Too Long, Didn’t Read? I’ll forgive you. Here’s a theme park related recap to start your year.
Red Bull turns a water park into a “snowmusement” park during the winter
Now this is a cool idea that I don’t think i’ve seen done ever before. The recipe is simple, take a modern day water park (in this case, Action park in New Jersey, USA) that’s closed for the winter, pile up the snow and let your extreme snow-boardin’ buddies have at it. The photos & video speak for itself. Red Bull have a full interactive experience and editorial piece you can read here.
Dive’n’Movies are back at Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast
This I like. For the longest time i’ve wished for this to return. One of my favourite childhood memories of Wet’n’Wild is staying at the park late over summer, hitting the waterslides late and watching the tail end of a movie in the wave pool. While you won’t be able to do waterslides this time round, it’s great to see Australia’s most popular waterpark putting the feelers out to see if people want to see this make a comeback. Dive’n’Movies is happening Saturday week (January 23), tickets are just $10 bucks if you have a Village membership (bargain) and you can grab them here.
Star Wars Land Construction at Disneyland starts
Disneyland’s trains have stopped, the iconic river has been drained and the petting farm out back (along with several other attractions) have been closed to make way for what will be the park’s biggest chance since California’s Adventure opened nearly fifteen years ago next month. I think it’ll be a welcome addition to the park while some more nostalgic fans are crying foul that the new land will force some more classic additions out of the park forever. You can read more about that here.
BBQ & Chill this Australia Day weekend at Sea World
If you’re theme park mad and want to want to pay homage the best country on earth doing what you love most, Sea World’s firing up the burners and cooking up some fresh beats & snags. You can find more info here. Quick pointer: it’s not actually on Australia Day but rather the weekend before.
Motorsports Experience + Hot Wheels Sidewinder opens at Dreamworld
Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten Dreamworld, which is looking the best it has since it was first acquired by Macquarie Leisure Trust (now Ardent Leisure) nearly two decades ago. There’s a new globe in the front of the park that’ll become the selfie hot-ticket for generations to come, a long with a heap of new additions, revamped stores, a much needed lick of paint all over and a revamp of the park’s iconic Cyclone, now Hot Wheels Sidewinder. If all goes to plan expect a review next week, until then, checkout Parkz here for an in-depth first look. Don’t forget Beat Box ends this Sunday along with late night trade until 9pm.
Green Lantern re-opens at Warner Bros. Movie World
Incase you’ve been in hiding, Green Lantern has been closed for nearly nine months following a teeny tiny derailment and after a million and one safety checks has re-opened in time for the summer holidays. Glad to report it feels exactly the same with no crazy new over the top safety countermeasures compromising waiting times or the attraction itself.
And other stuff that’s news-worthy
- There’s a flying roller-coaster being built over at Universal Studio Japan that’s gone vertical. Head to Screamscape for more.
- Adventure World’s new Kraken slide is doing so well the park is almost having to turn people away. Kudos to their team for doing so well.
- Cedar Point’s (one of the world’s largest amusement parks) is well underway with it’s latest coaster, Valravn. You can checkout a neat time-lapse here.
- Shanghai Disneyland is officially opening June 16 this year.
That’s it for now. As always, follow, like, and tweet us. If you need to talk about your addiction, never fear, there’s a place for that too.
Ben.
Photo Credits: Red Bull Photos captured by Aaron Blatt, Dive’n’Movies captured by Jake Holmes (Instagram: jakemitchellholmes), Star Wars Land photos copyright by Disney & Dreamworld photos captured by Parkz
