Theme Park Overload

New Details Released for "The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash" Ride coming to Universal Studios Hollywood in Spring 2020

2020-01-22T13:28:00.001-08:00

Universal Studios Hollywood has released new details for their upcoming "The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash" dark ride. Voice talent from the original cast will be reprising their roles in the attraction, which includes: Patton Oswalt as Max, Kevin Hart as Snowball, Eric Stonestreet as Duke, Jenny Slate as Gidget, Tiffany Haddish as Daisy, Lake Bell as Chloe, Dana Carvey as Pops, Steve Coogan as Ozone, Chris Renaud as Norman, Hannibal Buress as Buddy, Bobby Moynihan as Mel, Jessica DiCicco as Princess and Tara Strong as Pickles.

The attraction's storyline will be centered around an adoption day, and guests riding the attraction will play the role of stray puppies. Guests will ride in vehicles resembling cardboard boxes during their journey to the Pet Adoption event and subsequent new homes.

The attraction will utilize live, dimensional, and animated characters coupled with high-definition media and projection mapping technology to take guests on their journey through the streets of New York City. Advanced facial recognition and gesture tracking will allow the ride to assign guests a unique stray puppy character. This aspect allows guests to experience a unique journey on subsequent rides.

The surrounding attraction area will be rethemed to "Pets Place" and will feature new storefront facades themed to a busy New York City street. The park is targeting a Spring 2020 opening date for this new attraction.

That's all for now from Theme Park Overload! Make sure to "LIKE" our Facebook page to get Breaking News Updates and Exclusive Content delivered straight to your newsfeed! Facebook.com/ThemeParkOverload My name's Nicholous, and Thanks for Reading!

Wild Arctic simulator permanently closing at SeaWorld San Diego in January 2020

2019-12-29T13:40:00.002-08:00

SeaWorld San Diego has announced that their "Wild Arctic" attraction will be closing for good on January 10, 2020. This flight simulator attraction originally opened to guests in 1997 and simulates a dangerous 5 minute long helicopter ride over Antarctica. The attached Arctic-themed animal exhibit that guests have exited into from the attraction will remain open. SeaWorld San Diego has stated that a new attraction for 2021 will utilize the existing space. Details on that new attraction have not been formally announced, but an Arctic-themed family launch coaster is rumored to be in the works.

Knott’s Bear-y Tales: Return to the Fair brings familiar faces to Knott's Berry Farm in 2020

2019-11-10T16:51:00.000-08:00

Knott's Berry Farm has announced that they will be opening Knott’s Bear-y Tales: Return to the Fair in 2020. This interactive, 4D dark ride will include the original characters and locations from the former Knott's Bear-y Tales dark ride that existed in the same location from 1975 to 1986. Guests will travel on an exciting journey through reimagined show scenes from the original dark ride, including the Boysenberry Pie Factory, Frog Forest, Fortune Teller Camp, Thunder Cave, and Weird Woods, culminating in a celebration at the County Fair.

This new ride will use the location, ride system, and screens of the 2015 Triotech dark ride Voyage to the Iron Reef, which will give its last rides on January 5th, 2020. The ride will reopen in summer of the same year as part of Knott's 100th anniversary season, in which the park will celebrate notable Knott's rides, food, and other attractions from both the past and present. Stay tuned for more information about Knott's 100th anniversary as it is revealed. In the meantime, Knott's has released this brief teaser video about the new attraction:

That's all for now! Be sure to "LIKE" our Facebook page to get Breaking News Updates and Exclusive Content delivered straight to your newsfeed! Facebook.com/ThemeParkOverload My name's Harris, and thanks for reading!

Universal Studios Hollywood Photo Trip Report with Construction Updates - October 2019 Universal City, CA

2019-10-28T17:01:00.002-07:00

Today we head to Universal Studios Hollywood for a quick update from The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash! and Super Nintendo World construction sites!

Crowd levels were pretty moderate for a Friday.

The live action WaterWorld show has been closed for refurbishment since October 15 with no confirmed reopening date.

Around the corner, the main Upper Lot route to Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem is now closed due to construction for the new The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash! dark ride.

This new attraction appears to have a pretty extensive facade!

Guests are rerouted around the block to access Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem.

Exciting stuff is happening underneath those tarps!

Parts of the brick facade are starting to poke out from some angles.

Over on the Lower Lot, construction crews are moving fast at the Super Nintendo World construction site.

---------------------------------------------------------

For comparison, this is a shot from the same perspective that we took approximately 10 weeks ago:

---------------------------------------------------------

Back to present day: New steel is going up all throughout the site.

The Jurassic World queue line permits some more intimate shots of the site.

This new world be the next defining piece of USH history!

Tokyo DisneySea Fall 2019 Photo Trip Report with Soaring: Fantastic Flight Ride Review

2019-10-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the most unique Disney park on Earth!

Halloween decorations are up at the park, though they are much more sparse compared to Tokyo Disneyland next door.

The S.S. Columbia's smokestacks are currently getting some TLC. But, the rest of the ship is still open for guests.

Mount Prometheus is also under refurbishment at the moment.

The scaffolding can still be seen a little while inside Mysterious Island too.

Unfortunately, Journey to the Center of the Earth is also under refurbishment.

Next time!

Nearby, the newly-opened Soaring Fantastic Flight attraction held a heavy 120-150 minute wait throughout the day.

All FastPasses had been distributed within 30 minutes of park opening.

The attraction's storyline has guests entering the Museum of Fantastic Flight that's located in an old-world Italian village, which subsequently matches the surrounding Mediterranean Harbor area of the park perfectly.

It took approximately 45 minutes in the uncovered overflow queue line to reach the official entrance.

The detail never ends!

Pioneers in the world of flight are on display throughout the line.

Now THAT'S a unique ride system...

Next, guests officially enter the lobby of the Museum of Fantastic Flight.

In the queue's final room, guests in the standby line converge with FastPass guests and enter the preshow.

Don't be fooled by that somewhat normal looking panting...

The preshow for this attraction is incredibly high-quality and unlike anything I've ever seen. Clever projection mapping technology utilizes shadows to interact with all of the "paintings" (Digital screens) in a really cool way.

Afterwards, guests proceed to one of the three "Terrazzas" for boarding.

After a final safety spiel, riders go through the doors, strap themselves in, and soar! The ride itself is very similar to the US versions of Soarin' Around the World, with the exception of a new Tokyo night skyline scene and Tokyo DisneySea flyover. But, the queue and preshow alone make the attraction worth riding for those familiar with the other versions!

Tokyo Disneyland Fall 2019 Construction Update/Photo Trip Report - New Fantasyland and The Happy Ride with Baymax

2019-09-29T13:25:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Japan!

Half of the park's front gate turnstiles are under construction at the moment, so pretty long lines can form before opening.

The Tokyo Disneyland website mentioned that guests could be let into the park entry plaza 30 minutes before scheduled opening to compensate for these delays. But, this unfortunately did not happen during my visit.

It's Halloween time!

Customized decorations are scattered throughout the park.

How festive!

The Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay is also now open, and a healthy line was present throughout the day.

Happy Halloween!

Moving on, construction crews are going full throttle on New Fantasyland to meet the April 15, 2020 opening date (In time for the Tokyo Olympics crowds).

Here in Belle's village, guests will be able to experience Maurice's Cottage, Gaston's fountain, restaurants, and shops. The facades appear to be pretty similar to the Beauty and the Beast area of New Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom Park in Florida.

Most areas of the land are still covered in tarps, but guests are surprisingly allowed to walk through this still incomplete area.

The Beauty and the Beast Castle towers over this entire new area! This will be the entrance to the headlining Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast trackless dark ride.

