Friday, 27 April 2018
Friday, 30 March 2018
News in a Minute - 30th March 2018
I have been continuing to do my weekly posts on YouTube, where I give you a 1 minute rundown of theme park news. However I have been slack putting these up on my blog. So here are the last few week's episodes -
This week:
Last week:
2 Week's ago:
If you do check out my video's don't forget to subscribe, as I'm just starting out on this little journey, and need all the help I can get. Any feedback is welcome!
This week:
Last week:
2 Week's ago:
If you do check out my video's don't forget to subscribe, as I'm just starting out on this little journey, and need all the help I can get. Any feedback is welcome!
Thursday, 8 March 2018
Friday, 2 March 2018
News in a Minute - 2nd March 2018
I'm trying a new style of blogging/vlogging. Hopefully I'll be a bit more regular at this!
Sunday, 1 October 2017
The Store of Requirement
This is not a theme park post, but what are you gonna do.
Over the last two decades the Harry Potter books have spawned possibly the most successful creative franchise of all time. JK Rowling's Boy Wizard is a global juggernaut showing little sign of stopping. The extended universe of the Fantastic Beasts movies will keep this franchise fresh for many years to come.
The theme park world has been similarly transformed by Harry Potter with the multiple Wizarding World of Harry Potters that have opened at Universal parks round the world. They've set the standard for theming and immersion for the next 10 years of Theme Park developments. And the London Stuidio tour is incredibly popular. It feels like Harry Potter is everywhere.
Except that it isn't. Places like Australia have a huge fanbase for Harry, but we are a million miles from anywhere that we can have a Butterbeer. Until now...
The Store of Requirement is a brand new Harry Potter themed shop in Samford, just outside of Brisbane in Queensland. It's been setup in a converted chapel and brilliantly themed to the HP universe. And they have Butterbeer on tap!
Let's take a look at the shop...
The shop is decked out with merchandise and memorabilia from every part of the Harry Potter universe.
While it's clearly a shop, but even the most over the top merch (see the giant stuff harry) does not feel out of place.
There are brooms for sale, and incidentally I did read online that the Queensland Quidditch association has been known to have meets and training sessions in the park across the road. Not joking!
And all manner of Weasley and Weasley treats.
The front half of the shop is dedicated to everything that you can buy, the back of it takes on a more House Common-room vibe with comfy couches and cool air conditioning (a blessing on the day we went).
I could not resist it.
Neither could my son.
Butterbeer Verdict: I loved it. While I haven't tasted the Universal Orlando (or WB Studio tour) versions, it was exactly how I have heard it described. It was sweet, and butterscotchy. Super cold and very refreshing. Others in our group like it more for the novelty than the taste, but I was sold on every front. The cream on top gave it sort of a Splice or Spider taste at the end, which is not what I've heard of the foam on the theme park Butterbeer, but it was still delicious.
The shop also had a number of delicious treats...
The theme park world has been similarly transformed by Harry Potter with the multiple Wizarding World of Harry Potters that have opened at Universal parks round the world. They've set the standard for theming and immersion for the next 10 years of Theme Park developments. And the London Stuidio tour is incredibly popular. It feels like Harry Potter is everywhere.
Except that it isn't. Places like Australia have a huge fanbase for Harry, but we are a million miles from anywhere that we can have a Butterbeer. Until now...
The Store of Requirement is a brand new Harry Potter themed shop in Samford, just outside of Brisbane in Queensland. It's been setup in a converted chapel and brilliantly themed to the HP universe. And they have Butterbeer on tap!
Let's take a look at the shop...
Signs for the shop are really nicely designed, and while they don't say "Harry Potter" as such (and probably can't for legal reasons), they are consistent with the care that has been taken with putting this shop together.
The shop runs 5 days a week, and the signs continue to be sprinkled with hints of what is inside.
The chapel that the shop is built in has beautiful stained glass windows, that really adds to the old English feel inside.
