Where have you been!?
I've been waiting for you, it's time for some theme park news!
Intamin have revealed their all-new upgraded surf coaster model.
It features a thrilling airtime hill, optional interactive water features, the strongest
LSM launch on the market with integrated water cooling, and state-of-the-art free spinning
vehicle design with outward-facing round seating configuration.
Wow it sounds great!
Six Flags have announced they will not be doing their annual ‘new rides’ announcement
event this year.
What!?
How could they do this to me…
Usually, every year the chain releases a video detailing the new additions coming to each
Six Flags park.
However, Jeffrey Siebert, the President of the Fiesta Texas park, said in a reply on
social media that they will not be doing a system-wide announcement this year.
How dare they!
We don’t yet know if, or how they might be making park-specific announcements instead.
An unknown man has climbed to the top of Knott’s Berry Farm’s Supreme Scream tower.
That's 99m 325ft high!
Police were called out not long after he began his climb and guests were evacuated from that
area of the park which was then shut down.
The man stood at the top for about 90 minutes before climbing back down safely.
Thankfully he wasn’t injured, but he was taken into custody and given a mental health
evaluation.
Velocicoaster at Universal has hit one million riders (already) after finally opening to
the public on the 10th of June.
The park shared this on social media to mark the occasion.
I know it soft opened for most of May, but how on earth have one whole million people
ridden it.
That's insane!
Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival has begun and will run for a whopping 129
consecutive days!
In total there will be 30 global marketplaces, so plenty of choice, along with live music
and a Ratatouille treasure hunt to complete.
Europe’s first Legoland Water Park has opened at Gardaland Resort in Italy.
It features interactive water games, colourful slides and themed areas, including Jungle
Oasis, Lego River Adventure and Miniland.
In total there are 1,400 cubic metres of water in the swimming pools, and 1,500 litres of
water is poured from the bucket at the top of the Beach Party tower every so often.
It’s the fifth Legoland Water Park in the world and follows similar attractions in California,
Florida, Malaysia and Dubai.
Lego is taking over man, I swear.
Disney are planning to relocate around 2,000 employees from Southern California to a new
campus in Lake Nona in Florida.
Which employees will move has not been decided yet, but it’s likely to involve staff from
Disney Parks, Experiences and Products.
Those who do move will receive moving assistance and will transfer over the next 18 months.
Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, said in a letter
to employees “Expanding our already significant footprint in Florida makes sense.
This new regional campus gives us the opportunity to consolidate our teams and be more collaborative
and impactful both from a creative and operational standpoint.”
Disney has said they are not abandoning California and will continue to invest in Disneyland
Resort.
The London Resort, more news about the London Resort what's it this time!?
Well, they've formally objected to Natural England’s notification of the SSSI (site
of special scientific interest).
But what does that even mean?
Basically, Natural England gave protected status to the site in which London Resort
wants to build due to its importance to rare wildlife.
Well, the London Resort have objected to this, claiming that the SSSI classification was
not based on robust scientific evidence.
They also stated they do not approve of Natural England’s methodology and their choice of
ecological survey data.
They have claimed that Natural England are just trying to frustrate the DCO application,
rather than protect natural areas.
As most of the area earmarked for the development has not been managed for many years, the London
Resort argues that if it’s left in this state, there will be a decline in ecological
value and biodiversity.
They plan to invest £150 million on ecological compensation as part of the development.
This includes leaving part of the site untouched for the wildlife, and adding new paths to
allow people to experience nature.
It will be interesting to see how the development of the resort continues…
And there we go, another Wednesday ticked off.
Tune into the next episode so you can hear how the London Resort has yet another problem,
delaying its opening to 2054.