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:
- Hoppy birthday, Disneyland! To celebrate the park's 64th birthday, the Dapper Dans, as well as Mickey and friends, paraded down Main Street, U.S.A to join in singing "Happy Birthday" with guests. The park also played a recording of Walt Disney's opening day speech to honor the special occasion: “To all who come to this happy place, welcome! Disneyland is your land."
- Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah! Also celebrating a birthday this week is Disneyland's Splash Mountain. The log flume ride has been open 30 splashing years, and has had an estimated 150 million riders (one of those million probably goes to Tad).
- Jurassic World - The Ride is now officially open at Universal Studios Hollywood! A theme park ride within a theme park ride, Jurassic World invites guests to take a ride through its dino exhibits, complete with new dinosaurs from the movie series (and cameos from Claire Dearing and Owen Grady). As it always does, life ... finds a way, so be sure to keep your wits about you! (Jurassic Park scientists say that we frogs share DNA with these guys, but we didn't see any resemblance. Gulp!)
- If there's something strange in you neighborhood ... Who you gonna call? That's right! Ghostbusters is coming to Halloween Horror Nights in both Hollywood and Orlando! The Ghostbusters maze will take guests in the footsteps of Peter, Ray, Egon and Winston, visiting iconic locations from the 1984 film, including the firehouse, the New York Public Library and the Temple of Gozer. Of course, there's also Slimer, Gozer and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man to get past, so keep your proton pack close. I ain't afraid of no ghost.
- Disney's Skyliner transportation system will be taking to the skies Sept. 29, 2019 at Walt Disney World Resort! The gondola system will connect four resorts and two theme parks (Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios). We've had so much fun watching test runs (and our favorite characters whizz by) ... we can only imagine how much fun we'll have when we actually get to hop in!
- We're toadally excited to report that Rafiki's Planet Watch at Disney's Animal Kingdom has reopened with some familiar furry faces, as well as some brand-new features. Hop aboard the Wilderness Express Train with us and visit the all-new Animation Experience in the video above.
That’s it for the theme park news this week! Have a great weekend.
Hoppy planning!