Peeking over the fence, the rock work and pathways appear to be nearly complete. A lot of resources are probably being used inside the show building to get the ride ready to go.

Looking right, the new 1,500 seat Fantasy Forest Theatre next door is also coming along nicely.

Nearby, The Happy Ride with Baymax flat ride had an active construction site throughout the day.

The ride itself has not gone vertical yet. But, it's relatively small size means that it should pop up pretty fast once they get going.

From up above, you can get a good sense of how much space this new attraction will use.

Over in Westernland, the new for 2019 Cowboy Cookhouse food location serviced plenty of hungry customers around dinnertime.

Yee haw!

This food location only serves turkey legs and a type of frozen slushie, but nobody seemed to mind.

Until next time Tokyo Disneyland!

Ice Breaker multi-launch coaster coming to SeaWorld Orlando in 2020

2019-09-13T18:11:00.000-07:00

SeaWorld Orlando has announced Ice Breaker for the 2020 season. This new quadruple-launch steel coaster from Premier Rides will catapult riders forwards and backwards through 2,750 feet of track at a top speed of 52 mph.

The ride will feature a signature 93 foot tall spike at a 100 degree angle, which will make this attraction the steepest coster in Florida. Ice Breaker will be the park's 6th coaster when it opens, and will continue the trend of SeaWorld moving away from attractions centered around live animals.

That's all for now from Theme Park Overload! Make sure to "LIKE" our Facebook page to get Breaking News Updates and Exclusive Content delivered straight to your newsfeed! Facebook.com/ThemeParkOverload My name's Nicholous, and Thanks for Reading!

Six Flags Fiesta Texas Photo Trip Report - September 2019 with Pirates of the Deep Sea and The Joker Carnival of Chaos

2019-09-02T14:07:00.001-07:00

Today's trip report comes from Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio, where we checked in on both of the park's new-for-2019 additions: Pirates of the Deep Sea, a re-theme of the former Scooby Doo shooter dark ride, and The Joker Carnival of Chaos, a brand-new Zamperla Giant Discovery pendulum ride!

Let's head inside the park and see what we find!

Our first stop: Fiesta Bay Boardwalk, home of Pirates of the Deep Sea.

This dark ride takes over the former Ghastly Manor building to the left side of the boardwalk. Not much of the exterior has been changed other than a new paint job and sign.

Inside the queue building, however, things could not be more different. The relatively unthemed room of switchbacks is gone and replaced by a maze-like, fully immersive series of rooms and corridors.

There is even a water feature and rock work at one point! This is by far the most immersive queue I've ever seen at a Six Flags park. Though it was obviously done on a budget when compared to Disney or Universal dark rides, this queue exceeded my expectations, and was probably the most detailed part of the entire attraction.

As great as the queue was, this animatronic... not so great. His movements were erratic and awkward, and at times downright disturbing. To add insult to injury, most of his lines seemed very similar to, if not downright copied from a certain other pirate-themed dark ride out there somewhere...

...and these changing portraits seemed pretty much lifted from Disney's Haunted Mansion...

The ride system itself is still identical to that from Scooby Doo Ghostblasters. All the scenes have been changed and made pirate-ey, but some of the original props and effects remain, blended in with the new ones. The ride's major upgrades come in the form of fog effects and even a few projection scenes to complement the usual flats and simple figures. Also, as you would hope for a new shooter dark ride, all the targets work and most trigger effects. Some of the guns are left over from Scooby Doo, though, and can be spotty.

Overall, this dark ride is good fun and a nice respite from the Texas heat. Though I think it is a bit below the Justice League rides, it is certainly impressive for a dark ride built in-house by Six Flags staff, and it fits the park well. Most importantly, it is an upgrade from what was there before.

Next up: Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster, the park's 2018 addition.

This was the world's first single rail coaster, and it truly feels like nothing else I've ever ridden. Riders sit in-line and straddle the track, which is tiny compared to most coasters.

If you enjoy the crazy pacing and ejector airtime that coasters by Rocky Mountain Construction provide, you will love this ride. It takes a typical RMC and turns it up to 11, especially in the back seat.

If there is one downside to this coaster, it's that the ride time is pretty short...although it is very intense for its entire duration.

Let's move on to the park's other new-for-2019 ride: The Joker Carnival of Chaos. This massive frisbee/pendulum ride replaced an old and busted Huss Top Spin, and it is quite an upgrade. Although this is far from the only massive frisbee ride out there, Joker is sets itself apart by making victims - er, riders - walk though a mini fun house/scare maze before boarding the ride.

The Joker also came with a new DC-themed mini-land for Fiesta Texas. This area includes the always fun Superman: Krypton Coaster floorless coaster, and the newly rethemed Super Villain Swings waveswinger ride. The entire area and nearby midway games also received a much-needed new coat of paint.

I would be remiss to not mention the awesome Iron Rattler in this report. Unfortunately, this RMC hybrid coaster was non-operational all day during my entire most recent visit. I've ridden in before, though, and it is a great ride that is not to be missed.

Just look at that drop!

That's going to do it for this report from Six Flags Fiesta Texas, a great park with an amazing setting. There is much more to see and do at the park, but I hope you enjoyed coverage of some of the newer rides and highlights from our visit! Be sure to "LIKE" our Facebook page to get Breaking News Updates and Exclusive Content delivered straight to your newsfeed! Facebook.com/ThemeParkOverload My name's Harris, and thanks for reading!

Universal Studios Hollywood Photo Trip Report with Construction Updates - August 2019 Universal City, CA

2019-08-11T16:47:00.002-07:00

Today we head to Universal Studios Hollywood to check out what's new around the park! We take a look at the hot construction sites (The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash and Super Nintendo World), as well as the newly opened Jurassic World ride!

It's one of the last Saturdays of the Summer season, and that means the park is packed!

Construction for The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash ride is in full swing.

The Walking Dead attraction next door is still open during construction.

Universal has not released many details about this new dark ride just yet, but hopefully we'll know more soon.

The ride is adjacent to the existing Despicable Me attraction, and will bring another attraction to this relatively empty area of the park.

Around the corner, the situation looks about the same.

Magic is happening behind those walls!

2020 will come soon.

Heading to the lower lot, there is much more visible activity on the Super Nintendo World construction site.

A massive crane from the site can be seen from various points on the lower lot.

Steel is going up!

This new land still has a few more years to go until opening day...we'll check back soon!

Next door, the opposite is true...Jurassic World is now open!

An extensive queue line video, with talent from the film, has been created for this new attraction.

Educational!

Jurassic World is a nice refresh of the old attraction. While some of the existing animatronic figures have been replaced with screens, the ride still has a nice blend of physical and digital elements. The main show building that guests go up into before the finale splashdown is definitely the highlight of the ride. These scenes now features a more detailed dark ride experience with animatronics and special effects before the drop.

The gift shop has also been updated to match the new Jurassic World theme.

Don't forget about your on-ride photo!

Restricted access!

High end souvenirs have a new display area.

Collect them all!

The quick service restaurant next door also received a refresh.

The venue was, as expected, packed for most of the day.

A new outdoor drink station features alcoholic drinks for the older Jurassic World visitors.

That's all for now from Theme Park Overload! Make sure to "LIKE" our Facebook page to get the latest Theme Park news delivered straight to your newsfeed! Facebook.com/ThemeParkOverload My name's Nicholous, and Thanks for Reading!

All-New "Candymonium" Hypercoaster coming to Hersheypark in Summer 2020 - Hershey, PA

2019-07-24T22:31:00.003-07:00

Hersheypark announced the all-new Candymonium attraction for the park in Summer 2020! This new Bolliger and Mabillard Hypercoaster will take riders up 210 feet before dropping them back down to Earth at a top speed of 76 mph.

