We were pretty eager to see if Steven Spielberg and Mickey Mouse would actually come together to create some kind of super theme park. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen, and we’ll just have to settle for separate parks with separate rides. At the end of the summer it seemed that Spielberg might be getting out of his lucrative theme park consulting contract, but instead, he’s just extending it.

He agreed to delay a buyout option in his consulting contact with NBC Universal, which means he’ll be getting a fat paycheck until 2017. He’ll probably get to throw his two cents in when it comes to designing new attractions in Singapore and Dubai, so we might need to put those new parks on our theme park wish list. Maybe he’ll even tell Harry Potter how to do things the Spielberg way down in Florida. We kind of figured that his deal was too good to drop, especially because Disney probably wouldn’t have wanted to share that much cash with anyone. ]]> kjb 2009-10-30T09:02:22-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/20/82026/974

Last year there were rumors kicking around about a Disney park being built in Shanghai. At this time, there’s still no solid plans to get Mickey and friends a passport, but there are some other fictional characters looking to call China home in 2010. The stories of Hans Christian Andersen are set to come alive in a theme park that would open just in time for the 2010 Word Expo. The park will begin to welcome guests on May 11—the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Denmark.

The park certainly won’t be the biggest and best theme park, but 20 acres will be dedicated to characters from stories like the Little Mermaid and the Emperor’s New Clothes. It’s important to remember that there’s no fresh crab sidekick in Andersen’s story of a girl under the sea, so if you’re looking for Ariel, you’ll just have to wait until Disney builds their park. The ride and attraction details are lacking at this point, so we don’t know if the Ugly Duckling will be making an appearance in roller coaster form. ]]> kjb 2009-10-20T10:31:04-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/15/81448/866

Our neighbors to the north love to celebrate Halloween as well, even if their spooky day is after Thanksgiving. For those in and around the Toronto area, the best place to get some thrills is at Canada’s Wonderland. Cedar Fair owns the place, the same theme park experts responsible for HalloWeekends at Cedar Point. It might not be as crazy spooky as things in Ohio, but they definitely get the job done.

Halloween Haunt at Canada’s Wonderland dares visitors to explore their way through the park while attempting to avoid possessed woodland creatures and vampires. All the major rides will be running, but it’s up to you to make your way to the coasters without being frightened out of the park.

Mazes are the big thing here, and there’s plenty of returning favorites as well as some new ones. The park seems especially excited about Club Blood. Visitors are led to believe that it is just a nightclub to celebrate the season, but unfortunately vampires run it. Just try to avoid being invited back into the VIP lounge; that’s where the vampires do their thing. ]]> kjb 2009-10-15T09:33:37-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/13/72822/511

You know Disney has some deep pockets when it comes to their theme parks, so visitors looking to celebrate Halloween have nothing to worry about if they make Walt Disney World their spooky holiday headquarters. For many years the Magic Kingdom has been shutting things down early and welcoming families to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.

It’s a Halloween bash that encourages both parents and their kids to dress up; however, some of the adults get a little carried away and that’s always slightly frightened us. As you take in all the seasonal decorations be sure to stop and fill your bags with candy. There’s plenty of trick or treat spots throughout the park and they are usually pretty generous. The best part of the party is that the crowds are manageable. Disney only sells a certain amount of tickets to the shindig, so it’s a great chance to ride Space Mountain like five times in a row without waiting. ]]> kjb 2009-10-13T09:38:36-05:00 28.3829163 -81.567704 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/9/71449/9401

The best place to celebrate the spooky season in the New York City region has to be a trip to Six Flags Great Adventure in neighboring New Jersey. It’s a few hours from the city, but most theme parks are already boarding things up for the winter, so it’s your best chance for once last spin, dip, and drop on a roller coaster. Most of the Six Flags across the country offer a little entertainment, but the offerings at Great Adventure are some of the best around.

Celebrating its eighteenth year of freaking people out, Six Flags Fright Fest is well underway. This year’s events are sponsored by Snickers, so hopefully there will be some treats as well as some tricks for park visitors. There’s new shows, creepy decorations, and plenty of pumpkins and spiders to get you in the mood for Halloween.

The park is transformed into thrills by day and chills by night, so no matter what time you’re attending, you’ll get chills down your spine. Things during the day are a little tamer especially adventures like the Trick-or-Treat Trail. Here you’ll fill up your pillowcase as you get some free candy from the Looney Tunes characters. Hey Bugs Bunny, we’ll take the big size bars if you have any—thanks. Once nighttime arrives prepare Professor Zombini's Freak Show. Here you’ll be able to criticize and judge sideshow freaks as they perform their antics, let’s just hope they don’t escape.]]> kjb 2009-10-09T09:28:34-05:00 40.1394890 -74.400632 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/8/95645/1968

If you're so over the usual haunted houses and Scream masks jumping out at you, you'd still better brace yourself for Cedar Point's haunted toy factory, "Cornstalker" scare maze which only opens after dark, and much more. Cedar Point's HalloWeekends veers away from the family-friendly fun in favor of the macabre and truly frightening.

The haunting has already begun at this amusement park, located on a peninsula in Lake Erie nearest to Sandusky, Ohio. During the summer season, the steep drops from some of the world's highest and fastest roller coasters, surrounded by sparkling water of the lake, is perhaps the scariest thing. But on September 18 through November 1, the park transforms every nook and cranny into a pants-wetting scream zone with 4 haunted houses, 5 scare zones, and 9 live shows. ]]> JetSetCD 2009-10-08T10:34:58-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/7/65940/2650

For those in our nation’s capital looking to celebrate Halloween without Obama and Palin masks, there’s always the option of taking a ride down I-95 to Williamsburg, Virginia. Busch Gardens Williamsburg has been doing the scary theme park for over ten years now, and this year’s Howl-O-Scream looks to do more damage than even their roller coasters.

Like some of the parks we’ve featured before, Busch Gardens transforms the park into a scary land featuring costumed characters lurking behind every corner. There’s six different haunted houses to terrify and torture, especially when a few of them are more maze than haunted house. Good luck if you’re trying to get out. If you’d rather have a chance to escape, you can always run through one of the park’s nine scare zones.

If you need to take a breather there’s plenty of scary shows to entertain you. Sit back and relax, or try to, and take in the scene. There’s one for your little pumpkin as well—starring Elmo—but we won’t tell anyone if you need to watch that one instead. ]]> kjb 2009-10-07T09:31:12-05:00 37.2361653 -76.643911 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/