The ongoing mission of the staff at Arabian Nights is not only to provide a delicious meal and a dazzling production, but also to create a feeling of excitement and enchantment that will remain in the hearts of guests for a lifetime.

Arden Tilghman, Arabian Nights' new customer experience manager.

To carry out this mission of entertaining its international audiences, Arabian Nights is continually reviewing our guests’ feedback in a variety of outlets. The satisfaction of guests is our top priority and as part of a continuous effort to improve our guest experience, Arabian Nights Dinner Show recently hired former Arabian Nights Stable Manager, Arden Tilghman, to fill the position of Guest Experience Manager.

Arden’s background in the entertainment side of Arabian Nights, as well as her previous management experience at SeaWorld and other hospitality venues lends her a unique perspective on improving the quality of the guest experience.

Additionally, Arden’s degree in Psychology will be put to use as she implements an enhanced Customer Servicetraining program for Arabian Nights, along with the updating of procedures in many departments. A few areas that will be addressed will include a faster guest check-in process, an improved VIP experience and a more personalized dinner service.

Arden’s leadership and experience in the area of Guest Experience is only the beginning of an exciting new year of improvements at Arabian Nights—so stay tuned for more updates by visiting our blog regularly, becoming our fan on Facebook and following us on official Twitter account at http://twitter.com/arabiannightsfl.

And if you want to live the excitement of the new Arabian Nights’ customer experience, nothing beats first-hand research by booking your tickets online at http://tickets.arabian-nights.com.

Horseback riding is a skill that develops over time and our Dinner Show is blessed with some of the best professionals in the world who perform every night for the delight of our audience.

Ongoing training is instrumental to maintaining the standard of excellence expected of both the riders and horses performing at our Arabian Nights Dinner Show. Arabian Nights contracts trainers in a variety of riding disciplines to instruct riders and horses on a regular basis.

Kami Newby and horse Comanche listen to instruction from Kayce Carter.

Recently, a select group of riders and horses participated in training sessions in the discipline of reining. Reining is a discipline based loosely on maneuvers used to herd cattle—showcasing control, speed and precision in a variety of movements. Spins, sliding stops and rollbacks are the hallmarks of this discipline and they all require carefully coordinated movements based on the relationship of a rider and his or her horse.

Reining is demonstrated in a unique way during the Arabian Nights performances, in the Native American Tribute act during most of the year and the Sugarplum Fairy act of the Holiday Show. Unlike competitive reining, the focus of these acts is on the emotional connection between the horse and rider, rather than technical proficiency of maneuvers.  This approach often requires the riders to steer their horse without using their reins, making the communication between the horse and rider even more important.

During a weekend of lessons at Arabian Nights, five horses and eight riders learned to hone their skills in the discipline of reining with the help of expert reining rider Kayce Carter. Kayce’s years of experience in competitive reining allow her to instruct each rider on how they can work with each horse to achieve the best performance possible.

The reining lessons are part of an ongoing process to uphold one of the founding ideas of Arabian Nights—that it would be a world-class training facility for equestrians. Four of the eight riders are just beginning to learn the discipline of reining, and all riders had no knowledge of reining prior to working for Arabian Nights.

To learn more about this, call us at 407-239-9223.

As a large-scale theatrical production, the Arabian Nights Dinner Show is a complex ensemble that requires more human coordination than technology or machinery to create the magic our guests enjoy on a nightly basis.

Steve and Kurt at the helm of the sound engineering controls.

The Tech department at Arabian Nights acts much as a the conductor of an orchestra would, setting up and producing a series of cues for lights, special effects and music that bring the emotion and majesty of the horse acts in the show to life. There are nine techs working behind the scenes during every show. A designated cue caller relays the cues over a speaker system, while other techs work the curtain, soundboard, light board and follow spots.

Arabian Nights has approximately five times more cues than a normal theater production, making cue calling extremely difficult. Assistant Director of Entertainment, Tracey Charlier recalls: “This show is the hardest show I have ever called and it really gives me appreciation for what our Techs have to learn.”

Arabian Nights President Hanna Miller appreciates the role of the Tech department: “Most people think that the technical elements of a show are mechanical, but when it is done correctly, running the cues is an art form that requires a lot of improvisation and a good feel for what emotions you want the audience to experience.”

No detail is left unchecked by our tech department, as shown by Tech Chris Kircher.

This is especially true at Arabian Nights, because unlike most of our competition, computers do not run most of our technical elements. Our Techs spend hours practicing and learning all cues and mechanics for lighting, sound and other effects like snow and fog. On any given night there is usually at least one trainee learning a new position in the Tech department, but a few of the Techs have been with Arabian Nights for quite a while.

That said, here’s an interesting fact: The longest standing staff member is Assistant Tech Director Kurt Kleimeier, who has been working in the Tech department for 20 years!

There are also always new and exciting things going on in the Tech department, whether is it building a new carriage, installing new fog machines or creating props. So be sure to pay attention when you come to our Arabian Nights Dinner Show and see all the effort our techs put into making the performance an amazing experience to remember—they work as much with their skill as they do with their hearts!

Buy tickets for Arabian nights online by clicking here.