For this week’s Theme Park Rangers Radar, we crank up the Not-So-Wayback Machine to check out SeaWorld Orlando dolphin shows, an Olympic diver and the ghost of animatronic Ellen DeGeneres.
Radar is a weekly compilation of attraction news, notes, splashes and fading memories. It publishes on Wednesdays at OrlandoSentinel.com.
In preparation for a National Dolphin Day story, I visited with Michael Hunt, curator for dolphins at SeaWorld Orlando. He explained last year’s changes to the park’s dolphin presentation, which is now called “Dolphin Adventures.”
“The shows that we were doing before that were more entertainment-based or more theatrical, inspired our visitors in a way and in a way that’s a little bit different than what we’re doing now,” Hunt said. “But what we wanted to do was create a show presentation that showed our guests how cool it is to be a dolphin.”
Remember the old “Blue Horizons” show, which closed in 2017, had costumed performers, divers and a soaring soundtrack alongside the dolphins. The new show has more of an educational emphasis, Hunt said.
“It still has moments where dolphins are splashing and jumping and flipping and then spinning. But the message you take home is being a dolphin is pretty cool,” he said.
The set was redecorated, moving from big round blue pieces with bursts of orange. Now there’s natural rock, live foliage and coquina.
“One of the things that we did to help tell the dolphin story was put the story in a setting that would be where you might find dolphins,” Hunt said. “So the idea is, are we off the coast of the Florida Keys? Are we in Sarasota? Are we in St. Augustine? Are we near the Bahamas? All of the range of where you find these animals. … We added the coquina to the mix to sort of give the pool a feel that was as if you were off of Duval Street somewhere.”
The pools were repainted from blue to a tone that’s more like what one sees off the coast of Florida, he said.
“While it is sort of moving around the furniture, so to speak, it’s changed the perception of the guests,” Hunt said. “It’s allowed them to sort of become engaged with our story, and take on the messaging to be able to inspire the next generation of advocates for nature.”
Standing backstage at the dolphin pool gave me an odd flashback. Picture it, SeaWorld Orlando, 2008. Tom Daley, British diving phenom, gives a performance that includes going into the water from ray-shaped diving boards that were used in the “Blue Horizons” show.
It was odd even at the time. Daley, then 14, was fairly unknown in the States, but there were plenty of Brits on hand to watch him make multiple trips into the water.
I was there, but according to Sentinel records, I didn’t write anything. We had already alerted readers that it was going to happen, and, honestly, it didn’t feel that newsy. This was a time before Twitter, boys and girls, when every breath wasn’t judged and instantly published.
There have been other Daley-SeaWorld connections since then, including another unusual incident in 2015, when he allowed his body to be painted as a shark for arty shots to raise awareness.
[ Tom Daley strikes (painted-on) shark pose for SeaWorld ]
Of course, Daley, now 27, went on to success and fame, winning Olympic medals in 2012, 2016 and 2021 during the postponed 2020 Olympic Games.
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I passed up a chance to meet him at SeaWorld. I remember thinking it was way more important to the Brits queued up for that. Later, the SeaWorld public relations team sent me an autographed photo of him with the inscription “to my favorite theme park ranger.”
(I got another chance at an Olympian encounter with swimmer Michael Phelps at Magic Kingdom, direct off the plane from China after his wins in Beijing in 2008. But that’s another story.)
Walt Disney World has been unveiling bits about Epcot’s upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind coaster, including music, décor, characters and opening date (May 27). But before we wipe our memory banks, here are three thoughts about its predecessor, Ellen’s Energy Adventure:
1. The animatronic version of talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres was allegedly purchased for her by her staff after the attraction closed in 2017. Details are confusing, as Imagineers and publicists weren’t very exacting about where it was purchased, from whom, if it was the original gears and garb, etc. But it made for good TV.
[ Flashback: The last go-around on Ellen’s ride ]
2. Walking in from the cavernous preshow room to board the ride vehicles, which were giant floating theaters that moved from scene to scene, reminded me of entering a cathedral.
3. I believe the whole thing took 45 minutes and was considered by many wags to be a nice place to nap during a hot Florida day. The attraction had plenty of critics, to be sure, but that started fading after its closure was announced. See also: Maelstrom, Shrek 4-D, American Idol Experience, Lights! Motors! Action!
What’s on your radar? Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com.