Hi there! Welcome to our weekly roundup of the most interesting theme park news around the Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Orlando, SeaWorld Orlando and other theme parks.
This week’s theme park highlights:
![Disney Festival of Fantasy]()
Disney Festival of Fantasy, a new daytime parade in Magic Kingdom Park, debuts Sunday at 3 p.m. The parade's showstopper, we're told, is a fire-breathing dragon. Anna and Elsa, from Disney's "Frozen," will also make their theme park parade debuts. We can't wait to see this parade!- Those of you following along this last week know that we just returned from Disney World, and although we are sad to be missing the parade's debut, Lily's very favorite part of the trip was meeting Elsa and Anna. And for those of you planning trips in the coming months, look for a post soon on tips for reducing your wait time to meet the princesses.
![140 character hashtag]()
To kick off the start of summer, Disney World and Disneyland will open the parks for a 24-hour extravaganza May 23rd at 6 a.m. in Magic Kingdom Park and Disneyland respectively. Guests are invited to dress up as their favorite Disney villain or hero to "show their Disney side," and the characters themselves will be out for special events and meet-and-greets. Disney announced the event on Twitter, with a hashtag made up of 140 characters.![Seven Dwarfs Mine Train]()
Construction continues to progress on the other major attraction headed to the parks this year - the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Here's a pic we snapped on our trip. Be sure to check out the Disney Parks Blog for views from the top of the mine train.- LEGOLAND Florida has restored and reopened the famed Florida-shaped swimming pool and Oriental Gardens, which were part of the original Cypress Gardens. The pool was featured in Esther Williams' 1953 film "Easy to Love."
- Another season of Bands, Brew & BBQ wraps up this weekend at SeaWorld with Hank Williams Jr. and Alabama headlining.
![SeaWorld penguin]()
There's been a baby boom at Empire of the Penguin since November, and now guests visiting the attraction/exhibit can catch 11 of the growing penguins.
That’s it for the theme park news this week. Have a great weekend!
If you’re thinking about a trip to Disney World, make sure to check out the other news, tips and information we post to the blog throughout the week. If you’re ready to plan your trip, we recommend you start with our planning pages.
— Mommy Frog
