"The only city of live mermaids."
— Tagline
Weeki Wachee Springs is a Theme Park in Weeki Wachee, Florida famous for its mermaid show. The show debuted in 1947. The warm water from the spring not only allows for the mermaid show year-around, but also draws manatees from the Gulf of Mexico to come to the creek to enjoy the warmer water during the winter months.
The official site can be found here
. You can find out more at Wikipedia.
"The Only City of Live Tropes"
- Affectionate Parody: The "Sirens of the Deep Mermaid Camp" video listed below ends with the participants and the instructors singing "I wish I was a Weeki Wachee Mermaid" to the tune of the old "I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Weiner" jingle.
- Artificial Gill: They use air hoses.
- The Cameo: The mermaids and the park itself have been featured in several movies, TV shows and music videos.
- Color Motif: Many of the mermaids wear green tails with some blue.
- Don't Eat and Swim: Averted. Their "Fish Tails" show includes the mermaids eating and drinking underwater.
- Dress Code: Mermaid tails with bikini tops.
- Fish out of Water: Quite literally. This video promotes a charity marathon called "Fish Out Of Water Extreme 5K."
- Friend to All Children: Their YouTube channel includes a series called "Tail Mail," which encourages young children to hand-write letters to the mermaids, who then read them.
- Gratuitous Princess: All the mermaids are called "princesses." The few mermen are "princes."
- Halloween Special: "Wild 'N' Wicked Nights," as seen here.
- Hilarious Outtakes: They have posted several "Tail Mail Bloopers" videos to their YouTube channel.
- Long-Runners: It started in 1947 and is still active today.
- Meaningful Name: "Weeki Wachee" means "Little Spring" or "Winding River" in Seminole Indian.
- Mermaiding Swimsuit: What the female performers wear for their shows.
- Only in Florida: The park is best known as one of the most unusual theme parks/attractions in a state filled with them. Many travel books and cultural histories covering Florida will have at least one photo of a smiling Weeki Wachee mermaid on the front cover.
- Only One Name: The mermaids are all referred to as "Mermaid (insert name here)."
- Our Mermaids Are Different: The whole show is about mermaids.
- Pink Is Feminine: Some of the mermaids' tails.
- Purple Is Powerful: Some of the mermaids' tails.
- Shout-Out: One of their regular shows is an adaptation of The Little Mermaid (1989).
- Sirens Are Mermaids: They have an event called Sirens of the Deep Mermaid Camp.
- The Theme Park Version: Averted, since, well, there aren't real mermaids, therefore the park cannot be accused of misrepresenting them.
- Unrelated Brothers: Unrelated Sisters: The mermaids all refer to each other as their sisters.
