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Inside and All Around Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights 2011

Universal Studios Orlando is in the midst of its annual spooky-fest, Halloween Horror Nights. Each fall crowds converge on the park to experience the transformation; during the day the park welcomes guests of all ages to experience Shrek 4D, ride ET's bike, and hug Curious George while at night—for 15 nights every fall—the park turns itself into a big screen-like horror movie.

Eight writers work year round to come up with the themes and schemes that inhabit Universal's annual Halloween Horror Nights. While the details, both cinematic and thematic, are incredible, you have to wonder if maybe the eight writers got a little too intricate with some of these ideas (Spanish fort run by a mutinous undead crew of Columbus' missing fourth ship—we are looking at you). After all this isn't Lost. However, despite some of the themes being a bit convoluted, some are just downright scary (Saws n' Steam), some are incredibly visually compelling (Nevermore), and some just might be the future of fright (The In Between house).

We toured all eight haunted houses and here's what we think, in order from scariest to not so scary:

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Live From The LegoLand Florida Opening

Theme park openings are awesome, and today we plan to bring you all the latest and greatest as the fine folks of Legoland take the cellophane off their latest park in Winter Haven Florida and let us take a look around today.

It is media day, and Legoland Florida was kind enough to invite us and let us have a look around a day before the park opens to the public.

Miniland, Aqua Wave Racers, and maybe even some Lego Battles await -- so sit back relax and get ready to be awash in the inimitable Lego color palette -- live blog style.

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Three of the Freakiest Theme Park Haunted Houses This Season

The leaves have been falling and the pumpkins are being added to fire escapes and front stoops across the country, and that means it’s time to hit the scary stuff at the theme parks. Halloween is the best time at many parks across the country, but if you’re looking for the scariest haunted house here’s three that are worth your time:

· Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios - The In-Between:
The scary stuff runs in both Hollywood and Orlando, but when it comes to the fright and fear the parks in Florida are probably your best bet. There are plenty of different atrocious attractions, but the one that sounds the scariest is the The In-Between. Apparently here your worst nightmares come to life, and it’s all done in 3D. Not only will you see your life flash before your eyes, but also you’ll be doing it all with a pair of 3D glasses. Tickets to this house—and plenty of other awful attractions—will set you back around $80; however, this is to both the scary stuff at night and the more tame attractions during the day.

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'Avatar' Set To Debut At Walt Disney World But Not 'Til Like 2016

Harry Potter better watch out, as there’s another movie coming to the middle of Florida before too long. Walt Disney World and James Cameron are teaming up to bring the world of Avatar to the theme park resort.

Details are kind of limited right now, as the initial announcement was more of just the Disney-folks and the Avatar-people getting together to shake hands and exchange signatures. We do know that the new attractions and rides are coming to a new section of the Animal Kingdom theme park, and that the blue people will be invading the park towards the end of 2015 or the beginning of 2016.

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Each and Every Six Flags Getting Sick New Rides

There’s still plenty of 2011 left, but we can’t stop looking forward to the new theme park options set to debut next year. We mentioned some of the best rides to hit the parks in 2012, and now it looks like Six Flags is outlining their plans to thrill visitors at their parks next summer.

Six Flags wants everyone to be excited to visit each and every year, so they’re going to start ensuring that there’s at least one new ride and attraction at each Six Flags every year. Obviously, every addition can’t be a world class coaster, but we’re certainly not complaining.

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Disney's Newest Project? Multi-Million Dollar Homes at the Magic Kingdom

If your dream has always been to grow old with Mickey Mouse and his pals down in Florida, you may just be in luck. Regardless, you better start saving towards that retirement dream ASAP, as it doesn’t come cheap to move in next door to the Magic Kingdom.

Disney’s latest money maker isn’t a theme park and it’s way more than just shilling some new timeshares, as now they’re offering actual housing options just minutes away from the magic. We realize this could be heaven on earth for some, but at the same time understand that it could be hell for others. We’re just giving you the facts, and you can decide for yourself. However, those in the market for a new home might want to take a look at Golden Oak at Walt Disney World Resort.

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Got 'Visit a Haunted Mexican Village' on Your Bucket List?

The calendar just turned to September, but it’s already time to start thinking about the end of October and thus, Halloween. Stores already have bags of the sweet stuff lining the shelves in advance of trick-or-treat season, and the folks at Universal Studios are ready to scare us silly.

Out in Hollywood it’s only a few more weeks until the frightening bits move into the park, and as in past years there will be plenty of mazes, scare zones, and even a special "backlot experience."

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Three New Roller Coasters Are Already Announced for 2012

This year’s roller coaster season is quickly wrapping up, but that doesn’t mean that coaster enthusiasts will have a depressing off-season. Parks are already thinking about 2012 and how to improve on their steel track offerings, so it won’t be long until you’re strapped into one of these new coasters. Here’s just three brand new coasters hitting parks in 2012: :

· Leviathan - Canada’s Wonderland:
North of the border just outside Toronto proper sits one of Canada’s best theme parks, and once 2012 rolls around things will get even better. Leviathan will be the parks 16th coaster when it debuts next May. This $28 million roller coaster will feature an 80-degree initial drop, a bunch of crazy twists and turns, and it will last for over three and half minutes.

The track even buzzes past the front gates of the park, so you get a sneak peek when you first enter for the day. The coaster might just be one of the best in the world when it arrives, as it will be top ten based on speed and height. The thing rises over 300-feet and might just hit speeds of over 90mph.

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Disney's 'D23 Expo' Dishes the Dirt on New Rides, Attractions, and More

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.

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Get Psyched for Game Nation, The World's First Video Game Theme Park

Theme park season might be winding down for the year, but that doesn’t mean that the behind-the-scenes work will be slowing down anytime soon. Game Nation officials have plenty of work ahead of them during this offseason, as the world’s first video game theme park works to get off the drawing board and into construction mode.

Developers are calling Game Nation the world’s first Experiential Video Game Theme Park and Resort. To us this means that things are way more than just an arcade, and that we can expect some serious rides, attractions, and experiences. They’ve got a basic idea of what they want to do, and they’ve even named the different areas of the soon-to-be park.

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Legoland Florida Puts the Pieces Together for an Opening Date of October 15

Get your little plastic pieces ready, as it's finally almost time to hit new world's newest Legoland just outside of Orlando. It's not just any old land dedicated to Legos either, as this place is going to be the biggest—as in 150 acres—Legoland in the world. As you might remember the place was kind of Cypress Gardens for many many years, but on October 15 it will be officially transformed into a shrine of all things Lego.

It's park number five around the world for the Lego empire, as there's already a park in California along with options in Denmark, Germany, and the United Kingdom. In total there's going to be around 50 new rides, shows, and attractions, so there will be more to see than just crazy-nuts Lego creations. Although, we're pretty sure there's going to plenty of those too.

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What You Need to Know as The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Celebrates One Year

Has it already been a year then? Universal Studios' The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park just celebrated its first anniversary, after opening last June to much fan fare and continuting right through the winter and spring with crazy crowds. We were there on opening day, and although we're adults who travel around the world all year, being in the midst of that excitement still counts as one of the coolest things we did in 2010. The Wizarding World absolutely has the Jaunted seal of approval.

So, if you're heading down this summer for an icey mug of Butterbeer, a ride on the Chinese Fireball Dragon and maybe even a chocolate frog, there's a few things you need to know one year in:

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