personal information which he will later incorporate into his schtick. His memory for names and details is amazing and his way of weaving audience members into his performance is seamless and incredibly entertaining. He had my daughters and I standing up repeatedly the night we were there shouting like Tarzan while thumping our chests! There are two sets each night Bob performs, so if you don’t arrive in time for the first one, he takes a break around 10 p.m. for photos with audience members and to collect more ammunition from new arrivals.

So the next time you are at the Walt Disney World, make a point to get to the Port Orleans Riverside Resort to check out YeHaa Bob. A nice evening would be dinner at Downtown Disney followed by a relaxing boat ride from the Downtown Disney Marketplace to Port Orleans Riverside and the River Roost Lounge.

YeHaaaa!

For more information about Yehaa Bob as well as for his schedule, check out his website here!