Over the course of almost two and a half minutes, riders will glide through 4,636 feet of steel track that includes seven camelback hills and a 123-degree hammerhead curve.

This new attraction will be the tallest, fastest, and longest coaster in all of Hersheypark, and is part of the new Hersheypark's Chocolatetown area of the property that will include a redesigned front gate, new dining options, and a flagship retail store.

Calico River Rapids Ride Review with Photos - Knott's Berry Farm June 2019

2019-07-04T11:38:00.001-07:00

Today we're headed to Knott's Berry Farm for a look at the park's new-for-2019 addition: Calico River Rapids! We'll show off the new theming and give some thoughts on what this latest incarnation of Knott's river raft ride does well - and what it could do better.

Calico River Rapids takes guests through the wilderness just outside the town of Calico, where a rushing river flows through uncharted land. Let's see what kind of adventure awaits explorers beyond Calico!

Guests walking toward the ride entrance are greeted by this large sign, as well as large, rustic-looking wooden walls that isolate the ride trough from the rest of the park.

Those familiar with the former BigFoot Rapids will immediately notice differences between the past and current attraction. More foliage has also been planted, giving the area a much more secluded and woodsy feel that will only improve as the new trees grow in. The main entrance is much more grand, and the queue is filled with new theming and details, such as these boxes from the Calico Mining Co. from across Ghost Town.

The queue winds through the ride area, giving future rafters views of what lies ahead. This is one of many cabins riders float past during their adventure.

The queue also passes many of the animatronic vignettes that riders will later briefly see from their rafts, often giving much better views than will be visible from the ride itself.

After winding through the woods, explorers find themselves entering a large log cabin. This themed indoor queue is a welcome upgrade from the standard queue switchbacks formerly in this area.

Inside, things are realistically furnished. I heard people joking that the trapper's cabin looks like someone could actually live in it - and it's true!

See, look! Theming!

After all that, it's finally time to board a raft and begin the adventure. The loading area is fairly standard for a river rafting ride, but the ride operator towers have been redone in a woodsy style. Also of note are the views of GhostRider!

The ride itself is still a fairly standard white water rafting ride for the most part - which is not to say it isn't fun. However, most riders are much more engrossed in the thrills - and splashing water! - of the rapids than they are in the animatronics and storytelling going on around them.

To put it simply, the rafts are moving too fast for riders to notice most of the theming!

I don't remember actually seeing this guy on the ride, but he looks cool from the pathway.

To make matters worse, the scenes are almost too realistic. This snake is life-sized...which also means that it's really small! I had a hard enough time seeing and photographing it from the queue, much less noticing it from the ride. Some larger figures here would be nice, even if it might take away from the realism a bit.

Most of the animatronic figures are quite basic in their movements. This is excusable in most places, where passengers are moving too quickly to notice detailed animation.

Toward the end of the ride, rafters pass by these boxes of TNT and, of course, guest-controlled geysers. You don't have to pay to set these geysers off, and they give riders more of a mist than the full-on soaking you can get at some parks. Even better, the geyser triggers come with a surprise for those standing behind them. Every once in a while, the boxes of TNT will squirt water back at the path, onto onlookers - adding risk to the usually safe role of soaking riders from a distance.

The finale of the adventure takes riders into a cave - which has been substantially extended from the former BigFoot Rapids tunnel, and filled with lots and lots of fog. Inside the cave lurks the ride's largest animatronic figure. Despite his size, Bigfoot suffers from the same problems as the rest of the ride. Half of my ride vehicle didn't even notice him between the rapid speed of the raft and copious amounts of fog obscuring the animatronic. To add insult to injury, the figure didn't move at all during our ride. I'm not sure if this was just due to the relatively static nature of the rides' animatronics or if Bigfoot is already broken. It certainly reminded us of a certain other large, hairy, inanimate animatronic down in Florida somewhere...

To wrap things up, Calico River Rapids is, overall, a good attraction, and certainly an improvement over what was there before. It has gone from a ride that I would almost never ride at Knott's to one I see myself reriding in the future. The queue experience has been drastically improved, going from a fairly unthemed, hot trek to the loading platform to a nicely shaded path surrounded by woodsy theming. The ride itself has been improved in that it is now much more atmospherically secluded from the rest of the park. The animatronics, while sometimes hard to see, add to the attraction's rerideability; next time I visit, I fully expect to find something I didn't notice the first time. While not perfect, Calico River Rapids succeeds in adding another immersive attraction to Knott's Berry Farm's lineup, an impressive feat when you consider that 2019 was more of an "off-year" for the park.

Well there you have it, TPO's review of Calico River Rapids at Knott's Berry Farm! Get out to Buena Park, ride it for yourself, and tell us what you think! Also, be sure to "LIKE" our Facebook page to get Breaking News Updates and Exclusive Content delivered straight to your newsfeed! Facebook.com/ThemeParkOverload My name's Harris, and thanks for reading!

West Coast Racers Backstage Construction Site Tour - Six Flags Magic Mountain June 2019

2019-06-25T22:52:00.001-07:00

Today we head to Six Flags Magic Mountain for an exclusive West Coast Racers backstage construction site tour! Special thanks to TPO Correspondent Harris Lanum for writing today's trip report. Make sure to check out his Instagram account CoasterPhotos42 for new coaster photos every day!

This week, as part of Coaster Con 42 at Six Flags Magic Mountain and Knott’s Berry Farm, I was able to take a behind-the-scenes hard hat tour of West Coast Racers, Magic Mountain’s latest thrill coaster, slated to open sometime this year. This ride will be a quadruple LSM launch, quasi-mobius dueling coaster from Premier Rides and will be totally unique. Let’s get started on this West Coast Racers construction update!

There is visible evidence of the new ride before even entering the front gate.
Lots of track and support poles are visible across the street from the parking lot.

We were told that not all the track is on site yet; this means it will likely be quite a bit of time until
the project is finished and opened to the public.

Now let’s enter the park and see how things look from the inside!

As one walks down the hill from Samurai Summit towards Gold Rusher, this tangle of yellow and
white track is very prominent.

This is the view of the ride from the load area of Jet Stream. Notice the dual launch tracks… we’ll get
to them in a minute.

This is the majority of the ride construction that can be seen from publicly accessible park pathways.
West Coast Racers’ final turns tower over one of the last Cyclone Bay buildings still standing.

Let’s take a look inside the West Coast Racers Preview Center, shall we?

A rendering of the upcoming coaster and surrounding area is prominently displayed inside, along with
West Coast Racers merchandise and TV screens showing the ride animation.

A limited view of the construction site is visible through a window in the back of the preview center.
Here, the ride’s two brake runs are visible, as well as two of the launches and high five element off in
the distance.

A zoomed-in view of the high five from this angle.

That marks the end of publicly visible construction, but now it’s time to go behind the scenes!
Grab a hard hat because this is an active construction site!

Here’s a better view of the future location of the ride station, as well as the first and third launches and
high five element I mentioned earlier. It also appears the transfer and storage track have already been
installed.

What a view!

The high five element sure looks like a highlight of the ride.

Look how close the two racing trains will get to each other!

West Coast Racers also gets pretty close to Ninja at this point. In this shot you can also see where the
path to walk up the mountain toward Ninja and Tatsu will go - under that extra beefy looking support
structure right after the high five.

After a couple more twisting maneuvers crossing over the entrance to Apocalypse, the two sides will
hit another launch.

This second launch is built on top of the trench that runs along the full length of the backside of the
park.

