Theme Park Insider

Walk Time: Should 'One Piece' go full-time at Universal?

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 14:22:00 GMT

By Robert Niles: The highlight of the week, for me, had to be the return of Universal Fan Fest Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood: Universal cracks the case again with Fan Fest Nights. I love Universal's embrace of interactive theater and fresh storytelling for this annual event, which has become my favorite theme park hard-ticket, after-hours event. (Sorry, Halloween fans.)

I welcome a debate whether this year's Scooby-Doo backlot experience was better than last year's Back to the Future production. I think Scooby-Doo solved some of the logistical challenges with Back to the Future. A printed "Mystery Inc. Manual" provided a map to the available character encounters and instructions to help solve the mystery. That was missing from Back to the Future, where many fans missed several of the production's elements. Plus, I just love to see a park provide a tangible souvenir like this these days.

I missed BTTF's musical performances this year, but that's the nature of the IPs involved. Last year's BTTF finale did not measure up to the rest of the production, but Scooby-Doo fed everyone into a natural conclusion for this event - a "Big Reveal" that ticked every box as an homage to the cartoon franchise. (Spoiler warning for the video below.)

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Fan Fest Nights this year also had me questioning whether Universal needs to bring One Piece in as a permanent replacement for Waterworld. I saw more straw hats this year than any other cosplay element, testifying to the popularity of the world's biggest selling comic book franchise. Part of what Universal creative leaders have said that they want to accomplish with Fan Fest Nights is to introduce visitors to other popular fandoms. Well, it worked on me, as I am ready now to dive into One Piece.

(I want to note that Universal requested no photography or video during the One Piece show at the Waterworld theater, which is why I am not including a show video for you to watch here. If you see them online, those folks violated Universal's rules in recording it. FYI.)

Finally, Universal did an amazing job of dressing the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey extended queue into a beautiful, haunting and engaging Forbidden Forest. The set decoration and puppetry here were chef's kiss.

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Universal Fan Fest Nights continues on select evenings through May 16. You can grab tickets at a discount here from our partner, with a small commission going to us.

My second favorite moment this week was the release of the first trailer for the upcoming movie, "Coyote vs. Acme." Warner Bros. tried to kill this film as a tax write-off, but fan outrage prompted the studio to offload it to partner Ketchup Entertainment, which will release it theatrically on August 28.

That's a terrible release date for what should be a family film, given the start of the school year. But at least the movie is getting a theater release. As the film's title implies, Wile E. Coyote finally has had enough and is suing Acme Corp. for all the garbage tools and weapons that they have shipped him over the years. It's a wild set-up, and "Coyote vs. Acme" has soared to the top of my must-watch list for the rest of the year.

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Tying this into theme parks, the trailer just reminded me what an amazing job Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi did honoring the Looney Tunes source material in its Cartoon Junction land. Skip to the 10:45 mark in our walking tour for those vibes.

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Disney looks for new way to monitor thrill ride restraints

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 20:18:00 GMT

By Robert Niles: Thrill ride restraints can't protect riders if they are not used properly. That's why amusement parks employ ride ops to check your lap bar, shoulder harness, or seat belt before dispatching a ride.

Advanced ride safety systems also can check if restraints are connected. You can see an example of this on Disney's Star Tours, where the cabin attendant looks at a light-up map of seats to see which ones have not yet fastened their seatbelts before clearing your flight for departure.

Now Disney is proposing a new automated system for checking on-ride restraint systems. This one would use a combination of video and machine learning to train computers to see and confirm that your ride restraint is securing you properly.

A new patent application filed this week details Disney's proposal. In short, cameras show video to a computer, which uses that data to determine whether the restraint systems are connected and properly securing passengers. The computer would use machine learning models to determine what is and is not a proper use of the restraint.

If the system determines that the restraint is not properly securing a passenger, it can be programmed to notify operators or take an immediate response. Right now, this is done manually on load platforms and in control towers on many roller coasters and thrill rides, where ride operators are looking to see that everyone is remaining seated and secured. Disney's system trains a computer to do that job, whether as a backstop or replacement for human monitoring.

"The system may use the video analytics to verify that the passenger is in the seat in the vehicle, to directly monitor when the passenger has been secured with the passenger restraint, and to verify that the passenger restraint is being used as intended. The automatic process implemented by the system may complement the responsibility of the operator to ensure the passenger is adequately secured in the vehicle," the application said.

