I was driving through southern Illinois and made a stop at Grady’s Family Fun Park. It has a bit of a feel of a permanent carnival attached to a batting cages and a mini golf course, but it is full of charm. One thing that struck me were the statues of Winnin-the-Pooh and Tigger at the exit. My first thought was that Disney was probably going to sue them, but a little research taught me otherwise as the original Winnie-the-Pooh copyright has indeed expired!
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Popcorn buckets at Disney are a big deal and a good deal. The themed buckets look great and are highly collectible, but are also useful as a refillable popcorn container in the parks at a reduced price. Some of the standard refillable buckets are simple cylinders with printed graphics, but the premium refillable buckets border on works of art with some containing electronics and lights. There have been some amazing ones recently, with the popcorn bucket featuring the Imagination Pavilion and Figment from the 2024 EPCOT International Festival of the Arts getting a ton of buzz. However, the one that caught my eye was Spaceship Earth Mickey Balloon popcorn bucket. It of course looks great, but I got to thinking, what if the actual Spaceship Earth was a popcorn bucket?
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Many theme parks seem to be incorporating a scavenger hunt into their potential experiences for guests with even Disney is in on the trend. Many parks have these now with some being permanent, others seasonal and some just for special days. Gamification can bring out the competitive nature of many people as they seek to complete tasks for a modest prize. While waiting in lines or walking around the park these games can provide extra engagement and enjoyment, often with a free souvenir at the end. They can be especially fun for regular guests, season passholders or guests visiting for several days who are looking to enjoy the atmosphere of the park more than rushing to try to ride every attraction.
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Earning the Arrow of Light “Engineering” adventure loop can be one of the most fun and exciting activities in scouting and highly educational, especially increased focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Did you know 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 Orlando is a perfect real world laboratory for this adventure. Earning the “Engineering” Adventure Loop at Fun Spot Orlando is as simple as watching a few YouTube videos, discussing some questions, 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). This is essentially a prepackaged adventure that is sure to be memorable for scouts.
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If you have kids of a certain age, character breakfasts are a big thing. It’s a chance for kids to have a somewhat extended interaction with some of their favorite characters while parents get some great pictures. During these interactions you often overpay for the food in exchange for the atmosphere and entertainment value, but a family’s experience at Disneyland may have taken this to a new level. John Tolkien recently posted about his $937.65 tab for his family of 5 at the Disney Princess Breakfast Adventure at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa at Disneyland. At $142/person for adults and kids over 3, so after tax and tip that’s nearly $1,000 (and the internet has been going nuts).
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Island H2O is the Orlando areas newest water park located just south and adjacent to Walt Disney World in Kissimmee, Florida. It combines family fun with technology using an internet and social media theme with attractions like Follow Me Falls, Reply Racers, Chat Creek and Live! Lagoon. Island H2O isn’t the largest water park, but it essentially has one of everything you could want in a water park in a great layout and manageable size. Each of the slides and attractions it has are well done and sincerely great versions of that type of slide or flume. Island H2O is very much a quality over quantity approach to a water park with excellence at every point from the food to the staff.
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MISSION: ESCAPE is one of Georgia’s newest escape rooms and is located in downtown Cartersville, Georgia. MISSION: ESCAPE Cartersville has 3 rooms to challenge you including MISSION: Copán. In the MISSION: Copán game, “Your mission will take you to the Copán Ruins in Honduras where you will infiltrate the operation of the GCS and retrieve the burial mask of Mayan ruler, Yax-Pasaj, before the GCS is able to use it for horrendous ends.” MISSION: Copán is a multi-room challenge with several types of puzzles and tons of kinetic action for a thoroughly entertaining escape room experience. The local creator of this room was also inspired by Disney’s Haunted mansion and included one of its famous special effects!
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On July 4th we had a chance to catch the Splash Water Parade at Six Flags Over Georgia and it was simply stellar summer fun. The parade features several dozen performers who put on a water-themed show full of music, dancing and some audience participation. What was surprising is that the parade features live singing, original music and a huge cast of choreographed dancers. This parade has the look and feel of a Disney afternoon parade with catchy music and high performer energy. Part of me sat there a bit dumbfounded as I almost couldn’t believe this was happening at Six Flags Over Georgia. From the floats to the choreography to the Splash logo gear performers and the support staff, it was obvious Six Flags made a major investment here. It was a complete and seamless performance.
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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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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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BGT Safari 