More Pet Shenanigans

[Nicole]

I can’t pretend that I will miss this show. When I saw it, the animals seemed unhappy and unwilling to perform tricks for our entertainment. It felt exploitative to both me and several people with me. I understand the value of the show as a way to support rescue operations, and I am told it isn’t always that uncomfortable to watch. Since I only can judge based on what I personally saw, I’m glad it is gone.

 

[Zachary]

I don't have any issue with the show, but I won't miss it either honestly. In a time when all entertainment is being cut to bits, More Pet Shenanigans seems like a weird show to save. I'd rather see that investment go towards more "required" entertainment products in theaters that "need" to be filled (read: Killarney & Oktoberfest).

If the show is dead, I am very curious to see what replaces it. Could we see another in-house zoo show like Howl To Coexist? Maybe the return of a bird show? I would honestly be super onboard with something like that. It would be considerably cheaper, more educational, and could evolve and change a lot more often than More Pet Shenanigans could.

 

[BGW Family]

More Pet Shenanigans is dead. Long live Threadneedle Faire.

 

[CastleOSullivan]

In some ways, I wish they would enclose the theater like the Stanleyville Theatre in Tampa. It would add a lot of flexibility to what they could put there. Still, the Pet Shenanigans Theater has a very nice environment with all the trees. It’s the type of thing that‘s rare nowadays.

Personally, though, I would prefer that they don’t put another animal show there for now. While perhaps sad/bittersweet for some; it seems like a blessing in disguise that they had a reason other than PR (or animal activists winning) to get rid of the show.

 

[Celticdog]

... Maybe the return of a bird show? I would honestly be super onboard with something like that. It would be considerably cheaper, more educational, and could evolve and change a lot more often than More Pet Shenanigans could.

I would love for them to add a bird show of similar caliber to Disney's Animal Kingdom's Flights of Wonder or Up! A Great Bird Adventure. Both were very good shows and as you stated educational. They are the classic "infotainment".

 

[Mushroom]

I’m sadder about another theater potentially sitting dark than I am about the loss of More Pets Shenanigans. More Pet Shenanigans was a cute show and I have lots of memories of watching it when I was a kid (or maybe that was just Pet Shenanigans, as if there’s a difference), but I only watched it once every few seasons, at most. The tricks and script didn’t change between shows, so it wasn’t very repeatable. That’s not a good quality for a show in a park that’s increasingly becoming a locals’ park.

Something like a return of a bird show to that theater would be perfect. It would be low budget and easy to produce, and since they can easily swap out animals and trainers like Howl to Coexist, it would stay fresh under repeated viewings. Win-win. They could even name it Feathered Follies as a nod to the Threadneedle Faire days.

 

[Eric]

(There is no Pets Ahoy thread so I'll put this here for now)

If these shows are truly lost for good then its really a travesty, especially in SeaWorld Orlando's case. Up until Sesame Street, the WaterFront was the most active area of the park, 2 or 3 street shows, Pets Ahoy, pearl divers, even a show in SeaFire Grill(the showroom remains open but the stage sits empty year-round). In recent years, piece by piece, the WaterFront's entertainment got chopped up piece by piece, as of September 2019(the firing of the Longshoremen who have been there since the lands opening in 2003), Pets Ahoy was the only entertainment left in the area. That being said, every time I went in January and February of this year, almost every showing of Pets Ahoy was filled to capacity, it is the only utilized indoor theater at the park. I hope they replace it, maybe run the show themselves to have more control over it.

As for More Pets Shenanigans, it is the second to the final nail in the coffin for the wildlife reserve, I believe its the show that runs the longest during the year, and with its loss, it is another thing that makes Busch Gardens less special and more like your average theme park now. It will truly be missed, I remember watching it every time I went growing up/

 

[tursiops]

I had gotten bored of them never changing the show after so many years, but my kids loved it. I'll miss it for that reason.

 

[Mamunia]

This show always put a smile on my face. It was just a cute, happy little show. I’ll be really sad if they don’t have another animal show.

 

[Dombot]

No, all of these are gone too.

View attachment 20539

...well, now I'm not happy.

 

[Ghost of Pretzel Kaiser]

I’m kind of sad about this show going if only for the strong adoption message.

 

[warfelg]

I’m kind of sad about this show going if only for the strong adoption message.

That's what I'll miss too. But I'll be honest a bit here, I'm not going to miss this show in general because I'm not a fan of animals trained to do stuff like that. In your home obedience and a trick or two (Maggie knows how to shake hands as a trick) I'm fine with. I rather have an informative show with animals than a tricks show.

 

[horsesboy]

Ok so I been quite on this till it leaked out. The shows were not simply canceled. Sea has paid the company basically nothing on the contract and has more or less bankrupted the company. From what I was told from reliable sources that are very familiar with the contract it was a quarterly payment and they did not even get paid for the first quarter of the year because of the timing of the shut down even though they were actively doing shows at some parks in that time frame. Putting them in the position to lay off 95 percent of their employees and forcing them to start to adopting out animals as their care cost grew. Many of their trainers are currently finding work other places and the time and money that it would cost to reopen the shows at the Busch and Sea World parks makes it extremely unlikely that you would ever see them back again. I have also been told that the company is actively exploring legal means to recoup what they should have been paid for this year which likely means there is going to be some bad blood also making it unlikely that they will ever be back.

 

[VonDerrick]

That's what I'll miss too. But I'll be honest a bit here, I'm not going to miss this show in general because I'm not a fan of animals trained to do stuff like that. In your home obedience and a trick or two (Maggie knows how to shake hands as a trick) I'm fine with. I rather have an informative show with animals than a tricks show.

The tricks weren't anything too outrageous and nothing I'd be upset with. It's also not like they force them. I have been to several shows at the different parks and there have been plenty of times when an animal doesn't want to perform, they continue on. They also wouldn't delay the show waiting for them to do the trick either.

The purpose of the show was meant to show how you can train your pet and play with each other.

 

[Nicole]

That is the opposite of what I observed. The cat nearly fell off the wire. They picked a dog up and put it on stage, when it refused to go through the door.

Several of the animals looked unhappy.

My impression was that they were trying to get the animals to do preset tricks, rather than adapting the show to their natural proclivities.

 

[The Quist]

To be fair, if you ask the average cat to do anything other than eat, sleep or lick themselves, they are probably gonna look unhappy.

 

[warfelg]

Several of the animals looked unhappy.

My impression was that they were trying to get the animals to do preset tricks, rather than adapting the show to their natural proclivities.

This too is the issue I had with the show. It reminded me of the (to me) most cringetastic scene in ASP's GG run when Jason had the beagle and all it could do is "move a little to the left". I'm a firm believer that preset tricks should be something the dog shows aptitude for before teaching them to do it.

 

[CastleOSullivan]

One thing that I found the most awkward about the show was the occasional performance when the trainers “just weren’t feeling it” during the adoption segment. That was a beautiful scene, but I sometimes wished they would skip that scene when the trainers were having an off day, and just going through the motions.

I mean, it has to be a stressful job; especially when you are on a time crunch. It also takes impeccable theatrical abilities to improvise when things don’t go as planned.

Curious: does anyone know how much the park enforced time restrictions on the show, or anything about the park’s interference in general?

 

[belsaas]

This may mean I was actually there for the final show of More Pet Shenanigans. Unless it ran at all during Christmas Town, but I definitely went on the last day of HoS.

 

[Jahrules]

It does not run at all for CT