Theme Park Nut News Update - 3rd May 2016

What a huge week in Theme Parks!

Universal's owners (NBCUniversal) have purchased DreamWorks Animation. This could be a very big deal for the parks as they are already have attractions themed to some of DreamWorks movies, although their licences are varied across their different parks. For example, in the U.S. there are some limit Shrek experiences in the parks, however in Singapore they have a large area dedicated to multiple franchises from DreamWorks. The most exciting part about this for me is this: "In addition, DreamWorks Animation now owns the licensing rights to several other franchises, including ... the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials." That's right, we could see some seriously awesome Christmas theme park action, from some of the most memorable (for my generation) Christmas favourites!

Tokyo Disney made some interesting, and huge announcements over the last week, when tabling their development plans for fiscal year 2020. That might sound like it's a long way off, but it really isn't. Most exciting is the planned brand new Beauty and the Beast ride, described as:
“Guests board enchanted serving dishes that dance in rhythm to the film’s well-known music and follow Belle on a romantic musical adventure inside the enchanted Castle where she dances her way into the heart of the Beast, just in time to break the fateful spell. Guests will feel like they have entered right into the film.”

At WDW, we wished a final goodbye to the Earful Tower. And Disney has started offering the most amazing (but likely most expensive) location for a wedding, when it announced that it will start hosting ceremonies at the foot of the Cinderella Castle. You just need a cold US$75,000 for the ceremony. Yikes!

Over West, Legoland in California has also opened Ninjago the Ride, which is a next generation controller-free interactive dark ride. It looks really really impressive!

In a disturbing incident, a father caught on video his son's seatbelt released mid ride on a roller coaster in Wonderland Amusement Park in Texas. This is a very strange incident, both for how it happened, and that the father managed to continue recording after the seatbelt broke. The park has given the usual assurances that it takes safety seriously, but to be honest, these kind of incidents seem  to be happening regularly at smaller parks.

Coming back home to Australia, Parkz.com.au gives us a look at the Suspend Twin Hammer ride, that it appears is destined to be the new Doomsday Destroyer ride at Movie World.

And finally in my favourite bit of theme park news this week, Dreamworld have announced they are opening a Lego Certified Store at the park in November this year! A real Lego store in Austalia is super cool! Reports are that it will be accessible from both inside and outside the park, which would be super cool also, but one has to wonder where it is going to be placed? The current exit pavillion is the obvious spot, but perhaps there is extra room that I haven't thought of yet.


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