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:
Festival of the Masters, Disney's annual arts celebration held at Downtown Disney, has been canceled this year due to ongoing construction for Disney Springs. According to the Disney Parks Blog the explanation for the cancellation is that "much of the area that traditionally houses the Festival of the Masters is unavailable due to expansion work ..."- While that is certainly unwelcomed news to the artists and guests who planned to attend, there was some good news this week on the Disney Springs front. The pedestrian bridge from the new Marketplace Boat Dock to Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa officially opened.
Coming this fall, a new street party is headed to Main Street U.S.A. at Magic Kingdom. The Move It! Shake It! Dance & Play It! street party will feature favorite Disney characters plus new additions Stitch and Phineas & Ferb who will be leading everyone in a medley of remixed classic party songs. The new street party will replace the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party.- Falcon's Fury began soft openings over the weekend at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. The 335-foot-tall drop tower with a twist (riders pivot 90 degrees to a face-down dive position) is the largest freestanding drop tower in North America. Who's ready?
For those of you who have wanted to swim with the dolphins, we're now offering tickets to Discovery Cove! If you don't want to swim with the dolphins, you can still spend the day at Discover Cove in paradise. The tickets also include 14-day admission to SeaWorld Orlando and Aquatica. Expect to hear more from us about this experience in coming weeks!- Tonight's the night when the villains will be unleashed at Disney's Hollywood Studios. We're excited for this first-time special event celebrating Disney's beloved Villains and can't wait to see the pics!
An Anna and Elsa boutique is coming to the Downtown Disney District at Disneyland Resort this September in the location of Studio Disney 365.- We do love a good party, and we're looking forward to this year's Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. We do recommend getting tickets ahead of time, because this year's Oct. 31 party has already sold out.
- It's been a big week for LEGOLAND Florida. Its first-ever hotel reached its topping off, and reservations are already being accepted for summer 2015!
I leave you with this most spectacular photo of a double rainbow over Cinderella Castle captured after a recent rain storm. We wish we had been there to experience it in person!
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.
