Finally made it back to SeaWorld! I know, I'm so slow at that. But Cirque and Believe called, so I obliged. I got there right before the first showing of "Believe" (the new Shamu show) for the day - it doesn't officially open until Saturday, but soft openings are going on now...

I'll start by saying it's not as bad as I thought it might be, but it's not the big "spectacular" show it's billed as, either. IMHO, it's pretty par for the course. It opens with video of a boy carving a whale's tail into a necklace, mixed with shots of wild killer whales. Soon, he gets into a kayak and ends up coming face-to-face with a killer whale. I think that was supposed to be him dremaing, but I'm not sure. Anyways, the whole show then launches into a theme of believing in your dreams. The story starts off strong and dramatic, which had my hopes up. But after the introduction, it really drops off into your typical Shamu show. The finale is this weird routine where they get everyone to make a "W" shape with your hands and chant "Shamu!" to get him to splash you. The kids got into it, but it goes on. And on. And on. And ZOMG CAN WE STOP THE W THING NOW?! But the kicker for me is the lack of an educational component. It looks like there's a bit in the preshow (I came into the stadium just a few minutes before showtime, so I missed most of that) - but the show itself offers nothing educational. I've ranted about that before, so I won't here, but suffice it to say that bugs the crap outta me.

For all their crowing about the new innovative behaviors and such, I didn't see much that was too different than anything that they've done before. At the very least, there was nothing creative enough that it stuck out in my mind. The moving video screens are a cool touch, but sadly a novelty wears off quickly and leaves you wondering where the real spectacle is. Also, I'm not sure about this - to the people of my f-list who've seen the show, are the right two screens supposed to have a smaller picture like that? I couldn't decide whether it was a technical difficulty (as this is a soft opening) or it was supposed to look "artistic." It looks dumb. The fountains were minimal, and nothing really new.

That said, it had some nice points. I liked how they tied the kid picked from the audience into the finale. The kid gets a whale tail necklace like the one in the opening video, and they tie it all together by showing side-by-side on the screen the kid from the beginning, photos of a couple of trainers featured in the show, and the kid from the audience, all wearing the necklace. The music was cute - if they were to release a CD, I'd probably buy it, but it wouldn't be like Blue Horizons where I'd be dying to have a copy.

One nitpick on the dialogue - at one point, a trainer tells one of their favorite stories about their experience. Today's trainer talked about something that happened in the underwater viewing, and asked who had been down there. Like two of us raised our hands. Why? IT'S STILL CLOSED, and has been for MONTHS. She then went on to gush over how it was her favorite place in the park. I guarantee you, people were scratching their heads and wondering where they missed that part of the exhibit. *headdesk*

Bottom line? It's a cute show. I'll give them that. If you're expecting something fresh and innovative, keep walking. It's better than the ripped-up Shamu Adventure we've had over the last couple of years, but not as good as the original version of the Shamu Adventure.

After that it was on to the sea lion stadium. DING DONG, DEEP DEEP TROUBLE IS DEAD! Not that I'm happy about that or anything. :P Anyways, the rumored shutdown that was talked about since last summer happened ('bout damn time!) and the set has been redone a bit. The best part, though - they're showing Sea Lions Tonite while it's being reworked. YAY! Sea Lions Tonite has always been one of my faves - it's fudging HILARIOUS. Unfortunately, they forced "Survivor" and "American Idol" segments in there, and they're kinda lame and really not very funny. Also unfortunately, the audience is now missing out on a HUGE chunk of the jokes - as the show is several years old, it spoofs the Shamu Adventure right down to the wetsuits, music, and even word-for-word dialogue. Hilarious to me, but left much of the audience (who has been seeing Believe now) staring blankly. Oh, but they have a walrus back in the show now. YAY! It's been ages since I've seen a walrus in their shows.

Sadly, Cirque didn't end up having any soft openings today as originally planned, but they did run a rehearsal in the afternoon that I watched from the stadium gates. I couldn't see poles or hand-to-hand really from there, but I'll live. Even got a chance to talk to some of the performers I knew from last year - WOO! It was fun to catch up with people. And OMG, they TOTALLY changed the bungee routine from last year. Like, completely. Y'all don't have to try and catch the performer with the motor at the end of the segment? No fair! Damn, how many times did I knock one of them with that weight? Anyways, I was SO glad to see that show again. Didn't see many other major changes - just a few choreography moves here and there. Did they take the PWCs out of the preshow altogether? Or were they just not being used today? And dude, why is it that on the day I'm there, sana_chan, richiied, AND Anel all aren't working? No fair! :P

I came home after that, and my parents arrived and we went out to Outback for dinner. Yaaaaay, steak! Sounds like we'll be going to SeaWorld tomorrow, 'cause they wanna see that. No complaint here - Cirque is supposed to start soft openings tomorrow for real this time. :P And some of you previously mentioned better be working, dammit! :P

Just got all my pics for the day uploaded - I went a bit photo crazy. Lots of Believe, Sea Lions Tonite, and Cirque de la Mer!

Also, my freezer died today, and that makes me sad. *waves byebye to the ice cream*