Universal Orlando Delaying the Reopening of Jurassic Park River Adventure Until December 17, 2026

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On Friday, October 9th, 2026 Universal Orlando made a quiet change to its “park hours” page where it also displays current and scheduled ride closures. The reopening of Jurassic Park River Adventure was delay out a month until December 17, 2026. The ride has been down since January 5, 2026 and was originally slated to reopen November 20, 2026. The ride is a “people eater” with a massive capacity of 3,000 riders/hour, so when another major attraction at Universal’s Islands of Adventures goes down (like Hagrid’s or Velocicoaster), there’s not many places to put the overflow. No doubt the park certainly wants this ride back as soon as possible and the renovations must be taking slightly longer than originally anticipated. Maybe it may even open sooner as the ride was actually seen testing on October 14, 2026.

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A Rare Ride on Pteranodon Flyers at Universal

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Our son is in the Universal “Goldilocks” zone of 55” where he can ride everything including Pteranodon Flyers. Universal is strict in that only kids 36” to 56” can ride and each one can take only one adult with them. This was my first ride on this rare credit and it did not disappoint (other than being too short at 80 seconds). The views as you soar right next to Velocicoaster are great and at night it’s even better with torches burning below. You get a sense of swinging and flying that you don’t find with a traditional invert. The relative quiet as you move about is great too and you get this sense of launching like a hang glider as you leave the lift hill. Find yourself a niece or nephew and get yourself a ride on Pteranodon Flyers if you can!

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The LumiNight Legends Pumpkin Gallery at Wild Adventures by Master Pumpkin Carver Jim Morey

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The highlight of Great Pumpkin LumiNights at Wild Adventures for us was the LumiNight Legends Pumpkin Gallery. Here you’ll see your favorite singers, actors, sports stars and Wild Adventures attractions all carved into glowing pumpkins. The pumpkins are created by master pumpkin carver Jim Morey and there’s a video playing in the corner of the gallery explaining the carving process. Mr. Morey’s story is also quite unique in that carving pumpkins started as a personal hobby, but eventually morphed into a full-time profession. Mr. Morey is from Huntington Beach, California and his work has been shown on TV and at festivals and attractions across the country.

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Great Escape by Enchanted Parks Unveils New Logo

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New Great Escape Logo
New Great Escape Logo (Courtesy of Enchanted Parks)

Great Escape has unveiled its new park logo and begun the process of converting over from the old Six Flags name and logo. 2026 was slated to be a year of transition with the move over to Enchanted Parks branding expected by 2027. The logo incorporates the Adirondacks mountains, a roller coaster, a water ride and Merry Miller’s Mill in the storybook section of the park, tracing back to the park’s Storytown USA roots. Similar identity changes for the Great Escape Lodge and the water park are expected by the end of the year.

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Did you Know the London Eye is Owned by Merlin, Parent Company of LEGOLAND?

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The London Eye has been an iconic part of the London skyline for over 25 years, visible almost anywhere along the river. It originally opened as the Millennium Wheel (opening on 12/31/99) and was the tallest wheel at the time it opened at 443 feet. It has since been surpassed by the Star of Nanchang in China at 525 feet, but still hold the the record for largest cantilevered observation wheel (supported solely by an A-frame on one side). However, did you know it was actually owned and operated by Merlin Entertainments, owner of the Popular LEGOLAND parks? The website calls it “The World’s Most Iconic Ride”, so having it owned by a theme park company seems appropriate.

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A Trip to LEGOLAND May Inspire you to Try to Break the Fastest 100 Meter Run Barefoot on LEGO Bricks World Record

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Have you ever stepped on a LEGO on the floor?

There are a bunch of memes about accidentally stepping on LEGOS, but there is one woman who did quite intentionally to set a world record. Gabrielle Wall of New Zealand broke a world record for fastest 100 meter run barefoot on LEGO bricks in a time of 24.75 seconds. Gabrielle is a mom of two and may have accidentally stepped on a brick or two, but the track was made using over 600 pounds of LEGO bricks.

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SeaWorld San Antonio Makes Big Change to Platinum Season Pass Guest Tickets for 2027

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The Platinum Season Pass at SeaWorld San Antonio has long been one of the best values in the theme park industry. The 2027 version still is a tremendous value, but a major change in the guest ticket redemption windows may have a big impact on some guests. Typically platinum season passholders receive 8 free guest tickets per season and that is still the case for 2027, but the change is in the redemption periods. Previously guests would essentially get two tickets every 4 months and both guest tickets could be used on the same day. However, for 2027 passholders will get one ticket every 2 months, eliminating the ability for passholders to bring multiple guests on the same day. This change appears to be uniform across the United Parks chain to include SeaWorld Orlando Platinum Pass, Busch Gardens Tampa Platinum Pass and others.

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WingZ by Zamperla Wins the 2026 Golden Ticket for Best Innovation

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Zamperla took home the Golden Ticket for Best Innovation of 2026 for its WingZ ride. The Golden Tickets are annual theme park awards presented by Amusement Today and widely considered the most prestigious awards in the the industry. WingZ is a 39-foot interactive swing-tower ride that Zamperla debuted at IAAPA 2025. WingZ offers passengers the ability to “Fly Like a Bird” by flapping their arms to make the gondola rise and fall as the central tower slowly rotates. In addition to the unique interactive feature, it’s designed to be fully accessible and has a specialized gondola that allows wheelchairs or scooters and is part of Zamperla’s ALL ACCESS and inclusive lineup of attractions. The ride was renamed of WingZ of Wonder and installed at Morgan’s Wonderland in San Antonio, Texas for the 2026 season. Morgan’s Wonderland is the world’s first ultra-accessible theme park, built to provide a fully inclusive environment where people of all ages and abilities can play together. WingZ is a perfect fit for the park.

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Will Enchanted Parks Retheme Their Children’s Areas to Timbertown After Losing Looney Toons and Peanuts?

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Earlier this year Six Flags sold several parks which are now under the management of Enchanted Parks. 2026 is a year of transition with many of them still using Six Flags names and branding while also honoring Six Flags season passes. However, this is expected to change as soon as the 2027 season as the parks will likely lose the ability to continue to use the 3rd party IP which Six Flags has licensed. This means Enchanted Parks will need to retheme their DC, Looney Toons and Peanuts rides and areas. For this article we’ll concentrate specifically on the children’s area where the legacy Six Flags parks have Looney Toons and the legacy Cedar Fair parks have Peanuts (Snoopy). This type of transition is actually somewhat common, for example SeaWorld San Antonio recently converted their Sesame Street area over to a SeaWorld Rescue Jr. theme. So it’s really not a question of if/how they’ll make the change, but more a question of what will they change to and when?

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