The coaster will then rise up and enter what we’ve heard referred to as the “spaghetti bowl” section
of the ride, where the two trains will race though multiple intertwining helices and crossovers.
Unfortunately, none of this section was under construction just yet, though there are many footers
in place for the supports.

Oh, and most of this spaghetti bowl will take place on top of the preexisting go-kart track, which is not
being removed. Pretty cool!

The very end of the two laps is the only other part that has been constructed.

Here, one train will roll over the other, in a move very similar to one on Twisted Colossus across the
park.

After one final crossover, the two sides will then bank directly over the pathway.

And I mean directly over the pathway. This shot marks the end of the construction tour, but not
quite the end of the update…

..Because I noticed the day after the tour that a rather large support structure for the spaghetti bowl
had been installed in the last 24 hours! Despite getting off to a late start, the Magic Mountain
construction crews are now in full force, getting this ride ready to roll as soon as possible.

Special thanks once again to TPO Correspondent Harris Lanum for his trip report from the mountain. That's all for now from Theme Park Overload! Make sure to "LIKE" our Facebook page to get Breaking News Updates and Exclusive Content delivered straight to your newsfeed! Facebook.com/ThemeParkOverload My name's Nicholous, and Thanks for Reading!

Full Review of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge with Photos and Travel Guide - Disneyland Park June 2019

2019-06-06T23:50:00.001-07:00

It's time to visit Batuu! Theme Park Overload has your complete guide to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, the all-new land that is now open at Disneyland Park! We fully cover every merchandise location, food and beverage option, and attraction in this massive 14 acre land!

Special thanks to TPO Correspondent Harris Lanum for writing today's trip report! Make sure to check out his AMAZING Instagram account CoasterPhotos42 (It features some of the best shots out there from coasters nationwide!).

On Sunday, June 2nd, 2019, I had the opportunity to visit Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland. This brand-new land opened on May 31st at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, with a nearly identical Galaxy’s Edge to open on August 29th at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Orlando. The area does an absolutely spectacular job of immersing guests into a different world from a galaxy far, far away. Stay tuned for a full review of Galaxy’s Edge - well, at least as full of a review as is possible this early in the land’s existence, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

As multiple signs throughout the Mickey and Friends parking structure, esplanade, and Disneyland park itself will remind you, entrance into Galaxy’s Edge from now through June 23rd is limited to those who have made advance reservations online (which sold out in a couple hours about a month ago) or are staying in a Disneyland Resort hotel. Starting on the 24th, all Disneyland guests will have an opportunity to enter the land, but it will still be limited by capacity and an online system that will allow guests to make day-of reservations to enter Galaxy’s Edge later in the day.

Currently, guests with Galaxy’s Edge reservations must check in to Star Wars Launch Bay (located in the former Innoventions building in Tomorrowland) up to two hours before their four-hour reservation window begins. Here, guests are given a wristband which is scanned before leaving the building to allow for entrance into Galaxy’s Edge. There is also lots and lots of Star Wars merchandise for sale inside.

Galaxy’s Edge has three entrances: one directly behind Big Thunder Mountain, one farther down Big Thunder Trail closer to Fantasyland, and one in Critter Country behind the Hungry Bear restaurant. As of now, entry is limited to that third entrance. Here, wristbands are scanned for entry.

This view from the Rivers of America is just about the only visible part of Galaxy’s Edge from the rest of Disneyland...at least at ground level.

The Resistance Forest

Galaxy’s Edge is split into two sections: Black Spire Outpost and the Resistance Forest. Guests find themselves in the latter after entering passing through the Critter Country entrance. This is the area, in story terms, where the Resistance is camped out to keep a low profile and stay out of the First Order-occupied Black Spire Outpost. It serves as the entrance to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, an experience that Disney has described as the most ambitious attraction that they’ve ever created. Unfortunately, the attraction isn’t ready yet (Disney has only stated that it will be ready “later this year”). It should be worth the wait though, as the attraction is rumored to utilize multiple ride systems and never-before seen effects to transport guests to a First Order Star Destroyer.

For now, though, the Resistance Forest serves mostly as a glorified cattle pen to control guest entry into Galaxy’s Edge. Look at all those people!

This is the closest picture I have to an overview of the area. The Resistance Supply store is barely visible on the left. Here, guests can buy Resistance-themed souvenirs and clothing out of temporary-looking kiosks.

This turret marks the future entrance of Rise of the Resistance. The queue and ride exterior looked completely finished.

There is still some quality theming here. There are multiple ships scattered around, as well as equipment hastily constructed by the Resistance. Chewbacca, Rey, and other members of the Resistance can be seen walking around the area and interacting with guests. “Urgent transmissions” are heard over an intercom. But, there really isn’t much to do in this area of Galaxy’s Edge for the time being.

Black Spire Outpost

The majority of the things to see in Galaxy’s Edge are located in Black Spire Outpost - a bustling village full of everything you’d expect to find on a planet from the Star Wars galaxy: a cantina, multiple shops and eateries, and massive starships moments away from taking off. TIE fighters and other craft can even be heard passing overhead just out of sight. The audio is incredibly realistic due to the strategically placed speakers!

Paths are clogged immediately after the masses are let into Galaxy’s Edge, and it’s a little difficult to take everything in. Luckily, Disney has done a great job of crowd management in this land with the reservation system. There are many wide walkways, so the crowds dissipate eventually.

The main entrance to Galaxy’s Edge, if there even is such a thing, will likely be this one, which takes guests from behind Big Thunder Mountain and drops them directly into Black Spire. Guests then find themselves directly in front of the Droid Depot.

Ride

Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run

The heart and soul of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge (at least until Rise of the Resistance opens) is Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, which is currently the land’s only ride. I would be remiss to not mention the massive, life-size replica of the Millennium Falcon sitting outside the ride entrance. The ship is huge and awe-inspiring.

A closer shot of the Falcon in all her glory. Although there is a fence around the ship, you can get close enough to stand underneath the front mandibles and take in all the detail…at least when there aren’t hundreds of other people taking pictures.

This tower marks the actual entrance to the attraction. There are currently both a standby and single rider queue; there is no Fastpass/Maxpass option for the time being.

The beginning of the queue snakes behind the Falcon through switchbacks that are nearly close enough to the ship for one to reach out and touch it. The detail continues back here, including this rather large and worrying hole in the Falcon’s underside.

After passing through a few more switchbacks, guests find themselves in this large, multilayered queue room stuffed with detail. The room is somewhat reminiscent of the boiler room from Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout/Tower of Terror, only this isn’t isn’t a loading room. The queue snakes through both levels thanks to a series of ramps that surround a large jet or thruster of some kind.

Every once in a while, voices can be heard over the intercom testing the device. When this happens, the exhaust ports light up and strategically-placed speakers create the illusion that an extremely powerful piece of machinery is being tested just a couple feet away.

As I mentioned before, the room is chock full of detail (like this game of Sabacc on a table)

Next, the queue takes you above the Falcon, revealing - you guessed it - even more detail. This is also the only place in Galaxy’s Edge where you can see other Disneyland landmarks.

Then, guests are separated into groups before entering the pre-show through those very large Star Wars doors. These doors make Star Wars Door Sounds (Copyright Disney) when they open.

Inside, Hondo Ohnaka and his droid present you with your mission while the Falcon flies overhead via screen. Your task is simple: fly the Falcon, try not to crash, pick up some questionable cargo for Hondo, and hopefully make back out alive (and with a profit). When the ship flies past, the room vibrates. You can sense the ship passing by above you via some very cleverly-placed speakers, which makes for a very cool effect. The Hondo animatronic is quite impressive, and never stops moving (even between pre-show groups).

