Last Tuesday the Legoland New York Resort revealed a brand new type of ride and new ride tech. It will be called The Lego Factory Adventure and this first of its kind ride will be unique to Legoland New York.
Guests will be able to board the ride vehicle and with special technology be able to “shrink” down to the size of a Lego figure. What is really awesome is that facial technology and motion tracking will be used to turn guests into their own minifigures. Each guests minifigure will be shown on a on ride screen in the vehicle.
Ride Vehicle
Here is a look at the trackless ride vehicle that will be used in the attraction. Legoland New York will be opening July 4, 2020. What do you think of this new ride tech to be used in the park? Comment your thoughts down below!
Everyone please welcome Emperor to Sea World San Diego. Yesterday at IAAPA Sea World announced the new name for their 2020 Dive Coaster. The reason for the name change is that this coaster will not be anywhere near the shark encounter and thus thematically would not make any sense.
The new coaster is close to the arctic exhibit though and that is the home of the Emperor Penguin species that this coaster is named after. It thematically makes sense because Emperor Penguin’s can dive up to 1,800 feet deep in the ocean when searching for prey.
What do you guys think of the new name? Are you excited to get out to Sea World San Diego and ride this all new coaster next summer? Let me know in the comments below!
Universal Citywalk continues to go through major changes as the large and iconic Hard Rock Cafe is set to close at the beginning of January. It is rumored to be replaced by a Toothsome Emporium that is currently at Orlando’s Citywalk.
Photo courtesy of Inside Universal
Above is a picture of the Toothsome Emporium in Orlando and as you can see it is a two story full service restaurant with a large dessert section as well. There is also a gift shop attached. Have you been to the Emporium in Orlando? Are you excited for it to come to Hollywood? Let me know in the comments below!
Hello everyone, welcome back to another Theme Park Wizard update! Today I will be going over some photos from @bioreconstruct on Twitter of the Disneyland Resort that he shot last week. Definitely go visit his Twitter account for awesome aerials of places and theme parks mostly in Orlando, but occasionally out here as well, so let’s get started!
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
As you can see in this fantastic shot, land clearing and site prep is well underway for the attraction just north of Toontown. The size of the show building is actually larger than Toontown itself. By the time Spring comes we should be seeing this building going vertical, the attraction is slated to open in 2022.
Avengers Campus
Starting from the top of the land and moving down you can see one of the two plazas near the Parade Route and the Spiderman attraction under construction. Moving down you can see the narrow walkway in between Spiderman and the WEB Suppliers gift shop leading to the more central part of the campus. This is the main dirt area that will house the Avengers Logo, the Doctor Strange show, and Pym Foods. This will also lead to the Avengers E ticket when it opens in a few years.
Tomorrowland
Lastly, we have a fresh look at Tomorrowland. As you can see most of the rocks are removed and the only thing that remains under construction walls is the E.E.R building that controls the audio effects for the Astro Orbitor. More work is rumored to be coming to this area and the rest of Tomorrowland this Spring, so it will be very interesting to see what happens.
Well that is all for today’s Disneyland Resort update! Comment below what you think of the ongoing projects at the resort and what are you most excited for?
Legoland California has decided to retire their Star Wars area in Miniland U.S.A Merlin announced today. The attraction will close after the holiday season ends on January 6th, 2020. Legoland has said, ” Since opening in 2011 with additions made year after year, the Lego Star Wars Miniland model display has been popular for children and their parents, We are thrilled we were able to bring this generational experience to our guests and hope those who have yet to see it, or want to revisit with their friends, will come experience Lego Star Wars Miniland before it leaves us in January and before we prepare to build new memorable experiences for guests.”
In its place I hope another iconic city like Chicago goes up or the Grand Canyon. Comment below what would you like to see in its place? Also gives this page a follow for constant theme park updates.
Sea World has filed paper work with the city of San Diego indicating they want to have a drone show over Mission Bay. Sea World would be partnering with Intel, the same company who did drone shows in Las Vegas, Walt Disney World, and Universal Studios Hollywood, to operate their show.
Intel does amazing work on their drone shows and you know that if you have seen one of the shows listed above. According to the permits, the show would be around 5 minutes long and is expected to debut next year.
Sea World is very environmentally friendly and will monitor how their wildlife and birds are affected by the shows during the test runs. I am very excited for more drone shows in theme parks as after I saw the Dark Arts show at Universal my jaw dropped. Are you guys as excited as I am for this show? Do you prefer drone or fireworks shows? Let me know in the comments below and give this blog a follow if you want constant theme park updates.
Along with Snow White, another Disney classic is set to undergo a major refurb in 2020 and that would be Indiana Jones. Disney has filed a permit to replace the bridge and other props during a major refurb next year for the attraction. They will also refurb the rock work.
Are you excited for these two iconic attractions to get enhanced? Let me know down in the comments below!
Universal today announced the opening date for the second half of the Endless Summer Resort to be called Dockside Inn and Suites.
Concept art provided by Universal
This hotel will when open complete the Endless Summer Resort at Universal Orlando and it will be the eighth hotel within the resort and according to Universal this is just the beginning as they plan to add another 2,000 plus rooms in the coming years.
Dockside Inn and Suites is a 2,050 room hotel and will be affordable for everyone with rooms starting at $85 a night. The hotel will open March 17th, 2020 and be right across the street from the first phase, Surfside Inn and Suites.
Anyone staying at either hotel will get perks such as free transportation to the Universal Transit Hub and Citywalk, early entry into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and the ability to charge merchandise to your room at Citywalk.
Will you be staying in this resort next time you visit Universal Orlando? Let me know in the comments below!
At about 4:45 pm this evening an incident abruptly shut down Tarzan’s Treehouse. A male guest was jumping on the bridge very hard trying to show his son that the bridge would not break and of course it broke. Cast members quickly responded to the situation and evacuated and closed the bridge.
Guest images below show what the current cracked bridge looks like.
Guest photos from Micechat of the bridge
This story will be updated as any new info comes in, as of now there are no reports of guest injuries.
I have some thoughts on what this attraction may be based on what we can observe at the park right now. I can tell you this will not be a roller coaster as there have been no permits filed with the city and construction has not begun anywhere in the park for this new addition.
It could be a partnership with Triotech in bringing a new or refurbished/rethemed dark ride to the park, which I think would be a great addition to this park full of coasters. Cedar Point could also be partnering with Triotech to add animatronics to their river rapids ride as well. What do you think it will be? What do you want Cedar Point to get next? Let me know in the comments below!
Theme Park Universe 