Cirque du Soleil plans its first theme park in Vallarta

Cirque du Soleil plans to create and operate a major theme park that promises an immersive "entertainment experience" in Nuevo Vallarta on Mexico's west coast.

It's a first for the Canadian company known for its elaborate circus-style shows that tour the world.

Details in the announcement Wednesday were scant, except to say that ideas for the theme park near Puerto Vallarta are in development. Cirque is partnering with Mexican resort developer Grupo Vidanta on the project, which is expected to open in 2018.

"Grupo Vidanta is offering us an amazing sandbox in which we can unleash our creativity," Cirque's founder, Guy Laliberte, said in the statement.

Renderings of ideas show sections called the Village of the Sun and the Village of the Moon, similar to different "lands" at other theme parks. Each experience will be based on a storyline and will be performed by Cirque artists, and could include a water park, nature park and an outdoor area that holds 3,000 to 5,000 visitors for evening shows, officials of the two companies said.

Cirque du Soleil plans its first theme park, chooses Mexico site

Nuevo Vallarta is in Nayarit but is still Vallarta ....

Puerto Vallarta's History

During the first part of the 1800s, at the mouth of the Cuale River—then inhabited primarily by crocodiles—there were practically no human dwellers. Between the rugged sierra, the ocean and the powerful Ameca river, this beautiful piece of Mexican geography remained isolated from the rest of the world. The hubs of economic activity were up in the mountains, in the towns of Cuale, San Sebastián and Mascota, where silver mines abounded but where salt, an essential element for processing the metal, was not to be found.

In 1851 Guadalupe Sánchez, a boatman from Cihuatlán who used to bring salt from San Blas or the Marías islands to Los Muertos beach, became weary of waiting for the muleteers to come and pick up the load. Sometimes it would take them days to reach this solitary spot. As he was still a young man of 19 and had just married, Guadalupe saw it fit to establish himself in this beautiful place he would call Las Peñas. This, in a few words, could very well be the story of the founding of what we now know as Puerto Vallarta.

At the bottom of the page is a link to more Vallarta history than you may want to know

Beach Plaza on Playa los Muertos 1950's

Areal view of Vallarta in the 1950's

Vallarta Malecon in the 1950's

Virtual Vallarta Article