Round-up: Collecting stories at Efteling, Disney, and more
Too many news nuggets are piling up in my notes file. So let's not wait for the weekend Walk Time round-up to clear them this week.
SeaWorld announced this week that it has received its first beluga whales from the closed Marineland of Canada park. SeaWorld San Antonio received two of the whales, with four others going to Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. The six were part of a pod of 30 beluga whales at the Niagara Falls park, which closed in 2024. Canada last year denied Marineland's request to send the whales to China. As a result, the whales are going to several facilities in the United States and Spain, with SeaWorld San Diego and the Georgia Aquarium also set to receive whales within the next few weeks.
Efteling is showing off first looks at its next addition to its Fairytale Forest. The Fairytale Library is set to open next year at the Dutch theme park.
The Fairytale Collector stands in front of the new fairytale installation, under construction. Photo courtesy Efteling.
“In The Fairytale Library, visitors will soon discover all the books filled with stories that the Fairytale Collector has gathered during his travels," designer Jeroen Verheij said. "They will also meet seven hard-working gnomes, who have accompanied the Fairytale Gatherer from all corners of the world over the years. The gnomes keep the library organised, welcoming and as complete as possible, because the Fairytale Collector himself is often away on his travels."
How about this for a transition? Speaking of story collectors, documentarian Leslie Iwerks is preparing to release her latest work on Disney's storytellers. Disney has released a teaser for "Disney Worldbuilders," which will premiere soon on Disney+. The film will include conversations with James Cameron, Pete Docter, Jon Favreau, Kevin Feige, Jennifer Lee, and other story leaders at Disney.
Sticking on the Disney beat for a moment, Russell Meyer kicked off a discussion about the company's recent business moves, including ESPN layoffs, new clothing lines, and a big play with the Avengers: Disney Feeding the Beast.
As we approach the start of the Halloween season, Universal has announced that it will partner Fortnite for a scare zone at this year's Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando and Hollywood - Fortnitemares. You can see the current HHN 2026 house line-ups here: Universal confirms Evil Dead Burn for Halloween Horror Nights.
Kentucky Kingdom has announced that it will provide the new home for Jack O' Lantern Spectacular. The event is leaving Louisville's Iroquois Park for Kentucky Kingdom, where it will become part of the park's Pumpkins at Kentucky Kingdom fall event.
Finally - and this is attractions-adjacent - for films fans in the Los Angeles area, the good news came today that the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood will reopen next year, under Sony ownership. Sony had partnered Alamo Drafthouse, which will operate the dome and revamp the adjacent old ArcLight Cinemas as an Alamo Drafthouse. The dome will not be a dine-in theater when it reopens, however.
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