Theme Park News in a Nutshell - December 24th 2022

• The Walt Disney World Railroad has returned to Magic Kingdom for the first time in 4 years. It closed in December of 2018 for construction of the Tron Rollercoaster in Tomorrowland.

• Disneyland released a behind the scenes video of their upcoming nighttime spectacular Wonderous Journeys this week. The new show will open January 27th.

• Universal Japan have announced that their new No Limit parade featuring Pokemon and Nintendo characters will debut on March 1st, 2023.

• The Mission Ferrari Rollercoaster will open at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi on January 12, 2023. Passholder previews start January 5.

• Kennywood in the Us has announced its adding a new extraterrestrial thrill ride called SPINVASION! In 2023.

• Australian park Dreamworld has bought back an updated version of a classic attraction this week the opening of the pay to play Remota-boats attraction near Main Street. They have also opened their new parents centre this week. These are the first steps in the major retheme to their Dreamworks kids land over the next 12 to 18 months.

• Universal Studios Hollywood has started Animatronics testing of the upcoming Super Nintendo Land.

Theme Park News in a Nutshell - December 17th 2022

• Super Nintendo World at Universal studios Hollywood will open Friday, February 17, 2023. With Annual passholder previews from January 29.

• Roundup rodeo bbq the new Toy story themed sit down restaurant will open spring 2023.

• Thierry Coup, Mike Hightower, and other long-time leaders at universal creative have reportedly taken up the offer of early retirement from NbcUniversal which will cause a huge shake up in the creative business.

• Six Flags Fiesta Texas announced it will install a Skyline Attractions racing P'Sghetti Bowl Children's Coaster next year.

• Busch Gardens Williamsburg will close their Mach Tower drop ride January 8, 2023. 

Theme Park News in a Nutshell - December 10th 2022

• Universal orlando have officially announced Villain-Con Minion Blast their upcoming stand through attraction replace Shrek 4D. They have also announced that Minion cafe will replace monsters cafe creating a Minions mini land. Minions land will form a part of Illumination Avenue, with all the new additions opening Summer 2023.

• Destination D23 event will return to the Walt Disney World Resort next year on September 8 through 10.

• The opening of Leviathan at Sea World has been plagued with teething issues this week including one day where the entire New Atlantis precinct was closed.

• Shanghai Disneyland has closed again due to covid.

• Disney World is cross promoting the new Avatar movie with new merchandise and a new Tree of life projection sequence.

Theme Park News in a Nutshell - December 3rd 2022

This week's Theme Park News

• Sea World in Australia have opened the last two rides of their New Atlantis land with giant chair swing Trident and wooden coaster Leviathan finally opening on Friday.

• Dreamworld in Australia has announced a 50 million dollar park revitalisation plan. The 2 year plan will cover the loss of the Dreamworks IP by using the park’s original characters Kenny and Belinda while moving the ABC kids section and the vintage cars and adding two new rides.

• You may not have heard but Disney has changed CEOs with Bob Chapek being replaced by former CEO Bob Iger. Many Disney fans have seen this as the second company, as if the fate of a multi-billion dollar corporation rests on a single person.

• The last day to ride Splash Mountain at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom will be January 22, 2023. The Disneyland version is also expected to close in January.

• Magic Happens parade is coming back to Disneyland on February 24th next year.

• Shanghai Disneyland has again reopened from a covid closure.

• At Universal Orlando, Universal’s Great Movie Escape will open December 9 on CityWalk.

• "Uncharted" franchise will be providing the theme for a new Sally Corp roller coaster dark ride at Spain's PortAventura next year.

Theme Park News in a Nutshell - November 19th 2022

• This week is the  annual IAAPA Expo in Orlando, which as always features roller coaster train reveals for a number of US parks. The trains shown include Arctic Rescue from SeaWorld San Diego, Big Bear Mountain for Dollywood, Wildcat's Revenge at Hersheypark, and Pipeline The Surf Coaster for SeaWorld Orlando.

• The 2023 Thea Awards were also head in conjunction with this expo, with Universal Beijing picking up 3 major awards.

• Major US parks also kicked off their Christmas celebrations this week.

• Disneyland resort has announced that Mickey's Toontown will reopen at Disneyland on March 8, 2023.

• Disneyland also briefly reopened Magic Key Pass sales this week, for just one day before closing sales again.

• Din Djarin and Grogu have started appearing at Disneyland's version of Galaxy's Edge this week.

• Alberto Zamperla, the head of the Zamperla group, has passed away this week at the age of 71.

• Dubai Parks and Resorts has announced it has reached a deal to build a theme park based on football club Real Madrid, which will include rides and a museum.

• Legoland owner Merlin Entertainments has appointed former NBA executive Scott O'Neil as the company's new CEO

Theme Park News in a Nutshell - November 12th 2022

 • Sea World Australia have announced an opening date for their two new Rides. Wooden coaster Leviathan and swing ride Trident will open December 2nd, finally completing the New Atlantis land.

• Hurricane Nicole Closed all the major Florida Theme Parks this week.

• Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi have announced they are planning to open a Harry Potter-themed land in the coming years, the first non-Universal Harry Potter land since Universal acquired the licence for theme parks.

• Disneyland is adding the Swiss Family Robinson back to Adventureland, where the currently closed Tarzan Treehouse is going to be reimagined as the "Adventureland Treehouse inspired by Walt Disney’s Swiss Family Robinson". 

• Universal Hollywood have announced two show closures this week, with Universal's Animal Actors and the Special Effects Show to close on January 8, 2023 "to make way for a future attraction." This future attraction is strongly rumoured to be a Fast and the Furious coaster.

• Canada's Playland Amusement Park has signed a deal with Zamperla to a Lightning LSM Coaster, which will be Canada's fastest launch coaster when it opens in 2024.

• Legoland California have announced they are going to add San Diego to their Miniland for Spring 2023.

• Disney Imagineering Legend Alice Davis has passed away at age 93 this week.

• In financial news: Disney's theme parks segment reported $7.4 billion in revenue in the final quarter of its 2022 fiscal year, up 36% from the same period one year ago. Six Flags had a significant attendance drops resulting in a 21% decline in revenue for the quarter, from $638 million in 2021 to $505 million in 2022. Sea World and Busch Gardens had a very slight attendance bump, but increased guest spending, as SeaWorld post total revenues of $565.2 million for the quarter, up 8.4%.

Theme Park News in a Nutshell - November 5th 2022

• Universal Orlando has announced that a major reimagining is happening to it's Woody Woodpecker KidZone land. The resort announce that the last operating day for Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster, Fieval's Playland, Curious George Goes to Town, and meet & greets for Shrek and Donkey and Dreamworkd Destination will be January 15th 2023. It was confirmed that the Animal Actors show and E.T. the Adventure will not close at this time.

• Legoland Florida's new pirate ride will open on January 12, 2023 after the planned opening was delayed by Hurricane Ian.

• Fantasmic! has reopened at Walt Disney World.

• On the last night of this year's HHN, Universal has Announced 'Chucky' for 2023 Halloween Horror Nights on both coasts.

• Efteling have shared details of the ride vehicle for it's 2024 haunted house attraction Danse Macabre, which will feature a first of it's kind Intamin ride system, with a giant rotating motionbase with six vehicles each able to rotate on top of it.

• Disney imagineering has shared some shots of the new World of Frozen land opening at Hong Kong Disneyland next year.