When first entering the shop, you are greeted by the Sorting Hat. At various times we saw staff members (all dressed in Harry Potter style) using the Sorting Hat to sort youngsters into the various Hogwarts houses (and take photos). Very neat!
And all manner of Weasley and Weasley treats.
It is here where you find some of the more unique (read expensive) items on display. Seriously cool stuff!!
While my photos might not show it, this place was utterly packed on the day we visited. Niche stores like this live and die by the strength of their patronage, so at least for now that is a very promising sign. The most popular item for sale, and I think what will really keep this place afloat, was this...
BUTTERBEER!!!
On tap too!! Cost was $7.50 for a plain Butterbeer, $9.00 for a Butterbeer with cream.
Butterbeer Verdict: I loved it. While I haven't tasted the Universal Orlando (or WB Studio tour) versions, it was exactly how I have heard it described. It was sweet, and butterscotchy. Super cold and very refreshing. Others in our group like it more for the novelty than the taste, but I was sold on every front. The cream on top gave it sort of a Splice or Spider taste at the end, which is not what I've heard of the foam on the theme park Butterbeer, but it was still delicious.
The shop also had a number of delicious treats...
Delicious cupcakes, even some with Mandrakes on top, as well as frogs and other treats.
And of course the Golden Snitch.
My wife was a big fan of these cupcakes, she felt they were very clever!
Overall Verdict: The Store of Requirement is an immaculately themed and presented Harry Potter shop that all fans would enjoy. While the space they have setup in Samford is perfect, you could easily drop one of these into ever major city in Australia and they would make a killing. This is clearly run by fans for fans, and that is what is best about it. Being able to sit back with a Butterbeer, and watch all walks of life loving being immersed in this world, is what has made the WWoHP a massive success for Universal. While this is not on the same scale, it is awesome to have something that approaches that in our little corner of the globe. If you are a Harry Potter fan in the greater Brisbane area, you must visit this shop and then spread the word. This kind of unique shop can only last as long as it's fans support it. In my opinion, it is worth the visit for the Butterbeer alone!!
Saturday, 29 July 2017
News Update - Pirate Auctions, Symbolica, D23 and Marty Sklar
July has been an absolutely enormous month for theme park news, from around the world and especially from the D23 Disney fan convention that was in Anaheim a couple of weeks ago. We'll get to all the news on that in the second, but first it is only right to acknowledge that Disney legend Marty Sklar passed away at age 83 yesterday. One of Walt's right hand men, Sklar has long been seen as a link to the opening of Disneyland and Walt's philosophies on parks and entertainment. Quite impressively he is the only Disney cast member to have been at the opening of all 12 of the Disney theme parks world wide. He was an inspiration to many in Walt Disney Imagineering, and had an undeniable impact on the parks and attractions as they stand today.
So on that sad note, let's move onto some general theme park news from July 2017.
At the start of the month, Disney announced that it was changing the Auction scene in the Pirates of the Caribbean at all of it's installations, to remove what could be considered a depiction of human trafficking. They announced that "the redhead" at the centre of the scene would now be armed, and the auction would be for things (guns and booty) rather than people. Strangely this became quite a debated issue, where people were taking this to mean that Disney was trying to "destroy" or "whitewash" one of it's early attrations. When the Disneyland Paris version of this ride re-opened, we got a taste for how this scene would now play out in the US parks. From my perspective this is a good change. I understand those that are nostalgic for the ride in it's original form, but people need to understand that ride has not existed for years. This ride has been updated in multiple ways, particularly since the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. It's never been a true depiction of what pirates were like either, so arguments to that effect are flawed as well. I think social change should impact parks that have long standing attractions. I'm not saying everything has to be It's a small world type peaches and cream, it's just that when an issue like human trafficking becomes much more part of the social consciousness, then vague depictions like this are much more easily interpreted. Once interpreted like this, one scene can be jarring inside a ride like this, especially for parents of young girls. So, in short I'm for the change, let's all move on.
