Theme Park Nut News Update - 3rd February 2015

Welcome to another Theme Park Nut News Update for the start of February 2015.

There is no escaping this week's big news, and that was the announcement of the 60th Anniversary celebration details of the Disneyland resort. There is plenty of news out there to read for this, but the tall and short of it is that May 22nd everything in Disneyland and Disney California Adventure is going to be blue and diamond. Adding a nighttime parade and ramping up the night time fireworks.

With all the excitement about Disneyland, there isn't any stop to the debate about who is going to take over the Disney leadership at the end of Bob Iger's reign. This article  is an interesting read, but I'm not sure I agree with much about it. It's quite critical of Iger and very complimentary about his predecessor Eisner, which is actually a rarely heard view point. Always nice to hear a different point of view. It isn't as crazy as it sounds for Disney to outside hire the next CEO, but it seems a waste when it's been grooming two people for the role for the past 5 years.

Staying with Disney, because who am I kidding, I love Disney, iconic Imagineer Joe Rohde has popped up a couple of times in the need this week. Firstly, The Disney Blog posted a collection of really interesting instagram posts from Rohde about various aspects of the Animal Kingdom. Secondly there is a seriously cute video of Joe being interviewed by 5 year old Zoey. I really love that she asked about his earrings, because I've always wondered about that myself!

On the Disney rumor side, the big story  this week is that something is happening in Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. Everyone is saying that the Hatbox Ghost is returning, but no one really knows.

Also, everyone watch out for the Tomorrowland movie. It could be awesome!

Just today, there has been rumors on twitter that Shanghai Disneyland's opening has been delayed. We'll keep an eye on it, and let you know when we hear something official from Disney.

Enough Disney!

There is a really interesting story today on Blooloop about The Theme Park Guy - Stefan Zwanzger. He has had an amazing life already, and he's looking for bigger and better things. Good on him!

In London, we have heard that the original Hogwarts Express from the Harry Potter movies is set to join the attractions at the Warner Brothers Studio Tour. We also saw this week some construction photos from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood (also some Springfield updates in there).

In Europe, we heard from Screamscape this week about the upcoming 2015 enhancements to Europa Park. Those guys are always busy!! Screamscape also reported that Russian park Divo Ostov is adding a clone of Europa Park's Blue Fire Mega Coaster, which is pretty awesome, because that is an amazing roller coaster.

In cute Australian news, Aussie World on the Sunshine Coast has launched Tiny Tots Tuesday. This is where children under 5, and their parents, can visit on a Tuesday morning for $10 each. I think it's a funny idea, but anything that helps this little park I will support.

Finally in the biggest craziest strangest news of the week, it sounds like Dreamworld is at the very least attempting to find out what it would cost to bring back the Eureka Mountain Mine Train. This would be an extraordinary turn around for the park, as this ride has been SBNO since November 2006. I'm really interested in this prospect, and I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for any official news on this subject.

For more Theme Park coverage, follow me on Twitter @themeparknut. Until next week, Cheers!