July 28th - Theme Park News in a Nutshell

 This week's Theme Park News:

- Halloween Horror Nights at both Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood will feature an all-female house called Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines this year. It will feature The Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula's Daughter - Countess Marya, She-Wolf of London, and the mummified Egyptian princess Anck-Su-Namun, as well as a new foe - Saskia Van Helsing, the daughter of Dracula-killer Abraham Van Helsing.

- We also saw two more scare zones announced for Orlando with Duality of Fear and Demon Queens. Duality of Fear will offer fans a choice, with universal saying "As soon as you enter the gates of Halloween Horror Nights, you must choose a path: follow SINIST3R, the manifestation of visceral horror. Or follow SURR3AL, the incarnation of unearthly terror." Demon Queens sits in the same universe as Duality of Fear: "Get caught in an otherworldly hellscape ripped from the darkest corners of your mind. Four merciless queens loyal to SURR3AL rule, surrounded by hordes of fanatical followers."

- Revenue dropped more than 10% at Universal's theme parks during the second quarter of 2024, compared with the same period last year. Its theme parks brought in a measly $1.975 billion in revenue for the three months to June 30, 2024. That's down just over 10% from the same period in 2023, when the parks brought in $2.209 billion.

- - Disneyland and it's labor unions have reached attentive agreement this week. The Master Services Council with represents the four unions said that the deal includes "a three-year contract that contains significant wage increases for all cast members, seniority increases and additional premiums as well as the retention of premiums".

- Disneyland is also re-opening it's Haunted Manion ride on Monday, after being closed since the start of the year. It is returning as it's Haunted Manion Holiday variety July 28th.

- Deadpool has started appearing for a limited time at Avengers Campus Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris and Disney California Adventure at Disneyland Resort this week. This is obviously to promote the new Deadpool and Wolverine movie.

- Our first change from the merge of Six Flags and Cedar Fair happened this week, with Six Flags Entertainment Corporation eliminating a guest surcharge fee on in-park food, beverage, and retail purchases at the legacy Six Flags theme parks. Cedar Fair did not charge these fees.

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And you can find our weekly podcast about theme park news called Nuts About Theme Parks, on all good Podcasting platforms.

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nutsaboutthemeparks

July 21st - Theme Park News In A Nutshell

 This week's Theme Park News:

- 99% of Disneyland union members this week have authorized strike action if necessary as negotiations between Disney and the 4 Unions involved commence this week

- Disneyland have announced that the Hungry Bear restaurant will be returning as Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree, the first barbeque restaurant in the park since the construction of Galaxy's edge.

- Universal Orlando have announced that Nightmare Fuel: Nocturnal Circus is going to play on the Fear Factor Stage during this year's Halloween Horror Nights. This is the fourth Nightmare Fuel since their first in 2021. They've also announced scare zones called the Swamp of the Undead and Torture Faire, a ren fair based scare zone. For Swamp of the Undead, Universal said: "In backwaters Louisiana, you unwittingly wander onto private property, where you’re swamped by zombies borne from the bodies of other trespassers who were killed and dumped in a nearby bog." Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights, which starts August 30 and runs select nights through November 3 

- Busch Gardens Tampa's new family coaster Phoenix Rising  officially opens July 21

-  The board of directors of Sweden's Liseberg theme park has voted to rebuild its Oceana waterpark, which was nearly destroyed in a fire while under construction earlier in February. The 3.5 acre indoor water park has been set to open this summer, for the tragic accident which claimed the life of one of Liseberg's construction managers.

- Disneyland Paris celebrated Bastille Day this week with a record-breaking nighttime spectacular with 1,571 drones forming a tri-color Mickey Mouse head for the show's finale, which was  a Guinness World Records-setting display of the "largest aerial display of a fictional character formed by multirotors/drones."

- In Canada 17-year old girl fell from the park’s Swing of the Century ride at Canada's Wonderland late last week. The girl was reportedly in a critical condition following the incident.

- Europa-Park announced that its characters Ed Euromaus and Edda Euromausi will star in a new animated feature film, to be distributed by Warner Bros. next summer. The film should be hitting theaters in Germany in time for the park's 50th anniversary next summer.

