Signs of AvatarLand- Festival of the Lion King has a Closing Date

Image from Disney World

 Well Folks, Like it or Not- Signs of Avatarland looks to be coming soon.

 Yesterday Disney's Animal Kingdom announced that 'Festival of the Lion King' which is currently housed in Camp Minnie-Mickey, will be closing on January 5th.  This will be a six month closure until their new theater in Africa is complete, this could also mean new changes coming to the show for the future.

 It also shows that heavy construction on Avatarland will probably begin shortly after this January 5th closure as 'Camp Minnie-Mickey' is the area of Animal Kingdom where the new land will be placed. Frankly, it' about time they get started on the heavy construction if they plan to keep their 3 year deadline to open in 2017.

 At this time it's unknown if Avatarland will open in Phases. However, it's probably safe to guess this will happen as it's pretty much a standard at the Disney World Parks at this point.

Rumor Alert- Rhino Rally Undecided for 2014?

 Rhino Rally May Not Return in 2014

 This is still a rumor at this point but it's making enough waves that we've decided to report on the situation.  

 Rhino Rally at Busch Gardens Tampa seems to be in a bit of a flux, rumors going around are stating that the attraction may not survive to see the 2014 season. Instead rumor is suggesting that the area may be used to enlarge the current elephant enclosure. 

The park seems to be interested in an elephant breeding program as rumor suggests, they may or may not be looking to increase their herd at this point. The only current known fact is that the Asian Bull Elephant- Spike, is now a member of the Busch Gardens Tampa family. He was moved to the park in September but has yet to join the herd fully. Elephants, especially to have a successful breeding population require massive amounts of space. Not only for animal comfort and happiness but also for animal and human safety.

 Another rumor suggests that Rhino Rally may face being cut back and watered down to provide more room while others state this simply isn't true, the ride will re-open in 2014 as normal.  As it stands now Rhino Rally is a seasonal only attraction, running roughly during peak seasons from April-August.

 More information as it becomes available.

Good and Bad News for Disneyland Paris

 Both Good and Bad News from Disneyland Paris this week. 

The Bad:

The park has seen a decline of over 1 million people and declining hotel bookings in the 2013 fiscal year. This goes in hand with the economic problems in France as well as Southern Europe.  However, this may not impact the parks badly as with this decline they have seen higher spending and longer stays from their guests.

The Good:
In 2014 the newest addition to the park, Ratatouille will open. This is expected to drive up attendance for at least a year or two. In addition to this Disney has stated they will be spending $600 million in both maintenance and development.  This come afters a large public outcry about the overall shabby state of the parks, so while many disagreed with the "Save Disneyland Paris" movement it seems to have done some good!

Aquatica's New Slide- Ihu's Breakaway Falls

 After weeks of teasing the public, Aquatica has finally released more information on the their water slide- Ihu's Breakaway Falls.

 From previous teasers and leaked plans, we knew this new attraction to be 105 feet tall but that was all they gave us for over a month. Finally we've got some more details on exactly what kind of attraction we're looking at.

 A Drop Slide. These are famous for loading you into a small compartment and randomly dropping you into a steep, plunging speed slide. Ihu's Breakaway Falls is going to be the tallest in Orlando as well as the only multi-drop slide in the area. From the promo-teasers the park has released, it appears to have a total of 3 platforms. At this time it's unknown if that's 3 slide per platform or if it's three total slides.

 This slide is named after the parks colorful gecko mascot, who searched for thrills, hills and chills inside the water park.

 No formal opening date has been announced aside from "Coming in 2014".  This will be the parks first new addition since 2010 when they added in 'Omaka Rocka'.

Grand Texas Theme Park- Opening in Summer 2015

 Ever since Six Flags AstroWorld closed in Houston, Texas the area has been without an amusement park. That won't last much longer with the new and highly anticipated Grand Texas Theme Park.

 Officials of the proposed park have set an opening date of summer 2015 but this won't be your normal amusement park. This park is going the full 'theme park' route and without Six Flags in the mixture, it's likely to be a success.  Developer Monty Galland and CEO Chuck Hendrix have stated they want a family friendly complete district which you can spend more then a single day enjoying.

 The park will open on 150 acres with room for future expansion. The theme park its-self will draw from local Texas history for it's seven themed lands. Officials state some of the theme will be-  The Grand Boardwalk aims to be themed as turn-of-the-century fair. Yet the Pecos Territory will contain most of larger thrill rides. Main Street will give a more romantic look at Texas' past, going more for fun over historical accuracy. Rides are obviously going to be a massive part of this new proposed park but little information exists about them so far.

 They will also have their own waterpark called "Big River Water Park" which will be themed as a "quaint 1800's fishing village" and said to be located on 40 acres of land.  Currently no information is known about what attractions the waterpark will contain or when it's projected opening date may be.

