Theme Park Nut News Update - 18th August 2015

The big news this week in theme parks is no question the Disney D23 convention, however I've been a bit slack over the last few weeks with the local Australian Parks, so I'm going to start at home, and then finish with the new s from overseas.

As you saw from us this week the unnamed Dreamworld Tiger Cub has come out on display at the nursery on Tiger Island. There is not a lot to say about him thus far, except that he is really freaking cute. The park is going to be running a competition to name the cub, which they will be announcing details of in the next few weeks.

Also at Dreamworld we have seen a little bit of construction and destruction lately. The fountain has been under construction for some time now, and work is ongoing there. Rumour is that there will be a large Dreamworld globe, like Universal Studios, which would make a nice little place setter for the front of the park. We have also seen some demolition of the Ice Cream Parlor in recent weeks. It is entirely gutted, and I'm not sure why at this stage. I'll just say that I hope I haven't had my last rainbow icecream from there.

There is also been some pretty wild speculation on the refurbishment of Cyclone roller coaster, including reports that it will be running backwards by the end of the year. Personally I would hope that is speculation, I would rather a decent rehab and some new trains to cut down on the roughness of the ride. Time will tell!

Over at Movie world, there has been construction at both Dirty Harry's in the back of the park and the removal of kiosk at the front of the park. There have been rumors about new attraction without detail as of yet. No doubt they will be wanting to do something for 2016, but the moment we really only have guess. In some good news, there is definite movement on the Green Lantern coaster which had a horrible accident back in March.

Let's go over to the U.S.! In Orlando, Universal Orlando Resort has announced a refurbishment of their Incredible Hulk coaster. This enhancement sounds really interesting for an impressive but one-dimensional ride in a rich themed environment. Good on Universal for spending on rides before they need it. In other news, the "Lucy: A Tribute" attraction at Universal Studios Orlando closed to make way for Hello Kitty shop. This is a mixed blessing for me, as I always thought it would be cute to show my daughter (whose name is Lucy) about another famous Lucy, but at the same time she might also enjoy Hello Kitty. Just a little bit.

Staying in Orlando, SeaWorld's new Hyper coaster Mako is on it's way to the troubled park.Will this addition be too little too late to save this troubled theme park franchise, who can say.

And just a slight detour, the Beech Bend Amusement Park in Bowling Green Kansas has had a second accident in as many months, this time with a coaster derailing after the track disconnected. That is a big concern for this little park. Smells like some kind of sabotage to me.

Now, let's talk Disney!!

As you saw from our earlier post: D23 Round Up, there has been quiet a few announcements from the Disney D23 fan conference. The biggest of which was undoubtedly the official announcement of Star Wars Land at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios. These lands are significantly larger than initially rumoured, and with 2 E-Ticket rides, they should be very popular. The immediate speculation about where it would be built cleared up by accident at least for Disneyland, where a Tweet from the @DisneylandToday announced the location while chatting with a fan.

The other big stories from the event were Disney's Hollywood Studio is getting Toy Story Land, Epcot and Disney California Adventure getting Soarin' Around the World. We also heard further details on the Iron Man Experience in Hong Kong, the princessly expansions in Tokyo (New Fantasyland and Frozen) and everything Shanghai.

The big news that we didn't get was any details about the new name for Disney's Hollywood Studios. Any indication of when Star Wars Land or Toy Story Land would open.

Something a little bit cool for the real Disney nerds this week, as we saw two new connections to the Society of Explorers and Adventurers. Firstly, a new restaurant at Downtown Disney (soon to be Disney Springs) at WDW has tied Indiana Jones to the Society of Explorer's and Adventurers. We also heard in the official announcement this week name of the new Adventureland Veranda restaurant Skipper Canteen, that it's founder is linked to S.E.A. If you aren't familiar with the Society, they connect two of the most richly details Disney properties of recent time, the Tokyo DisneySea version of Tower of Terror, and Mystic Manor at Hong Kong Disneyland. Expect to hear more about this Society in coming years.

Finally this week, WDW has announced a new desert party for the Halloween event Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. This is a fascinating trend that Disney have started, to basically have a hard ticket event inside a hard ticked event. Having said that would I consider going, yeah probably I would. Disney sure know how to get the most (money) out of people.

And on that bombshell, I'm done for this week!

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