It’s been a while since our last update here at DTP and we’ve been receiving tons of e-mails asking about whether we will be continuing the news coverage and reviews on DestinationTheme Park.com that you all have come to love. At the moment, we are taking some downtime to re-imagine Destination: Theme Park in order to provide our readers and viewers with the most unique and ultimate theme park news and reviews experience on the web. So please check back soon for more updates and for a re-launch of DTP in the future.

For those of you inquiring about out Halloween Horror Nights reviews for 2011, unfortunately we were not able to attend this year’s event to review it. We hope to return next year with a more informative and exciting review segment for you to enjoy.

We miss you guys!

Thanks for your patience and understanding!

Lizette & Alex

Like many others, I was saddened to find out back in 2002 that Kongfrontation would no longer run its skyway trams. Although the ride was replaced with a pretty awesome attraction — Revenge of The Mummy — in 2004, Kongfrontation still holds a special part in the hearts of fans that will never be replaced.

When I was younger, the first thing out of my mouth upon arriving at Universal Studios would be “Mommy, Daddy I wanna go see King Kong!” And of course back then, Universal Express was long to be thought of! So, if we were lucky enough and happened to get to the ride when it was in operation — it was down quite often — we would wait in the grueling lines just to get a ride on an aerial tram and get a glimpse of Mr. Kong.

For me, one distinct memory from Kongfrontation was loving the smell throughout the queue — I’m weird, so what!? I’m sure Kong fans alike would know what I’m talking about It could be described as the smell of  fog, mechanics and artificial train station. For example the ET ride has had a distinct smell in the forest queue as well that I just can’t wait to engulf my nostrils when I get back to Disney!

Unfortunately, Universal never gave a concrete reason for its decision to close Kong, but one can assume that it had to do with high maintenance costs. That poor ride was down several times throughout the day, as I recall.

That said, Kongfrontation — along with Back to the Future — was one of my favorite rides at Universal Studios as a youngin that cease to exist now.

King Kong, I sure will miss your banana breath… literally! You’ll live on in my theme park lovin’ heart forever!

Here’s an on-ride video of Kongfrontation on the last day before Kong tried to destroy his last tram forever. Enjoy!

And even though it’s better than staring at a blank wall in 90-degree heat, the interactive queues are no substitute for the rides and attractions themselves. Luckily, Debra Peterson, writing for Examiner.com, has put together a list of ten tips that will help us avoid lines at Disney Parks. They include:

1. Travel during Disney’s off-season… if you can
2. Visit the least-crowded park on its least-crowded day
3. Arrive before a park’s opening
4. Avoid Walt Disney World parks offering Disney’s Extra Magic Hours
5. Do the FASTPASS
6. Pay attention to Disney’s wait times
7. Enter the single rider lines
8. Use the Child Swap (a.k.a. Rider Switch)
9. Take advantage of poor weather
10. Criss-Cross the parks to visit the E-ticket attractions first

As you can tell, most — if not all — of these tips are highly contingent on planning — something most theme park mongrels (such as ourselves) don’t like to do while on vacation. However, a little planning before the trip to the parks can make your time off that much more enjoyable! The choice is yours… grasshopper!

Full article (highly recommended): Examiner.com | Image Courtesy of KidsMomo.com

Earlier this month, Dennis Peterson, CEO of Big International Group of Entertainment, Inc., announced a plan promising to create 15,000-20,000 jobs in the area by building a theme park, restaurants, two resort hotels, a charter school, as well as a sports complex that would be attractive for an NBA team.

City board members, however, are skeptical — asking for more information about the project before putting the plans to a vote in April. Spring Hills Mayor Michael Dinwiddie said that the time before the final vote would allow the city to gather adequate information about the project, allowing them to make an informed go/no-go decision. This must be is getting more and more exciting for the residents of Spring Hill and surrounding cities!

