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Shrek and Kung Fu Panda Pack Up to Headline at Russia's Amusements Parks

It’s not exactly Universal Studios Russia just yet, but it sounds like some of your favorite theme park characters will be going on a bit of an international road trip. The critters from movies like Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda—and of course there’s Shrek too—have applied for the necessary passports and visas, and they’re ready to depart.

DreamWorks Animation has licensed out many of their fictional characters, as they’re hoping that they can cash in when a couple new theme parks are constructed in spots like St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Yekaterinburg. No need to book your tickets just yet, however, it sounds like the goal is to have the turnstiles swinging for the first time at some point in 2015.

Organizers are promising that the new parks will be some of the continent’s largest indoor fun zones, and that entertainment won’t stop there either. It’ll all be part of a bigger construction project featuring movie theatres, concert halls, hotels, and of course plenty of stores to spend your extra rubles.

[Photo: AIMS Productions LLP]

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Disney World / Walt Disney World / Traveling With Children / Theme Parks / Amusement Parks / Florida Travel / → All Tags

Disney World's Revamped Fantasyland Will Have You Drinking Wine and Sitting in Clamshells

If there’s a family vacation to Disney World in the cards this winter, you’re in luck as Mickey and friends have been hard at work all year long to get things spiffed up for the season. We’re not just talking about the lights, decorations, and ubiquitous Christmas trees, but there’s a revamped and renovated Fantasyland now available to the masses. They didn’t figure out how to eliminate the line for Dumbo, but at least now you can score a drink afterwards.

A lot of the old stuff is still there so don’t worry if you just can’t live without the musical boat ride that’s known as "It's a Small World." They still have that—and the song—but there are two new areas within Fantasyland that will keep the big and little kids happy.

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Disney Parks Go Full Tilt in Social Media with 'Limited Time Magic'

Visitors to Disney World and Disneyland next year may just need to stay a little more connected than they’re used to, as it looks like the theme parks will be all about social media in the coming months. Instead of announcing a new roller coaster, attraction, or other ride—in their defense they’re working on a couple things—next year is all about what they’re calling “Limited Time Magic.”

Each and every week will feature new events and fun stuff, as little surprises and celebrations are scheduled on and off all year long. Disney plans to use Twitter, Facebook, and other internet fun to share the scoop on stuff like character meet-and-greets, limited-time parades, concerts, and other Mickey Mouse activities. Of course there will be chances to grab special edition merchandise and assorted goodies. They've got to move those Mickey ears and shirts, after all.

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Where to Spend Your Halloween Amongst 'The Walking Dead'

Universal Studios Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights is back for another year of creepy mazes, "scare zones," monsters and now, zombies too.

In addition to a Silent Hill-themed maze, the Penn and Teller “Vegas” maze, even an Alice Cooper maze, Universal Studios (on both coasts) features a new Walking Dead maze. [Be sure to check out our comprehensive guide to Halloween Horror Nights here].

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Tripping over Scareactors at Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights 2012

Once again, Universal Studios Orlando is doing its best to scare nightly visitors as the park is in the midst of the 22nd annual Halloween Horror Nights. You know the drill—each fall crowds converge on the park to experience the transformation; by day Universal Studios welcomes guests of all ages to experience the new Despicable Me ride, ET's bike, and pose for photos with Spongebob, while at night (22 nights, ending on Halloween night) the park turns itself into a giant live action horror movie.

A gaggle of writers work year-round to come up with the themes and schemes that inhabit Universal's annual Halloween Horror Nights. For this 22nd incarnation of fright, Universal went heavy on the partnership route, teaming up with AMC's Walking Dead, Penn & Teller, Alice Cooper, and Silent Hill for four of the seven houses. Furthermore, the park ditched the "scare zones," opting to let the legions of horror scareactors freely roam the streets to search for victims in bars, restaurants, lines, and inside every henhouse and outhouse inside park boundaries.

We toured each of the seven haunted houses and searched out all the scareactors roaming the streets and here's what we think, in order from scariest to not-so-scary:

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Digital Ticket Bracelets May be Mickey Mouse's Newest Invention

It’s already well known that it costs an arm and a leg to get into the best of the country’s theme parks, and that’s especially the case if you’re headed to a spot with "Disney" in the name. Don’t worry—at least as far as we know—tickets aren’t going up in price in the immediate future. However, it does look like your ticket might be transforming itself into something a little bit more than a piece of paper or plastic.

Nothing has been announced as of yet, but something tentatively known as the "Magic Band" was kind of called out right on the website of the Federal Communications Commission. Without an official announcement it’s all speculation, but it looks like this "Magic Band" is some kind of wireless bracelet that would digitally hold your admission and ticket information. Basically you’d exchange your credit card digits for a Magic Band that would let you access the park, and maybe even charge a mickey ice cream bar right to your linked card. Again, we’re just guessing here.

