Shows and parades

[FaceYourNemesis]

Am I only one that doesn't care much when it comes to park shows and the like? I know they play a major part in the ultimate theme park experience, but I don't have the patience to sit through singing and dancing if there's a top notch B&M within the vicinity.

 

[ATTACKHAMMER]

I don't normally care about shows if there is rides to be ridden! But when I go to Florida I do go and see some shows because of the heat and the fact you get to sit down for a little while.

 

[Gangster4Life]

Can't

stand

parades

or shows :twisted:

 

[nadroJ]

Disney shows and parades, yes. Other parks......no. The show at Efteling was infamously terrible, the show at Europa Park was....OK at best. I wanted to see the show at BGW but we never got around to it, but I wasn't exactly upset at not seeing it.

I imagine somewhere like Dollywood would put on some good shows, but generally I can miss them. Stuff like Dreams and Worlds of Color were just mindblowing, so they can be really worth taking the time out to watch, but literally Disney is the only place where I've been wowed by a show like that, other than Las Vegas.

 

[Nicky]

It does depend on the quality of the shows and also how much time I am at the park. I have seen them at Disney, obviously, but also Europa Park, Asterix, Plopsaland, SeaWorld etc. It's normally when we have done other things but we do fit our day around them unless they are dire e.g. Madagascar Live.

 

[Thekingin64]

I don't usually do them unless I'm at the park for a few days.

The African acrobat show near Kumali at FL is worth a watch.

 

[peep]

If I have the time I will force the peeps with me to see everything. I feel like if I don't see/do everything a park has to offer that I'm going to miss out on something amazing.

If I wasn't so petty about it I would have missed out on the incredible stunt show at Asterix or the funny stunt show at Phantasialand to name a few.

However I'm getting really bored of parades (even Disney ones), I think I may have just seen too many of them last year and it ended up annoying me because there was never really anything exciting or different about them.

 

[marc]

^When Mr Smee passes out that adds to it lol.

I only really bother with the Disney ones in the main park now days as they just don't update the ones in the other parks enough.

I don't bother with the electric one now as seen it to much.

The Pixar one at California adventure was very good.

We caught the end of the one at Europa park but it was poor.

 

[TilenB]

The only good show that springs to mind is the Action show in Mirabilandia, other were mostly ****

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

Hmm, I'll see shows if it's a park where they're essential to the entire experience, such as Disney and whatnot, but other than that I don't usually care. If there's not much to do at a park and I need something as a filler I'll go see a show as well, but they're usually not that good.

I think the only shows I've consciously sit down and watched apart from at any of the Disney parks I've been to would be Special Effects at Universal, Batman at the old Six Flags Worlds of Adventure, various Sea World shows, some shows at Marineland when I was a kid.. And yah that's probably about it. If I see a show on I might stop by and watch for a minute or two, but not stay for the entire thing.

 

[Rachel]

Never really been a fan of shows, I'd rather be on the rides, but I probably will bother with the Disney ones.

 

[Mike]

I love shows, and feel that the UK really, really lacks them.

I can only think of a few UK parks that do shows (the acrobat thing at Flamingo Land and the Sealion show at Pleasurewood Hills come to mind), and I think that's a great shame as shows massively add to the theme park experience. Unless you've got a park that can take up a whole day just doing rides (Alton Towers is the only UK park in this category in my opinion, but even then they've got a show in the Ice Age thing anyway, plus Hex is half-show half-ride), every park should have a show.

Disney obviously does the best shows, shortly followed by the Universal Parks, and SeaWorlds also do good shows, and just look at how popular these parks are. The shows and parades these parks offer complete the experience. You can never go too wrong with an animal or acrobat/stunt show, and guests lap it up every time.

Parades, on the other hand, are alright but I wouldn't really care if a park had one or not... But then again, you might end up with something like the AWESOME Warner Bros. Movie World parade if you do.

 

[caffeine_demon]

Shows are ok to chill out too - but I hate parades, they just get in your way trying to get around the place!

 

[elephant58]

In November, I went on a scout trip to Drayton. The plan was to watch the fireworks, which were impressive, but short. For most of that time, however, I was frantically trying to find my friends - only to realise they had been in the queue for Maelstrom (right behind me) for the past 20 minutes.

 

[Mysterious Sue]

I don't mind shows and parades, but I'll make sure I get everything else cred-wise done first.
I'd rather do a show or parade than a **** 4D cinema any day. Those things are such a waste of time.

 

[gavin]

Saying that Sea World do good shows is sort of superfluous. The parks are built around animal teasing shows; the rides and coasters are an afterthought and came much later to bring something extra to the shows.

It depends with me. I'll try and do as much as possible with my day, and often that will include a show or two. I'll tend not to plan a day around them, but if they're on while I'm in the general area, then I'll pop in. I won't bother with some crappy thing on a random stage in the middle of a park or something - those things with tarts in sequins getting people to clap along and s**t - but if there's a purpose built building for it, then I'll make more of an effort as, in theory, the show should be something quite decent.

The best two I can think of off hand are the Lion King thing at Hong Kong Disney and the Little Mermaid thing at DisneySea. The Chinese acrobat thing at Port Aventura was ok as well, mostly for the semi-naked gaysians, granted.

Parades, apart from anything at night with flashy lights, can generally **** off. AIDS on floats.

 

[furie]

I love shows, and feel that the UK really, really lacks them.

That's because - unless there are actual professionals involved - UK shows are **** because we're too embarrassed as a race to do them well.

Alton used to have two shows (Cloud Cuckoo Land and the Pirate Show). Both were dreadful. The Pirate show still runs, and is dreadful.

To be fair, the pirates are excellent, but the show is so badly written - it's the worst kind of scraggy kid's panto ever.

I saw a fantastic Lion King show at DLRP in 2004 and, erm, that's it. Never seen a good show, but I find them really tedious when I could be outside eating an ice-cream of something far more entertaining.

Madame_Furie tends to force us to shows because, as a mother, she thinks it's something the family should do together. It's kind of the same thing for funerals, only funerals usually have at least one major bust up over who got the cactus [insert name of deceased here] loved and somebody too drunk to remember their own name. So funerals are better entertainment.

The kids certainly don't like the shows - though Maxi-Minor_Furie has an odd compulsion for the pirate show at Alton. I suspect it's because it's something we've always gone to there since he was a toddler so it's kind of part of a routine rather than because he enjoys it.

 

[Mysterious Sue]

The pirate show at Legoland always draws a huge crowd, although I've never managed to catch more than five minutes of it myself. I guess shows work better in family-friendly parks like Disney and Legoland.

 

[Martyn B]

For the smaller parks in the UK, the shows really do make a difference. This is why I rate Pleasure Island above Lightwater Valley. LWV just has rides. Kids rides, thrill rides, and coasters. Where as PI also has 2 decent dark rides and 3 good shows.

At the smaller parks where there isn't much to do, the shows can make the day out better.

 

[Lofty]

If it's a Disney show, without doubt I'd make the effort to see it. Another one is when parks do their Halloween stuff, I always make the effort to go seeing the shows. PortAventura also put on some pretty good shows and a lot of their performers are VERY talented and are actually worth seeing, especially the singers.