Coming in at 7.5 feet tall and 12 feet wide, Ursula is one of the biggest animated characters Disney Imagineering has ever created. At the beginning of the month, the infamous evil sea witch moved into her lair inside The Little Mermaid — Ariel’s Undersea Adventure attraction that’s set to open June 3 at Disney California Adventure.

What’s most interesting about Ursula’s character is her dexterity — giving the figure  human-like motions. Check the video to see exactly what we’re talking about.

You may’ve heard that LEGOLAND California will soon unveil Star Wars Miniland — an area containing a series of seven scenes from the six action films plus the Clone Wars animated movie. The Miniland isn’t complete just yet, but lucky Dave Banks, with Wired.com, was able to score a first look at the area’s models and layouts.

“We begin walking up a hill perched above the rest of Miniland, toward the Star Wars scenes. Landscape workers are busy creating the desolate ice planet of Hoth. They’re spreading white sand to simulate snow around a couple of AT-ATs, while the rebel base and the all-important generators sit nearby,” writes Dave Banks for Wired.com.

According to early reports, the display will contain more than 2,000 models constructed from 1.5 million bricks. But master builder Ryan Ziegelbauer says that that number may be too conservative: “I think that number is low. We’ll need to count again — there are 750 battle droids alone.”

The seven scenes in the Star Wars Miniland will include:

• Episode I: The Theed Royal Palace, hangar on Naboo, and the invasion of Naboo
• Episode II: The Geonosian execution arena and a battle scene between Dooku’s droid army and the Republic
• Episode III: Order 66 on Kashyyyk and the duel on Mustafar
• Episode IV: Mos Eisley spaceport, complete with a humongous 19,000-brick Falcon, the cantina and the moisture farm
• Episode V: The Battle of Hoth
• Episode VI: The forests and landing platform at Endor
• Clone Wars: A battle scene from Christophsis between Separatist battle droids and Republic clone troopers

Read more (highly recommended, with pictures galore): Wired.com

From the two-and-a-half minute preview, it looks like Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides will have Captain Jack in pursuit of his now world-famous ship… but he’ll have to catch himself a mermaid along the way in order to find the fountain he so zealously seeks. This, however, is not the The Little Mermaid… not even close!

The fourth iteration of the film will make its way to theaters this summer on May 20. It will be the first of the series shot and released in 3D. Let’s hope the extra dimension won’t be used for the stale and staid “I’m an sharp physical object and I’m coming at ya” effect.

The first — named Festival Tennessee — is being developed by Dennis Peterson. The project promises to fully cover the expected $750 million development cost and employ 15,000 to 20,000 people.

The second is being developed by David Webb and goes by the name of Ole South USA. The project has high hopes to be located on a 1,200 acre sweep of land straddling Maury and Marhsall county lines and offer camping, a water park, hotels, residential and office space.

Both projects seem to be in their early stages, even though the latter seems to have been in the works for the last few years. Looks like there may be a battle a’brewin’ here… a theme park battle!

Read more (with video): WSMV

SeaWorld San Diego has announced that it will resume its Dine With Shamu program on April 23 on a year-round basis.

The event, available only by reservation, offers visitors the opportunity to dine at tables located next to the park’s whale pools as trainers show whale training techniques. The program concludes with a unique performance by the whales.

Dine With Shamu was suspended last year by parent company SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment following the death of whale trainer Dawn Brancheau in SeaWorld Orlando. This time around, however, trainers will be located poolside — a departure from the past — when they were present in the water with the whales. The change has been a policy for all SeaWorld whale shows since 2010.

Source: San Diego Business Journal

According to reports, a state inspector didn’t test the children’s ride and falsified a safety report. Not many other details are available at this time, but this very unfortunate event does beg us to ask the following question: how much do you trust the safety of rides at carnivals and theme parks — and just how much are we putting at risk when boarding a roller coaster or a moving attraction?

Our deepest, most heart-felt condolences go out to the family of the deceased boy and the other victims of this horrible accident.