Moving over to the Netherlands where super park Efteling have opened there much anticipated new trackless dark ride "Symbolica: Palace of Fantasy" on the first of July. The ride features Pardoes, one of the main characters for the park, who guides vistors through the hidden and enchanting parts of Hartenhof Castle. The ride has three separate tours which you can be taken on, which separate and come back together at various parts of the ride. It also has an interactive element with touch pads on the ride vehicles which control different parts of the ride. At 35 million Euro this represents the largest investment in Efteling's history and really is one of the most impressive dark rides to open in the last 10 years.
The biggest news stories of the last month MOSTLY came out of the D23 fan convention that was held in Anaheim two weeks ago. Even before the event started we were treated to an in depth look at the Star Wars Land model which teased the wonderful details of this land coming to Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios very soon. We got even more details at the start of D23, when we learnt that this new land would be called Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, and that it would open in 2019 with the west coast version to open first.
Across from Disneyland at Disney California Adventure, they are getting a new Pixar Fest event and Paradise Pier will be rethemed to Pixar Pier. We also got our first official hints at the Marvel Superhero Universe themed area is currently in development for Disney California Adventure, which will have much more announced in the future.
On the east coast, and there is plenty happening at Disney's Hollywood Studios where Toy Story Land is opening in 2018, followed by Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge in 2019. The surprise news of the event was the brand new Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway to replace the Great Movie Ride at the centre of the park. But DHS isn't the only park set for a makeover with Epcot to be enhanced in phases, with first phase to be completed by 2022 for the 40th aniversary of the park. In World Showcase the France Pavilion is receiving a clone of Ratatouille from Walt Disney Studios Paris and the China Pavillion will be getting a new film to replace Reflections of China. In Future World Ellen's Energy Adventure is being replaced by a new E-ticket attraction themed to the Guardians of the Galaxy which we don't have any hard details about. Mission: Space to recieve a more kid friendly mission, the Green Mission, which will be an orbit of Earth featuring much greater sights and sounds. The new mission will debut in August. Mission: Space will now also feature a full-service restaurant where guests eat in space! Which will be awesome!
In Magic Kingdom, a new theatre on main street modeled after the Willis Theater in 1920s Kansas City, and in 2021, Magic Kingdom will open Tron Lightcycle Power Run, in tomorrowland adjacent to Space Mountain, which is a clone from Shanghai Disneyland. But the biggest news for WDW was really outside the parks where Disney announced Star Wars luxury hotel coming to the Hollywood Studios resort area. This immersive hotel will be themed to a space craft in the Star Wars universe with each guest room having a view of space. There is also a new vacation club resort Disney Riviera Resort opening in the Epcot resort area. Some new transportation portions were also announced with
Disney's Minnie Van service to start operating as an Uber style point to point transport at a flat rate of $20 per trip. Also the rumoured Disney Skyliner, an aerial gondola system, was announced to connect the Epcot and Hollywood Studios areas. With stops at Epcot's International Gateway and the main gate of Disney's Hollywood Studios, in addition to Disney's Pop Century, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach, and Riviera resorts.
Outside of the US the only real news from D23 was that Disneyland Paris to be home to the first Marvel-themed Resort.
Post D23 we've seen the re-opening of Fantasmic! and just this weekend, the re-opening of the Disneyland Railroad and the Rivers of America at Disneyland. At WDW, there has been an announcement that "Grand Avenue" will open at Disney's Hollywood Studios. This will be themed to the Los Angeles street of the same name, and will put a touch of modern day California into the park.
Outside of Disney and D23 over at Universal Orlando, they have announced that they are closing the Dragon Challenge twin roller coasters to make way for a new attraction in the original Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure. Exactly what this will be is unclear but rumour has it that it could tie in to the Forbidden Forrest that surrounds Hogwarts.
So that is the news for a massive month of theme park news! Keep looking ahead though, as August 16th is National Roller Coaster day in the US, which is very likely to bring on announcements from Knott's Berry Farm, Silver Dollar City, Great America and King's Dominion.
That's it for this month's News Update. For more Theme Park coverage, follow me on Twitter @themeparknut. Until next time, Cheers!
