Playland – I have been sitting on the sidelines watching this one develop, but now I am irritated. The County Board of Legislators has voted to drop the entrance fee at Playland by $5, making it free for locals and $5 for out of towners. What this also does is directly take a million dollars out of the hands of Playland, who will then have to beg the County for that money back, which they will not be willing to give up. Being a million dollars short on the budget of a small local amusement park is pretty much the kiss of death to the park. While the County Executive has vetoed the legislation, the other party has decided that a partisan fight is much more important than the well being of the business. Thanks for screwing up the county politicians!
Universal Hollywood – Art for the queue lines have leaked to the internet…which makes sense because if Universal sticks to the way it has been doing things, the ride has been soft opened for the last 6 months.
Disneyland – For the Xbox Kinect system, Disney has announced a video game portraying a virtual Disneyland where you can walk around and experience the park. Among the features of the game is that it charges you $80 every time you enter the virtual park, you get charged $10 for a bottle of water, and the most innovative of features is a brand new system of standing in line for an hour before you can ride any of the rides. There is talk already about additional patches for the game in the future that simulate rides closing while you are standing in line for them, fast passes that run out before you can use them, getting run over by members of the stroller brigade, and getting groped or punched by your Disney character of choice.
Legoland Florida – Now Hiring…cast off those hamburger spatulas and work for the plastic block!
California Adventure – This last week across Los Angeles, roving power outages and grey outs accompanied the opening of the Little Mermaid ride and its 300+ animatronics.
Six Flags Magic Mountain – Green Lantern – Delayed………it is almost like 2011 is the season of the amusement park ride delay. Put that one on a t-shirt….
Universal Studios – In a bit of a no-brainer and Comcast has decided to buy out Blackstone. I predicted that about a month ago, but some accountant’s abacus at Comcast works a little slower than my common sense.
Disneyland Shanghai – According to the internet community, looking over the artist renderings of the new park, it looks like Splash Mountain will be made over to Pirates of the Caribbean and their Jungle Ride will be done with the Grizzly Falls ride system. Personally, I think they are all just elaborate queue lines for the real attraction: the Fastpass Kiosk.
If I have missed anything (and I have, so no worries there) please post below. If you have some inside information, more news, more rumors, first rides, please share with the rest of us.
Sources: Screamscape, Amusement Today, and whatever else I happened to read this week...
