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:
- Halloween in Orlando just got even scarier! SeaWorld Orlando will host Howl-O-Scream for the very first time during this upcoming spooky season. For 27 select nights in September and October, the park will transform into your worst nightmares, forcing you to face your fears in haunted houses, scare zones, roaming haunts and live shows. And of course, it's a scary-good time to ride the thrilling coasters at night! While this event is intended for older frogs, all members of the family can still trick-or-treat at SeaWorld Spooktacular during the daytime on weekends. Howl-O-Scream has also been announced to return at Busch Gardens Tampa and debut at SeaWorld San Diego this year.
- It's been a busy week for new theme park attractions — Jurassic World VelociCoaster officially hatched June 10 at Universal's Islands of Adventure! We lucky frogs have gotten the chance to ride the coaster several times already, and it's toadally possible to love it even more after every ride. After all, someone has to tell you which row is best (psst ... while you get the best views in the front row, there's a lot more airtime in the back row!). We all have different favorite parts of the ride: I love the top hat launch, Tad is obsessed with the barrel roll over the lagoon and Leap is partial to the inverted zero-gravity stall. Universal has created yet another gem of a roller coaster!
- Meanwhile, over at Disney California Adventure Park, the Avengers and their new recruits have been training for a full week already, now that Avengers Campus is open! So much fun is packed into the new immersive land. The interactive ride, WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure, lets you live out your Spidey dreams, as you help Spider-Man catch all of the Spider-Bots by slinging webs from your own wrists. Need to refuel your energy? The delicious food is either super-sized or micro-sized, thanks to Pym Particles. However, the land would not be complete without the characters, who appear all over campus in stunt shows, meet-and-greets and training sessions. Not to brag, but we're basically BFFs with Loki now. Check out more details in our Avengers Campus guide!
- Is your stomach ready? EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival is only weeks away, starting July 15, 2021. Disney released new details, including a list of Global Marketplaces and a live concert series featuring local bands. There will be eight new Global Marketplaces, featuring chicken wings, mac and cheese combos, noodle dishes and more. Plus, fan-favorites, such as Flavors from Fire hosted by The NFL on ESPN, will return. For a full list, check out our guide to the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival.
- In more foodie news, additional restaurants are planning to reopen at Disneyland Resort. Most notably, Oga's Cantina at Disneyland Park and Wine Country Trattoria at Disney California Adventure Park will both reopen June 17, with bookings available June 14. Lamplight Lounge will offer brunch on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, starting July 9 with bookings available June 14. More quick-service restaurants will reopen June 17 with Mobile Ordering, including Tiki Juice Bar, Docking Bay 7 Food & Cargo and Alien Pizza Planet. Yum!
- Similar reopening plans for restaurants are hoppening at Walt Disney World Resort. Look at that coconut-pineapple bread pudding! You can get it from Sebastian's Bistro at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, which will reopen June 24 with nightly walk-in availability until July 4. (You can now book a reservation for July 5 and beyond.) 'Ohana at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort will reopen July 9, with bookings available now. While characters will not join during breakfast, a strolling musician will entertain guests at dinner.
That’s it for the theme park news this week! Have a great weekend.
Hoppy planning!
