A Day in the Park with Barney

Last updated

A Day in the Park with Barney
A Day in the Park with Barney.png
Universal Studios Florida
AreaExpo Center (1995–1999)
Woody Woodpecker's KidZone (1999–2021)
Coordinates 28°28′44″N81°28′01″W / 28.47895°N 81.46687°W / 28.47895; -81.46687
StatusClosed
Opening dateJuly 11, 1995 (1995-07-11) [1]
Closing dateFebruary 3, 2021 (2021-02-03)
ReplacedThe Bates Motel Set (1990–1995)
Replaced byDreamWorks Destination
Ride statistics
Attraction typeLive children's show
Model Theatre in the round
Theme Barney & Friends
MusicJoe Philips
Duration30:00
Pre-show hostMr. Peekaboo
Show hostBarney the Dinosaur
Wheelchair symbol.svg Wheelchair accessible

A Day in the Park with Barney was a live children's show at Universal Studios Florida based on the children's television show, Barney & Friends , that opened in 1995 on the former site of The Bates Motel Set used in Psycho IV: The Beginning . [2] It also had a "Barney's Backyard" playground area with a chance to meet Barney in a meet and greet session after the main show in the Barney Theater. It was one of the few places where Barney's original voice actor Bob West was heard and one of Universal Studios' attempts to appeal to the younger generation.

Contents

Due to the ongoing worldwide outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and its spread to Florida, A Day in the Park with Barney was affected many times during the reopening of Universal Studios Florida. Also, with attendance declining over the years, Universal Orlando announced the permanent closure of the show on February 3, 2021. [3]

Show

Queue

A bronze Barney statue, which measured 9.75 feet (2.97 m), stood over a fountain at the entrance to the attraction's area. The guests emptied from the lines into a covered pre-show area with an odd-looking house facade, covered in pipes, knobs and doors. The setting for the pre-show was decorated very much like a child would imagine it; colors, bright lights, and even a rainbow over the house. The house was owned by the pre-show's host, Mr. Peekaboo, who had not yet made his appearance when the guests entered into the pre-show area. Different songs and sounds were heard through the pre-show area as guests waited for the show to start, and time allowed more people to make their way into the area.

Pre-show

Patrick Alyosius Bartholomew (Mr. Peekaboo for short) and his parrot, Bartholomew, were very close friends to Barney, Baby Bop and BJ. He was elderly, but only in age since his spirit was much like that of a child. Mr. Peekaboo was a consistently forgetful character, trying to find the door to Barney's Park to take the children, only to remember that they had to use their imagination. He asked them to close their eyes and imagine a park, then the waterfall that blocked the door stopped, which showed that using their imagination had worked.

Main show

The theater was designed to resemble a park and in the center was an elevated, circular stage with three ramps equally positioned on each side. Once inside the theater, Mr. Peekaboo greeted the children and asked them to use their imagination again to make Barney appear by chanting the dinosaur's name. After the lights dimmed and soft music played as stars appeared in the darkness, Barney appeared in the middle of the stage and his theme song "Barney is a Dinosaur" played in the background as the show began. Barney then performed two songs "If You're Happy and You Know It", then "Imagine a Place". Baby Bop and BJ joined Barney on stage to sing "Mr. Knickerbocker", "Down on Grandpa's Farm" and "If All the Raindrops". After the songs, Barney exclaimed he had a wonderful time with all of the children, and that only one song was left to finish off the day. The three dinosaurs held hands, and began singing "I Love You". Baby Bop and BJ made their exits, while Barney ended the show by saying, "And remember, I love you," and blew a kiss goodbye.

Post-show

After the show, guests exited out into Barney's Backyard, an indoor activity center for children, where they also got their picture taken with Barney.

Dining and Shopping

The Barney Shop

Right next door to the attraction was The Barney Shop, a spot for buying various and mostly exclusive Barney items for fans of all ages. The gift shop contained newly released Barney merchandise up until it closed. During the later years, the shop started selling non-Barney related merchandise that was related to Universal Orlando Resorts. [4]

Kids Cafe

When the attraction first opened, there was a Kid's Cafe. On the menu it included peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which is one of Barney's favorite snacks, and purple "slushies." [4]

Setlist

  1. Barney Theme Song
  2. If You're Happy and You Know It
  3. Imagine a Place
  4. Mr. Knickerbocker
  5. Down on Grandpa's Farm
  6. If All the Raindrops
  7. I Love You

Christmas Show

1995

  1. Barney Theme Song
  2. Jingle Bells
  3. Holidays Around the World: O Tannenbaum, My Dreidel, Feliz Navidad
  4. Up on the Housetop
  5. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
  6. I Love You
  7. We Wish You a Merry Christmas

1996–2019

  1. Barney Theme Song
  2. Jingle Bells
  3. Frosty the Snowman
  4. Mr. Knickerbocker
  5. Down on Grandpa's Farm
  6. Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!
  7. I Love You
  8. We Wish You a Merry Christmas

History

Development

From October 1 to December 20, 1992, to promote JCPenney's Barney Spot boutiques, Barney toured malls across the US and drew crowds ranging from 8,000 to 40,000, breaking records for mall events. Due to the crowd sizes and fearing for the safety of children and Barney, The Lyons Group [5] ended the tour and, until Barney's Open House in 2000, no further mall appearances were planned.

