History

How Walt Disney World’s Contemporary Resort Drew Inspiration From The Hyatt Regency Atlanta Hotel

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Disney Contemporary Resort
(Brian Kendig, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons (cropped))

As a kid I remember the Contemporary Resort near Magic Kingdom being iconic. It was the hotel you literally passed through as you took the monorail from the parking area to the Magic Kingdom. The Contemporary had a huge open atrium and the train literally drove through the building with a station inside. However, did you know that this large open atrium that is key to the amazing monorail views was actually inspired by The Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Atlanta?

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Scorpion Roller Coaster at Busch Gardens to Close September 2, 2024

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Instagram post from Busch Gardens

In a surprising development Busch Gardens announced the impending closure of Scorpion on September 2, 2024. This cam out of nowhere and gives fans only about 10 days to enjoy “the sting of the Scorpion” one more time before closing forever. Thankfully though the announcement came with a promise that “new attractions “future thrills” would be announced shortly to take its place (get ready for the Giga rumors). Here is what the park wrote:

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Why Didn’t Disney Announce a 5th Gate at D23?

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D23 has come and gone with lots of major announcements that have fans excited. One thing fans had hoped for was a “fifth gate” or another theme park to add to Walt Disney World to match what Universal is doing with Epic Universe. Instead, Disney’s announcements were expansions and retheming of existing attractions. Many would argue you could preserve the existing attractions at the existing parks and simply roll all the new together to make a pretty amazing new park. This way you increase capacity at Disney world rather than keeping the status quo of real estate and attractions. The question is why?

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Remembering the Original Phoenix that Lead to the New Phoenix Rising at Busch Gardens

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Today (July 21, 2024) is opening opening day for Phoenix Rising at Busch Gardens. Phoenix Rising is is the new family suspended roller coaster by B&M. The ride is in the Pantopia area of the park in the area previously occupied by Sand Serpent, a couple of kiddie rides and the original Phoenix looping starship by Intamin. There will be many articles today celebrating the new Phoenix Rising, but I wanted to take a few minutes to remember the original Phoenix. Perhaps I can also take credit for being a bit of a future teller in the name of the new coaster?

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ACE’s “World’s Largest Ride” at Wild Adventures on Boomerang

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On June 16th at 2pm participating parks simultaneously dispatch coasters as part of “The World’s Largest Ride” to celebrate the anniversary of LaMarcus Thompson’s Switchback Railway, the first modern roller coaster. The event is organized by American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) and this year is the 3rd annual celebration of the event. About 20 parks participated this year including Wild Adventures of Valdosta, GA where I participated.

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Review of an Afternoon at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Amusement Park

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Arial view of Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
View of Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk from Sky Glider

On a recent business trip to California I had a free afternoon and decided to check out the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. This seaside park opened in 1907 and is California’s oldest surviving park. Walking down certain parts of the boardwalk feels a bit like a trip in a time machine, but most of the rides are now modern with one huge exception, the Giant Dipper wooden roller coaster. The Giant Dipper is the signature attraction of the park dominating the skyline and it was the main reason for my visit.

Giant Dipper Roller Coaster
Giant Dipper Roller Coaster
Giant Dipper Roller Coaster
Giant Dipper Roller Coaster
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How Walt Disney World Monorail Trains Found Their Way to the Las Vegas Strip, a Monster Truck Rally, a House in the Nevada Desert, eBay and Now a Metal Fabrication Shop in Southern California.

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The Walt Disney World Monorail is iconic and the fact that it still looks futuristic being installed over 50 years ago in 1971 is quite the feat. If you’ve been to Las Vegas you’ll know it has a monorail too that looks quite similar to the Disney one and these two systems are indeed related and some old retired Disney World trains even found their way to Vegas! However, that was just the beginning of the journey of these former Disney World trains.

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The Swiss House at Busch Gardens Tampa in 1965

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Honey, Can We Go to To the Nicest Restaurant in Town? OK, Let’s Go to the Swiss House at Busch Gardens!

Many of the buildings at Busch Gardens have interesting previous lives. A haunted house is a former horse stable, Cobra’s Curse queue is a former Egyptian walk through attraction and Cheetah Hunt’s station was previously used as the station for an inverted monorail that provided views of the Savannah. However, one of the more interesting examples is the Serengeti Overlook, now home to the Giraffe Bar, Oasis Pizza (a quick service food spot) and the pass holder lounge. Would you believe this used to be considered one of the nicest restaurants in all of Tampa?

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What do horses, beer, a haunted house and Busch Gardens have in common?

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How the former Budweiser Clydesdale stable became the Howl-0-Scream Stranglewood Estates haunted house.

If you know the history of Busch Gardens you they used to be owned by Anheuser-Busch, maker of Budweiser. The parks were a promotional tool built on the grounds on some of their breweries. The parks were later sold, but remnants (including the name) still remain. One thing Budweiser is known for is their Clydesdale horses which are seen on Christmas ads, Super Bowl ads and special events. They also used to be housed at the parks, in fact you can still find them at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. They are no longer in Tampa, but their stable still exists and is now the Stranglewood Estates haunted house!

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Things Filmed at Busch Gardens Tampa Including Insane Coaster Wars

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It’s May the 4th (Star Wars Day) and there really aren’t connections between that movie franchise and the park, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t Hollywood connections. Probably the closest thing to “Star Wars” were several episodes of a Travel Channel show called “Insane Coaster Wars”. The episode above features Sheikra at Busch Gardens Tampa, but another episode featured Montu.

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