Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Avoided. The dance number at the bar would have been this, but it was cut from the middle of the movie and moved to the credits to become a Dance Party Ending instead.
Catharsis Factor: In the third act, Chet and his family calling out Roman and his family for intruding on Chet's family vacation is pretty satisfying. Chet's had to endure Roman mooching off and one-upping him at nearly every turn, and he finally gets a chance to give Roman a piece of his mind. Even Buck (who was previously impressed by his Uncle's gifts and one-upping) doesn't take any flack from him at this point.
Harsher in Hindsight: Roman makes a joke to Chet in one scene that everyone else besides Chet will die of a heart attack first out of stress because Chet has such a nice, relaxing lifestyle. John Candy died of a heart attack just a few years later in 1994.
He Really Can Act: Despite being known primarily for comedy, John Candy still manages to put on a chilling performance while telling his bear story, commanding the entire room as well as the viewer's complete attention.
The shot of Chet clutching at Roman's jacket with a terrified expression on his face after being informed he'll need to eat the gristle and fat to complete the Ol' 96er challenge is commonly used as a reaction gif to scary pictures.
Ask someone what hot dogs are made out of and they will more than likely respond with "Lips and assholes!"
Nightmare Fuel: The scene with the bear story is a gag that foreshadows the ending but the story itself is quite creepy. The way it's shot in addition to the tense score and John Candy's legitimately chilling performance complete with flashbacks to the alleged encounter make it easily one of the most tense scenes in the movie.
Even though Roman isn't trying to tell a scary story, the gist of his Uncle Roy's horror story still comes off as pretty creepy.
Romantic Plot Tumor: It by no means dominates the narrative, but the subplot with Buck and Cammie can be excised from the movie without affecting the story in any way.
Special Effect Failure: As pointed out by Siskel & Ebert in their review, during the scene in the climax where a giant bear squashes Chet underneath a door, in one cut you can see the animal trainer's stick that is used to agitate the bear.