The move resulted in the company to explore other ways to bring Barney to children. Tom Williams, the then president and chief operating officer of Universal Studios Florida at the time viewed the reactions of when children, including his own, watched Barney & Friends, and wanted to do something with Barney for the parks. [6] From April 3-18, 1993, Universal Theme Parks hosted Barney themed celebrations, in their California and Florida theme parks. Universal Studios Hollywood hosted Barney on Parade, a parade featuring Barney, Baby Bop and other characters from the park, with a few Barney themed floats and a marching band, [7] [8] while Universal Studios Florida hosted the Barney Street Celebration which was a mini show/parade. Barney's appearances at Universal Studios Florida were proven more successful as it led The Lyons Group and Universal to discuss plans for a permanent Barney attraction in the theme park. This would benefit both companies, as Universal wanted a new attraction for young children, while Lyons wanted a place where children could see Barney, BJ, and Baby Bop everyday.

The news of the attraction was first announced in November 1994 at a New York news conference in Manhattan by Tom Williams. [9] [10]

Casting

Auditions for the opening of the attraction were held on Friday, April 21 and Saturday, April 22, 1995 at the Starlight Performing Arts Center in Orlando, Florida. Rehearsals began in early June 1995. For Barney, Baby Bop, BJ and Mr. Peekaboo, it required that the performers were to be 5'8"-5'10", 4'3"-4'5", 4'4"-4'4" and 5'4"-5'10" respectively. [11]

Music

Joseph K. Phillips, who was working at a company across the street from Universal, had a friend who was a producer in the park who approached Phillips about doing the music for the attraction. Upon request from his friend, Phillips put together some arrangements for Sheryl Leach and Dennis DeShazer to listen to, in which they approved of the musical direction. [12] Phillips wrote the original songs "Imagine a Place", alongside Tony Peugh, and "Mr. Peekaboo".

The songs heard around A Day in the Park with Barney's plaza (e.g. by the Barney fountain) were sung by children at various child care centers/charities across the United States.

Promotion

To promote the attraction, Universal held sing-along shows with Barney during the month of April and began running television commercials about it in select markets. For a couple of weeks, leading up to the opening, Universal ran a cryptic message about the attraction and its opening date on about fifty billboards throughout central Florida. The purple signs carried no mention or picture of Barney and were written in several languages, which prompted several phone calls.

The biggest marketing push occurred with a specialty painted Lynx bus advertising the attraction, which stopped in Boston and Philadelphia for sing-along shows and other cities to deliver Barney toys to children through police departments. [13] Originally, the tour was meant to be a full concert to go from Boston all the way down the east coast of the United States but it was cut in half and performed at specific venues. [14] Some venues that the concerts took place in included Boston, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Norman, Oklahoma.

Closure

On March 16, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida, the show was temporarily closed along with the rest of the Universal Orlando Resort. It reopened during the resort's reopening in June 2020 but was closed again on August 9, 2020, which was temporary at the time. [15] On February 3, 2021, Universal Orlando publicly announced on their Twitter account that the show had permanently closed, effective that day. [3] The entire Barney courtyard was removed of its theming and the indoor theater and stage was repurposed to DreamWorks Destination, an indoor meet-and-greet with characters from DreamWorks Animation franchises, such as Po from Kung Fu Panda , Princess Poppy from Trolls, King Julien from Madagascar, among others from each franchise. [16]

References

  1. "TRAVEL ADVISORY: BARNEY; A Day With a Dinosaur". The New York Times . August 13, 1995. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  2. "Clipping from The Orlando Sentinel". The Orlando Sentinel. January 19, 1995. Retrieved February 2, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 Phillips, Michaela (February 3, 2021). "CONFIRMED: A Day in the Park with Barney at Universal Studios Florida is permanently closed". WDW News Today.
  4. 1 2 Shenot, Christine (July 7, 1995). "Barney the dinosaur gets a home at Universal Studios". The Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved August 31, 2025 via Newspapers.com.
  5. "THERE'S ONLY ONE BARNEY, CHAGRINED LOCAL GROUP FINDS". The Morning Call. May 9, 1993. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
  6. "Barney attraction debuts at Universal Studios Florida". The Miami Herald. July 22, 1995. Retrieved August 31, 2025 via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Barney makes theme park debut". Wausau Daily Herald. April 4, 1993. Retrieved August 31, 2025 via Newspapers.com.
  8. Koenig, David (October 30, 2000). "Are You Ready to Tumble?". Mouse Planet. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
  9. Sbasching, Karen (November 10, 1994). "Barney tries comeback with Universal". UPI. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
  10. Associated Press (November 12, 1994). "BARNEY TO GET HIS OWN PARK AT UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA". Deseret News. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
  11. "A Day in the Park with Barney Auditions (April 1995)". The Orlando Sentinel. April 16, 1995. Retrieved August 31, 2025 via Newspapers.com.
  12. Jay, Nancy; Stinson, Carey (March 12, 2019). "Listening In with Barney Musical Director Joe Phillips - Purple Tales Podcast Episode 2". Purple Tales Podcast (Podcast). Retrieved August 31, 2025 via YouTube.
  13. Shenot, Christine (July 17, 1995). "Park Loves Reaction to Attraction". The Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved August 31, 2025 via Newspapers.com.
  14. Stinson, Carey (December 6, 2019). "Purple Roads: Bob West and Jeff Ayers". Purple Roads (Podcast). Retrieved August 31, 2025 via YouTube.
  15. Carter, Ashley (July 31, 2020). "Universal Orlando to Temporarily Close Several Attractions". Bay News 9 . Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  16. Glenn, Brian (May 29, 2021). "DreamWorks Destination now open at Universal Studios Florida". Inside Universal. Retrieved February 2, 2022.