We gotta bring this thread back. Was this the worst show ever at BGW?
Was Entwined BGW's Worst Show Ever?
- Thread starter CedarGardens
- Start date
Thanks for reminding me this atrocity existed. Now my workday will be even more miserable.
No. Killarney Kommotion and Wunderbarn existed.
Also, semi-related: I almost have nostalgia for some of these horrible early/mid 2010s Scott shows now. They represent a time when the biggest criticism of BGW was that some of their entertainment had become INCREDIBLY bad/cringy. How quaint. Today it feels like the issues in the park are dramatically more dire—eroding the guest experience and the park's reputation in ways that I would have never thought imaginable back then. Give me the hay day of these bad shows over the current state of the park any day.
Last edited:
I miss the first year of illuminights, even though it was way more than the park could handle.
I don't think I was here for the first year of illuminights - what made that year in particular special?
As someone that wasn’t around at that time, and has been to parks that were worse (Dorney, Kennywood, hack even Hershey at one point, Six Flags) it’s amazing to see these types of conversations despite the fact I still look at BGW favorably compared to theirs most times.
The tone of the original IllumiNights shows was generally more magical and festive than goofy. See: Giardino Magico and The Parisian Promenade
Counterpoint: clocktoberfest
They were trying things that the park had never done before. They had fireworks every single night all summer long. They had a parade and shows on every street corner.
It was all exciting, new, and extremely ambitious. Over the years events have become smaller and focused way more on food and beverage sales. I really don't think that there's been another event since that conveyed the same excitement for so much new stuff to see at the park. I'm sure the thread on these forums is a trip.
I miss the dedication to the hamlets and the attention to detail in the theming, but I've had 7 years to come to terms with the idea that BGW is an amusement park now and I enjoy the park as it is now for what it is (which might be a hot take?).
Oh wow... I would've loved that!
Oh wow... I would've loved that!
I think London Rocks 2016 was the horrific pinnacle of bad theme park shows. The changes they made to an aggressively mediocre show into an even worse one, was something that I don't ever want to experience again.
It was a parade that only lasted one year.
Especially back at that time before BGW had really begun their path widening, a parade was just a logistical nightmare unfortunately.
I dont think I ever saw London Rocks after the 2014 season
I did, the 2015 revision was the same in quality as the 2014 version, pretty meh all around. But the 2016 version forced me to think if the people behind those changes were on bath salts.
My kids forced my wife and me to sit through London Rocks every year it played. We love our kids, but that was a gut-check moment nonetheless: "Do they really need to be happy right now?" Inaugural year of LR was, in retrospect, utterly cohesive and coherent when compared with what the show eventually became, before it was taken out behind the barn.
But while LR was pretty terrible even in year one, IMO it was clearly better than Entwined. I have to admit that LR seemed like a real crowd pleaser during that first year, as I heard more than one compliment from randos on the way to the exits. I assume they were simple-pleasures types, but they paid as much to get in as we did. Maybe more, actually.
Entwined, on the other hand... even my kids were completely confused and put off by that thing. Festhaus was and still remains a pretty terrible place to stage shows that rely on extensive dialogue, any sort of narrative intricacy... but there I go, giving Entwined entirely too much credit. It was just all-around bad, and the stage that arrived with it is a sad configuration for that space to this day.
My vote for worst ever goes to Killarney Kommotion. We happened to spot it in action while strolling through the park one evening, and did not stop moving our feet or even slow down a bit. Just kept walking, heads slowly counter-swiveling to take in the bizarre scene. Said nothing until we were clear. Prevailing theme of the subsequent conversation was confusion and extensive questioning of need.
But while LR was pretty terrible even in year one, IMO it was clearly better than Entwined. I have to admit that LR seemed like a real crowd pleaser during that first year, as I heard more than one compliment from randos on the way to the exits. I assume they were simple-pleasures types, but they paid as much to get in as we did. Maybe more, actually.
Entwined, on the other hand... even my kids were completely confused and put off by that thing. Festhaus was and still remains a pretty terrible place to stage shows that rely on extensive dialogue, any sort of narrative intricacy... but there I go, giving Entwined entirely too much credit. It was just all-around bad, and the stage that arrived with it is a sad configuration for that space to this day.
My vote for worst ever goes to Killarney Kommotion. We happened to spot it in action while strolling through the park one evening, and did not stop moving our feet or even slow down a bit. Just kept walking, heads slowly counter-swiveling to take in the bizarre scene. Said nothing until we were clear. Prevailing theme of the subsequent conversation was confusion and extensive questioning of need.
The paths were once more narrow?! BGW and Herschend parks currently have some of the l most narrow paths of any major thene park. These parks are absolutely miserable to maneuver in a crowd.
I never saw Entwined. But I agree London Rocks was an incohesive disaster. And it had some great talent that the audience never got to hear fully perform because ever song was a snippet.
Last edited:
Yep. The path widening initiatives are fairly recent developments. The biggest changes have been in Heatherdowns, the Wild Reserve, Aquitaine, and San Marco.
