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:
- Trick or treat! Universal Orlando Resort announced a spooky surprise this week: This weekend, Sept. 19 and 20, all guests can take part in family-friendly and horrifying Halloween experiences at both parks ... in costume! At Universal Studios Florida, there are two thrilling haunted houses to enter (if you dare) — Revenge of the Tooth Fairy and Universal Monsters: The Bride of Frankenstein Lives. Guests can reserve their spot at the houses using Universal's Virtual Line System. At Universal's Islands of Adventure, tadpoles can take part in trick-or-treating at select retailers. Since Universal has billed these experiences as "seasonal experience testing," and there's no guarantee the event will stick around, you better believe the frogs aren't missing this one! Hop along with us on social media @ThemeParkFrog this weekend as we explore all of the fall fun Universal has to offer!
- This is Halloween, this is Halloween ... Halloween festivities at Walt Disney World Resort kicked off this week, including the all-new Halloween character cavalcades! We were toadally thrilled to see Jack Skellington, Oogie Boogie and Sally (as seen in the video above), as well as Mickey Mouse and pals, Disney Villains and several costumed characters around Magic Kingdom Park. We've got all of the frightfully fun details on Disney World's Halloween hoppenings in our full post!
- SeaWorld Orlando's Halloween Spooktacular de-boos this weekend, Sept. 19. New this year is a silly Halloween maze (free to all guests) and Cookie Decorating with Cookie Monster (for an additional fee). Socially distanced trick-or-treating, face painting and the opportunity to meet a mermaid (from a safe distance) return this year. Face coverings and an advance reservation are required to attend the event. For all of the spooktacular details of this year's event, hop over to our full post.
- SeaWorld Orlando is also extending its drive-in movie event, hosting Flicks & Frights from Sept. 19 through Halloween! Each Saturday, guests can catch two showtimes: a family-friendly pick at the early timeslot, and a classic horror film later in the evening. Featured films showing include "Halloween," "Ghostbusters," "Beetlejuice," "Casper" and "The Exorcist." The cost of admission is per vehicle ($40) for this separately ticketed event, and food trucks are on-site for convenient movie snacks! Much like the theme park, face coverings are required when outside of your vehicle, and guests will need to reserve their spot in advance.
- Disney Parks Blog released our toadally favorite type of content — a foodie guide! Check out all of the fun (and devilishly delicious) fall food available at Disney Springs and Walt Disney World Resort hotels, including the spooky-cute treats pictured above from Disney's Contemporary Resort. What are you most excited to try?
- Walt Disney World water parks plan to splash back into action in 2021! According to Walt Disney World Resort, one of the two water parks on property, Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park or Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon water park, will reopen March 7, 2021, pending government approval.
- Over on the West Coast, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said that he'll have news "very, very shortly" on a reopening plan for theme parks. Keep following your favorite theme park frogs for all of the updates!
- In the meantime, we hopped to Disneyland's Downtown Disney District to check out all of the new Halloween merchandise available. So cute! Halloween-themed treats are coming soon, so stay tuned! Are you in the spooky spirit yet?
That’s it for the theme park news this week! Have a great weekend.
Hoppy planning!