After passing through a rather tight hallway themed to a jetway, guests are separated into groups of six. Each individual is given one of three responsibilities while flying the Falcon: pilot, gunner, or engineer. Pilots, well, pilot the ship via a joystick. Gunners shoot enemy targets and engineers push buttons to repair the ship when the pilots screw up. After being given colored “credentials,” guests are let into the Falcon.

It’s here where things start to look very, very familiar to Star Wars fans. The Falcon’s interior has been recreated with incredible accuracy, with the addition of a few extra walls and corridors (as well as emergency exit signs, heh heh) to help with operations.

The holochess room from the movies has been repurposed as a sort of waiting room here. There honestly isn’t much waiting going on, though. As soon as you get your camera out to snap a few pictures, your color of credential will be called, and then it’s time to enter the cockpit. Guests are split back into their groups of six and led down different hallways, which prevents a group from seeing any other groups enter the cockpit at the same time.

After one final reminder from Hondo, guests are quickly escorted into the cockpit. And I mean quickly: there’s practically no time to snap pictures before the ride starts, which is why I don’t have any pictures of the cockpit… yeah, oops.

Without giving too much away, the ride experience is epic. In my opinion, the attraction does a great job of giving just enough control to the pilots that they feel like active participants, but not too much that they can screw things up so badly enough that the ride experience is drastically altered. Even with rider control, the same story occurs in the same order, though you may end up with different amounts of cargo or profit at the end depending on your skill level. I rode the attraction three times (once in each position), and enjoyed all three times thoroughly. But, in my opinion, the role of pilot is definitely the most fun. If I have one criticism, it’s that for being an interactive attraction, Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run doesn’t actually allow for all that much variation between rides. Unlike the current version of Star Tours, there’s only one destination, or “mission,” possible...at least at this point. I hope the ride is eventually updated with multiple potential missions, because this is the one aspect where Smuggler’s Run feels like a step backwards instead of forward compared to Star Tours. I don’t mean to complain, though: I still loved the ride, and I think it is better than Star Tours as an overall experience by quite a margin.

Merchandise

Droid Depot

This somewhat odd-shaped building houses the Droid Depot, where guests can buy droid-themed merchandise as well as build a custom astromech droid for themselves. This was the line to build a droid nearly four hours into our reservation time (the line was much longer earlier).

Inside, guests can build their own R or BB series droids from parts moving along a baggage claim-like conveyor belt. There are parts in many colors and shapes, which permits plenty of customization.

Then, customers assemble their droids, as seen on the left here. The store (like everything else in Galaxy’s Edge) is completely filled with details and Easter eggs from the Star Wars galaxy (Notice the droid legs and other parts being transported overhead).

If your budget doesn’t include room for a $100 self-built droid, more conventional droid-themed merchandise is available throughout the shop.

Or, if you have plenty of “galactic credits” ready to spend, you can buy life-size astromech like R2 here for $25,000. Yes, you read that correctly.

Savi’s Workshop

Savi’s Workshop lets guests construct their own lightsabers, and follows the same trend of customization like the adjacent Droid Depot. Perhaps the greatest difference between Savi’s and the Droid Depot is capacity; while the Depot uses a continuously moving conveyor belt to pump out as many droids as possible, Savi’s is a much more personalized affair. Individual groups enter the shop at designated times for a story-driven, show-like experience. Because of the limited capacity, guests must make a reservation when they enter Galaxy’s Edge to return to the workshop later that day. If you want to find out for yourself what goes on inside, be aware that these reservations sell out quickly and cost $200 for a party of two to enter and build a lightsaber.

Dok Ondar’s Den of Antiquities

The largest domed building in the center of Black Spire Outpost is Dok Ondar’s Den of Antiquities, which houses what is probably the most spacious individual retail space in Galaxy’s Edge. Outside, you can see some of Dok’s collection waiting to be moved inside.

Inside, rare items (read: more Star Wars Easter eggs!) decorate every wall in sight. Dok Ondar’s most precious collectables can be found higher up; they aren’t for sale. Closer to the ground, though, shoppers can purchase items straight from the Star Wars galaxy, such as kyber crystals, Jedi and Sith holocrons, and lightsabers ranging from your typical plastic versions to detailed replicas.

There is Jedi merchandise available, including a painting and bust of Luke Skywalker…

...as well as Sith merchandise on the opposite side of the building.

There’s a section devoted to the now defunct Galactic Empire as well, featuring kits to build your own Imperial rank badges as well as a $450 film-accurate Imperial pilot helmet.

Dok Ondar watches over his Den from behind his desk, occasionally standing up and speaking in an alien language. He’s a rather impressive animatronic, but he’s unfortunately hard to see due to the cage that he’s in.

A full-sized stuffed wampa watches over the shop from above, surrounded by other collectibles. Easter eggs scattered around include Han Solo’s blaster, multiple helmets from the original Star Wars trilogy, the Ark of the Covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark, and even a gold bust of Jar Jar Binks’ head!

First Order Cargo

The evil First Order has occupied the far east end of Galaxy’s Edge. Here, they’ve parked a massive starfighter called a TIE Echelon, seen above.

To the left of the ship is First Order Cargo, which is your go-to shop for anything pertaining to the pseudo-fascistic villains of the new Star Wars trilogy. There’s lots of Stormtrooper stuff, some militaristic looking hats, lots of Stormtrooper stuff… yeah mostly Stormtrooper stuff.

But: these mini-TIEs are not Stormtroopers!

Merchant Row

Located near the transition area between Black Spire Outpost and the Resistance forest, Merchant Row is really a combination of small shops and eateries contained within a small area that basically functions as one retail location. Here, you can buy merchandise that really seems like it was crafted by aliens in a small kiosk (and not something that was mass-produced by a theme park).

The Creature Stall sells miniature versions of all your favorite Star Wars creatures, which range from cute fuzzy ones to some that look downright gross.

An animatronic lothcat sleeps in a cage right by the entrance. This little fuzzball from the TV show Rebels definitely fits in the “cute” department.

There’s the Toydarian Toymaker, who presides over this small shop selling dolls of familiar Star Wars characters and other “in-world” toys.

Black Spire Outpost sells some slightly more traditional Black Spire merchandise.

There’s also Kat Saka’s Kettle, which sells fruity yet slightly spicy flavored popcorn. It sounds a little strange, but I liked the little bit of it that I sampled. If you tried the multicolored World of Color popcorn that was for sale in California Adventure for a while, this tastes somewhat similar.

Food and Beverage

Since I’ve found myself discussing food, now seems to be a good time to transition from the shops of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge to the eateries. These food and beverage locations range from small stands to one high-capacity counter service restaurant. Most of these locations, with the notable exception of Oga’s Cantina, accept mobile ordering through the Disneyland app.

Ronto Roasters

At the busier end of Merchant Row lies Ronto Roasters: a hard-to-miss food location thanks to its signature podracer engine that can be seen “cooking” rotating meat on spits as hot steam bursts out of the engine above. It’s all very dramatic and entertaining to watch. The whole apparatus is controlled by a grumpy droid who audibly complains about his work from time to time.

Above is the Ronto Roasters food location itself. You can purchase a Ronto Wrap here, which consists of sausage, pork, and slaw wrapped in pita bread. The wraps might look small from a distance, but they are quite filling. Overall, they are tasty and make a good meal. The location also sells turkey jerky and a variety of drinks blended from more traditional Earth ingredients.

A Ronto Wrap in the foreground, with the remains of a Blue and Green milk (I’ll get to those in a second) and a Meiloorun juice and Sour Sarlacc in the back. Both of those last two drinks are available at Ronto Roasters, and were both good.

