Theme Park Nut News Update - 9th January 2016

It's been a relatively quiet week of theme park news this week, so let's get into a quick Theme Park Nut News Update.

Dorney Park in the U.S. made the biggest theme park news this week, after it failed to re-hire a special needs employee of 12 years allegedly saying that he would not fit in with other staff at the park. The park that he'd been working at as a cleaner, for 12 years. A facebook post by a disappointed former co-worker went viral, and suddenly 30 year old Chris Emery was making international headlines. To the parks credit, they have apologised and offered him a position for a thirteenth season. However Chris has decided not to return. Hopefully Chris has found a better position with a more understanding company.

In Disney news, blog Disney and More have given us an absolutely massive update about Shanghai Disneyland. Included in this is one of our first peaks inside the Shanghai Disneyland Resort hotel, which looks absolutely stunning (not surprisingly). It will be great to hear more about this park when it opens in June. Also in this update was listing of the ticket prices for the opening days of the park.

Over at Universal Studios Hollywood, they have released date-specific pricing. The way it currently works is all days cost the same at the gate, but the value of online discounts change for different days of the week. This is a very smart move ahead of the opening of WWoHP on the west coast, which is likely to peak attendance on many days in the next year.

On the opposite coast, Comcast (owners' of Universal) announced the price paid for the 475 acres of land it purchased at the start of this year. They reported paying $130 million for the land, which is widely tipped to become at least one new park for Universal in the next decade. This is a pretty good bargain considering the size and location of the land. However I'm sure it is tinged with sadness at Universal, since there previous owners sold that land, and a lot more (1800 acres in total) for about $70 million in 2003.

Walt Disney World announced this week that Fulton's Crab House at Disney Springs, is going to close in April for a long term renovation. This is the most popular independently owned restaurant on WDW property, which means the closure until November is a big deal.

At home, Parkz.com.au put up a trip report for Movie World this week, showing off some pretty cool Chinese New Year decorations. Movie World is really putting in a lot of effort lately, which is great! Hopefully this focus is transferred to the construction of their new attraction at the back of the park over the coming year.

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