As unique experiences go, watching movies beneath the Tampa’s twinkling stars and billowing clouds is an E-ticket ride. (btw – was Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride an E-ticket? Does anyone besides me remember E-tickets and Mr. Toad?) But I digress. For our new Cinema & Splash Summer Classics Series, we’re transforming the orchestra pit into a swimming pool so you can swim under the stars while watching classic movies on the big screen. And no worries about about soggy popcorn with our specially-designed floats with water resistant concessions holders. And here’s the best part: you won’t even need your sunblock! Check back tomorrow when I’ll announce the Cinema & Splash Summer Classics Series schedule.
Tampa Theatre to Convert Orchestra Pit into Swimming Pool for New Cinema & Splash Summer Classics Series
April 1, 2010 by Tara Schroeder
Lol! And I do remember e-tickets, and being scared of mr. toad’s wild ride…I also remember when there were only two disney hotels. I’ve been a Floridian for a looonnnggg time!
Showing my age, I remember the e/tickets! What a clever event. Can’t wait to see ya’ll pull it off in style, as always.
This is an April Fool’s joke right? 🙂
I’m glad you mentioned that this is a joke. I really believed it when I read the email…
We are showing our age! I have a book of tickets from Disney World and wouldn’t part with them for anything. I also was and still am a huge Mr. Toad fan. I went to Disneyland in 2005 just to ride Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. They are so lucky to still have that great ride!!!!
Tara, you guys always amaze me! Can’t wait to hear the details.
Our first movie should be Sing-a-Long Little Mermaid and you can bust out your lobster costume.
your comment was too cute! thanks for the early am laugh!
This has to be an April Fool’s Day joke…
You need to add a giant slide that goes from the top of the balcony and swirls down around the organ 😉
mr. toad’s wild ride was my favorite at disney. i miss it so!
As always, The Tampa is the most creative force in the Tampa Bay area!! What a giggle!
Can this possible be real? Ah how we hate to be gullible … what an idea, yet I cannot see how it would be at all possible!
April Fool’s Day prank perhaps … hmmm.
Do tell …. soon!
Okay, you got me! I called it out loud to my daughter because it is so UNBELIEVABLE!!!
I agree with some of the others–this IS an April Fool’s joke, isn’t it??? Please tell me that it is.
I loved Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, especially “buzzing” around Disney as a hippie-kid in the 70s. However, I seem to remember it was a C or D ticket – what I remember… what was I talking about?! :o-
When I was a kid and used to go to the Tampa Theater on Wednesdays in the Summer all day long, I would day dream about the entire first floor of the theater being a swimming pool and divining into it from the balcony! This is a great idea and is long over due!
Is this gonna be like the pool below the screen toward the end of Rocky Horror?
This has got to be an April Fools joke! Lol!!
….and i can’t wait to try out those water resistent popcorn holders! Love the slide idea!
LOL. I do remember E-tickets and Mr. Toad. What a great laugh on April 1, 2010. Basking in the glow of the stars. Waterproof popcorn holders! Too funny, really!
Oh, no! Life is not worth living. I was a chief usher at the Tampa Theatre in the fifties. And I no longer have my water wings.
Hey John — I haven’t seen you in a while. Would love to catch up. You still a magician? – Tara
Oooh! Can we put a hot tub in the organ pit too! Then we can show Hot Tub Time Machine. Most excellent!
I SO vote for a slide!
BTW, according to http://www.yesterland.com/abcde.html, Daniel was right. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was a “C” ticket. In 1972, it would have cost $.40 to take a spin. 🙂
i hope to see some esther williams movies movies.this is a great april fools joke!!!!!!!!
Hah! April Fools! Great one, guys and gals. We sometimes drag a big TV out to the pool deck for Dive-In Movies in the summer. Great fun, until Robbie starts splashing……..
ooohhhh… a slide from the balcony and “Hot Tub Time Machine” with my boyfriend John Cusack — what grand ideas!
Thought we’d start the series with Busby Berkeley’s “By A Waterfall” number from Footlight Parade.
Count me in, but only if I get to do at least one cannonball!
And I SO remember E tickets and Mr. Toad. That oncoming train headlight still haunts my dreams…
Hi Tisha!
Good one!
Stayed at a resort in Orlando, last year, where they put up one of those inflatable screens by the pool for a weekly movie night.
I think I still have an E ticket tucked away somewhere. Definitely worth it for a T.T. movie!
This is a joke?
Great April Fools Joke – I thought it was for real and was astounded – told somebody else in the office about it and then read further, and yeah, it’s got be an April Fool’s joke – Thanks – I was disappointed I hadn’t had an April Fool’s joke all day – came back work on Friday and got one of the best ever – it was sure a nice thought while it lasted though!
I remember the E ticket, and Mr. Toads ride, matter of fact, I lived in Cypress Gardens where we could drive over for the AM for the price of parking….walk around until 2ish, come home, and go back with hand stamped that evening. NO charge to get in. We just didn’t buy the tickets. I moved to Florida the day after high school graduation in June of 1973 from Maryland.
Correct me if I am wrong but I remember the theatre flooding a bit during The Year Of The Four Hurricanes,so one could argue that there has been a pool at TT, it was just UNDER the orchestra pit! And John Cusack is MY boyfriend! Tara is always stealing my men!
I feel a John Cusack catfight brewing. Bring it on! Good memory – there was big flooding in the basement during the El Nino summer and moderate flooding since then due to a leaky sidewalk. As I write, the city is replacing the Polk Street sidewalk. Yay!!!
Listening forward to the underwater organ!
Wow this is new. Never heard of this even if it’s from two years ago…..