The Milk Stand

Let’s be honest: ever since you watched the original Star Wars film and saw Luke living with his aunt and uncle on Tatooine, you’ve wanted to know what that weird stuff tasted like. Now, you can find out!

Round containers of Blue - and Green! - milk are suspended above the milk stand. Both varieties cost $8 a pop. Notably, this is more expensive than Universal Studios’ Butterbeer across LA in Hollywood. Here, the milk is served slightly slushed (though it is definitely not a slushie-type texture).

So how do they taste? I really liked both flavors! Some of the internet seemed down on them (especially the Green milk), but I honestly liked the Green better than the Blue. Neither really taste like milk though, as they are both non-dairy coconut and rice milks. But, they have the right texture. The taste itself is hard to describe...but, both are fruity. The Blue milk is more sweet and the Green tastes a little more tropical (for lack of a better word). I recommend trying both, though they are admittedly pricey for their small size.

Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo

The largest, highest capacity dining location in Galaxy’s Edge is Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo. You can find it beneath the large ship unloading crates onto the rooftop on the left.

Inside, this large crate is being lowered from the ceiling. The queue to purchase food winds behind large shipping crates that double as booths and house tables.

Docking Bay 7 has a spacious, warehouse-like feel, which creates a good size dining space and fits into the theme of being a shipping location. We did not eat here during our visit, but I’ve heard it is comparable in quality to Ronto Roasters (with a larger variety of food options). Highlights include the Smoked Kaadu Ribs (pork ribs), Fried Endorian Yip-Tip (fried chicken), and a dessert called an Oi-Oi Puff (a raspberry-flavored puff that is reportedly delicious).

Oga’s Cantina

Oga’s Cantina is the most popular, but also most exclusive, food and beverage location in the land. A very large percentage of the people who entered Galaxy’s Edge at the beginning of our reservation time immediately got in line for the cantina, which caused the line to stretch all the way past First Order Cargo and toward the Fantasyland entrance to Galaxy’s Edge.

Apparently, since our visit, the line has been reworked to put guests on a text message reservation list. With this system, guests can enjoy the rest of Galaxy’s Edge while waiting for a space to open up and return when they receive a text message. Regardless of what system is being used: if you really want to visit the cantina, get in line immediately. Don’t make the mistake many others before you have made (including the author) and wait to get in line later in your reservation time. You may find that the line has been closed off as soon as an hour into your reservation time, as it was during our visit.

I haven’t been inside the cantina, but I’ve heard great things about it (some even going as far as to call it the best thing in the entire land). It’s exquisitely detailed, with all of the drinks coming out of themed taps and other odd contraptions. There’s also a three-hour long audio loop controlled by DJ-R3X, the former droid pilot of the original Star Tours ride.

This is the only location in Disneyland Park that serves alcoholic beverages. Guests can consume beverages like the Fuzzy Tauntaun, Jedi Mind Trick, and Yub Nub. There are non-alcoholic drinks too, which include Jabba Juice, Blue Bantha, and Hyperdrive.

Well, that just about does it for my Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge trip report! In a word, Galaxy’s Edge is incredible. There are so many small details that I noticed or photographed but didn’t put into this report, and so many more that I’m sure I haven’t discovered yet. The land as a whole is incredibly immersive, all-encompassing, and overwhelming in the best way possible. Although I wouldn’t go so far as to say I actually felt transported to another planet, there were moments where I forgot I was at Disneyland (or even in a theme park at all), which I think is pretty incredible. But, don’t just sit there reading my ramblings: you should definitely go check out Galaxy’s Edge for yourself ASAP! Thank you for reading this rather long report, and may the Force be with you!

Special thanks once again to TPO Correspondent Harris Lanum for his trip report from Galaxy's Edge (His CoasterPhotos42 Instagram is a must for any coaster fan!). That's all for now from Theme Park Overload! Make sure to "LIKE" our Facebook page to get Breaking News Updates and Exclusive Content delivered straight to your newsfeed! Facebook.com/ThemeParkOverload My name's Nicholous, and Thanks for Reading!

Orlando's ICON Park announces World's Tallest Free-standing Drop Tower and Slingshot

2019-05-16T16:17:00.001-07:00

ICON Park in Orlando has announced two new record-breaking attractions for the 2020 season!

First, the new 400 foot tall Orlando Gyro Drop Tower will be the world's tallest free-standing drop tower! The ride vehicle will gyrate during the initial climb, which will give riders a 360 degree view of the surrounding Orlando metropolitan area. Riders will then experience a 350 foot pure freefall back down to Earth at 75 miles per hour.

Additionally, the new Orlando Slingshot, the tallest of its kind in the world, will catapult riders straight up towards the sky. The tower itself is 300 feet tall, but riders will reach a max height of 450 feet! This attraction will also feature an innovative dual-loading system that will reduce wait times for those in line.

These two new rides will join the existing Orlando Starflyer and Observation Wheel attractions that are already open at the park. That's all for now from Theme Park Overload! Make sure to "LIKE" our Facebook page to get Breaking News Updates and Exclusive Content delivered straight to your newsfeed! Facebook.com/ThemeParkOverload My name's Nicholous, and Thanks for Reading!

Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway attraction coming to Disneyland Park in California for 2022

2019-04-19T11:04:00.001-07:00

Disneyland Park has announced that Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway attraction will be coming to Mickey's Toontown in 2022! This new ride follows an original storyline, and puts guests in the cartoon world of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Riders will board a train "with Goody as the engineer" and embark on an out-of-control adventure!

This new experience will be Disneyland Park's first major ride-through attraction themed to Mickey Mouse, and will combine state-of-the-art technology and visual effects to create a unique storytelling experience. This attraction was already announced at Disney's Hollywood Studios park in Florida for Spring 2020. Disney has not specified how different the two versions of the attraction will be, if at all.

Six Flags Magic Mountain Photo Trip Report - April 2018 with West Coast Racers Construction Update

2019-04-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

Today we head to Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, CA to check out what's new around the park and the construction progress of West Coast Racers!

Welcome to the mountain!

First up, Full Throttle has received an extensive "Chick-Fil-A" advertising overlay. The advertising is a bit tacky, but likely helps keep season pass prices low!

Moving on, the park recently reported that its Green Lantern: First Flight coaster will never reopen. The ride is scheduled to be removed sometime this year for "future development". Green Lantern was a little bit too intense for me personally, but is a unique attraction nevertheless. It's the first and only Intamin ZacSpin coaster in North America, and the only remaining models will be in Europe once it is officially removed.

On the other side of the park, a main park pathway near Tatsu is still closed due to West Coast Racers construction.

What lies behind those gates?

Well, not a whole lot currently. Construction has been moving very slow for West Coast Racers, as it is currently April and zero track pieces have been installed. This is not a good sign with regards to the ride opening for the summer season.

Looking to the right, the situation looks pretty similar.

The Cyclone 500 go kart track will be getting a retheme with the expansion. But, it appears that not much work has been done to it yet.

The preview center is still open for guests to learn more about the coaster and buy merchandise in advance.

The location does not appear to receive much foot traffic due to the current "dead-end" created by the construction walls.

Hopefully the site will look like this soon!

Alton Towers Photo Trip Report - Spring 2019 with the Alton Towers Dungeon and CBeebies Land Expansion

2019-04-04T23:28:00.001-07:00

Today we head to Alton Towers in England to see what's new for the 2019 season! The park has numerous new rides, attractions, restaurants, and more for guests to experience and enjoy!

Welcome to Alton Towers!

Stargazing pods are one of the many new attractions at the resort for 2019. Guests can rent them for the night and have a unique on-site accommodations experience!