Smile for Disney's restraint cameras! Image from Disney's patent application

"While operators are quite skilled at this task of inspecting the passenger and the seat belt, this task is a time-consuming due to the number of passengers and seat belts to inspect and/or due to the level of attention required by the operator to check the details needed to perform this task," the application said.

The application also notes the limitations of a Star Tours-type attachment sensor: "The sensor devices are not configured to detect whether the passenger is inadvertently sitting on a buckled seat belt and/or whether a buckled seat belt has been excessively extended."

You can read Disney's complete patent application here: System and Method for Verifying Proper Usage of Passenger Restraints.

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Universal cracks the case again with Fan Fest Nights

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 08:29:00 GMT

By Robert Niles: At the heart of any great theme park experience lies wish fulfillment.

At Universal Studios Hollywood, that wish long has been the desire to be in the movies. For more than 50 years, Universal has invited fans onto its backlot, where they could imagine themselves in any of the countless films and TV shows that have shot on Universal's sets and soundstages. But only rarely have fans been allowed to step off the trams and into the story.

Universal did that last year, with its first Universal Fan Fest Nights. The park staged Destination Hill Valley, an interactive theater experience themed to "Back to the Future," on the same Courthouse Square set where the 1985 movie was filmed. The experience allowed fans to fulfill their wish to step into film's 1955 and attend its "Enchantment Under the Sea" dance while Marty McFly raced to get his parents back together in time for him to catch lightning in a DeLorean and get back to 1985.

This year, Universal is inviting fans to step into a live-action Scooby-Doo mystery. "Scooby-Doo Meets the Universal Monsters: Mystery on the Backlot" brings fans onto the Little Europe sets where Universal filmed many of its classic monster films, including its original "Frankenstein."

This year's backlot experience manages to be both more structured and more chaotic than last year's production. Once again, Universal's Studios Tour trams haul you down to the backlot, but there's plenty of important exposition on the way. You have been cast as an extra in a Universal Monster film, with four studio employees coming on the tram screens to talk about the production.

It does not take much Scooby-Doo experience to suss out that these are our four suspects in whatever caper is about to go down. Sure enough, a Phantom Director has hijacked the production, releasing the Universal Classic Monsters to take over the backlot. It's up to us - under the direction of the Scooby-Doo gang - to crack the case.

As you exit the tram, you will need to pick up a printed Mystery Inc. Manual and a pen. The manual will provide your guide around the Little Europe set, showing you how to collect the clues you will need to figure out which of our suspects is the Phantom Director.

I love that Universal went old-school here, with a glossy color-printed manual and pens for clue collection rather than programming some new feature in the Universal app. Nostalgia fuels wishes, and Universal delivers.

Solving the clues takes some thought. And that created a bit of chaos as fans huddled to share ideas and deal with the mystery at hand. There's a code to decipher at the wardrobe department, surveillance video to consider at the video village, a scene to examine at craft services, and a trail to follow at the grip department. One of the Scooby gang hosts and helps at each location, as we eliminate three of of our four suspects.

All the while, Dracula, the Wolf Man, Frankenstein's Monster, and the Bride are roaming about... eliciting a wide range of reactions from fans. Yeah, chaos is on brand for the Scooby-Doo crew.

When you are ready, queue up for the Big Reveal, which includes a classic Scooby-Doo chase through a hallway of doors (projected on screen above the stage) before the final unmasking.

And yes, our villain does blame "you meddling kids" for their capture. Here is the show, for those not minding the spoiler.

As much as I loved last year's Hill Valley production, Universal topped it this year with Scooby-Doo. The mystery gives you something to do this time, other than stand around and try to take in a scramble of vignettes. The character encounters are spot-on. (C'mon, I don't need to tell you which one is at craft services, i.e. the food table). And the manual is a nifty little souvenir to take home.

Do be aware that once you queue for the Big Reveal, there's no going back. You'll have to take the tram back up after the show. So get all your photos - and Scooby snacks - before you walk over to the unmasking.

Forbidden Forest: Search for the Hippogriff

Also new this year is Forbidden Forest: Search for the Hippogriff in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Head to the Forbidden Journey entrance for this one, then follow team members' instructions to get into the correct queue. (The Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride also is open during Fan Fest Nights.) The Hippogriff walkthrough was the one long queue during last night's opening night, so plan to hit this first or last.

