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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter to Open at Universal Orlando in Spring 2010

September 15, 2009 at 11:45 AM | by juliana | 1 Comment

It's hard to believe anything good could come out of Draco Malfoy's mouth but today in a media webcast, Draco (aka actor Tom Felton) let us know that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a 20-acre "fully immersive" theme park attraction would be opening at the Universal Studios Orlando in Spring 2010. Muggles and Wizards rejoice!

Tom Williams, chairman and CEO, Universal Parks and Resorts was joined by Harry Potter films production designer Stuart Craig and show producer Alan Gilmore to give out a special sneak peek of the most anticipated theme park attraction since...hmm...maybe since Disney World opened? You all know how nutty HP fans get over the newest books/films. But imagine what they'll do to experience riding a Hippogriff or sending owl mail or exploring forbidden rooms in Hogwarts Castle?

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Disney Expo Surprises Include Johnny Depp And New Rides

September 15, 2009 at 9:03 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

While most were firmly planted on the couch watching Sunday’s football games, things were wrapping up at the D23 Expo in Anaheim. Disney hopes that this year’s expo—which is much like Comic Con for Disney fans—is just the first of many for years to come. If they announce as much as they did during this year’s edition, then we’ll definitely be intrigued year after year. However, we did know about a lot of their new projects already, including a revamp of the Star Tours attraction, thanks to the ol’ rumor mill.

One big surprise was to see Johnny Depp himself step onto the stage in full Captain Jack Sparrow regalia. He was in character and playfully going back and forth with one of the Disney suits on stage; he even commented about what poor Kermit the Frog tasted like. Depp was there to confirm that he will be returning in 2011 to star in the fourth edition of the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise.

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Weeks Later, There's Already Another Dale Earnhardt Coaster

September 3, 2009 at 9:14 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

The Intimidator has already risen again. Just a few weeks after the announcement of a new record setting Dale Earnhardt themed coaster, another theme park in the south wants a piece of the NASCAR action. Carowinds, just outside of Charlotte, has revealed the details on their biggest and baddest roller coaster yet.

This new thriller is different than the initial Earnhardt ride, so coaster fans from across the country will have a couple new things to test out for the 2010 season. This ride will climb to 232 feet tall, and then pretty much drop you right back down, as the first drop is 211 feet towards the ground. Of course after that they’ll be plenty of twists, turns, and drops that will make anyone regret that corn dog that they had before boarding. Although not quite racecar speeds, the coaster will hit 75 MPH, which is not too shabby.

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Have A Roller Coaster Phobia? Try Some Free Hypnotherapy

September 1, 2009 at 1:55 PM | by amandak | 0 Comments

Hitting the newest rides at an amusement park can sometimes be the whole point of a trip. But if you or one of your traveling companions is just too scared to get on, that can be a total bummer, not to mention time-waster.

In England, the Chessington World of Adventures theme park in Surrey, southwest of London, has got this problem figured right out. Starting from October 9, they'll be providing special hypnotherapy sessions for parents who are too frightened to hop on a ride with their children. The hypnotherapist in charge hopes these anxious theme-park-goers will learn to "sit back and enjoy it," rather than stay on the ground holding the bags.

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Smells, Speedos, And Sweat Banned At Theme Parks Across The Pond

September 1, 2009 at 1:04 PM | by kjb | 1 Comment

The rules at British theme parks are starting to get pretty stern. No longer can you assume that it’s fine to just wake up and head out to ride roller coasters without ensuring you are neatly and freshly groomed, especially now that Rihanna might be your seatmate. Officials want to make sure everyone is comfortable, so they are cracking down on the less enjoyable aspects of the amusement park experience.

At Thorpe Park signs are going up to remind visitors to keep their arms down on the rides. In case people don’t quite grasp what they are referencing, the text of the signs makes it pretty clear—“Say No To BO.” Temperatures have been warm lately and they just don’t want smelly pits to make the park’s roller coasters unpleasant. This is no joke either; those who don’t follow the new smell prevention mandate will be escorted from the park.

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Could Steven Spielberg Bounce From Universal Studios To Disney World?

August 27, 2009 at 12:24 PM | by kjb | 0 Comments

We are already quite aware of the roller coaster delays at Universal Studios in Orlando, but at least we know it’s coming sooner than later. However, that might not be the case for those of us who love the rides from Steven Spielberg movies. See, the movie director extraordinaire is re-negotiating his contract with park officials—he’s got quite the lucrative consulting contract.

Right now, Spielberg gets a flat fee and a percentage of the cash brought in for attractions at the park. He signed the deal about 20 years ago, so you can imagine that his annual check has probably increased significantly. They never set an expiration date to the agreement, but as of June 2010, he does have the right to cut things off.

