You might not be hardcore Disney enough to have attended this year’s D23 Expo, but we’re sure that you are probably interested about what it means for the theme parks. The ultimate disney fan event—their words, not ours—took place last weekend, and it produced some pretty decent news on the update front.

Down in Florida at Walt Disney World, upgrades are still on schedule for the Magic Kingdom. Over in Fantasyland, theme park officials are working on a new Beauty and the Beast section that will focus on meeting and greeting some of your favorite characters from the film. If you’ve outgrown character autographs—we understand—just make your way over to Ariel's Undersea Adventure, an attraction copying the blueprints from a similar ride out in California. ]]> kjb 2011-08-24T10:49:15-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/6/27/105627/554

Jennifer Lopez took advantage of a little downtime over the weekend and spent the day with her family at Disneyland. On Saturday she was spotted on the Dumbo Ride at the Anaheim, California theme park with her three-year-old daughter Emme. Her son Max, mother Guadalupe and sisters Lynda and Leslie also tagged along for a day of Disney magic.

Of course Jennifer wouldn't be expected to walk through the park on her own, so Disney accommodated the Lopez family by providing them with a personal escort for the day who kept fans at bay. ]]> cmb 2011-06-27T12:40:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/6/14/85637/6828

It looks like an annual Disney tradition has taken place just in time for the summer vacation season, as the theme parks in California and Florida have raised their ticket prices. There wasn’t too much warning either—which is usually the case—as the house of mouse sent out a little reminder on their Disney Parks blog that things would be heading north effective Sunday, June 12.

For those looking forward to hitting up Walt Disney World anytime soon, tickets for one day of fun at one of the parks is now $85 per adult—it was $82 before the pricing update. Kids—which are only those between age three and nine—get a slight discount at $79 per day. Of course there are all kinds of multi-day park tickets which do provide some sort of discount in one way or another, but unfortunately those were increased as well. Expect a four day ticket—with the ability to hop between the four main parks—to now set you back $298. ]]> kjb 2011-06-14T10:20:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/6/10/81546/4937

This year Disneyland Paris is going on a little bit of a beach vacation, and they’re encouraging one and all to swing by to take in a little of the sun and sand. As part of this year’s Sand Sculpture Festival in Blankenberge—that’s in Belgium—piles and piles of sand are being transformed into a version of France’s most famous theme park.

It’s not just princesses and castles either, as the whole park has been recreated. The only downer is that this is a look but don’t touch situation, as sand Space Mountain wouldn’t hold up too well to throngs of tourists. ]]> kjb 2011-06-10T08:45:34-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/4/7/72139/27460

April is a big month for Disney when it comes to its theme parks in Asia. It seems like we’ve been talking about the House of Mouse opening up a new park in China for some time now, but it looks like tomorrow is the day when the bulldozers, shovels, and cranes finally arrive in Shanghai. The official groundbreaking is set for April 8—assuming all goes according to plan.

It takes quite some time for all those iconic Disney rides and attractions to be built from the ground up, so don’t expect to visit anytime soon. As of now, they’re thinking that it’s going to take about five years or so. The city of Shanghai has created a special tourist zone just for the park, and they’ve set aside just shy of 2,000 acres for hotels, parking lots, and a lake. They’ll also be adding a stop to their subway system too, so accessing Mickey will be pretty simple. ]]> kjb 2011-04-07T09:12:27-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/3/9/8573/75966

With the clocks moving ahead this weekend it’s only a matter of time before theme parks across the country throw open their gates for the summer season—check right here for the most anticipated theme park opening dates. However, if you’ve got more than one roller coaster in your sights, there are a few passes that will get you access to all the season’s screams and thrills. Here are our picks for the Three Best Park Passes for 2011:

· Cedar Fair Platinum Pass
There’s only 66 days until Cedar Point opens for the 2011 season, but that doesn’t mean that you need to wait to order your ticket. The ultimate season pass grants you access to every coaster, attraction, and ride in the Cedar Fair empire. So not only can you visit roller coaster mecca in Ohio for free, but any and all Cedar Fair parks are free too—think King’s Dominion and King’s Island. Free parking and exclusive ride nights are yours with the pass, but the best perk is getting into the park an hour before everyone else. All this can be yours for $165 per person, or $155 per person if you order in packs of four. ]]> kjb 2011-03-09T09:46:38-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/1/24/91530/0961

As we first reported last year, Disney has been giving their Star Wars attractions a facelift and now they've finally announced that Star Tours: The Adventures Continue will open at its Hollywood Studios theme park at Walt Disney World resort on May 20th 2011.

The Star Wars-themed ride at Disneyland in Anaheim (which is also getting a makeover) previously hadn't been updated since it opened in 1987 so fans were delighted last year when the rumors of a revamp were confirmed. ]]> cmb 2011-01-24T14:32:16-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/