First up, one of the new attractions for 2019 is in the CBeebies Land kids area: Peter Rabbit Hippity Hop!

Colorful picket fences make up the queue line.

A pair of mini "Frog Hopper" style towers make up the ride itself. It is a nice, smooth ride for thrill seekers in training.

Also nearby, the new Teletubbies Big Band live show is coming to the Big Fun Show Time outdoor stage area for 2019.

The show has not started running yet, but should begin its first performances in the near future.

That sun shade likely comes in handy during the warmer months!

Moving on, the new Just Chicken quick service restaurant is now open for business.

The restaurant was previously called Fried Chicken Co., and received the retheme for this season.

Eat up!

Also nearby, the new Donut Factory shop is now open.

Time for dessert!

Over in The Smiler's gift shop, new merchandise items have been introduced for 2019.

Stylish yet functional!

Over by the castle itself, the park's major new 2019 attraction is The Alton Towers Dungeon.

This attraction is very similar to other dungeons that operator Merlin Entertainment has previously opened at locations around the world (including the San Francisco Dungeon that we reviewed for Theme Park Overload a while back!).

A combination of live actors, elaborate show sets, and a boat ride all come together to form this unique experience. It is an up-charge attraction that costs a small fee. But, repeat visitors to Alton Towers that are looking for new experiences will likely find the cost worth it!

Thorpe Park Opening Day 2019 Photo Trip Report with Jungle Escape Construction Update

2019-03-31T19:24:00.003-07:00

It's Opening Day 2019 at Thorpe Park!

A few smaller attractions are on the slate for 2019. Jungle Escape will be permanent, while BounceZilla and GameFX will be temporary.

First up, new Coke Freestyle machines have been installed throughout the park.

Amity has an outdoor location.

Nemesis Inferno's gift ship also has a location.

Moving on, "Bush BBQ" has been renamed and rethemed to "Wilderness Bar & Kitchen".

Rollover hot dogs is sponsoring the restaurant, and the overall theme is quite similar to the previous one.

Right next door, the "I'm a Celebrity...Get me out of here!" maze has been removed. The site will be home to the new "Jungle Escape" escape room up-charge attraction that is expected to open in May.

The queue line is still intact, and will likely be reused for the new attraction.

Moving to the left, the construction site is still pretty torn up.

There is still plenty of work to do, but the attraction will hopefully welcome its first guests in a few short weeks!

One nearby noteworthy mention is the very popular Derren Brown's Ghost Train attraction. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but do not miss this ride if you visit the park! The combination of VR, physical sets, and actors is special.

Elsewhere, the park has announced that the "Logger's Leap" log flume attraction will officially be torn down. The ride has been sitting dormant since its closure back in 2015, and its fate has finally been sealed.

The ride is expected to be removed in the near future.

Leaves and debris have overtaken many sections of the ride.

Farewell!

Finally, Colossus' photo station has received some new digital kiosks. They should speed up the purchasing process, and will hopefully open soon!

New Crêperie coming to France Pavilion in Epcot at Walt Disney World

2019-03-20T22:05:00.000-07:00

The Walt Disney World Resort has announced that an all new authentic Crêperie will be coming to the France Pavilion at Epcot's World Showcase. This new dining location will feature a menu inspired by France's Brittany region, and will offer table and quick service options. Guests will be able to try both savory crepes (known as Galettes) and sweet crepes. Celebrity chef Jérôme Bocuse, who also worked on the pavilion's existing Chefs de France and Monsieur Paul dining locations, is at the helm of this new project. The shop will be located near the new Remy's Ratatouille Adventure dark ride that is currently under construction at the park. Both the Crêperie and dark ride are scheduled to open before the resort's 50th anniversary in 2021!

"Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle" Projection Show coming to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Parks in Hollywood and Orlando

2019-02-28T22:45:00.001-08:00

Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort have both announced the all new "Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle" projection show for their respective "Hogsmeades" at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! The new nighttime experience will feature an original storyline with special effects, surround sound, and immersive images that are projected onto Hogwarts Castle itself. This show will feature a more dark and frightening tone compared to previous projection shows that Universal has showcased on the castles. "Lord Voldemort, Dementors, Death Eaters and other unspeakable creatures from Aragog" from the Harry Potter franchise will all be included in this new nighttime experience.

"Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle" will run April 13-28, 2019 and again on May 25-27, 2019 at Universal Studios Hollywood. Universal Orlando Resort's show dates have not been announced yet, but their version will run later this year.

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Ride Review with Photos - Disneyland Park February 2020

2019-02-23T20:11:00.000-08:00

Today brings a report from the Disneyland Resort and what is possibly the most ambitious theme park ride of all time - Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance! Read ahead for our thoughts on this immense attraction, as well as photos from the queue and pre-shows. Be aware that there are major spoilers ahead!

Rise of the Resistance is the second and final ride-through attraction to open at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida and Disneyland in California. When both lands initially opened in mid 2019, much was made out of the unfinished nature of the areas. Some loved the land, while others had more mixed reactions to the single new ride and plethora of shopping, food and beverage locations. In the minds of many, Rise of the Resistance had to "save" Galaxy's Edge in a sense, and truly deliver to make the whole of Galaxy's Edge a success. Expectations were also high thanks to Disney's constant touting of the attraction, calling it the most advanced dark ride to ever come out of Walt Disney Imagineering.

In response to the massive hype, as well as the ride's limited capacity due to technical issues, Disney has opted to use a "virtual queue" for the attraction, issuing boarding groups via the Disneyland app. The groups are called thoughout the day, giving guests a two hour window to return to the ride with minimal standing in line. Although this system makes physically riding the attraction more enjoyable, it comes with a major downside: all boarding groups for the day are distributed at Disneyland's opening, usually 8:00 am, and are nearly always gone within a few minutes.

This means that anyone arriving at Disneyland after opening, or anyone unable to access the boarding group page of the Disneyland app at precisely 8 am, will not be able to ride Rise of the Resistance. While the system is obviously flawed, it is difficult to imagine a better way to manage the situation and avoid the massive lines that would likely result from a traditional ride opening.

Once guests successfully secure a spot in the virtual queue and are notified that their boarding group has been called, they enter Rise of the Resistance next to this unmarked turret structure. This area of Galaxy's Edge, referred to as the Resistance Forest, was largely unutilized and quite empty before the new ride opened; now it is bustling with excited guests.

After having their tickets scanned, guests - now recruits of the Resistance - snake through the ride's outdoor queue, passing the foliage of Batuu and Resistance equipment. Transmissions between Resistance operatives can be heard over the intercom.

Tthe queue passes under a rock outcropping and past a Disneyland classic - the backside of water!

The Resistance base itself appears to be built into the ruins of an ancient civilization. It feels like a cross between the rebel base on Hoth and the Temple of Doom. Transmissions as well as the mechanical sounds of heavy equipment and space ships echo through the base.

Fans of the Star Wars films will recognize these blue space charts...

...as well as thermal detonators! The queue and ride are full of Easter eggs and these are just a few of them.

After traveling deeper and deeper into the base though a maze of seemingly never-ending corridors like the one above, recruits are separated into small groups and led into one of two briefing rooms.

This area serves as the first pre-show and the beginning of the attraction proper. Calling Rise of a Resistance a simple dark ride isn't fully descriptive of the entire attraction; it's really a 20-minute long experience, the third act of which is a trackless dark ride.

As guests enter the room, BB-8 rolls around above in animatronic form, beeping and responding to various transmissions. This is the first of many impressive animatronics in this attraction.

In a cool effect, Rey appears via hologram and briefs us on the situation: due to increased First Order activity, Resistance sympathizers are being relocated to a secure base on another planet.

