Parks News: Antarctica Prepares for Opening; Universal's Potter Expansion Pegged for Summer 2014

by Leap on May 17, 2013

It's time for the Frog Family's weekly roundup of Disney and Orlando theme park tidbits from the interwebs.

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This week’s highlights:

We're just a week away from the opening of SeaWorld Orlando's Antarctica, a first-of-its-kind attraction that promises to transport guests to the South Pole. To celebrate, we're going to have a week's worth of spectacular SeaWorld coverage all of next week (including a giveaway that includes SeaWorld Orlando tickets)! As Tad likes to say, it's going to be AWESOME!

To whet your appetite, we recommend this terrific USA Today video featuring some of the penguin species that guests will encounter at the attraction.
When it opens, Antarctica will offer its very own Coke Freestyle Drink called Vanilla South Pole Chill and a customizable souvenir cup. With the Cup That Cares, guests will be able to track their CO2 savings with every refill in Antarctic, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the nonprofit SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund.
A few more tantalizing details about The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley were revealed in a Universal Orlando survey, including a more certain open date and confirmation of a new 3D attraction.
In more Universal news, John Stamos stopped by for a sneak peek of Transformers: The Ride 3D.
And Orlando Informer offered the top 5 reasons why it loves Universal's Loews Royal Pacific Resort.
Adventurer’s Outpost, a new meet-and-greet area for Mickey and Minnie, officially opened this week at Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park.

Mommy Frog is always looking to expand her shoe collection, and coincidentally these stylish shoe ornaments -- including princesses and villains -- are making their way to the Disney parks this spring.

MiceChat did a nice report on whether an adult without children can enjoy LEGOLAND (the answer is yes). Check out all of the photos and details about each of the lands.

It was good news all around for the Walt Disney Co. in its first three months of the year, with profits up 73%. During a conference call with analysts, Chairman and CEO Bob Iger spoke a bit about MyMagic+, saying “The goal is for us to roll out MyMagic+ at some point this year.”