 On the rest of the 480 acres, the park will build additional goodies for guests and locals alike. It will have a massive retail area, many restaurants, two hotels as well as an RV park. As for entertainment the park plans for a possible  3 different sports venues, not much detail on that right now though. There is also no current time-line on these additional areas, just the opening date range of the theme park.

Mr. Hendrix was the final CEO of Six Flags AstroWorld and the man most people blame for it's demise and destruction.  With this new proposed park, he states he wants to leave a different legacy to the people of Houston.

For more Concept Art, Please Visit- Culture Map Houston

Settings Change- New Comment System

 Hey Folks,

 Just a quick note, we here at InSanity lurks Inside are changing over to a new comment system which is integrated with Google+. Frankly, I'm not sure if this will delete the older comments but this system just seems easier and more convient!

Just letting ya know!
-Carrie

Gasparich Strikes Again- Banbury Cross WILL be Re-themed in 2014

 Scott Gasparich  Satan Strikes Again. This time at Banbury Cross.

 This man is the devil, I'm telling you folks, someone check him for horns!

...This broke my brain and my heart.

 The beautiful entrance area of Busch Gardens Williamsburg is No More. The area of Banbury Cross will be re-themed to 1960's London to go along with the new stage show, London Rocks. London Rocks will be located in the Globe Theater for 2014.

 In a press release, Gasparich said the following:
The entire English village inside Busch Gardens is getting a makeover to go with the new show. The Globe is being redesigned to take advantage of the latest technology in lighting, audio and stage design, including the use of projection mapping, ear-bending sonic soundscapes and a raked stage similar to performance stages used in European opera houses. Outside, the village will be decked out with new life and energy that embraces the roots of rock-n-roll with feelings of love, hope and freedom.
“Guests will feel the thrills and excitement of being rock stars in the heyday of rock-n-roll London as they walk through Busch Gardens’ English village,”.


 Please prepare yourselves folks, the Red and Blue paint is coming. 
I'm really hoping it's not going to be that bad but after seeing the other chaos which has replaced once great shows, I'm not holding out for much surprise now that he's getting his hands on a 'land' of the park.

Freestyle Music Park has Rides to Sell

 The ill-fated "Hard Rock Park" and later called "Freestyle Music Park" will never be resurrected. 

Sitting on 55 prime acres in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina the park has been sitting idle since 2009 after only operating for two seasons.

 As reported earlier this year, something fishy was going on at the park. They have been spotted testing rides, many speculated that this was a sign the park would reopen or a new buyer had been found.

 However, most of us realized this wasn't a good sign. Abandoned Theme Park with half a dozen failed sales in it's history but sitting on a valuable piece of property suddenly tests rides?  Their getting ready to gut and sell.

(Keep Reading for More Info)

Water Country USA- 2014 Project Revealed

 Well the 2014 project for Water Country USA in Williamsburg, Virginia has been reviled, finally.

 A massive new waterslide will grace the park for next season. The well leaked plans for the ProSlide have been going around the internet for a few weeks now, as always the awesome folks at BGW Fans are on the ball again!  A more devoted bunch of theme park stalkers than myself (shocking, I know), these people always hit the money.

  The ride will have the clover shaped tubes and will feature two major elements- The "wave" and The "funnel" with an over ride length of 552 feet and said to give you a 'weightless experience'.

The park states the following about the ride:
True to its name, this mega-slide promises to deliver an action-packed adventure.  Thanks to a unique combination of high-adrenaline elements, there’s nothing like Colossal Curl in North America. The ride starts with a funnel feature, which will swish and swirl guests before whisking them through the ride’s enclosed colorful tubes on their way to a wave element that hurtles them high above the park.

Saying Goodbye to a Friend- Rolling Thunder Demolition

Image from Theme Park Review's Twitter Page

 Sad News- It looks like we've go no choice but to say goodbye to a friend.

 The image to the left is from Six Flags Great Adventure, the beloved roller coaster "Rolling Thunder' now seems to be pile of wooden rubble waiting to be removed. Nicknamed "Rotting Lumber" by fans, the park neglected this coaster for years in hopes of finally making it disappear.  It seems as of last week, this is a reality.

 Lumber litters the ground to make way for 'progress'. That progress is called 'Zumanjaro'.. the new drop tower getting attached to the back side of Kingda Ka. Which raises the question- Do we really need ANOTHER drop tower ride?

 Many of us reached out to Six Flags asking them not to remove this attraction- trust me, they've got the land to build fresh but it seems our pleading once again fell upon deaf ears.

  Some days I really, really hate "progress".

  Goodbye my old friend.

Universal Orlando- More Ride Upgrades are Coming!

 Good News today from the Universal Orlando Resort!

 Universal Orlando has filed two "Notice of Commencement" projects with the city of Orlando's County Controller.  Meaning two major attraction upgrades are coming soon, one in each of their current theme parks.