This is another moment of wish fulfillment, namely to experience a walk through the Forbidden Forest at night. Universal has tricked out the seldom-used extended queue for FJ. Pulsed through this walk-through with a Hogwarts professor guide, you will encounter (spoiler alert) Cornish Pixies, an Acromantula, Devil's Snare, and a Centuar on your way to free a trapped Hippogriff.

Freeing the Hippogriff. Photo by the author

There's not much in the way of a story here, just vibes. But the experience delights with outstanding set design, moody lighting and impressive puppetry, though it would have been nice to go through this with a smaller group, allowing everyone to get closer (and better hear) our professor. Yet with the wait time approaching two hours at one point, I can see why Universal would want to push the capacity here as much as it can.

For extra vibes, bring a wand so you can feel part of the spell-casting. But there are no interactions that require, or even utilize, Universal's interactive wand tech. It's all stagecraft, though impressively timed. If you would like to see the experience for yourself at home, watch my POV video.

Now visiting from Japan...

Fan Fest Nights celebrates stories not told every day at Universal. To that end, I enjoyed the opportunity to experience stories with fandom I don't belong to. Two of those this year are Sailor Moon and One Piece, both featured in attractions that Universal has brought over from Universal Studios Japan.

The "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon the Miracle: Moon Palace Chapter Deluxe" movie plays in the DreamWorks Theater, while "One Piece: Grand Pirate Show" takes over Waterworld.

Based on the number of cosplayers at this year's event, One Piece appeared to me to be the most popular IP at Fan Fest Nights. It's the best-selling comic book series of all time, with clever conflicts that invite you to consider the world around you as well as the characters on the page, as so many great comics do.

Monkey D. Luffy in One Piece: Grand Pirate Show. Photo courtesy Universal

The franchise's popularity tempted me to wonder if Universal should send Waterworld into retirement and invite One Piece to be the daily tenant in its stunt show theater. Ultimately, Grand Pirate Show has so much One Piece lore to draw from that I think the show would be less rewarding to watch for a non-fan than the more direct Waterworld narrative. To be fair, Waterworld the movie had basically zero fans, so there was no need for any fan service in Universal's theme park stunt show. Just set up a conflict, and let's fight.

Roronoa Zoro in One Piece: Grand Pirate Show. Photo courtesy Universal

One Piece delivers plenty of thrills, however, even if a non-fan might not know why everyone else is cheering and gasping at all the reveals and appearances. (Kizaru's Cloud-Splitting Light Sword caused a family next to me to completely lose it.) If this show draws curious visitors into the One Piece fandom, well, they will find plenty of company to welcome them.

Other attractions at this year's event include the return of the Dungeons & Dragons: Secrets of Waterdeep walkthrough, plus the appearance of multi-colored Yoshis in Super Nintendo World. Several regular Universal attractions are open during the event, which also features food and drinks themed to the event's IPs - though wait times for those are often longer than for the attractions themselves.

The One Piece show played three times last night - at 8:30, 10:30 and midnight. I would go for the Hippogriff experience first, then double back for the 8:30 One Piece show. Then head to the Studio Tour for Scooby-Doo. (The last tram for that leaves at 11:45pm.) After the mystery, you can head to the backlot for D & D and Yoshi, followed by whatever else you want to experience.

If you must have the food, however, opt for a day/time or early entry pass and get that before the event's official start at 7:30pm.

Universal Fan Fest Nights continues on select evenings through May 16. Tickets for this after-hour event start at $72 from our partner. Shop their Universal Studios Hollywood tickets page for options.

Disney makes deal with San Diego for more California cruises

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 16:10:00 GMT

By Robert Niles: Get ready for more Disney Cruises out of Southern California.

Disney Cruise Line this morning announced a new agreement with the Port of San Diego that will extend DCL's stay at the port through at least 2031. Under the deal, Disney Cruise Line will nearly double the number of cruises that it has been offering from Southern California.

"San Diego has been an important part of our West Coast operations for more than a decade, and a place our guests love sailing from," Jose Fernandez, Vice President of Port Strategy, Development & Operations for Disney Cruise Line, said. "This new agreement supports our long-term growth and helps us continue contributing to the region's economy."

The agreement gives Disney non-exclusive priority access to the Port of San Diego�s North and South berths at the B Street cruise terminal. Disney Cruise Line said that it expects to welcome more than one million passengers for departures through the Port during the term of this agreement.

