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

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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Wild Surge Rising? Busch Gardens Announces “Wild Oasis” Realm for 2025!

Busch Gardens Tampa announced it will be opening a new area of the park called “Wild Oasis” in Spring of 2025. This appears to be a retheme of the old Tree Top Trail area in Jungala which by no means is a bad thing! We reported months ago about construction walls being up at Tree Top Trails with speculation of what was to come and now we know the reason. The area is set to be called a “realm” which is interesting and will contain climbing areas, water features, new animal habitats and a reimagined drop tower.

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Visit Busch Gardens in Minecraft with MCParks!

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!

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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D23 Concept Art Appears to Show a Roller Coaster for Villains Land at Disney’s Magic Kingdom!

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 Six Flags Cedar Fair All 42 Parks Combined Season Pass Has Arrived! (at least at Schlitterbahn)

Image from https://www.schlitterbahn.com/new-braunfels/season-passes

Thanks to your friends at Schlitterbahn we appear to have the first details of the the new Six Flags Cedar Fair chain-wide combined season pass. It falls under the old Passport Add-on system from Cedar Fair and for $75 you can add all the extra parks! This benefit won’t start until January 6, 2025, but happy to see it coming. Access to 42 Parks on one season pass is amazing!

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Review of Wild Adventures Ultimate Animal Feeding Package. Amazing Family Activity and a Great Value!

Animals are a huge part of the appeal of Wild Adventures in Valdosta, GA. It’s great to be able to look at them, but to have an animal experience where you can feed and interact with them will make your trip much more memorable. The Ultimate Animal Feeding Package at Wild Advantage is a great way to have several animal interactions together as a family. At under $30 and including a souvenir photo it’s a tremendous value too.

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Cedar Fair and Six Flags Merger Official Today (7/1/2024)

The new Six Flags (Cedar Fair) Logo after merger

The Six Fags and Cedar Fair merger is expected to finalize today July 1, 2024. The last major hurdle was passed last week with regulatory approval. The new combined company will be known Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, trade under the ticker symbol “FUN” on the NYSE starting July 2nd and be based out of Charlotte.

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ACE’s “World’s Largest Ride” at Wild Adventures on Boomerang

On June 16th at 2pm participating parks simultaneously dispatch coasters as part of “The World’s Largest Ride” to celebrate the anniversary of LaMarcus Thompson’s Switchback Railway, the first modern roller coaster. The event is organized by American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) and this year is the 3rd annual celebration of the event. About 20 parks participated this year including Wild Adventures of Valdosta, GA where I participated.

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Who Wants to Buy a Used Roller Coaster for $15,000? How Parks Buy and Sell Old Rides.

Update September 2025: It appears Canada’s Marineland is selling most of its rides. Bill Ossim of Rides Plus, LLC is handling the sale with details like pricing managed through a formal inquiry process for qualified buyers. There have been some reports of pricing online with family rides going for $75,000 and thrill rides as high as $2.5 million.

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