So on that sad note, let's move onto some general theme park news from July 2017.
At the start of the month, Disney announced that it was changing the Auction scene in the Pirates of the Caribbean at all of it's installations, to remove what could be considered a depiction of human trafficking. They announced that "the redhead" at the centre of the scene would now be armed, and the auction would be for things (guns and booty) rather than people. Strangely this became quite a debated issue, where people were taking this to mean that Disney was trying to "destroy" or "whitewash" one of it's early attrations. When the Disneyland Paris version of this ride re-opened, we got a taste for how this scene would now play out in the US parks. From my perspective this is a good change. I understand those that are nostalgic for the ride in it's original form, but people need to understand that ride has not existed for years. This ride has been updated in multiple ways, particularly since the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. It's never been a true depiction of what pirates were like either, so arguments to that effect are flawed as well. I think social change should impact parks that have long standing attractions. I'm not saying everything has to be It's a small world type peaches and cream, it's just that when an issue like human trafficking becomes much more part of the social consciousness, then vague depictions like this are much more easily interpreted. Once interpreted like this, one scene can be jarring inside a ride like this, especially for parents of young girls. So, in short I'm for the change, let's all move on.
Moving over to the Netherlands where super park Efteling have opened there much anticipated new trackless dark ride "Symbolica: Palace of Fantasy" on the first of July. The ride features Pardoes, one of the main characters for the park, who guides vistors through the hidden and enchanting parts of Hartenhof Castle. The ride has three separate tours which you can be taken on, which separate and come back together at various parts of the ride. It also has an interactive element with touch pads on the ride vehicles which control different parts of the ride. At 35 million Euro this represents the largest investment in Efteling's history and really is one of the most impressive dark rides to open in the last 10 years.
The biggest news stories of the last month MOSTLY came out of the D23 fan convention that was held in Anaheim two weeks ago. Even before the event started we were treated to an in depth look at the Star Wars Land model which teased the wonderful details of this land coming to Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios very soon. We got even more details at the start of D23, when we learnt that this new land would be called Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, and that it would open in 2019 with the west coast version to open first.
Across from Disneyland at Disney California Adventure, they are getting a new Pixar Fest event and Paradise Pier will be rethemed to Pixar Pier. We also got our first official hints at the Marvel Superhero Universe themed area is currently in development for Disney California Adventure, which will have much more announced in the future.
On the east coast, and there is plenty happening at Disney's Hollywood Studios where Toy Story Land is opening in 2018, followed by Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge in 2019. The surprise news of the event was the brand new Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway to replace the Great Movie Ride at the centre of the park. But DHS isn't the only park set for a makeover with Epcot to be enhanced in phases, with first phase to be completed by 2022 for the 40th aniversary of the park. In World Showcase the France Pavilion is receiving a clone of Ratatouille from Walt Disney Studios Paris and the China Pavillion will be getting a new film to replace Reflections of China. In Future World Ellen's Energy Adventure is being replaced by a new E-ticket attraction themed to the Guardians of the Galaxy which we don't have any hard details about. Mission: Space to recieve a more kid friendly mission, the Green Mission, which will be an orbit of Earth featuring much greater sights and sounds. The new mission will debut in August. Mission: Space will now also feature a full-service restaurant where guests eat in space! Which will be awesome!
In Magic Kingdom, a new theatre on main street modeled after the Willis Theater in 1920s Kansas City, and in 2021, Magic Kingdom will open Tron Lightcycle Power Run, in tomorrowland adjacent to Space Mountain, which is a clone from Shanghai Disneyland. But the biggest news for WDW was really outside the parks where Disney announced Star Wars luxury hotel coming to the Hollywood Studios resort area. This immersive hotel will be themed to a space craft in the Star Wars universe with each guest room having a view of space. There is also a new vacation club resort Disney Riviera Resort opening in the Epcot resort area. Some new transportation portions were also announced with
Disney's Minnie Van service to start operating as an Uber style point to point transport at a flat rate of $20 per trip. Also the rumoured Disney Skyliner, an aerial gondola system, was announced to connect the Epcot and Hollywood Studios areas. With stops at Epcot's International Gateway and the main gate of Disney's Hollywood Studios, in addition to Disney's Pop Century, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach, and Riviera resorts.
