What A Ride - What’s New & Notable For 2008
By Hilary GendersPhoto: Disney.jpg
Credit: Disneyland Resort
Caption: As part of the continuing “Year of a Million Dreams”, lucky guests will be randomly selected to spend the night inside the park in the new Disneyland Dream Suite in New Orleans Park Square.
Photo: Simpsons Key Art.jpg
Credit: courtesy Universal Studios
Caption: Fans of television’s longest-running animated series will flock to head to Universal Studios Hollywood or Universal Orlando Resort in 2008, as the new ride based on The Simpsons debuts this spring.
Popular with young and old alike, theme parks are always a favourite choice for Canadian travellers. Here’s a round-up of what’s new at some of America’s top parks.
Disney Dreaming
The Disneyland Resort’s Year of a Million Dreams celebration continues through December 31, 2008. Building on the incredible success of 2007, Disney’s magic-makers went back to their dream drawing board. They created over-the-top experiences for the 2008 Disney Dreams Giveaway that will be awarded to eligible lucky guests and mail-in participants. Highlights include:
- A night spent inside Disneyland Park: Beginning January 31, 2008, and continuing most nights throughout the year, one lucky guest will be selected at random to bring up to five guests to spend the night in the Disneyland Dream Suite, a lavish new guest suite in New Orleans Park Square designed from architectural renderings Walt Disney himself commissioned for an in-park, family retreat that was never completed.
- Be the Guest of Honour at the Largest Character Breakfast in Magic Kingdom History: On Main Street, U.S.A. at Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort, one winner and up to three guests will be treated to an unprecedented ultimate Disney character breakfast, with at least 25 Disney characters in attendance, including Mickey and Minnie. Served in the shadow of Cinderella Castle, it will be the largest Magic Kingdom character breakfast ever presented.
- Become a “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” to a Disney Imagineer: Taking on the honorary role of a “Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” one winner and a guest will get to peek behind the magic for a day and enter the secret labs of Walt Disney Imagineering. The prize includes a tour of the Walt Disney Imagineering campus and an Imagineer-guided tour of Disneyland Park.
Disney News
Just as both vacation resorts did throughout 2007, Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort also will introduce new attractions, shows and immersive entertainment. Among the highlights at both parks:
- Toy Story Mania!: Set to debut in summer 2008 at Disney’s California Adventure and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida, this interactive ride-through video game combines the popular characters from the smash hit Disney Pixar Toy Story films with whiz-bang technology.
- Disney Pixar Parades: Debuting in summer 2008 are two parades featuring characters from hit Disney Pixar films. Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort will host “Block Party Bash”, featuring characters from Toy Story, The Incredibles, Monster’s, Inc. and A Bug’s Life. In California, the “Pixar Play! Parade” invites guests to play and dance along with favourite characters from Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars Ratatouille and Monsters, Inc.
- Playhouse Disney Rocks the Mouse House: Debuting at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World resorts in 2008 will be some of the most beloved characters from the Disney Channel lineup in “Playhouse Disney-Live on Stage!” – a singing, clapping and be-bopping show. Designed for preschoolers, the show stars favourites from popular Disney Channel programs including Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, Handy Manny and more.
- Woody’s Cowboy Camp: There’s a rootin’ tootin’ good time in store as Woody, Jessie and Bullseye from Toy Story 2 invite everyone to this new attraction in Frontierland at Walt Disney World. Designed for younger cowpokes, the rollicking hoedown features an Old West obstacle course – maneuvering around parents donning hats shaped like cacti, mountains and mine shafts.
Disney Deal
Travel agents have five more reasons to sell their clients a visit to the Disneyland Resort in Southern California next year: five days of theme park admission for the price of three.
The special “Five-For-Three” Disneyland Resort Park Hopper Bonus Ticket is available as part of Disneyland Resort/Southern California vacation packages sold through contracted tour wholesalers, and allows clients to visit both Disneyland Park and Disney’s California Adventure park on the same day. The ticket offer is valid for arrivals January 8 to April 24, 2008.
For more information on all of the Disney Resorts, visit www.disneytravelagents.ca.
