News Update - 16th February 2017

It's been a short week since my last news update, so let's jump into a short theme park nut news update!

Firstly, ticket prices are going up at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World. This seems to happn 3 or 4 times a year at the moment, so no one is really surprised.

At Disneyland Resort we had an announcement this week of the opening date for the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride at Disney California Adventure. Mission - Breakout, the re-theming of the Tower of Terror, will open on May 27th. This is the same day that Walt Disney World is opening Pandora at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Staying on the West Coast, Disneyland also announced this week that the Village Haus restaurant is getting a temporary Beauty and the Beast overlay for the opening of the live action Beauty and the Beast movie. While it's definitely not a clone of Be Our Guest, it has been reported they will be serving the grey stuff. If you are in the area, try the grey stuff; it's delicious (or so I've been told).

Up the road at Knott's Berry Farm various park icons are turning pink for a cure for Breast Cancer. Supreme Scream and the Calico Mine Ride will be lit pink up until March 5th to support  Susan G. Komen Orange County. Check out the Knott's website for ways that you can support this worthy cause!

This week there was a Fire in the park structure at Disneyland Resort. Thankfully no one was injured and the blaze was quickly put out. This made it totally okay for @disneylandcats to post the tweet:

We didn't start the fire. It was always burning, since the world's been turning! https://t.co/z8aWuGeiIh

— Cats of Disneyland (@disneylandcats) February 14, 2017

In Australia, protest this week interrupted the Dolphin show at Sea World on the Gold Coast. While I can understand the point that they were making, that no animals should be in captivity, I think that they are a bit misguided targeting our Sea World park, which has reasonably large facilities (by international standards) for their Dolphins, and has a record of assisting and rehabilitation local marine life. Personally I think that Zoos and Marine parks that do a good job of looking after their animals have a positive effect on the environment by increasing public awareness and empathy for these animals. That is my personal opinion only, and I understand not all will agree.

That's it for this week's News Update . For more Theme Park coverage, follow me on Twitter @themeparknut. Until next time, Cheers!