Disney previously announced that Disney Wonder will sail from the Port of San Diego from October 2026 through April 2027. Disney Magic will join its sibling in San Diego in October and November 2026, meaning that Southern California will have two Disney Cruise Line ships sailing from it for the first time. Both ships will sail three- to seven-night itineraries with ports of call including Catalina Island, Ensenada, Cabo San Lucas, and Puerto Vallarta.

Last year, the City of Avalon on California's Catalina Island approved a deal that gives the Disney Cruise Line preferred access to anchorage areas on Tuesdays year-round. The deal also gives Disney the same preferred access on Saturdays from mid-September through mid-May.

Disney's deal on Catalina takes effect next year. It's a five-year deal with options for two five-year extensions. Disney is guaranteeing to deliver 120,000 guests a year to the port.

Disney Cruise Line has five more ships on order, joining the fleet's current eight ships around the world. That includes the upcoming Disney Believe and a ship designated for Oriental Land Co.'s new cruise venture in Japan. Those both will be Wish-class ships. Disney's next three ships after those will be of a new class, with capacities tipped to be around 3,000 guests. That would be larger than Disney's original Magic class, but smaller than the Dream and Wish classes.

All of these ships are expected to be in service by 2031, providing plenty of capacity to expand operations in San Diego and Southern California.

For assistance in planning a Disney Cruise Line vacation anywhere in the world, please contact our travel agent for a free, no-obligation quote.

Universal posts strong financial start to 2026

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 13:11:00 GMT

By Robert Niles: Universal's theme parks saw big increases in revenue and earnings to start 2026, parent company Comcast reported this morning.

For the first three months of 2026, Universal reported $2.3 billion in revenue at its theme parks, up 24.2% from the same period on 2025. Universal Orlando's Epic Universe theme park opened officially in May 2025, after last year's first quarter.

"Orlando continues to perform extremely well, with Epic driving strong resort attendance and higher per cap spending," Comcast Co-CEO Mike Cavanagh said. "We're continuing to invest behind a pipeline of growth. This year, we opened Fast & Furious Hollywood Drift in Universal Hollywood and our first ever Kids Park in Frisco, Texas this summer. Internationally, our U.K. park is progressing through final planning approvals as site stabilization begins, and we're building on our strength in Japan with immersive Pokemon experiences."

But not all the news was good, with economic pressure on Universal's Asian theme parks.

"Partially offsetting strong growth in Orlando is some pressure at our other parks," CFO Jason Armstrong said. "Specifically in Osaka, we're seeing some impact from China-related inbound travel trends, which is putting pressure on attendance. And in Beijing, we're navigating a more challenging macroeconomic environment."

So far, Comcast officials are not seeing a significant challenge to theme park earnings from the U.S. economy.

"We haven't yet seen any significant impact in the parks business caused by higher oil" prices, Cavanagh said. "That does not mean that it may not happen, depending on the duration of the effect on price of gas and airline tickets and so forth. So more to come, but thus far, [we're] not seeing a pullback of any level that's concerning in the current results. We'll see what the coming quarters look like."

Comcast reported $553 million in Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter of 2026, up 33% from last year's $413 million.

For my weekly update of Universal and theme park news, please sign up for Theme Park Insider's weekend newsletter.

Is Efteling getting too popular?

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 22:03:00 GMT

By Robert Niles: Dutch theme park Efteling reported strong attendance and financial results for 2025. But were they too strong?

The park announced today that it welcomed 5.78 million visits by 4.98 million individual visitors in 2025. That's an interesting data point that I wish we could get from more parks. While it's great to know overall entrances for various parks, I long also have wanted to know exactly how many distinct individuals made those visits.

At a park with a large annual pass base, where people visit multiple times throughout the year, you would expect a big gap between the number of overall visits and distinct visitors. On the flip side, for a park where everyone is from out of town and only visits once, the numbers of visits and unique visitors might come close to being the same.

For examples, I would love to see these numbers for Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Florida, which I suspect would represent these two extremes.

Getting back to Efteling, the park's unique visitor count is important because of local regulations that limit the number of people who are allowed at the park in one year. And Efteling is bumping right up against that cap.