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Hitting Halloween at the USA's Top Five Theme Parks: Dates, Prices and More

If you haven’t started to feel the chill in the air you will sooner than later, and that means that theme parks around the country will start loading in their pumpkins, scarecrows, and other spooky seasonal decorations. Halloween is still over a month away, but that doesn’t mean that the scary stuff won’t begin a little bit sooner.

Here’s a quick rundown of some of the country’s best parks and when they begin to do their Halloween thing:

Cedar Point – HalloWeekends

Over at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio the werewolves and vampires come out to play beginning on September 14—that’s this Friday. The frightening fun runs on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through October 28, but you might want to just double-check the official calendar before filling up the tank and starting your drive. Admission to this year’s events should set you back around $45, but that’s only if you order in advance online.

Busch Gardens – Howl-O-Scream

There’s a couple flavors of this year’s seasonal celebrations from which to choose, as Busch Gardens is getting the ghosts and goblins ready in both Tampa and Williamsburg, Virginia. Expect haunted houses, live entertainment, and plenty of pumpkins. In Virginia the run runs on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays beginning this week, ending October 30. Down in Florida things don’t begin until next week, and it’s going to be a Thursday, Friday, Saturday thing with the scary stuff running as late as 2am. Advance admission will set you back $55 for Florida and $70 if you’re looking to be scared silly in Virginia.

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Did You Know? Cedar Point Once Had a Boeing 747-Theme Roller Coaster

Fun fact: fun facts are awesome. Whether you're trying to chat up a flight attendant or simply love learning something cool, we've got some tidbits to share. So all this week, we'll be squeezing our mindgrapes to bring you some awesome, random travel factoids.

Fact: Cedar Point Amusement Park used to have a Boeing 747-themed roller coaster named "Jumbo Jet."

It's the late 1970s at a theme park in Ohio, but this isn't just any theme park; it's Cedar Point. This park, on a peninsula sticking out into Lake Erie, celebrates over 100 years of fun, with five roller coasters at the time: Blue Streak, Wildcat, Cedar Creek Mine Ride, Corkscrew and Jumbo Jet. Three of those five still exist and the losers are—you guessed it—Wildcat and the very similar Jumbo Jet.

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The World's Largest Theme Park is...in New Jersey?

When you think theme parks, Disney or Universal Studios probably comes to mind, but that might change sooner rather than later if one company gets their way. Six Flags is sick and tired of playing second fiddle to some of the amusement park big boys, so they’re going big. Like, REAL BIG.

Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey is a big hit with locals within the region, and is a pretty decent theme park option if you ask us. However, it’s about to grow to an international title to attract more international guests; if things go according to plan, it soon could hold the title of world’s largest theme park.

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Cedar Point's Already Psyching Up to Break Roller Coaster Records in 2013

The summer season is quickly coming to a close and that means only a few more chances to ride your favorite roller coaster this season. Even though time’s running out for some theme parks in 2012, we like to stay optimistic and look forward to 2013. Already we hear that Cedar Point is cooking up something spectacular for next season, and now the details have been revealed.

It’s name will be Gatekeeper, and it’ll be all about breaking records as it scares riders silly. As a "winger coaster," it will kind of hang riders off the sides as the main part of the car maintains a connection with the track. There’s still plenty of pieces to put together—we imagine it’s much like assembling a piece of IKEA furniture; however, when the final screws are set into place the thing will be over 4,000-feet long with a drop of around 164 feet.

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Free WiFi Now Really Makes Disney World the 'Happiest Place on Earth'

Your carrier’s data plan just breathed a sigh of relief—as did your wallet—as one of the country’s favorite tourist attractions just announced the launch of free-for-all WiFi. Mickey and Goofy have been doing their best to hook up the right wires and transmitters, and now it’s all systems go for free WiFi at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

You’ll need to agree to the park’s terms of service, but after you click the necessary boxes you should be free to surf the internet from the line of Space Mountain or Pirates of the Caribbean. Initial reports indicated that speeds weren’t super fast, but when it’s offered gratis we can’t really complain. It sounds like you’ll want to fire up your favorite mobile device and look for the "Disney-Guest" network.

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It's Already Time to Start Thinking Halloween at 'Haunted' Theme Parks

July is just starting to wind down, and that means it’s already time to start planning for Halloween. We might be exaggerating just a bit, but getting things ready well in advance is a necessity if you’re running a theme park. Even though the summer is still in full swing, details about spooky and scary stuff is already starting to trickle in. Of course we’ll fill you in on where and when to go once the weather gets a little cooler, but for now we though it would be worth revealing a sneak peek.

Over at Universal Studios—in both Hollywood and Orlando—it sounds like the characters and critters from the movie and video game Silent Hill will be making an appearance. That means theme park visitors will be happily tormented by all kinds of creatures from an alternate dimension, including everyone’s favorite—deformed nurses and the executioner. Specific details haven’t really been released as of yet, but it does sound like the designers and engineers at the park are truly up to the challenge of bringing the horror from the video games and the movies to life.

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