jedimaster1227 Posted September 12, 2011 Posted September 12, 2011 (edited) So last week I had the opportunity to attend a brief but memorable announcement presentation for the new Marrakesh Theater show to debut in 2012 for Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. The theater has a well known history of hosting world class ice skating shows, and did so up until Katonga was brought in for its lengthy run. Now that Cirque Dreams: Jungle Fantasy has ended its run, Busch Gardens is ready to bring in a new act while returning to its roots. Park President Jim Dean noted during the presentation that in terms of entertainment feedback, the call for a new ice skating show was overwhelming and has been since the last show of the same kind was ended. Iceploration will tell the story of a grandfather trying to open the eyes of his grandson to the world outside of cell phones and computers. The show will visit the ocean, the rainforest, the arctic and the jungle, and will be the first ice skating show of its kind to feature live animals. [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=00000_mq5f[/coastertube] This sign was at the entrance of the park, and park employees were passing out cards reminding guests of the announcement before rope drop. This is the guy that sent a personalized message to TPR teasing Cheetah Hunt a year ago! Set to debut on February 2nd, 2012. The park's head of entertainment gave us some background on the show. You can see that the former sets for Katonga/Cirque Dreams are beginning to be removed. Huge set pieces will accent this ambitious new show. Lush set designs will help set to the tone for each act. Guests will see an Aurora Borealis via a spectacular light show contained within Iceploration. The rainforest will play host to several new characters for the park... Including these two tree frogs... And this dragonfly. Elsewhere in the show, these two huskies will be featured. After the show, we were treated to slices of this impressive cake! Breakfast! I don't know if you know this, but I like cake. Elsewhere in the park, preparation for the return of Howl-O-Scream is well underway. Deconstruction: The Doctor is Out of his Mind! is almost ready to go. Over in Egypt, several werewolf statues have been placed. They've got a DarKastle feel to them, if you ask me. Howl-at-the-moon-O-Scream! Cheetah Hunt is seriously a great addition to the park's stellar lineup. Some good airtime going on here! Such a fun spectator element! About to crest the top of the best airtime hill in the park... It is no wonder that Dan Koch of Holiday World was at Busch Gardens that day riding Cheetah Hunt with Mark Rose, VP of Design and Engineering for Busch Gardens. Scooter's jeep from the old water section of Rhino Rally was retained when Cheetah Hunt was built into the existing area. The new animal care facility is well on its way to being topped off. And it is a very large facility! I'm in love. Oh, and this. Going to the park on a weekday means very little lines. For the first time since Jungala debuted, I could finally get into the pop-up without waiting 30 minutes! Slightly Twistee! Megacroc! You took Chubb's hand! My lengthy Harry Potter report put him to sleep... Ditto. This looks great! Death Row Vengeance: Fear the Dead is nearly complete. Such detail! One more reason to be thrilled about Busch Gardens Bash! Bush Baby!!! Zabumafoo's like vuvuzela's too! It wouldn't be Florida if there weren't pink flamingos! I love sloths! I mean really, what's not to love? Since nobody knew about Curiosity Caverns the last time I posted a Busch Gardens trip report, I went back for more. It's tucked in the back of the park, and never has more than a few guests in it at one time. Index? Lemurs sleep in packs. While not a rodent, I feel like this is adorable enough to be a Disney character someday. Gila Monster!!! Edited September 14, 2011 by jedimaster1227
jedimaster1227 Posted September 12, 2011 Author Posted September 12, 2011 (Continued) On our way out... They are too big! Hours after the announcement, Busch Gardens had already posted a sign confirming the debut of Iceploration. They also confirmed that a Christmas show with ice skating will debut. It's huge! This sign was recently added to the exit of Cheetah Hunt. NightShade Toys has moved to a new location this year, with its entrance close to the entrance plaza for the park. Despite sharing the theme with Williamsburg, our event is going to be very different. They're watching... Always watching... The Shop of Horrors has reopened for the season! Some clever new shirts are for sale in the shop... Hehehe Tis true. Bryan Stoll does. Some returning props have been zombified. Mugs and stuff... Lots to be bought... They have an Angry Birds claw game! Even the nurses got the eye-rose treatment. Happily Never After? They had a dark garden in the shop... A section with merchandise from last year's event is also here. It's called Sylvie's Closet. I miss Sylvie! All of the houses on the traditional shirt... Thanks for reading!
SharkTums Posted September 12, 2011 Posted September 12, 2011 Animals in the ice skating show...I fear though they won't actually put the animals in skates...that would be awesome.
QueerRudie Posted September 12, 2011 Posted September 12, 2011 I've never been one to do a lot of shows at parks, but Busch Garden's shows are always worth the effort to see- they have had a great series of 'wins' in the parks... Animals in the ice skating show...I fear though they won't actually put the animals in skates...that would be awesome. I could SO see this, though: Put a Tiger/Lion/Cheeta on skates, and put two penguins out- and watch the hilarity ensue!
dragonskeep Posted September 12, 2011 Posted September 12, 2011 This is really good news and a great response by the park. The show sounds great and I'm sure they will do a good job with it. The story is timely as hell, kids need to go check out the world.
jjune4991 Posted September 12, 2011 Posted September 12, 2011 30 minutes for the tiger pop-up? I've never seen it that bad!
aimster Posted September 14, 2011 Posted September 14, 2011 I could SO see this, though: Put a Tiger/Lion/Cheeta on skates, and put two penguins out- and watch the hilarity ensue! Ok that just made me laugh REALLY hard because it gave me the most hilarious mental image.
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