Hi there! Welcome to our weekly roundup of the most interesting theme park news around the Walt Disney World Resort, the Universal Orlando Resort, SeaWorld Orlando and other theme parks.
- The culinary wizards at Walt Disney World Resort have conjured up some extra dastardly delights, especially for the Halloween season! Prepare to be bewitched with scarily sweet and savory eats across the parks, hotels and Disney Springs. Starting Oct. 1, guests can sink their fangs into treats such as the Chocolate-Cherry Coffin, Vampire Stitch Cake and the Not-So-Scary Pumpkin Soft-serve!
- Grab some popcorn and take a seat! A new Disney short film, "Once Upon a Studio," will premiere Oct. 15! Showcasing a century of Disney’s magical stories in less than 10 minutes, this brand-new featurette will make its debut during "The Wonderful World of Disney: Disney's 100th Anniversary Celebration!" on ABC.
- In a recent announcement, the Walt Disney Company revealed that it plans to significantly expand its theme park and cruise investments. Over the next 10 years, it will pour $60 billion into Disney Parks, likely resulting in ambitious new additions to its existing parks and brand-new experiences altogether. Although we may not know exactly what will be done as part of these expansion plans, Disney Parks has over 1,000 acres of land for possible future development. It’s frogciting to imagine what Disney Imagineers will dream up next!
- Last month, Cedar Fair announced frogciting plans for 2024! In addition to the highly anticipated debut of the Top Thrill 2 coaster at Cedar Point in Ohio and the multi-million-dollar transformation of the Knott’s Hotel at Knott's Berry Farm, many new attractions and experiences will be coming to Cedar Fair parks across the U.S. and Canada. Iron Menace, the Northeast's first-ever dive roller coaster, will open at Dorney Park in Pennsylvania next year! Kings Island will also introduce its fifth kids’ coaster, Snoopy’s Soapbox Racers, as part of a new Camp Snoopy expansion. Two Cedar Fair parks in Canada will see some fun changes, including an all-new giant water slide at Canada’s Wonderland, named Moosehorn Falls, and the arrival of the Bow Wow Blaster (the world’s first water coaster for kids) at Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, TX.
- Take a peek behind the screams at Blumhouse Productions during Blum Fest 2023, hosted by Universal Orlando. Enjoy this terrifyingly terrific cinematic horror experience, which will include spine-tingling screenings, frogcinating photo-ops, behind-the-scenes panels and much more scary fun! This eerie event will take place on Oct. 6, from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., at Universal Orlando Citywalk. At this time, online RSVPs for this event are sold out.
- To celebrate Hispanic and Latin American Heritage Month at Walt Disney World, the parks are offering flavorful foods and live performances to honor Hispanic and Latin American cultures. As part of this special celebration, guests will have the opportunity to meet Mirabel from "Encanto" at her new permanent home in Magic Kingdom Park, and enjoy Hispanic and Latin cuisine from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15!
- Parking trams are finally back at EPCOT and Disney's Hollywood Studios! The tram service that transports guests between the parking lot and the park entrance has resumed for the first time at these parks since March 2020. And now, all four theme parks have their parking trams in operation.
That's it for theme park news this week.
Hoppy planning!