"Although Efteling is subject to a nature permit that limits us to a maximum of five million unique visitors per year, we have stayed within that limit," CEO Fons Jurgens said. "Of course, we hope to welcome as many visitors as possible to the World of Efteling again in 2026, while respecting the regulations. Above all, we hope that a new permit will be granted."

A gap of just 20,000 visitors is not much for a park facing a five million visitor cap. That's just one slightly above average day of attendance. Efteling is a past winner of the Theme Park Insider Award for the world's best theme park. It's a destination that has earned the attention and respect of fans.

Efteling last year opened its Efteling Grand Hotel, a 140-room property located at the park's entrance. The park this year is debuting a new family drop ride next to Baron 1989 and is reimagining its Raveleijn show and area, which are set to debut this winter.

For 2025, Efteling reported operating income of 347 million euros and a net profit of 27.2 million euros.

Six Flags offers free admission for pre-schoolers

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 16:59:00 GMT

By Robert Niles: Children ages 3 to 5 can get into Six Flags theme parks free this summer, with the company's new Pre-K Pass.

The pass is available to current Six Flags season passholders and members. You must register your kids for their Pre-K passes online and then activate the pass in person before May 31. A valid birth certificate or passport showing the child�s age is required at activation, and the child must be present.

There is a limit of two Pre-K Passes for each adult pass. You can register for the passes on Six Flags' website.

The Pre-K Pass is available at most Six Flags parks, not including the Six Flags-branded parks that are now part of the Enchanted Parks chain. Beyond those, the Pre-K Pass also is not available at the following theme parks in the U.S.:

Kings Island
Knott's Berry Farm
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
Six Flags Magic Mountain

Why exempt these parks? It's not that Six Flags is excluding parks in major metro areas - the Chicago park is eligible, for example. Nor is Six Flags excluding its most popular theme parks. Cedar Point and Canada's Wonderland are good to go. Knott's and Kings Island have refreshed their kiddie lands recently and Magic Mountain will debuts its new kiddie land this summer, so I would guess that these are the parks that Six Flags believes do not need an incentive to drive attendance from families with small children.

The pass also is not available at the Hurricane Harbor water parks in California and Arizona or Schlitterbahn New Braunfels.

Park presidents named

Six Flags today also officially named the 10 individuals who will serve as park presidents at the locations where Six Flags is bringing back that role.

Canada�s Wonderland: Christopher Mortensen
Carowinds: Bridgette Bywater
Cedar Point: Colleen Brady
Kings Island: Tony Carovillano
Knott�s Berry Farm: Raffi Kaprelyan
Six Flags Great Adventure: Mike Fehnel
Six Flags Great America: John Krajnak
Six Flags Magic Mountain: Brian Oerding
Six Flags Over Georgia: Richard Pretlow
Six Flags Over Texas: Pete Carmichael

"These changes are about putting leadership, expertise and accountability as close to our guests and team members as possible," Six Flags CEO John Reilly said. "By strengthening park-level leadership, and aligning our support model with our strategic priorities, we�re empowering our teams to move faster, innovate locally and deliver exceptional experiences every day."

New Shark Encounter gets its opening date

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:06:00 GMT

By Robert Niles: Theme park fans can walk underneath sharks in San Diego again, starting next month.

SeaWorld San Diego today announced the opening date for its reimagined Shark Encounter attraction - May 22.

"The all-new Shark Encounter is an awe-inspiring experience that brings guests face-to-face with some of the ocean's most powerful and misunderstood predators," SeaWorld San Diego park president Tyler Carter said. "From above-water viewing to the immersive shark tunnel, this dynamic habitat offers a deeper appreciation for these incredible animals while reinforcing our commitment to marine education, conservation, and inspiring the next generation of ocean advocates."

The exhibit will feature 11 different shark species, including blacktip reef sharks, sand tiger sharks, and the endangered Australian leopard shark. Shark Encounter will include viewing from above the habitat as well as below, including the return of SeaWorld's moving walkway shark tunnel.

Shark Encounter upper level. Concept art courtesy SeaWorld

The exhibit concludes with a floor-to-ceiling glass wall, where new LED multimedia will pair with the wildlife views to bring "the story of sharks to life," SeaWorld said.

Shark Encounter lower level. Concept art courtesy SeaWorld

Annual passholders will get early access to Shark Encounter before its official May 22 debut. For tickets to the park, as well as regional attraction access passes, please shop our partner's SeaWorld San Diego tickets store.