Review: La Nouba Cirque du Soleil at DtD

I was recently offered the chance to see La Nouba with complimentary admission, and I was happy to accept since I wanted to compare its performance today to the one I hold in my memory.

I'd seen the show maybe six years ago, with a toddler in tow, and he was a cranky terror so we have hesitated to go back. In the meantime, I'd also taken in my second Cirque du Soleil show--Mystere in Las Vegas. My impressions of Mystere were far less positive than what I'd thought of La Nouba. After a few years, I started to wonder if La Nouba was as good as I'd thought. Or was it just memory playing tricks on me?

No tricks. The show stands up these years later and reconfirmed for me that my initial reaction was appropriate. It's just a good show. I normally do not consider myself a circus kind of person; in fact, quite the opposite. But this show--with trapeze acts, trampoline work, tightrope walking, BMX bikes, jugglers, and all sorts of clown tomfoolery--is enjoyable for pretty much any audience I can imagine. There's something uniquely odd and yet endearing about the humor of a show like this. It's chock full of random set decorations and costumes that channel Orwell at the same time as Charlie Chaplin. The juxtapositions are jarring, but somehow it all works together.

A few sequences were different. Most of the first twenty minutes looked unfamiliar to me (though maybe that was memory playing tricks again). The crowd favorite, and my own as well, was still the four little Chinese girls who twirled their diabolos (Chinese yo-yos) in an amazing feat, made all the more improbable by their impossibly young ages. The crowd always loves them.

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Kevin Yee is the author of numerous independent Disney books, including the popular Walt Disney World Earbook series and Walt Disney World Hidden History.

Press Release: discounts to first responders at La Nouba

Press Release:

La Nouba salutes Florida’s Emergency First Responders with Local Heroes Offer

Emergency Personnel get 35% off Category 3 seats

Lake Buena Vista, Fla. – La Nouba by Cirque du Soleil introduces a Local Heroes offer for Florida’s police officers, firefighters and emergency medical service personnel in honor of their service to our communities. The Cirque du Soleil show, located at Downtown Disney’s West Side, wanted to kick off the new year with a special rate that salutes everyday heroes. “This is La Nouba’s way of saying ‘thank you’ to those who make a difference in the lives of our artists, employees and guests,” says Neil Boyd, Company Manager for La Nouba.

Seen by more than 8 million guests, La Nouba features high wire and flying trapeze acts, stunning acro-gymnastic performances and other dynamic displays of coordination and strength.  

The Local Heroes offer features 35% off Category 3 seats starting January 17. The discount applies to Tuesday through Saturday performances from January 29 through March 9. La Nouba is performed exclusively at Downtown Disney® West Side at Walt Disney World® Resort.

TICKET INFORMATION  The Local Heroes Offer Category 3 seats for La Nouba are $48.75 (adult) and $39.00 (child), plus tax. Tickets are available for purchase online at cirquedusoleil.com/lanouba, by phone at (407) 939-7328 or at the box office located on the plaza level of the theater. Florida Emergency Responder Personnel ID required. Tickets are subject to availability and restrictions apply.  

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE  Tuesdays through Saturdays at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.  The theater is dark Sundays and Mondays. For details, visit Cirquedusoleil.com/LaNouba.  

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Kevin Yee is the author of numerous independent Disney books, including the popular Walt Disney World Earbook series and Walt Disney World Hidden History.

Rainy days in Orlando - where to go?

It rains in Orlando in the summer. That's just the way it is. The rainy season is the summer, when fronts from both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean meet each other directly over Disney property. Sometimes the rain is quick, but other times it lasts all day. If the forecast calls for a day of rain, where do you go?

Here's a list of several options for you to consider. Feel free to suggest your own in the comments as well!

• DisneyQuest. This is the first, and most obvious, suggestion for rain days. If you don't know it, it's next to Cirque du Soleil (another rain choice!) in Downtown Disney. For one admission price, you get unlimited arcade games, plus several other "attractions" that use cutting-edge interactive media. For 1994, that is. You'll find better graphics on those "attractions" in your older xbox, but don't sweat it. There's still a lot of fun in this multistory building. 
• Smaller Orlando. A rain day is a perfect time to string together the "quarter-day" attractions in Orlando, such as Ripley's Believe it or not, WonderWorks, Titanic Exhibit, iFly indoor skydiving, Airheads trampolines, or the indoor surfing at Fantasy Surf. You might also like the unique Putting Edge mini golf, with black light. 

• Fantasy of Flight. For some folks, this might be a half day experience, but it's a tiny ways afield of WDW. It's got a first-rate museum and walk through simulations, then dozens of (indoor) planes to climb on and around. 
• Shop. If your vacation plans include outlet malls, there's a big one, mostly covered from rain, called Orlando Premium Outlets. Or try the covered, more traditional Florida mall. 
• Dinner Show. There is no shortage of dinner shows in Orlando: medieval, pirate, horse, or gangster themed choices abound. 
• Water parks. This is counter-intuitive, which makes it a fantastic choice. Most people abandon water parks when it rains, so you will find lines and crowds nonexistent. And really - you're already wet! One caveat, and it's a huge one: the parks won't let you stay in the water (and sometimes, not even in the park) if lightning is nearby. Summer storms often bring lightning. If it's quick, no problem. But if it lasts all day, you've got an issue.
• Tough it out in the parks. You could always just plan to get wet and stay in the parks. Some summer rain lasts only 10-30 minutes (but this is not universally true). Umbrellas are better if there is no wind, since ponchos make you sweaty and sticky in the Orlando humidity. Buy a rain cover for your stroller from Babies R Us before you leave on vacation. 

If you haven't seen it before, check out the link at the very top of the page for "Other Orlando Attractions". It should give you even more ideas!

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Kevin Yee is the author of numerous independent Disney books, including the popular Walt Disney World Earbook series and Walt Disney World Hidden History.