Month: December 2019

Final Day To Ride Wild Arctic At Sea World San Diego January 10th

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

Sea World has told everyone that the last day to ride Wild Arctic will be on January 10th.

Then they will quickly start prepping for their 2021 addition which will be a family quadruple multi launch coaster. The Wild Arctic exhibits will be safe and perhaps even refurbished to go along with the new coaster. Sea World works very quickly on their new rides with each opening usually in May so to see work start on their 2021 addition so early is not surprising at all.

Coaster Site Plans
Coaster Layout

Here is the proposed coaster layout Sea World filed with the California Coastal Commission and City of San Diego thanks to Behind The Thrills. The coaster height will be a maximum of 30 feet due to a height limit in the area. The max speed will most likely be in the 40mph range. The Wild Arctic simulator is over 25 years old and very rough and is last on guest satisfaction lists which is a major reason why it is being demolished.

What do you think of this forthcoming coaster? Are you excited? Are you glad Sea World continues to switch area from animals to more rides? Let me know in the comments below!

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Avengers Campus Opens Summer 2020!

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized
Image result for avengers campus

Disney yesterday confirmed the opening season of Avengers Campus coming to California Adventure in Summer 2020. In the theme park industry, summer usually means May-August. Disney has been opening new attractions and lands anywhere from Memorial Day until June so I would expect that Disney is shooting for a Memorial Day 2020 opening for Avengers Campus.

The land will include an interactive Spider-man ride, Hank Pym Restaurant, a doctor strange show, and two gift shops. Lots of live entertainment seems to be planned for this land (Hopefully it does not get cut like Galaxy’s Edge) including a Spider-man stunt show using a stuntmotronic and an Avengers stunt show on top of the Avengers HQ building.

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Avengers HQ

Are you excited for Avengers Campus? Will you be visting right away or waiting until the Avengers E Ticket opens in a few years? Let me know in the comments below!

Universal Studios Hollywood Significantly Drops Prices on Annual Passes

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

Universal quietly dropped their annual pass prices and did so pretty significantly some time in the past couple of weeks. According to an insider Universal is pretty happy with the amount of tourists and VIP’s visiting the park, but is underwhelmed by the amount of local traffic. Repeat visitors are what drives in park spending the most so Universal really relies on passholders during the slow and busy seasons to keep up the bottom line.

The new amounts are listed as follows:

Platinum (Includes no blackout dates and Universal Express): $629 now $449

Gold: $329 now $249

Silver: $179 now $174

I expect once Secret Life of Pets opens next year and when Nintendo opens in 2021 those prices will shoot back up so I would purchase a pass and enjoy the reduction while you can. Another great option, which is what I always purchase, is the season pass which for $149 ($10 more than a one day ticket) grants you 9 months or 275 days of access to the park. It does not include parking, but I always just park at the nearby Metro stop which is only three dollars and take the tram to the entrance.

Will these new price reductions encourage you to purchase a pass? Do you think Universal still does not have enough to do to get a pass? Let me know in the comments below!

Star Tours Getting New Scenes From Rise of Skywalker Starting Today!

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized
Image result for new star tours scene

Every single Star Tours at Disney Parks are getting an enhancement starting today. New scenes from The Rise of Skywalker will be locked into the Star Tours ride sequences for the next few months.

These new scenes include riding the waves of the Endor moon Kef Bir (shown above) and a special transmission from Lando as you are mid ride about to jump into hyperspace. This new scene joins previous Sequel Trilogy scenes such as Battu (Galaxy’s Edge), Crait (The Last Jedi), and Jakku (The Force Awakens).

Do you like that they updating Star Tours? Would you like to see the ride replaced at Disneyland? Do you like Smuggler’s Run or Star Tours more? Discuss in the comments below!

Flight of Passage Evacuated Due to a Reported Fire

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

Guests at Disney’s Animal Kingdom were evacuated from Flight of Passage earlier today because of a reported fire. About three hours ago guests went to Twitter to say that the attraction had caught on fire.

Turns out the fire alarm just had an issue and it was a false alarm thank goodness. It must have been scary for guests mid ride to be abruptly evacuated due to the reported fire. Apparently, ever since this ride opened two years ago there have been issues with the fire alarm.

Have you ever been evacuated from an attraction for any reason? Were you excited or was it a dream come true to finally be evacuated from a Disney attraction? Comment your answers down below!

