Tech & Business

Want to Live in Walking Distance of Disneyland?

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An article caught my eye about a house within walking distance of Disneyland for under $1 million. One of the complications of a visit to many parks is dealing with the travel, traffic and parking to get to the front gate and back home at the end of the day. Sometimes walking to a park is possible if there is a resort hotel on property, but this would be like having this convenience permanently. The house sold in October, but it had me thinking what it would be like to live so close to a theme park.

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The Most Important Ride You Take this Month Could Be to Your Local Polling Place to Vote!

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Vote spelled in roller coaster track
Ride the “Voter Coaster” this November!

Election Day is November 5th and many states have already been voting for weeks. This season the most important ride you take could be the one to your local polling center to cast your vote. I know sometimes politics can be deflating and voting can seem inconsequential, but nothing gets better when good people sit on the sidelines. I’n some ways I’ve heard it said that if you don’t vote you lose your ability to complain about the outcome. Democracy works best when we all participate and exercise the freedom to vote that was fought for in several iterations by so many before us.

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Could Virtual Reality Allow you to Experience Roller Coasters From Around the World?

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The "VRoller Coaster" at Virtual Reality Adventures in Las Vegas
The “VRoller Coaster” at Virtual Reality Adventures in Las Vegas

I had the chance to experience the “VRoller Coaster” at Virtual Reality Adventures in Las Vegas and came away extremely impressed. Virtual Reality Adventures is located in the LINQ Promenade near the High Roller Ferris Wheel on the Las Vegas Strip. They offer several VR experiences with one simply called “Roller Coaster” that looks unassuming enough, but really packs a punch. During this experience you experience 3 coasters with first what I believe is Goliath at Walibi Holland, second being Rip Ride Rockit at Universal Studios in Florida and finally the Big Apple Coaster located at the New York New York Resort in Las Vegas.

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Hurricane Milton Closes Disney, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and Other Florida Parks

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UPDATE 10/11/24: Most of the Orlando Area Parks including Disney, SeaWorld, Universal Studios, LEGOLAND and Fun Spot are set to reopen on Friday, October 11, 2024 (Fun Spot actually reopened at 3pm on Thursday). These parks sustained minimal to no damage. Busch Gardens in Tampa remains closed through Saturday, October 12, 2024 with the park asking guests to check its website for further updates. There is no word yet on any damage to the park itself, however there was extensive damage to the surrounding Tampa region.

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Visit Busch Gardens in Minecraft with MCParks!

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Falcon’s Fury in Minecraft Courtesy of MCParks
Real Life Falcon’s Fury

Are you a fan of Busch Gardens? Are you a fan of Minecraft? Then you totally need to check out MCParks Busch Gardens Tampa for Minecraft! MCParks uses teams of Imagineers, Technicians and Guest Relations to faithfully recreate the park experience. The park uses a variety of resources to to create a one block to one meter virtual recreation of the park. You can see this demonstrated in the picture above with the faithful recreation of Falcon’s Fury!

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Politicians at Theme Parks, Fairs and Carnivals Including Reagan, Nixon, Carter, Obama, Tim Walz and the Amazing Sir Ed Davey of the UK!

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Sir Edward Davey, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, rides a Scremin' Swing
Sir Edward Davey, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, rides a Scremin’ Swing | Source: X/@EdwardJDavey

The United States election season is in full swing and inevitably some of the candidates end up in or near theme parks, fairs or carnival as part of their campaign. These are excellent places to meet with potential voters and get a great photo op. This is especially important in the age of social media where video is consumed in viral bite-sized pieces. Sometimes the visit is just a meeting at a hotel on property, occasionally a speech with iconic visuals like Obama in front of the castle at the Magic Kingdom, but every once and a while the politician will take in a thrill ride like Tim Walz or Sir Ed Davey! The point of this article isn’t to take political sides, but merely to point out some examples (both domestic and international) of politicians at theme parks, carnivals and fairs.

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Water’s Edge Expansion Coming to Wild Adventures in 2025 with 3 New Rides!

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Water's Edge rendering from Wild Adventures
Water’s Edge (picture courtesy of Wild Adventures)

On September 9, 2024 Wild Adventures announced its new for 2025 expansion on the Water’s Edge area of the park. This picturesque area of the park will be reimagined to include 3 new rides, a new stage, new food options and a new animal habitats including a reptile house! It will also feature the park’s first Quiet Room for those with sensory sensitivities. The 3 new rides will include the relocation and refurbishment of the park’s Ferris wheel, a new kids bouncing boat parade flat ride and a new swing ride.

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Labor Day Marks the End of the Season for Many Water Parks and Small Theme Parks

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Typical Theme Park Calendar Closed After Labor Day

The Tuesday after Labor Day is always a bit of a sad day as it marks the day many water parks and small Theme parks (especially in the north) are closed for the season. Although the end of summer is officially September 21st, Labor Day has traditionally marked the end of summer from a vacation perspective. More and more parks are holding Halloween and Christmas events and operating more days than ever, but for some this is the end of operations until sometime in 2025, especially water parks.

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Twizzlers Twisted Gravity at Hershey Park to Exceed Height of Serengeti Flyer at Busch Gardens

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Twizzlers Twisted Gravity
Twizzlers Twisted Gravity (https://www.hersheypark.com/)

In 2025 Hershey Park will be home to The World’s Largest Screamin’ Swing, taking the title from Busch Gardens. Twizzlers Twisted Gravity will be 137 feet tall, exceeding Serengeti Flyer‘s 135 foot height by 2 feet and at 68 mph its speed by 3 mph. This is probably a great example of the deals companies like S&S do with parks in giving them a “record breaking” attraction, but for a finite period of time before it is exceeded by something else. No doubt in 2026 or 2027 S&S will put a 139 foot Screamin’ Swing somewhere else. B&M has been similar with progressively steeper drops on their dive coasters. This is good business for everyone as having a record breaker is easy marketing for a park.

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The USPS Releases Carnival Nights Amusement Park Stamps

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Ferris wheel, roller coaster and fireworks on postage stamp

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has released an awesome series of amusement park stamps entitled Carnival Nights. These are first class forever postage stamps with 8 unique designs that were released on June 6, 2024. They feature swings, flat rides, a Ferris wheel, fireworks, a carousel and even a roller coaster in the corner of one. These would look great on Christmas cards, wedding invitations or birthday cards, so order online or head to your post office to get a sheet today.

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