Universal Studios
Fans of television’s longest-running animated series will want to head to one of Universal’s theme parks in 2008. The Simpsons is the inspiration for the world’s most highly anticipated new theme park ride, set to debut this spring.
Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson – all voiced by the show’s original actors – will ride along with guests in a new mega-attraction opening at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios.
Guests will be rocketed along with the Simpson family on a hysterical, almost unimaginable adventure. They’ll experience a side of Springfield previously unexplored as they enjoy the new ride’s interpretation of thrill rides, dark rides and “live” shows that make up a new fantasy amusement park dreamed up by the show’s cantankerous Krusty the Clown.
Universal Goes Green…
Both Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort made the news in 2007 for their environmentally friendly “Green is Universal” initiative, designed to “raise awareness among guests and employees, increase recycling ratios to reduce solid waste streams, switch to alternative fuels, conserve energy to reduce its carbon footprint, conserve water and adopt the principle of sustainability as a core business value”.
In November, as part of a week-long series of special events at both parks, Universal Studios Hollywood received the Environmental Media Association’s first “Green Seal Award” ever to be given to a theme park, while Universal Orlando Resort unveiled a precedent-setting commitment to use alternative or “green” fuels in 100 per cent of its service vehicles and mobile equipment, a move that will result in 260 fewer tons annually of polluting carbon dioxide emissions by UOR service vehicles.
One more example of Universal’s green policy in action: the new “The Simpsons” ride will incorporate green technologies including variable speed motors and energy-efficient lighting.
…And Blue!
Blue Man Group at Universal Orlando Resort is now open at the custom-built state-of-the-art 1,000-seat Sharp AQUOS Theatre. The venue, complete with a 30-foot Blue Man façade, is accessible from both Universal CityWalk and Universal Studios theme park, changing the Universal Studios landscape for the first time in years. The Orlando show marks the first permanent Blue Man production in the southeastern United States.
World-renowned for their live stage shows, Blue Man Group brings an eclectic mix of live music, fantastic percussion instruments and unexpected humor to Universal Orlando Resort, with several shows per week.
Tickets for Blue Man Group can be purchased individually or packaged with theme park admission.
Universal Orlando Savings
Guests who visit Universal Orlando Resort and stay on-site at Loews Hotels during Extra Value Weeks in 2008 will get more value out of their vacation. And the longer they stay, the more they’ll receive. During Extra Value Weeks (January 2 to February 13, 2008; April 13 to June 4, 2008; August 17 to October 2, 2008; and November 30 to December 18, 2008), guests who stay three nights or longer receive a Universal Orlando Resort Savings Guide with $150 in food and merchandise discounts throughout the resort, plus an extra special bonus unique to each Extra Value Weeks period.
Extra Value Weeks rates begin at US $214/night at Loews Royal Pacific Resort, $244/night at Hard Rock Hotel and US $269/night at Loews Portofino Bay Hotel.
For more information, visit www.universalorlando.com/hotels.
For more information about all the news from Universal Resorts, visit www.universaltravelagents.com.
Mall of America
There are big changes coming to the largest indoor mall in the U.S. Nickelodeon Universe is coming to Mall of America this spring and will be the world's largest indoor amusement park, featuring almost three hectares of unique indoor attractions and entertainment. Located in the centre of Mall of America, Nickelodeon Universe will be the only exclusive Nickelodeon theme park in the world, featuring rides, meet and greets with Nick characters and talent and unique Nickelodeon retail and food options.
Among the featured rides: the SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge, a unique vertical lift that will turn clients head over heels – with intense loops, spirals and 90-degree turns; Splat-O-Sphere, a radical 18-metre spring tower that will launch them right up to the ceiling of the park, then catapult you down at record speeds; the Avatar Airbender, an extreme family thrill ride, taking passengers through the curl of the wave with rotating seats and an amazing free fall experience; and the Rugrats Reptarmobiles, bumper cars made especially for younger customers.
Mall of America is investing US $25 million in new rides and Nickelodeon entertainment in the biggest enhancement since the mega-mall first opened in 1992. The park will open in March, 2008.