  This information came from the great folks at Parkscope blog,  I swear they stalk Orange County for information!

 Either way the two rides now listed for Projection upgrades have needed it. In Universal Studios, The Simpsons Ride will receive new projectors, likely HD and Digital much like the upgrade last year of Spiderman.

 The next attraction, I don't know why they simply didn't build with them in place. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey will also receive new projectors- again probably HD and Digital.

 I admit, these are much needed. We recently visited both the Universal Orlando parks and compared to Spiderman and Transformers, both these rides now seem dirty and blurry.  With the addition of new projectors the screens will also likely be cleaned, this tends to account for a lot of the random blur and darkness at theme parks.

 Money well spent, Universal isn't slowing down and I'm glad to see they haven't forgotten their other attractions in the wake of new construction!

Rumor- B&M Coasters create 5 Point Harness?

 This image surfaced today out of the Silver Dollar City amusement park in Branson, Missouri.

 Please Note- I'm classing this as a "Rumor" simply because there is no real conformation of this project from either the Park or the Designer.

 Negative G reports that this new harness is something being testing by roller coaster giant, Bolliger-Mabillard. Early rumor states this is a new "5-Point Harness" which should allow amputees to ride on their coasters. Employees of Silver Dollar City also believe that Dollywood may be testing this system also.

 This would be surprising as Busch Gardens is normally the testing parks for B&M coasters in the United States. Another point which I've started to wonder about- Most B&M coasters feature a full shoulder harness with the exception of their hyper-coasters (a full circuit roller coaster without inversions and over 200 feet tall).

 Now if your still with me here, have you ever seen the "water dummies" they use to test roller coasters? Their rather weird to look at but notice one key part- They lack both arms and legs.

 So, if you can test a standard B&M shoulder harness coaster with these I'm wondering why folks who've lost a limb have trouble riding? I get that on the lap-bar only coasters a problem could easily happen (and did) but wiggling out of a shoulder harness is damn near impossible unless your some kind of contortionist.

 Seriously, you can't get those off without the coaster having power or some heavy-duty power tools being involved. Even if your missing a single limb (be it arm or leg for whatever reason) I don't see why riding would be a problem nor why you would need a full 5-point harness. If the water dummies ride just fine, I'd think real people would be just fine? Granted, I'm not coaster designer nor do I have any kind of impressive engineering nor physics degree.. just a healthy dose of common sense.

 Either way, if this turns out to be true I'm very pleased that B&M is going the extra mile to make sure those who may be missing a limb will have extra safety precautions and will soon be able to enjoy the thrill of coaster riding.

Veterans Day- Saying Thank You Matters!

Image From Here

 We, The folks who keep InSanity lurks Inside running day after day would like to take a moment to say something important. To say something that our brave service members both active and retired never hear enough and should be told often...

THANK YOU.

Rumor Alert- The Hunger Games.. In a Theme Park!?

The Hunger Games.. In a Theme Park?

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. 

Seriously?! This is a thing now?

 Apparently it did happen or so LionsGate has said. The CEO of LionsGates, John Feltheimer stated that the company is in talks about creating a theme park based on the successful franchise.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, Feltheimer also said this little bit- "We have been approached in two different territories about potential theme park opportunities, which gives you a sense of the cultural impact of this franchise". 

 No word on what parks think this is a good idea or even what areas of the world they could pop up in. I'd be surprised if anything really comes from this. 

 Apparently Teens killing Teens for food makes for good theme park material now? I don't know, I have standards and won't see the movies so.. yeah, I got nothing here.

This little tidbit from: RTE 

Disney Hollywood Studios- Yup, Star Wars is Coming..

 Well outside of a massive press release, this is about as much conformation as we can get.

 On Sunday- November 10th Bob Iger, the talking-head in charge of the Walt Disney Company stated this bit to  Bloomberg.  "There is a fair amount of development going on at Disney Imagineering right now to expand the Star Wars Presence in Disneyland and Walt Disney World and eventually other Disney theme parks around the world".

 So what does this mean?

 Simply that Disney Hollywood Studios will change massively. In the past we've speculated about the topic of both Star Wars Land and a Cars Land coming to Hollywood Studios and we suspect we know where this will take place. However, without a full press release we can't tell you if we're right or not.  We also now believe this massive change will effect Disneyland also, although where they plan to stuff this in.. I can't tell you till March!

 Never Fear, I'll either find out or make my own guesses!

 It's an educated guessing game.  If you'd like to take a look into the past when we've talked about this topic, check this post from June: Rumor Alert- Star Wars Land coming to DHS?  Inside you'll find maps and various speculation about where I personally suspect the changes will happen.. but again, that's just my guess.

 My Early Guess- This will happen sometime near after the opening of the train wreck new movie in 2015. So likely Disneyland in 2016 and Disney World in 2017.

 Information from the cool folks over at Disney and More!