Tuesday, 26 May 2015

Theme Park Nut News Update - 26th May 2015


This has been an absolutely enormous week in theme parks, particularly in the U.S. The big news this week is the Disneyland 60th Anniversary shenanigans, so let's start else where in the theme park world and wind our way back to Disneyland.

Six Flags over Texas this week opened a Sally Corp dark ride shooter Justice League: Battle for Metropolis. Australian theme park fans will feel a certain familiarity to this ride, as it is the big sister of Movie World's own Justice League Sally Corp dark ride shooter the awkwardly name Justice League: Alien Invasion 3D The Ride. The most impressive thing about this new ride is the little improvements between these rides. Alien Invasion is good, but Battlefor Metropolis is just that bit better. Those tweaks have really made a world class dark ride. Kudos to Six Flags and Sally Corp for a great addition to their lineup.

Sister park Six Flags Magic Mountain this week opened Twisted Colossus, the old-is-new Iron Horse re-track of the classic Colossus ride. This new ride looks like a barrel of fun! Meanwhile Six Flags New England has opened Wicked Cyclone, an RMC re-track of cyclone.

Hersheypark has opened a new Maurer Sohne indoor spinning coaster called Laff Trakk, that is themed to old school amusement park Fun houses. This looks like a fascinating ride, even if I'm not so big on the spinning coasters.

Universal Studios Singapore have announced that the Battlestar Galactica twin coasters are going to re-open tomorrow after another extended closure. This time the ride is re-opening with new 2 across trains.

And just for random news, Idelwild in Pennsylvania has re-theme there Trolley ride as a Daniel Tiger's Neighbourhood Trolley Ride. If you know what this is, then you understand. If you don't, then do not google it. You don't want to know until you have too.

 Let's talk about Japan for a second. Tokyo DisneySea this week announced that a Finding Nemo/Finding Dory ride will take the place of the StormRider simulator in the Port Discovery land. Construction is due to start in May of next year. That's right, we are on Disney time everyone.

Moving ever so slightly faster, Universal Studios Osaka has re-opened their version of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride in 3D. This has been met with a mixed response from Stateside fans of that ride, who don't appear to want their ride to get a 3D upgrade. That isn't stopping speculation that the Hollywood version of this ride, that is set to open in 2016, will open as 3D from the beginning.

Universal Orlando this week opened a Raptor Encounter in Islands of Adventure. By the looks it is like a much more interactive and aggressive version of the Triceratops encounter. It looks really really cool in the promo video. Just in time for Jurassic World!

Finally, let's talk about Disneyland! This week Disneyland Resort started the real celebrations for the diamond anniversary with the 24 hour party at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. However it is safe to say it didn't go off without a hitch. Theme Park Insider posted a bit of Post-Mortem of the event, with a few tips for future events of this nature. This is a tough event to plan for, but there is definitely room for improvement.

The biggest things to happen at Disneyland resort this week were:
- A new World of Color
- Disneyland Forever Fireworks
- Paint the Night Electrical Parade
- and a New Yeti in Disneyland's Matterhorn

Like I said, a lot happened in Theme Parks this week! Few weeks have this much action since I started blogging. This next week should be a little quieter, thank goodness!


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

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