And before we forget about it, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DISNEYLAND
Star Tours – There have some reports lately that new segments from the new round of Star Wars movies will be added to Star Tours. Since the ride film is modular and computer driven, this seems like something well within Disney's ability to do, but based on the article, this should probably be filed away as wishful thinking for the time being.
Tokyo Disneyland – I think this is probably one of those rides that not many of us have been on or will have a change to get on any time in the near future. So with that in mind, here is a ride-through of Tokyo's Monsters Inc. "Flashlight Tag" Ride.
Busch Gardens Tampa – Beams for new Falcon's Fury drop tower ride are currently going into the ground. In other news, details for Howl-O-Scream are starting to leak.
Walibi Belgium – This goes out to all of the amusement parks who have standard outdoor roller coasters. Psyke Underground has just reopened after a refurbishment that took a simple outdoor shuttle coaster and made it an indoor special effects coaster. The difference is literally night and day. Disney knows this. Universal knows this. Do I need to use a bigger font for everyone else?
Editor's addition: SeaWorld – A new anti-SeaWorld movie, Blackfish, is hitting theaters in big cities later the month, and the theme park chain is fighting back with emails to film critics, attacking the film's claims that being held in captivity drove an orca to drown a SeaWorld trainer in 2010. SeaWorld refused to talk on camera with the filmmaker, so what's in the film represents only one side of the story. Was that the right call by SeaWorld? I don't know.
As I've written before, even though I'm no fan of SeaWorld's handling of "Shamu," I think that anti-SeaWorld activists ought to be careful what they wish for, as SeaWorld and other zoological facilities do much to promote and protect nature.
Let's not fool ourselves into thinking for a moment that this is about protecting the lives of trainers, either. If documentarians really cared about the lives of theme park employees, where's the big expose on the Walt Disney World monorails, which have killed as many park workers as SeaWorld orcas have this decade? This is about stirring up public support for a ban on orca captivity. We'll see how that goes, I guess — Robert.
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