2024 has drawn to a close and 2025 is here. In some ways it is the sad and slow part of the year for theme parks with many closed for the season and announcements more sparse. However, winter will soon give way to spring with park opening days and new rides starting around March. This year will also be “epic” with the opening of Epic Universe!
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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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Halloween is approaching when people like watching their favorite scary movies. One of my favorites is Zombieland with its great blend of action, horror and humor. I recently saw some online buzz about the “real Zombieland experience” at Dubai’s Motiongate theme park with their “Zombieland Blast-Off” launch tower ride based on the Blast Off ride seen in the movie. The park even launched a “fears becoming reality” advertising campaign. There’s just one problem, the only place to get the real Zombieland Blast Off experience is at Wild Adventures Theme Park in Valdosta, Georgia!
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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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Last night at the very end of the D23 Experiences Showcase the long anticipated Villains Land was announced for Disney’s Magic Kingdom. The details were VERY sparse with no opening date or specific attractions announced, just mention of 2 attractions, shopping and dining. However, if you zoom into the top left of the concept art shown last night it’s very obvious there is a coaster in the works!
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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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BGT Safari 