Recruits briefly journey back outside, passing Poe Dameron's X-wing before being led toward a passenger shuttle craft.

The door to the ship opens and guests board the shuttle.

The shuttle serves as perhaps the attraction's most technologically advanced pre-show, almost a mini-ride in itself. The interior is actually a toned down motion simulator, lightly shaking guests as they are able to freely walk around the cabin and look out two window screens.

The shuttle is piloted by Nien Numb and Lieutenant Bek, the latter of which is another very realistic animatronic. Guests can get much closer to Bek than most Disney animatronics, making him even more impressive.

In classic theme park fashion, something goes terribly wrong as the transport is attacked by TIE fighters and captured by the First Order! We hear fighters roar by just outside the ship and see lasers flash overhead.

The shuttle door opens (mind you, the same shuttle door that guests entered through initially) to reveal the massive interior of a First Order Star Destroyer hangar. This room is extremely impressive in scale, as well as detailed film accuracy.

Twenty-plus Stormtroopers stand at attention as the "Resistance scum" are waved along by First Order personnel. These are most static figures, but the occasional slight head and blaster movements helps to sell the illusion. The effect is intimidating.

A film-accurate TIE fighter flanks the hangar.

Prisoners are then led down this spiffy looking hallway to interrogation. When the ride is operating well, the hallway is sparely filled, selling the illusion that the guests are part of a small captured crew.

However, when the ride isn't doing so hot (as is unfortunately the case fairly often) this portion of the queue can back up into the hallway and even out into the aforementioned hangar. In this case, the approximately twenty minute additional wait here can break the immersion somewhat.

Guests are then split into groups - again - for their interrogation. This part of the experience is impacted extensively by the Cast Members on duty. If the cast is really into the experience, they will order guests around and react strictly to any disobedience, distracting from the sense that guests are being grouped into rows to board a ride.

Once one of four doors slide open, groups of 16 are sent into interrogation, where they are intimidated by Kylo Ren and General Hux. This is the fourth and final highly themed pre-show room, for those keeping score at home.

Recruits are eventually freed from their cells by Resistance spies, who load guests into transport vehicles to free them from the Star Destroyer. Guests have finally reached the "ride" portion of the attraction. The trackless dark ride vehicles are driven by First Order R5 droids reprogrammed to return the recruits to Batuu.

What follows is a harrowing escape from the enemy ship. Recruits come face to face with Stormtroopers, giant AT-AT walkers, and Kylo Ren himself. The scale of the ride is massive, with some sets towering overhead. The ride perfectly meshes screens, animatronics, and various special effects. Very realistic laser blasts and lightsabers sell the illusion that guests have been transported to a galaxy far, far away. After escaping Kylo Ren, the adventure ends with a ride on an escape pod back to Batuu via a short drop and motion simulator section.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to photograph the ride experience itself, but it is incredible and involves the trackless ride vehicle locking into multiple other ride systems in order to provide a more varied, unpredictable, and satisfying ride experience than any other Disney attraction.

Moreover, Rise of the Resistance makes Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge finally feel whole. It delivers on many of the promises Imagineers made about the land during its construction: real interactivity, functional droids, use of Star Wars' iconic soundtrack, and a wholly immersive experience that truly cannot be found outside of a Disney park. Although it is not quite perfect - operations has a few kinks to work out with the virtual queue and ride capacity - Rise of the Resistance is an incredible addition that entirely lives up to the hype.

Well there you have it, TPO's review of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland! Get out to Anaheim (or Orlando), ride it for yourself, and tell us what you think! Also, be sure to "LIKE" our Facebook page to get Breaking News Updates and Exclusive Content delivered straight to your newsfeed! Facebook.com/ThemeParkOverload My name's Harris, and thanks for reading!

'Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure' coaster coming to Universal Orlando Resort in Summer 2019

2019-02-21T12:25:00.001-08:00

Universal Orlando Resort has officially announced 'Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure', an all-new coaster for Island of Adventure's Hogsmeade section of the park. This new addition will be the first Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction themed to Hagrid, and will include ride vehicles modeled after his signature motorbike from the franchise. Riders will fly far beyond the grounds of Hogwarts castle and encounter some of the Wizarding World's rarest magical creatures along the way. This new ride is replacing the previous 'Dragon Challenge' attraction, which featured two high-speed inverted coasters that were intertwined with one another.

'Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure' will welcome its first riders on Thursday, June 13, 2019!

Disneyland Park Photo Trip Report - Winter 2019 with Sleeping Beauty Castle Construction Update

2019-01-28T17:29:00.000-08:00

Today we head to Disneyland to check out the sizable amount of construction happening all around the park. Many of the projects are from the ongoing Project Stardust plan that will collectively help reduce congestion and increase guest flow throughout the park.

Right past the front gate, the Emporium's main entrance is currently being refurbished!

Just down Main Street sits the most visible construction project: Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Some historical info about the castle is posted on the construction walls.

Great information for Disney trivia!

Peeking over the tall fence, the site has already been considerably torn up.

No construction activity was occuring on the day of our visit.

Jumping over to Fantasyland for a backside view, the castle is still wrapped in scaffolding.

Guests can no longer travel through or around the castle to connect from Fantasyland to the park hub.

Over at It's a Small World, the ride is still closed while park crews remove its holiday theming.

In Astroblasters at Tomorrowland, Buzz Lightyear is also noticeably absent from the queue line due to refurbishment.

The Sailing Ship Columbia and Mark Twain Riverboat loading station is also under refurbishment in Frontierland, but guests can still board the vessels from a nearby temporary entrance.

Over in Downtown Disney, a new "dead" area has sprouted at the West end where the now-canceled Disney luxury hotel was supposed to go.

The Rainforest Cafe closed its doors after the hotel was first announced due to a planned demolition, but has been sitting dormant since the project's cancellation. Disney has not announced its plans for the building yet.

Next door, the ESPN Zone is also in the same state as the Rainforest Cafe. Hopefully the fate of these two large anchors will be announced soon.

'Zootopia'-Themed Land announced for Shanghai Disneyland

2019-01-22T23:31:00.002-08:00

Shanghai Disney Resort has announced an all-new 'Zootopia' themed land as the park's next major expansion! Based on the hit Disney animated movie, this new section of the park will feature a major attraction, entertainment, merchandise, and food & beverage options for guests to enjoy. It will serve as the franchise's first-ever permanent attraction at a Disney property, and therefore brings yet another unique experience to this young park!

Construction for this new area, which will be Shanghai Disneyland's eighth land, is expected to begin later this year. More details will be announced when opening day gets closer!

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle opening date announced for Hong Kong Disneyland

2019-01-09T14:57:00.000-08:00

Hong Kong Disneyland has announced that their new Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle! attraction will open at the park on March 31, 2019! This attraction will bring some firsts for a Disney Park: It is the first attraction themed to the Ant-Man franchise and the first Marvel-themed ride to feature a female superhero lead!

In the attraction, guests will be called upon to assist Ant-Man and The Wasp with a mission from Iron Man himself! Riders will first visit the highly-themed "S.H.I.E.L.D." Science and Technology pavilion at the Stark Expo in Tomorrowland, but will be subsequently interrupted by the enemy Arnim Zola and his Swarmbots when they try to steal secret information from a secure data core inside. Riders, along with Ant-Man and The Wasp, will then board "D/AGR" combat ride vehicles that are equipped with EMP Blasters to shrink down and defeat the bots!

This new gaming-based dark ride will share an integrated storyline with the existing Iron Man Experience attraction that's already open, and will further the park's unique Marvel-themed offerings.