Outside of the US the only real news from D23 was that Disneyland Paris to be home to the first Marvel-themed Resort.
Post D23 we've seen the re-opening of Fantasmic! and just this weekend, the re-opening of the Disneyland Railroad and the Rivers of America at Disneyland. At WDW, there has been an announcement that "Grand Avenue" will open at Disney's Hollywood Studios. This will be themed to the Los Angeles street of the same name, and will put a touch of modern day California into the park.
Outside of Disney and D23 over at Universal Orlando, they have announced that they are closing the Dragon Challenge twin roller coasters to make way for a new attraction in the original Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure. Exactly what this will be is unclear but rumour has it that it could tie in to the Forbidden Forrest that surrounds Hogwarts.
So that is the news for a massive month of theme park news! Keep looking ahead though, as August 16th is National Roller Coaster day in the US, which is very likely to bring on announcements from Knott's Berry Farm, Silver Dollar City, Great America and King's Dominion.
That's it for this month's News Update. For more Theme Park coverage, follow me on Twitter @themeparknut. Until next time, Cheers!
Sunday, 18 June 2017
The DC Rivals Hypercoaster: The Suicide Squad Theory
This week WB Movie Worl have FINALLY announced the name and theme of the up coming Hypercoaster; the DC Rivals Hypercoaster! Now we've known about this coaster for a long time so we already knew this was going to be the biggest, longest, pinkest coaster in the country. The big reveal however was not just the theme of DC Rivals but also the fact that the back row of the ride will be reversed, so you can ride it backwards.
What do I think of the theme? It's weak. Generic and bland in a park that usually is at l But I've got my own crackpot theory for why this theme exists. What do I think of the backwards ride? It's great but it's odd. It is our first Hypercoaster, it's going to be insanely popular, why add this feature for opening? Surely this could have been added after popularity had dipped 2-3 years in. Particularly since it affects capacity (the back two rows have been replaced with a single backwards facing row). Well good news, my crackpot theory covers that too.
Tinfoil hats everyone! Here we go:
I believe this coaster was originally going to be themed to the Suicide Squad. When we first heard about this coaster there was a strong suggestion it would be announced last September/October. There was industry buzz around before that time about the upcoming Suicide Squad movie. Then two things happened, first the horrible tragedy at Dreamworld where 4 people lost their lives. Secondly the Suicide Squad movie tanked, and tanked hard. Obviously even if the theme wasn't Suicide Squad, Movie World would have delayed announcing their coaster out of reapect. But I expected a pause for two or three months, since we could see construction starting. There was nothing. Maybe they were waiting to see the Suicide Squad be enough of a hit they could get away with the obvious lack of sensitivity. Think about this, a fuscia tracked coaster with a giant Joker face launching from the middle of their "Heroes" precinct? (Remember the villains are now relegated to the back of the park.) Smells like Suicide Squad to me!
No one in their right mind could try to sell a coaster with the word Suicide in the title, themed to a failed movie in this climate. So they had to retheme. But what about the pink track, the joker face and the hero location. It's not like the could drop a Flash or Wonderwoman theme on it without a bucket of cash. I imagine somewhere a Movie World executive is crying himself to sleep over not choosing Wonderwoman from the start. So that is why we have this brand new concept, the DC Rivals.
But by now everyone who cared knew it was a Hypercoaster, so people would notice that lack of theme straight off the bat. How do you distract the hardcore theme park nerds from a lack of theme? You can ride it backwards! Now maybe I'm reading too much into it and they always planned for backwards on open, but you've got to admit the Suicide Squad theory has legs.
Let me know in the comments below if you think the DC Rivals is just some makeup on top of the Suicide Squad Coaster, or if I am crazy? Bonus question, why wouldn't Movie World build a Wonderwoman coaster?
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