2012 Best Attraction Tournament: Best Demonstration Show?

February 13, 2012, 11:53 AM · Long before the era of DVD extras, if you wanted to know how filmmakers created their movie magic, you probably learned about that while watching a theme park show. Today's nominees in the 2012 Theme Park Insider Tournament are readers' top five demonstration shows, passing along the insiders' secrets and techniques of special effects, make-up and animation.

Four of these are obvious entries in the category. I've included Disaster! for its demonstration elements at the beginning of the attraction. Disaster! also includes the old Earthquake ride, but the attraction didn't rate highly enough to be eligible in the dark ride categories, so I slipped it in here. If you're wondering about Universal Studios Hollywood's Studio Tour, that attraction is more ride than demonstration show these days, and was included among the top five in the narrated ride category earlier in the tournament.

Voting is open for 24 hours.

Disaster! - at Universal Studios Florida

Disaster!

Lights! Camera! Action! Hosted by Steven Spielberg - at Universal Studios Singapore

Lights! Camera! Action! Hosted by Steven Spielberg

The Magic of Disney Animation - at Disney's Hollywood Studios, and in altered form at Disney California Adventure and Walt Disney Studios Paris

The Magic of Disney Animation

Special Effects Stage - at Universal Studios Hollywood

Special Effects Stage

Universal's Horror Make-up Show - at Universal Studios Florida

Universal's Horror Make-up Show


Tomorrow: It's our final roller coaster category, as we vote on the best-of-the-rest of the Bolliger & Mabillard coasters.

Replies (10)

February 13, 2012 at 12:06 PM · Went with Disaster. The audience participation is cheesy but fun if you volunteer and are chosen (I did once and it was embarassing), and pretty funny for the audience as well (due to the bad acting). This attraction also has the haulogram working in its favor, and the subway ride, despite essentially being a holdover from Earthquake, at the end is fun.

I'd put the Horror Makeup Show second-it was pretty funny especially the "prune/constapation" scene.

Special Effects Stage and Lights, Camera, Action also sound interesting (never seen either) and would tie for third.

The Magic of Disney Animation would finish last--it is apparantly a shell of its former self because there are no actual animators left in the Orlando version.

February 13, 2012 at 12:20 PM · I was on the fence between Disaster, which was fantastically improved with the addition of Christopher Walken and other audience participation stuff, and the Horror Make up show. I have to side with the Make-Up show because I love horror movies and have so much respect for the artists, especially Rick Baker and Tom Savini.
February 13, 2012 at 12:29 PM · Have to go with Horror Make Up, the only one in this group that could be competive in the following rounds. And also the most engaging even if your not "the kid", the person who won't give mouth to mouth or the non english speaking woman picked for the show, Alex Ross and Mark James make for the funniest show in theme parks with due respect to Clyde and Seymore at Sea World. While Disaster has more fire power it can't create the memories and Art of Animations best moments are voiced by Eddie Murphy in his other carton movie.

While Make Up Show is Universal equilvant to Disney's Living with the Land in that its a highly rated attraction with virtually no fanfaire, no promo and I always hear people as they are leaving commenting "I didn't know this was here"

Maybe a deep run in the tourney can change that for one of Orlando's least talked about attractions

February 13, 2012 at 12:45 PM · I'm surprised the Horror Makeup show is winning. It was funny the first time, but severely uninformative.
February 13, 2012 at 2:09 PM · If you watch the HMUS on You Tube, the one guy asked, "Where did you get that hair?" then the other guy said, "Britney Spear's back." That alone makes it the clear winner here.
February 13, 2012 at 5:26 PM · I adore the amount of elbow room that the performers in the Horror Makeup Show get when it comes to adlibs.

It got my vote!

February 13, 2012 at 5:35 PM · Dom:
I thought you would go with Magic of Disney Animation because of your Universal boycott lol.
February 13, 2012 at 8:28 PM · Disaster, for sure. But it won't survive another round, even if it pulls the upset here.
February 13, 2012 at 8:36 PM · Nah, Skipper Adam seems like the Disney fanboy. He only likes Spiderman and Mummy I think.
February 14, 2012 at 5:40 PM · Oh, the irony.

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