Out of the Loop: Two notable Memorial weekend park openings
Out of the Loop columnist Andy Guinigundo takes a look at the new Legoland water park in California and new rides for Luna Park in New York.
Public record e-mail says Legoland is coming to Cypress Gardens
It seems the cat may have gotten out of the bag. The Lakeland Ledger has obtained an e-mail sent to Polk County Commissioner Randy Wilkinson that says Legoland is coming to Cypress Gardens. All e-mails sent to public official’s business e-mail accounts are public record. But the e-mail wasn’t sent from Merlin Entertainments Group officials…
Cypress Gardens sold to Merlin Entertainments Group
The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Merlin Entertainments Group has purchased Cypress Gardens. From blogs.orlandosentinel.com: A spokeswoman for Merlin said the purchase includes the current Cypress Gardens theme park, the Splash Island water park and the adjacent botanical gardens. The company did not disclose the sales price. Merlin is the second busiest amusement operator in…
Out of the Loop: Legoland announces water park
By Andy Guinigundo Carlsbad, Calif. – Several months ago, Legoland confirmed rumors that a water park was being added to the Legoland Resort in Carlsbad, north of San Diego. At that time other than the confirmation, no further details were released. Recently, at their yearly conference for media and invited guests, they finally presented the…
Disney | Theme Parks | Travel
Out of the Loop: Lego memorial, Disney Shanghai and no Nick park
By Andy Guinigundo Mini Vietnam Memorial for Veterans Day Carlsbad, Calif. – While many attractions around the U.S. have ongoing specials for military and sometimes family, I haven’t personally heard of too many Veterans Day events that are taking place in the parks. Well, Legoland is honoring veterans by dedicating a Vietnam War Memorial Lego…
Out of the Loop: Attractions attempt Michael Jackson tributes
By Andy Guinigundo I suppose it’s fitting that someone who loved amusement parks so much, mostly Disney, has been appearing in various ways at various attractions since his death in June. No, I am not implying that Michael Jackson has been “haunting” various attractions. However, tributes have been prominently attempted and sometimes executed at various…
Out of the Loop: What Legoland could bring to Central Florida
By Andy Guinigundo Let’s go over the scorecard: The Blackstone Group describes itself as an “alternative asset manager and financial advisory firm”. In this layman’s definition it is a company that owns companies. Most recently, it acquired Busch Entertainment Corporation – the company that owns Busch Gardens and SeaWorld. Blackstone also jointly owns Universal Orlando…
Out of the Loop: Nick theme park, Mapping Legoland, Disneyland upgrades
Nickelodeon theme park to open in New Orleans Last year I reported a story in Orlando Attractions Magazine about how Southern Star Amusement had “given up” on its attempts to reopen a park at the site of the former Jazzland/Six Flags New Orleans citing lack of interest and funding. Month after month, however, I’d read…
Disney | Theme Parks | Travel
Possibility of Legoland theme park to be built in Central Florida
While the LEGO Store at Downtown Disney (pictured above) offers guests a glimpse at the world of LEGO, an entirely new theme park devoted to the colorful building blocks may be in store for Central Florida. Here’s the report from screamscape.com: One of our readers was invited to take quite an interesting online survey the…