Flight of Passage Adds Mid-Queue Restrooms

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized
Flight of Passage restroom 12/17/19 14
Photo courtesy of WDWNT

Flight of Passage at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is much like Radiator Springs Racers at Disney California Adventure, they both average a two hour plus wait time. I have always wondered why Disney has not put in amenities in the queues of their attractions especially the big E Tickets that average wait times of an hour or more.

Universal, Cedar Fair, and at times Six Flags offer merchandise carts as well as food and drink carts in the middle of their queues so guests may be able to get their amenities without leaving the queue. It is also a money making opportunity for the parks.

Disney’s queues are super immersive so I understand why they would not want too disrupt that with food or merchandise carts (although at Disneyland’s queue for Smuggler’s Run they have a beverage cart in the extended queue) but at least put in bathrooms so guests do not have to get out of line and then find their party when they return.

So I am very happy to say that Disney has added restrooms to the middle of the queue for Flight of Passage. This should really help guests who do not want to get out of line and then try and return later. The restrooms are themed very nicely and they are unisex which is fantastic so they will both be able to be used at the same time at all times.

What do you think of this new addition? What other rides do you think Disney should add restrooms too? Let me know in the comments below!

Disneyland Resort Express Shuts Down Operations In January

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

Coach USA is shutting down their bus operations between John Wayne and LAX airports January 7th. Supershuttle will also be ceasing operations at the end of this year as both of those companies have filed for bankruptcy.

To get to and from the resort from those airports you must now rent a car or take an Uber/Lyft. This will mean it could be a bit more inconvenient for your next Disney trip if you plan to fly in to the state. Also of note is that if you choose the rent a car option, you will be paying unnecessary overnight parking fees at the Disneyland Hotels and surrounding hotels when you will not be using the car at all during your stay. My suggestion is to rent a car after your Disney trip if you are traveling to other Los Angeles or California landmarks during your stay.

No Roaming Droids in Galaxy’s Edge Says Disney

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

When Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge was announced, Disney promised tons of live entertainment including drone shows and most importantly roaming droids. When the land was closer to opening, Disney had said that they were going to postpone the drone show because of the highly anticipated crowds that did not show up.

People have speculated that when Rise of the Resistance opens and the land is complete then Disney will start rolling out the droids and other live entertainment. Apparently, that is not the case either as Disney has now confirmed that droids are not coming to the lands in Disneyland or Hollywood Studios in the near future.

Personally, I am disappointed in this decision because I believe some entertainment is all that is needed to make this a very good land. I am hoping they change their mind in the not so distant future, but what do you think about this move? Do you care if there are droids or not roaming around the land? Comment your thoughts below!

Disney Files Plans for 12 Story DVC Tower at the Disneyland Resort

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized
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A couple of weeks ago Disney filed plans for a brand new DVC tower that they would like to build at the Disneyland Resort. Now this is not exactly a new plan, but more like a Resurrection of an old plan. Years ago Disney wanted to build a DVC only tower but pulled the plug.

In light of the cancelled 4th Disneyland Resort hotel, those plans are now back on and better than ever. This new tower would go on a plot of land that awhile back was earmarked for the fourth tower of the Disneyland Hotel. This tower would have 350 rooms in 12 stories and be Disney’s 17th DVC resort.

What This Could Mean For The Disneyland Hotel

A lot of people speculated that due to the original placement of the 4th hotel for the Disneyland Resort, that the original Disneyland hotel would be demolished right after the new hotel was completed. Now that those plans are cancelled, I still think a major demo and rebuild are in store for the Disneyland Hotel.

This placement of the DVC Tower would still allow for each tower of the Disneyland Hotel to be demoed and rebuilt one by one to allow for a completely remodeled hotel and I for one would be a big proponent of that idea.

What do you guys think of this new DVC Tower? What do you think it means for the future of the Disneyland resort? Let me know in the comments below!

Rise of Skywalker Opening Crawl Leaked!

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

Hello and welcome back to a breaking news article here on Theme Park Wizard. The Rise of Skywalker premiere is well under way here in Hollywood and with that spoilers and images are slowly starting to trickle their way on to the internet. From this point on their will be major Star Wars spoilers.

Thanks to the website makingstarwars.net we now have a photo of what the official opening crawl for Rise of Skywalker will be.

Photo Courtesy of makingstarwars.net

Now I am not sure if this is the full or partial version of the crawl, but this sure seems real based on what we have seen in the trailers. Either way I am super excited for Emperor Palpatine to return, but how about you? Are you excited for this film? Will you be seeing it opening weekend? Let me know in the comments below!