10. Pets Ahoy!
SeaWorld Orlando, SeaWorld San Diego (as Pets Rule!)
Cats, dogs, birds, and even a pig perform in this gag-filled show. Some of these four-legged stars were rescued from animal shelters, and there's usually a pitch at the end of the show encouraging the audience to adopt rescue animals.
9. Mystery Lodge
Knott's Berry Farm
An elderly storyteller greets you from inside this Native American longhouse, where a fire burns in the middle of the room. As smoke from the fire twists into shapes, the storyteller believes to have seen an owl, a symbol of death. That prompts the man into a reflection upon his life, as he shares stories from his past, which collectively help illustrate the Pacific Northwest Native American experience.
8. Universal Horror Make-up Show
Universal Studios Florida
Located behind a recreation of the facade of Hollywood's Pantages Theater, Universal's look at the work of special effects make-up artists is one of the few attractions that remains from the park's opening. Sure, there's a bit of gore and the gruesome in this live show, but the overall tone is mostly light, with a heavy dose of Universal's distinctive, sarcastic humor.
7. Festival of the Lion King
Disney's Animal Kingdom, Hong Kong Disneyland
Dancers, acrobats, singers, and costumed characters celebrate The Lion King in this musical performance in-the-round. No, it’s not the Broadway show, or even an abridged retelling of the movie plot, but more a lovely, rousing concert that tries to get the audience cheering, and often succeeds.
6. Carkitt Market Stage
Universal Studios Florida
Gringotts and the Hogwarts Express much of the attention in Universal's Diagon Alley expansion, but don't overlook the live shows playing on this small stage in Carkitt Market. Those who take a few moments to watch Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees in concert or the performance of "Tales from Beedle the Bard" rave about these shows.
5. Fantasy Faire Royal Theatre
Disneyland
The clever Elizabethan musical storytellers Mr. Smyth and Mr. Jones present their slightly twisted take on some of Disney's fairy tales. Originally rotating shows of "Beauty and the Beast" and "Tangled," it's all "Frozen" these days. But it's a retelling of the story that even parents who've sat through their kids watching the DVD a million times still can enjoy.
4. Celtic Fyre
Busch Gardens Williamsburg
This celebration of Irish music, dance, and culture plays in the Abbey Stone Theatre, featuring an impressive display of singing and tap dancing.
3. Blue Horizons
SeaWorld Orlando, SeaWorld San Diego
Blue Horizons tells the story of a girl named Marina (get it?) dreaming about the sea and the wonders within it. And, yes, those dreams do include jumping dolphins.
2. Waterworld
Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios Singapore, Universal Studios Japan
Set in a world where the polar ice caps have melted, covering the continents in sea water, our hero Helen has discovered dry land. But the evil Smokers are after her and the secret of dry land's location. It's up the Mariner to save Helen, and fight off the Smokers. Meanwhile, stunt performers dangle from high above the stage, plunge into the water, and stuff blows up all over the place. And, oh yeah, keep your eyes open for the plane.
1. Aladdin
Disney California Adventure
A 50-minute retelling of Disney's animated classic, California Adventure's "Aladdin" paved the way for Disney's current Broadway hit and continues to entertainment visitors with an ever-refreshed script that allows the Genie to riff on pop culture while the rest of the production dazzles with wonderful songs and staging.
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I've made my thoughts about SeaWorld and captive marine mammals known before -- it's a complicated situation and there's no easy answer....I'm not going to get into that now, but I have to say that I was APPALLED the first (and hopefully last...) time I watched Blue Horizons.
I remember when that show was used as a platform to educate the audience about dolphins, belugas and false killer whales. The show as great, but you also learned something. BH, on the other hand, teaches nothing and is just an excuse to put aerial actors in the dolphin pool. The two main actors -- I hesitate to call them trainers -- didn't even look comfortable with the animals.
I don't know -- maybe the day I saw it was just an "off day" for the show or maybe I'm just over-sensitive about the issue in general. But I really thought this particular show was horrid. And this is coming from a long-time fan of everything Clyde and Seymore have ever done :-).
@Russell: thanks for getting "In the Big Blue World" stuck in my head. What an ear worm, from the same duo that brought us Frozen a few years later. I'm surprised it's not in the top 10, but can't really quibble with this list.
:((((
I watched #5 fantasy faire a few weeks ago. Excellent show, but it is rather modest in production values.
The Lion King show is well done, but over done. There's nothing interesting about it. The staging and storyline is so dull after repeat viewing. I wish they will do a non-traditional staging to make it more interesting. I can't deal with hearing that same song over and over again.
If you don't like that sort of thing then don't go to see the shows. But I for one will be grateful that I saw the original Shamu show for the rest of my life. It gave me an admiration for and an awe of those amazing creatures that I will carry with me forever. Before that it was an intellectual awe and concern. Having seen them in the flesh and watched them interact in the water with their trainers it was something real and emotional and personal and it left an impression no amount of educative videos could ever have done.
Sometimes good things happen because of less than perfect actions.
Glad to see Mystery Lodge there too, which was a must-do for me at Knott's after the reviews/articles on TPI about it.
Raveleijn in Efteling has...well just watch the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-uJdLfQUos
Very fun and cool show :)
Very Surprised to not see Nemo or Sea Lion Show on the this list
As for Shamu Show debate one simple fact answers the question for me: SeaWorld saves Animals and PETA executes animals
But then I am sort of wishing I could have the shows from 25+ years ago back. SeaWorld's shows peaked for me with the old Black & White Shamu show and the Night Magic show that used the theme music from Ladyhawk.... Yeah, I'll always sort of be stuck in the late 80's where SeaWorld is concerned :-).
@Tony Duda: On busy days, Fantasmic! (DL) plays two and sometimes three times a day.
I agree with most of the list; I haven't seen the Fantasy Faire version of Frozen yet despite several tries (and conflict of times) and, although I love me some Mystery Lodge, the last three times I've tried to see it, the "computer was down". This after going through the pre-show and waiting around in the main room. :(
There's a chance I've seen one or both of the SeaWorld San Diego shows. Not that memorable to me.
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