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Dale Earnhardt To Rise Again In Roller Coaster Form

August 21, 2009 at 12:34 PM | by kjb | 1 Comment

Over the last few weeks, little tidbits of information have been trickling in regarding a new coaster set to hit the scene at Kings Dominion, outside of Richmond, Virginia. Finally the cat is out of the bag, and the park is looking to cozy up to the NASCAR crowd with their brand new Dale Earnhardt-themed coaster. Park officials are hoping to give visitors a taste of racecar speed as the new ride will hit 92 mph as it twists and turns along its steel track.

The Intimidator 305, as it will be known, is already being promoted as the tallest and fastest gravity-driven coaster on the country’s east coast (even though they're wrong, that title will stay with the 456-foot, 128-mph Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ). With a height of 305 feet and almost a mile of track, this is definitely going to be on the must-do list in 2010 for coaster crazies. We just need to get over the fact that the first drop sends riders barreling towards the earth at an 85-degree angle.

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Florida's Summer Is Sunny Skies With Chance Of Roller Coaster Delays

August 6, 2009 at 12:09 PM | by kjb | 1 Comment

We’ve been trying to plan a trip to check out Universal Studios' latest coaster at their Florida park for a while, but constant delays have left us less than thrilled. The summer is definitely approaching its end and we haven’t heard too much about this new roller coaster’s grand opening. Originally the thing was supposed to be thrilling folks around the Memorial Day weekend, but maybe Labor Day will be when we can welcome it into the world.

Apparently there’s been some issues with the lift, and the cars haven’t been making it all the way through the track. We love a little thrill, but we’d rather not be stuck upside down on a lift hill—so we say keep up the tests!

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Casper the Friendly Ghost Will Live On With A Dubai Theme Park

August 4, 2009 at 2:04 PM | by amandak | 0 Comments

The Dubai Festival City, full of luxury hotels and entertaining shops, is getting a kind of spooky addition: the Casper Theme Park, due to open up early in 2010. Our favorite friendly ghost has decided to haunt ever-expanding Dubai and no doubt make the developers a pack of money, especially since a new Casper TV series is due to launch later this year.

The Casper Theme Park will include the biggest monorail in the Middle East along with a rollercoaster and various other rides and games. They're obviously hoping this will put Dubai onto the list of places kids beg their parents to take them too, and it sounds like more child-friendly attractions might be in the pipeline.

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Oops, They Did It Again: Disney Raises Prices On Theme Park Tickets

August 4, 2009 at 8:54 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

Apparently the fact that the country is in a huge economic mess doesn’t seem to phase the suits at Disney. We understand that earnings were down this quarter compared to last year, and that you need more cash, but the ticket prices to your parks already cost a lot of money. Nonetheless, over the weekend the admission costs to Disneyland and Walt Disney World both went up by a few bucks, just like they have for the last couple of years.

If you have your heart set on heading to the mouse house in Florida this summer, a one-day ticket will now cost $79. This is an increase of $4 over the former rate, and once you add in the tax, you’re looking at well over $80 for a day with Mickey and friends. Like always, it pays to stay longer—they want to fatten you up on churros. The difference between a three day base ticket and a ten day base ticket is less than $30, but it will still cost you over $200 per person.

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How Do You Say 'Giant Wooden Roller Coaster' In Chinese?

Where: Sheshan, Shanghai, China
August 3, 2009 at 2:09 PM | by JetSetCD | 1 Comment

What are you doing on August 8? Since it won't be 08-08-08 like last year, we're going to assume that you're not either getting married or attending a wedding, so why not hop to the opening of China's largest theme park? The Happy Valley park, just outside of Shanghai in Sheshan, the 900,000 square-meter (that's 9,687,520 square feet!) park will have discounted admission through mid-September, so it's alright if you don't rush on opening day.

For adrenaline junkies, the Happy Valley park will have a mine coaster, a diving coaster, and China's first wooden coaster—they're still making these things?— called the "Fireball," which we'd hope never ends up as an actual fireball. That's it there in the picture above.

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Disneyland Is Already Thinking About Pumpkins And Candy

July 22, 2009 at 12:04 PM | by kjb | 0 Comments

With Independence Day barely in the rear view mirror, another theme park is already prepping their offerings for Halloween. Hoping to build the excitement for the autumn amusement season, Disneyland in California has announced its plans for the spookiest of all holidays. Halloween Time will run from September 25 through November 1, just in time to take down all the pumpkins and put up all the Christmas trees.

Space Mountain will be getting a special holiday-themed overlay to spice things up for those looking to celebrate all things black and orange. The Ghost Galaxy idea premiered at Hong Kong Disneyland, but the folks in Anaheim will borrow this concept to add some new music and ghostly images to the walls of the roller coaster—sounds spooky awesome.

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