Thursday round-up: New donations, warnings... and aliens

June 16, 2016, 9:38 PM · Universal Orlando Donation
Universal Orlando's corporate parent, NBCUniversal announced that it is donating $1 million to the OneOrlando fund, matching the donation Disney made earlier this week to support the families of victims of last Sunday's massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Two Universal team members were killed in the attack and others injured. If you'd like to make donation, too, visit OneOrlando.org.

Walt Disney World Warnings
Walt Disney World soon will post new signs at its beaches warning guests about the presence of alligators in resort waterways, following a fatal gator attack on a two-year-old boy from Nebraska at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort on Tuesday night. The beaches remained closed today after the attack, and skippers at the Jungle Cruise ride in the Magic Kingdom have cut any gator jokes from their spiels out of respect for the family of the boy.

Cedar Point Interactive Game
Cedar Point has introduced a new interactive game for park visitors, to be played through the Cedar Point smartphone app. From the park's press release:

Guests who choose to play The Battle for Cedar Point will first join one of five “clans” on the day of their visit – Valravn, GateKeeper, Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster or Maverick. Each clan is signified by its own unique character avatar, along with a custom battle shield.

They will then “battle” against other guests inside the park that day as they earn points by scanning select ride signs, t-shirts and game symbols located throughout the park. Once scanned, these items will come to life on the guest’s Apple® or Android™ mobile device, enabling them to see characters, animated signs and achievement symbols as they appear to co-exist with the real world. They can then share these interactive experiences on social media, encouraging others to join their clan.

Individuals who reach a certain point level will be able to buy their clan's souvenir pin at select shops in the park. The clan that amasses the most points during the day will be declared the winner at that night's performance of Luminosity.

The Year's Top New Attractions
Many of you probably use RetailMeNot to find discount codes for online purchases. (And if you don't, you should!) But you might not know that RetailMeNot also has a blog, and this week — with some help from yours truly, they featured some of this year's don't-miss new theme park attractions.

Buzz Lightyear's LGMs Aren't the Only Aliens at Disneyland
Finally, if you've seen the World of Color - Celebrate! show at Disney California Adventure and need a good laugh at the end of this week, check out this crazy story from The Mirror in the U.K. Who knew that the smoke ring from the big final blast on World of Color really just opened an alien portal? Ya learn something new every day!

Replies (2)

June 17, 2016 at 7:30 AM · Its good the warning signs now explicitly warn of gators. "No Swimming" to me doesn't neccessarily suggest a hazard, just that you don't want me to swim there, it doesn't suggest that the water itself, or being close to the water, is in any way a problem.

Signs in Far North Queensland will warn of Jellyfish (sea) and Crocodiles (Other bodies of water). I know it kinda spoils the "Magical place where nothing bad can happen" image, but its got to be this way.

June 17, 2016 at 8:21 AM · On Thursday, June 16th UO held an employee memorial service at the theater in front of Rip Ride Rocket. Apparently, SIX UO team members were among the killed, and another person is still in the hospital. So sad. I'm so impressed at how all of Orlando has come together to show support for everyone impacted by this.

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