Big Thunder Mountain Renovations at Disney’s Magic Kingdom Continue: July 2025 Update

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Big Thunder Mountain Track Work
Big Thunder Mountain Track Work (Photo by Matt Brinkley)
Big Thunder Mountain Track Work
Big Thunder Mountain Track Work (Photo by Matt Brinkley)

The renovations on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Magic Kingdom continue with a special vehicle on the new track on the coaster’s mountainous twists and turns. There’s also a bunch of scaffolding still around the track. With an attraction that quite literally is a large outdoor artificial mountain it’s difficult for Disney to camouflage the work behind walls or indoors like they often like to do. The ride is slated to open sometime in 2026 and that probably can’t come soon enough for Disney with the July 6, 2025 closure of Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island making this corner of the park pretty quiet for the rest of the year.

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Rivers of America at Disney’s Magic Kingdom Closes Forever to Make Room for Piston Peak National Park

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Steamboat riverboat on Rivers of America at Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom
Rivers of America (Photo by Matt Brinkley)

On on July 6 2025 Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island at Magic Kingdom closed Forever to make room for “Cars Land” and specifically what is being called Piston Peak National Park. Rivers of America have been part of Frontierland and Liberty Square since 1971 when the park opened, but the Liberty Belle steamboat and Tom Sawyer Island were actually added in 1973. This has long been known as a scenic and relaxing area of the park. This area is now being reimagined into a Cars themed land with a ride similar to the Radiator Springs Racers, a high-speed ride at Disney’s California Adventure. However, this is not a carbon copy of the California attraction located in the desert town of the first movie, but instead it will be an off-road adventure in a mountain and water-filled National Park.

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No More Virtual Queues at Disney World!

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Standby at Haunted Mansion at Disney Magic Kingdom
Lightning Lane at Haunted Mansion at Disney Magic Kingdom

It was announced earlier this year that Disney World’s Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind would cease using the virtual queue system on February 25, 2025. This followed a similar previous announcement in September 2024 for Tron Lightcycle Run. This means there are currently no rides at Disney World using virtual queue for the first time in years and every attraction will have standby lines available. It also ends the stress for many of waking up at before 7am on the morning of a Disney vacation and feverishly hitting the refresh button to try to get a boarding group to ride the lastest Walt Disney World rides sometime that day without paying extra. Virtual Queue was the only “free” way to ride without paying for a Lightning Lane Single Pass, which could cost $100 or more for a family on top of a regular Lightning Lane Multi Pass (formerly Genie+).

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Was This Mountain at Tokyo DisneySea Originally Destined for California? How Disney “Blue Sky” Concepts are Never Truly Dead.

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Tokyo DisneySea volcano

Disney loves its mountains, see Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and the former Splash Mountain as examples. One of the lesser known “mountains” is the volcano known as Mount Prometheus at Tokyo DisneySea in Japan. For those not familiar, according to the DisneySea website it is, “The only Disney park themed to the myths and legends of the sea. Each of the eight themed ports features attractions, restaurants, shops, and more, inviting guests to a world “Where Adventure and Imagination Set Sail!” This is the 7th most attended theme park in the world and many consider it the best and most beautiful of all the Disney parks. However, did you know many of the concepts of Tokyo DisneySea came from a park called DisneySea California that was cancelled in 1991?

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Happy 100th Birthday Lake Winnepesaukah

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Lake Winnie 100 year anniversary logo
Lake Winnie 100 year anniversary logo (Courtesy of Lake Winnie)

The amusement park affectionately known locally as “Lake Winnie” celebrated its 100th birthday this month. Lake Winnepesaukah in Rossville, GA originally opened its doors on June 1, 1925. The name is from a Native American word that means “bountiful waters” or “beautiful lake of the highlands” and fits with the 9 acre lake on the park site. The park even still has one original 1925 attraction with the Boat Chute ride, which is oldest Mill Chute attraction still in operation in the United States.

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Get Your Engineering Cub Scout Adventure Loop at Fun Spot America Kissimmee with Mine Blower!

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Fun Spot America Logo
Scout leader and scout in front of the Mine Blower roller coaster at Fun Spot Kissimmee

Earning the Arrow of Light “Engineering” adventure loop has the potential to be one of the most fun and exciting activities in scouting, especially with the increased interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). What’s even more exciting is that one of the recommended adventure activities in the cub scout handbook is to have scouts build their own roller coaster! A theme park is a great place for the scouts to explore and learn about engineering and Fun Spot America Kissimmee is perfectly suited for this adventure. Earning the “Engineering” Adventure Loop at Fun Spot Kissimmee can be as simple as watching a few YouTube videos, having a discussion, riding a roller coaster and participating in the park’s “build your own roller coaster” activity or doing your own at your next den or pack meeting.

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Review of The Swamp Tour at Wild Adventures: This Up, Close and Personal Show Will Have You Touch, Feed and Even Hold Some Amazing Creatures!

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Family at Wild Adventures Swamp Tour with skink

On Father’s Day 2025 we had the chance to experience the Discovery Tours – Swamp Tour at Wild Adventures Theme Park. This is not a “tour” in the traditional sense where you’ll be walking around, but instead a small and intimate show limited to just 20 people where you’ll have the chance to see, touch, feed and hold some of the park’s amazing animal ambassadors. It really feels more like an animal encounter than a show. However, instead of just one animal, you’ll get to meet several. From feeding an African bullfrog to holding a snake, you’ll certainly leave this experience with great memories and probably some great pictures too!

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Scout Overnight Adventure Coming to Fun Spot Atlanta in Fall 2025

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Scouts by ArieForce One at Fun Spot America Atlanta

Have you ever wanted to camp next to a roller coaster? Fun Spot Atlanta will give Cub scouts, BSA Scouting America scouts and Girl scouts just that opportunity this fall by camping in the ArieForce One Courtyard at their Scout Overnight Adventure. For those not familiar, Fun Spot America Atlanta is a theme park located in Fayetteville, GA, just south of Atlanta that is home to great rides and go-karts including the world famous Arie Force One roller coaster. The event will consist of a night of camping fun followed by a day at the park with some fun bonus events like a Behind-the-Scenes Tour. The park will offer this event on three different nights catering to each of the different groups. The event is priced at $90 and includes camping, meals and unlimited rides.

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Universal Studios Hollywood Will Be the Squash Venue for the 2028 Olympics in LA

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squash at the 2028 Olympics at Universal

The Universal Studios Hollywood lot will serve as the venue for the racket sport of squash for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, California. Specifically, the court complex is expected to be setup on the Universal Studios Lower Lot which is also the home to the new Super Nintendo World, Jurassic World – The Ride and Transformers: The Ride. Squash will make its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles Games along with flag football. The sports of baseball/softball, cricket, and lacrosse will be returning the games after being absent for some time.

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Adult Review of Peppa Pig Theme Park Florida

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I visited Peppa Pig Theme Park at LegoLand Florida with no kids while visiting Winter Haven on a business trip and had a very enjoyable couple of hours. I mainly went to get the roller coaster credit for Daddy Pig’s Roller Coaster, but found myself really enjoying and appreciating the rest of the park as well. The roller coaster is really phenomenal for what it is (a kiddie coaster), but the overall atmosphere is very lighthearted and pleasant. You’ll basically be able to do everything in a couple of hours and if you plan your visit accordingly you can do it at a reasonable price too.

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