Busch Gardens Tampa is opening an attraction, too, and it's coming to the park's new Pantopia land. It's not the long-delayed Falcon's Fury, though. The new attraction is Opening Night Critters, a live show featuring a cast of rescued domestic and exotic animals, playing in the Pantopia Theater (formerly the Timbuktu Theater, which housed several 4D shows over the years). Here's a preview, from the park:
Busch Gardens' parent SeaWorld announced this week that it is switching to a new type of refillable cup at all its SeaWorld and Busch Gardens theme parks. The recyclable "PlantBottle" plastic in the cups replaces traditional petroleum-based resins with natural sugars found in plants. SeaWorld said that the switch "is expected to remove 35 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually -- the equivalent of saving more than 80 barrels of oil a year."
Disneyland this week opened its new interactive experience, Legends of Frontierland: Gold Rush!, where park guests role-play a land war between the residents of Frontierland and nearby Rainbow Ridge. Designed to appeal to a generation whose idea of entertainment is defined more by multiplayer online video games than passively watching a screen, Legends of Frontierland is Walt Disney Imagineering's latest attempt at expanding the idea of what a theme park attraction can be. Here's an interesting analysis, and we will have more coverage of this massive multiplayer offline role-playing game in the weeks to come.
Unfortunate news from Walt Disney World: Pirates of the Caribbean claimed another couple of fingertips this week, as a British tourist was injured when he was holding on to the outside of the boat. The man lost the tips of his ring and pinky fingers. This is why they tell you to "keep your hands and arms inside the boat at all times," everyone. On Pirates, as well as Small World and many other boat rides, the boats are contained on the course by underwater metal flume walls on either side of the boats. Horizontal wheels underneath the boats ride along those flume walls and if your fingers or anything else comes between the boat and the flume wall, well, you're going to lose them. This isn't "magic," it's mechanics. Please, please, please, listen to and follow the safety rules, everyone. No one wants anyone to get hurt. We wish this tourist the best possible recovery.
Finally, construction of a proposed Paramount theme park outside London could begin as early as 2016 for a summer 2019 opening, according to a public presentation by the park's backers this past week. The £2 billion project would include a Paramount theme park, a water park, movie theaters, shops, sporting facilities and 5,000 hotel rooms on a site on the Swanscombe Peninsula, on the Thames River east of London. Full details on the proposal are due in October, and the project still needs public money for substantial local infrastructure development, as well as overall government approval, to go forward.
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So, when did Paramount decide to get back in the theme park business? You think they will learn from their past failures and emerge as a major player? Their parks had some great ideas, they just didn't maintain them. Will be an interesting story to follow...
The short answer is: they didn't. Paramount's intellectual property is being licensed by the developers of the proposed London theme park, London Resort Company Holdings. This is much like the defunct Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach, S.C., was not a development of the Seminole Indian tribe, owners of the Hard Rock brand, but a licensed property.
I'm pretty sure Robert can correct this, but I think Paramount owner Viacom intends to stay out of the theme park business.
Brian
However, due to the fact that most journalists are now earning less than full time McDonald's employees, the slide in quality and caring was bound to happen. The difference between a website like TPI and a major newspaper is that TPI is written and edited by folks who truly love and know the theme park business while a newspaper article on a theme park is likely written by a 20-something who is being paid by the word and needs to turn in his story as quickly as possible and get on to the next one if he wants to pay the rent and eat this month.
Absolutely, as long as Disney (who owns the Indiana Jones IP) agrees to the license. As far as the other Paramount properties, it's up to the terms of the license agreement. Robert's written about this topic fairly extensively.
Brian
Thanks for the nice compliment. As a veteran print journalist, I wholeheartedly agree with you. I'll take one exception, though: we aren't paid by the word. Most fulltime newspaper reporters and editors earn a salary. Although inexperienced ones are indeed paid poorly initially, experience changes this quite nicely.
Brian
So, the answer is no, since Disney isn't about to part with their $4B baby. ;)
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And people wonder why newspapers are dying. As a former newspaper employee, I see much more accurate reporting from independent online publications than I see from most newspapers, especially from general assignment reporters. It pays to actually know a beat.