Author: socalthemeparkwizard

I am a huge fan of theme parks!

Knott’s Berry Farm Records Record Attendance This Year!

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized
Image result for knott's berry farm logo

Cedar Fair parks and particular Knott’s Berry Farm are having a record year attendance wise. Due to good weather days and loads of entertainment such as Knott’s Summer Nights and Ghost Town Alive and the debut of Calico River Rapids people have been flocking to Knott’s while Disney debuted Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge and saw a 3% decline in attendance.

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Photo courtesy of Knott’s Berry Farm

The record attendance is expected to continue as today Knott’s announced a new attraction, Knott’s Bear-y Tales, that will be coming in 2020. That new attraction plus Summer Nights, Ghost Town Alive, and all of the planned entertainment for the 100th Anniversary, Knott’s will be smashing attendance records for years to come it seems.

What do you think of the record attendance? Did you visit Knott’s this year? Are you planning to visit for the 100th Anniversary entertainment and attractions? Let me know in the comments below!

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LegoLand to Open Park in Shanghai!

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized
legoland shanghai
Image courtesy of Merlin Entertainament

Merlin Entertainment announced today that they will be opening their 11th Legoland Park in Shnaghai sometime after 2023. Legoland’s next two parks are going to New York (2020) and South Korea (2022). Merlin said this will be the world’s largest Legoland Park and that it will make Shanghai an epic tourist destination with Disney in the East and Legoland in the West.

This resort will also include a 250 room hotel and if the above concept art is to be believed then the hotel will be inside the park which would be a first for a Legoland theme park. This resort is expected to cost $650 million.

Nick Varney who is the Chief Executive of Merlin Entertainment stated that he is, ” [Delighted] that we are able to realize the development of a Legoland Resort in Shanghai; one of the most vibrant cities in the world, a gateway city with modern consumers, Shanghai is already the home for many Merlin brands, and it has been our ambition for some time to build a full-scale theme park that offers the people of Shanghai and visitors to the area the opportunity to immerse themselves in a unique Legoland experience.”

Legoland Shanghai will be within an hour drive of 55 million people, so this park should have zero problems attracting people to come visit. Will you be one of the people visiting the park? Are you surprised at Merlin’s aggressive expansion with the Legoland theme parks? Let me know in the comments below and follow this blog for photo updates of construction of Legoland parks in New York, Korea, and now Shnaghai!

New Disney + Kiosks to be Set Up In Downtown Disney and Disney Springs

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized
Image result for disney plus

Starting November 12th you will be able to watch and learn more about Disney Plus in Downtown Disney and Disney Springs. There will be kiosks near paddlefish at Disney Springs and where the old DVC kiosk used to be (near LaBrea Bakery) in Downtown Disney for guests to learn all abput the streaming service including pricing and what shows the service has to offer.

Are you excited for Disney Plus? What shows are you most excited for? Comment your thoughts down below!

New Entertainment Coming to the Festival of Holidays at California Adventure This Friday!

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized
Festive New Performances and Returning Favorites Come to Disney Festival of Holidays
Image courtesy of Disney

Disney’s Festival of Holidays returns to California Adventure Friday and with it comes some brand new entertainment as well as returning favorites! New to the festival this year is Mickey’s Happy Holidays which is a character celebration that happens twice a day and includes Mickey and his pals having a high energy dance party at the Paradise Gardens Park and Carthay Circle.

The second new entertainment offering this year is the Holiday Sunset Concerts on the Palisades Stage featuring The Suffragettes. They are a cover band that will be playing fan favorites on select nights. Are you excited for the new entertainment coming to the Festival of Holidays? Let me know in the comments below!

Cedar Point is Teasing a New 2020 Addition

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

Following on the footsteps of Knott’s new 2020 teaser announcement, Cedar Point is now teasing their own new addition for their 150th Anniversary next year. No major construction is happening at the moment so it is safe to say it will not be a major new addition such as a record breaking roller coaster.

Just because it will not be a major roller coaster does not mean that this new addition won’t be exciting. Cedar Fair is partnering with Triotech for Knott’s so maybe a new or revamped dark ride will be coming to Cedar Point as well. Also there could be a new family coaster coming because those do not take as long to build as the major coasters.

The announcement did mention a river though and that is very interesting as Cedar Point could be revamping their river rafting ride like Knott’s did last year. Not much else is known about this teaser, but expect to find out much more on both new Cedar Fair attractions in a couple weeks at IAAPA.

New Mickey Mouse Meet and Greet Coming to Epcot Next Year!

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized
New Mickey Mouse location at Epcot
Photo courtesy of Disney

While most of Epcot is under a massive refurbishment, Mickey’s old meet and greet location is currently under construction. Mickey will have a new meet and greet location next year as part of the Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival.

The Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival is an 18 minute film festival featuring shorts from Disney and Pixar and will be in 3D so guests can really feel like they are in the Short themselves!

Are you excited about the Film Festival? Are you excited to be meeting Mickey again at Epcot? What do you think about the renovations going on at Epcot right now? Let me know in the comments below and please follow this blog for constant updates on the progress of Epcot!

Tron Construction Update!

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

Tron is rising very quickly at the Magic Kingdom and thanks to Midway Magic on Instagram I have some construction progress photos for you!

In this photo you can see that all of the track inside the showbuilding is complete and that the building is quickly rising around the track. In the foreground you can see tons of supports and launch track for the beginning of the ride.

There is a closer look at the launch track. Next up we should see Disney install the iconic swooping high banked outdoor turn and after that the track will most likely be complete. From there they just have to install the show elements and the showbuilding and the queue and then it will be ready for opening in 2021. Here is a look at what the final product will like below!

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Concept art of Tron

Are you excited for this attraction? Have you ridden the one in Shanghai? Let me know in the comments below!