Theme park and attraction news, rumors and videos.
I am a huge fan of the “Scream” franchise. I remember as a young teenager hearing so much buzz surrounding the film. It was a sleeper hit that kept growing week after week. It seemed like everyone had seen it except me.
As a kid, I always thought that if an attraction was in a Universal Studios theme park, that meant it was a Universal film. As I grew older, I started to recognize that isn’t the case, and that a lot of the time, intellectual properties are licensed in order to use certain characters in the parks. A great example is “Beetlejuice.” For a long time, I thought this was a Universal character since he was featured so much in the park. I was surprised to find out that that film was distributed by Warner Bros. It was equally as confusing at a younger age with everything at Disney-MGM Studios.
Right from the top, I’ll admit that I am not the biggest fan of “The Simpsons.” I haven’t seen very many episodes and I simply was never enthralled by it the way so many are. But it always seemed like a no-brainer to me that “The Simpsons” could have (and should have) been a part of Halloween Horror Nights in the Universal Studios theme parks. But now, it’s probably too late and this opportunity has been missed.
Hauntoween LA is just days away from opening for its inaugural year, and they have lots of new entertainment in store for their guests keeping everyone COVID-safe. What began as an idea for Experiential Supply Company’s Chief Experience Officer Jasen Smith to make sure his children had a safe way to trick-or-treat has now blossomed into a full-blown event available to everyone in Southern California.
In a typical year, we’d already be several weeks into the excitement and scares of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. But as we all know, things are different this year. Let’s instead take a look back at the excitement and hard work it took when I performed as a scareactor for a few years at this iconic event.
The Walt Disney Company has honored their founder, Walt Disney, in many different ways throughout the years. His name and image still bears an important role in all things Disney. But there has never been an Audio-Animatronic figure of Walt Disney. Why not? Perhaps there should be.
When Disney announced they would be building Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disneyland park, it also came with the unfortunate news that part of the land it would take over was Big Thunder Ranch. I realize, for most people, this probably wasn’t a big deal, but Big Thunder Ranch was super unique for a place like Disneyland and holds a special place in my heart.
One new theme park land that we’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about for quite some time is the new Super Nintendo World heading to Universal Studios Japan (and beyond). Although the opening has been delayed due to the pandemic, it hasn’t stopped the excitement among fans. Nintendo is a major brand for the Universal theme parks, but is it a good fit? If you look at the history between Universal Studios and Nintendo, it actually works out pretty nicely.
DinoLand, U.S.A. in Disney’s Animal Kingdom is one of those lands that a lot of Disney fans seem to have strong opinions about, myself included. At first glance, this land can feel a bit all over the place. There’s a section that looks like repurposed cabins and various other buildings; the Dino Institute (which houses the Dinosaur attraction) has completely different architecture and is kept up well, unlike some of its surrounding buildings… and then there’s Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama. It all feels completely incohesive, and at first glance, seems to make no sense.
The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! at Disney’s Hollywood Studios seems to be a show where people either love it or hate it. I find myself in the “love it” group. Yes, a lot of this is related to the nostalgia of it all, but I also think it’s still an entertaining show full of talented stunt performers, surprising moments and most importantly, in-your-face explosions.