You can watch our News in a Nutshell videos on YouTube or TikTok, and catch up with us on Instagram or Threads.

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And you can find our weekly podcast about theme park news called Nuts About Theme Parks, on all good Podcasting platforms.

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nutsaboutthemeparks

July 14th - Theme Park News In A Nutshell

 This week's Theme Park News:

- Disney has announced the program line-up for its D23 event in Anaheim. Formerly known as D23 Expo and now called D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, the three-day gathering will feature presentations and show floor exhibits from across The Walt Disney Company, including a strong presence from Disney Experiences and the theme parks. The big event for Disney Parks fans will be Horizons: Disney Experiences Showcase on Saturday evening, August 10 hosted by Josh D’Amaro. Other panels of interest include Bringing the Worlds of Disney Animation to Life in Disney Parks,  Dream Chasing: Four Decades with Walt Disney Imagineering, Magic After Dark—The Story of Disney’s Nighttime Spectaculars and Disneyland Foods – Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow.

- Insidious: The Further is joining the line-up for this year's Halloween Horror Nights at both Universal Studios Florida in Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood. This was briefly leaked by the Universal website ahead of the office announcement this week. There is one more house announcement to go for Orlando and three more for Hollywood.

- Efteling in the Netherlands have announced that their new haunted house attraction Danse Macabre attraction will open at Efteling on October 31, Halloween. Danse Macabre will be a first of its kind Intamin Dynamic Motion Stage ride which replaces the old Spookslot haunted house.

- Walt Disney World has started previews for it's updated Country Bear Musical Jamboree show at Magic Kingdom. The official opening for this is July 17th.

- Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood has added a new interactive element under the Frosted Glacier. There are four different game play modes for this interactive all, that each correspond to a Power Up icon released from the Question block. The Power ups are: Fire Flower, Ice Flower, Super Mushroom, or Super Star. If you play with a power up band you will collect coins and stamps.

- Disney cruises will be coming to Japan, starting in 2029. Disney announced an agreement with Oriental Land Co. - the owner and operator of the Tokyo Disney Resort - to develop and operate a Disney-branded cruise business in Japan. They are going to start construction on a ship the same model as the Disney Wish vessel very soon.

You can watch our News in a Nutshell videos on YouTube or TikTok, and catch up with us on Instagram or Threads.

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And you can find our weekly podcast about theme park news called Nuts About Theme Parks, on all good Podcasting platforms.

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nutsaboutthemeparks

July 6th - Theme Park News In A Nutshell

 This week's Theme Park News:

-  Universal Orlando previewed its new Universal Mega Movie Parade at Universal Studios Florida. The 20-minute show currently offers nine units featuring popular Universal movie franchises:

• Back to the Future
• Sing
• Despicable Me/Minions
• Kung Fu Panda
• Trolls
• Ghostbusters
• E.T.
• Jaws 
• Jurassic World

- The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith has reopened at Disney's Hollywood Studios following a 6-month long refurbishment. This opened nearly 4 weeks earlier than expected.

-   B&M family coaster Penguin Trek opens at SeaWorld Orlando tomorrow. The coaster has a dark ride introduction section based out of the former Antarctica trackless dark ride building, and guests exist through the Penguin habitat.

- It was confirmed this week that Danny Elfman would be composing music for the new Dark Universe land at Universal's Epic Universe Theme Park. The former New wave singer/song writer is known for working often. with directors Tim Burton, Sam Raimi, and Gus Van Sant, contributing music to nearly 20 Burton projects. He's also well known for the score for Men in Black, The Nightmare Before Christmas, as well as writing the theme song for the Simpsons.

You can watch our News in a Nutshell videos on YouTube or TikTok, and catch up with us on Instagram or Threads.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThemeParkNut

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@themeparknut

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themeparknutinsta

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@themeparknutinsta

And you can find our weekly podcast about theme park news called Nuts About Theme Parks, on all good Podcasting platforms.

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nutsaboutthemeparks