Hey you, I hear you like theme park news huh? Well you’ve come to the right place,
because boy do I have theme park news for you!
First up, the 2020 addition of the theme index, a global attractions attendance report,
has finally debuted. As you might imagine, attendance last year
was low, like, seriously low. The world’s busiest theme park, Magic Kingdom at World Disney World,
saw a huge decline, from 21 million visitors in 2019 to 7 million in 2020 - a 67% reduction.
Many other theme parks were hit much harder though. Due to strict covid rules in California,
Disneyland Park in anaheim saw a reduction of over 80%, from 18.7 million to 3.7 million.
In North America the top 20 most visited parks saw a combined fall in visitor numbers of 72%.
Europe fared slightly better, with a drop of 66%, whilst Asia fared even better, with a reduction
of just 58% - which is still huge. So, are theme parks screwed? I mean partially, to some degree,
I guess? Many companies have already stated their substantial losses in 2020. However, many have
also said that theme parks have seen a steady increase in demand as people want to get out and
do something after being stuck inside for so long. Basically 2020 was bad, but hopefully not too bad…
I hope you like crypto currency because boy does PortAventura have some news for you!
Spain’s largest theme park resort, PortAventura World, revealed recently that they will begin
accepting Bitcoin payments in 2022. Unsurprisingly, that’ll make them
the world’s first theme park resort to accept cryptocurrency payments - sure.
The park is currently developing software that will allow visitors to pay for their
various hotels with bitcoin, and aim to release this feature at the start of the 2022 season.
So get mining folks, you’ll finally be able to use those bitcoins real soon!
Moving on to new things now: Zamperla has showcased yet another one of their new flat rides.
Known as the BlendeZ, the ride combines spinning and rotating in a weird way. Zamperla says it
can rotate in 3 different axes, two of which are driven by DC motors, while the other one remains
free spinning so guests never know which way is up. Honestly, it looks kind of neat,
and fair play to Zamperla for continuously pumping out new and exciting looking flat rides.
Over in China, Jungle Dragon, the new Vekoma launch coaster coming to
Dragon Valley Theme Park has opened to the public! The ride is Vekoma’s new Shockwave model,
which uses an LSM launch to accelerate guests to the top speed of 100km 62mph. Jungle Dragon is
actually similar to another recently opened Vekoma coaster, Abyssus at Energylandia. The rides share
the majority of their layouts, but while Abyssus features two launches and a weird pre-main launch
wavy track section, Jungle Dragon gets straight to the point, rolling into its first and only launch
mostly straight out of the gate. It’s great to see more theme parks building next generation
Vekoma launch coasters - mainly because they look pretty cool. I must say though,
Energylandia now has two of them, Abyssus and Formula, so perhaps they shouldn’t build anymore.
Over in Japan, Nintendo has just confirmed that the world’s first Donkey Kong themed area will
open in 2024 as an extension to Universal Studios Japan’s Super Nintendo World!
Guests will be able to visit the new land through a pipe portal connected
to the existing super nintendo world area. The expansion will feature a roller coaster,
various interactive experiences, themed merchandise and themed food! Overall
the land will expand Super Nintendo World by roughly 70%, which is pretty sizable!
Gardaland have also confirmed a new addition to their park too. In 2022 guests will be
able to experience the world’s first Jumanji-themed attraction! ‘Jumanji:
The Adventure’ will allow visitors to challenge the jungle of Jumanji aboard a jeep,
as they make their way through dangerous animals, obstacles of all kinds and a mighty stone giant.
Not much is currently known about the new ride. However, the creative lead, John Burton, expressed
his excitement to be working on and I quote “our largest dark ride to date”. Fingers crossed this
is the beginning of a beautiful relationship between Merlin and large scale dark rides.
And finally, the London Resort has been delayed again. Alright
thanks for watching, see you next time. Bye!
Only joking, about leaving, the London Resort has actually been delayed again, that’s not a joke,
you should know that by now. The to-be theme park’s planning application inquiry has been
delayed by the planning inspectorate because they do not yet “have a detailed understanding of the
applicant’s proposed consultations and updates”. What do you mean, it’s pretty simple - they’re
building a theme park, duh. (I know it’s not that simple). Anyway, the planning inspectorate
has confirmed that it’s unlikely that the meeting will be held before April of 2022,
which delays the project even further. For the 5 people out there asking what the London Resort is,
well it’s a £2.5 billion theme park resort that is trying to be built in Kent, near London. The
park was originally set to open in 2019, but this kept being pushed back. Currently,
the planned opening date is 2024, which continues to look less likely as the days go by.
So there you go, what a fantastic episode. We learnt that theme parks were completely
screwed over in 2020, that PortAventura wants to be down with the kids with crypto payments, and
that the London Resort will officially never ever happen, ever. Doesn’t life just fill you with joy