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.
Here Are This Week’s Theme Park Highlights:
- Marvel-ous news, Super Heroes! Avengers Campus will open at Disney California Adventure Park in early summer 2020. Get ready to sling webs like Spider-Man, grow and shrink food at Pym Test Kitchen and catch your favorite Avengers in action throughout the land. Woohoo!
- Universal Orlando Resort presented us all with an extra special Christmas gift: 2020 will bring even more scares! Universal has been teasing the announcement with super fun feuds between Halloween and Christmas on their social media accounts ... including sending Santa through a scare zone! For its 30th anniversary, Halloween Ho-ho-ho-rror Nights will be taking place on an extra night! On select nights from Sept. 10 to Nov. 1, 2020, guests can take in all of the spectacular thrills and chills that Halloween Horror Nights has to offer. We are so hoppin' excited to see what next year's event will bring! If you are, too, be sure to bookmark our survival guide to Halloween Horror Nights so that you can relive every jump from 2019 and get a hop on every scare-tastic detail for 2020.
- Get ready for even more sweet fun at Disney Springs in 2020! The M&Ms Store is coming to the West Side, bringing colorful merchandise, and of course, a rainbow of M&Ms to choose from! Yum.
- Beep-bloop-bleep. Did we sound enough like our bud R2-D2? If you'll be visiting Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Disneyland, you may hear these noises from the infamous blue droid himself as he roams the land! Artoo has been spotted in "play tests" near the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run attraction. If you spy him, be sure to let us know! If you're interested in the other ribbeting roaming characters you may find in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland, we've got a whole guide just for you!
- And speaking of droids, if you're visiting a Disney Park soon, don't froget ... your Star Tours flight may include brand-new destinations from "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker!" Have you landed on ocean moon Kef Bir yet?
- Busch Gardens Tampa Bay welcomed a pair of baby cheetah cubs home this week! The two males are currently in the Animal Care Center, and will eventually graduate to the cheetah habitat. In the meantime, guests can catch an adorable glimpse during feeding time at the care center ... or in a brotherly tussle in the too-cute-for-words video here!
- It's no secret that Walt Disney World Resort offers a toadally awesome array of New Year's Eve celebrations, from Epcot dance parties, to Magic Kingdom fireworks, to the brand-new countdown in Disney's Animal Kingdom. And if you'll be ringing in 2020 at Disney's Animal Kingdom, you'll be able to commemorate the evening with a special pin! Not only can you grab a limited-edition pin, but also, the park will have some super special pin trading spots available to guests throughout the day, where families will have one minute to trade two Disney pins off of designated trading boards throughout the park. (Tad has his lanyards full and ready to go!) No matter where you'll be celebrating, hoppy New Year, frog friends!
That’s it for the theme park news this week! Have a great weekend.
Hoppy planning!