Archive for the 'Legoland' Category
Halloween bloodfest heats up at Southern California theme parks
October 2, 2009 8:58am
October marks the return of the annual death match between Halloween Haunt at Knott’s Berry Farm and Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood for the blood-splattered title of best Halloween theme park event in Southern California.
Halloween Haunt, celebrating its 37th year, is universally regarded as the granddaddy of Halloween events. Halloween Horror Nights, which focuses on movie-set-quality authenticity, is the bloodier and gutsier upstart bent on Halloween supremacy.
My recommendation: Hit ‘em both. You won’t be disappointed.
Fright Fest at Six Flags Magic Mountain, which includes its Halloween event as part of general admission, can’t compare or compete with the big boys. Disneyland, Legoland and SeaWorld San Diego focus more on family-friendly fare.
In Northern California, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom delivers a similar Fright Fest event, and California’s Great America offers its slim-downed take on Halloween Haunt.
2009 Halloween events at California theme parks:
Halloween events at U.S. theme parks
October 1, 2009 12:16pm
If the calendar on the wall says October, then it must be time for Halloween mazes, monsters and mayhem to take over theme parks across the U.S.
Here’s a rundown of the haunted attractions:
Theme park news: Legoland water park, Real Madrid theme park, Wizarding World DVD extras, Neverland negotiations
September 12, 2009 5:58am
A roundup of my theme park Twitter updates for the last week:
* Legoland California to open a separate-admission, 5.5-acre water park by summer 2010. (L.A. Times)
* Built in 1927 and rebuilt in 1948 and 1994, Comet coaster at Great Escape in New York gets American Coaster Enthusiasts landmark designation. (Screamscape)
* DVD extras on “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” movie to include short feature on Wizarding World themed land at Universal Studios Orlando. (Orlando Sentinel)
* Report: Michael Jackson’s family negotiating to open Neverland as a Graceland-like amusement park by Christmas. (New York Post)
* Disney: No plans to use Marvel characters in Orlando parks, no concerns about brand confusion with Universal Studios. (Orlando Sentinel)
Golden Ticket awards honor top amusement park rides of 2009
September 10, 2009 5:43pm
Amusement Today magazine awarded the Golden Ticket today to the Prowler wooden coaster at Worlds of Fun in Missouri as the best new amusement park ride of 2009 in the United States.
The Voyage at Holiday World in Indiana remained the all-time favorite wooden coaster, with Prowler claiming the eighth spot in the Top 10 wooden coaster list.
Diamondback at Kings Island in Ohio was named the best new steel coaster for 2009, moving into the seventh spot on Amusement Today’s all-time Top 10 steel coasters list. Bizarro (formerly Superman – Ride of Steel) at Six Flags New England in Massachusetts maintained the all-time top spot in the steel coaster category.
Schlitterbahn water park in Texas snagged best new water ride of 2009 honors for Congo River Expedition.
Theme park news: Another Dale Earnhardt coaster, Snow White wins lottery, Hello Kitty attraction, Coney Island closure
August 29, 2009 6:27am
A roundup of my theme park Twitter updates for the last week:
POV video: Carowinds announces $23-million Dale Earnhardt-themed Intimidator coaster for spring 2010 with stadium-style seating and T-shaped lap bar.
Universal Studios Orlando unveils eight Halloween Horror Nights mazes: Saw, Wolfman, Chucky, Dracula, Frankenstein, Silver Screams, Leave it To Cleaver and The Spawning. Six scare zones: Lights Camera Hacktion, Cirque Du Freak, Horrorwood Die-In, Apocalypse, Containment, War of Living Dead. (Orlando Attractions)
Disneyland’s Snow White wins $5.2 million lottery jackpot, feels “like Cinderella.” (O.C. Register)
Busch Gardens Tampa adding Sesame Street Safari of Fun for Spring 2010: kiddie coaster, flume ride, carousel, swing ride, water play area. (Orlando Sentinel)
Legoland California gets the Google Street View treatment
August 18, 2009 4:56pm
Legoland California became the first U.S. theme park mapped by Google Street View, the Web giant’s interactive walk-through mapping application.
To view the virtual Legoland, go to Google Maps, type “Legoland California” into the search field and drag the little yellow pegman onto the aerial photo of the Carlsbad kiddie park.
Google employed a camera-mounted three-wheeled cycle to photograph Legoland during park hours back in May 2008.
Visitors’ faces, and even some T-shirt logos, have been blurred for privacy reasons — giving some of the images the surreal feel of a top-secret trip inside a totalitarian state. (See photo after the jump.)
Theme park news: Kobe rides Terminator coaster; bring back Captain EO; Hong Kong Disneyland expansion
July 4, 2009 7:29am
A roundup of my theme park Twitter updates for the last week:
* Online petition: Bring back Captain EO as a tribute to Michael Jackson at Disney Parks. Watch EO in 3-D at home. (Distant Creations)
* New lands at Hong Kong Disneyland: Grizzly Trail (a.k.a. Frontierland), Mystic Point (supernatural rain forest), Toy Story Land. Marquee rides: Big Grizzly Mountain coaster, Mystic Manor (a.k.a. Haunted Mansion), shuttle coaster on a U-shaped track. (Disney and More)
* Spoiler: Tinker Bell does double duty as Dumbo during Disneyland fireworks show. (Mouse Planet)
Legoland scraps plan for Michael Jackson tribute figure
July 2, 2009 4:09pm
Legoland California has scrapped plans to unveil a 4-inch-tall, Lego-figure tribute to the late Michael Jackson “due to unresolved legal issues,” the Carlsbad kiddie park said in a news release this afternoon. Officials would not elaborate on the legal issues.
The park earlier said it would add the Jacko Lego on Friday to the Southern California section of the attraction’s Miniland, a panoramic tableau rendered completely in the trademarked plastic blocks. The figure’s design was to have been decided by a vote of CNN.com readers, who were to have chosen among several Lego models (photo above) of the King of Pop during different eras of his career.
[Update] Legoland to memorialize Michael Jackson as Lego figure
July 1, 2009 12:16pm
[Updated at 3:25 p.m.: Michael Jackson's Lego figure won't debut at Legoland California until Friday. Voters at CNN.com will choose between five Lego models of Jackson during different eras of his career.
Shown from left to right in photo: Fedora Hat (black and white), Moonwalk (white and blue), Uniform (black and gold), Thriller (red and black), Billie Jean (red and blue).]
Michael Jackson, who won 13 Grammy Awards, sold more than 750 million records and was inducted into Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, will soon be immortalized in plastic as a Lego figure at Legoland California.
The 4-inch-tall Jacko Lego — complete with a single white glove and red leather jacket — will be added to the Southern California section of Miniland, a panoramic tableau rendered completely in Legos. Starting Thursday, the mini-MJ can be seen at Legoland exiting a limousine in front of Hollywood’s Grauman’s Chinese Theatre amid paparazzi and fans under a marquee that reads “Thriller.”
San Diego: Family Fourth of July with the Jumpitz at Legoland’s Red, White and Boom!
June 30, 2009 7:05pm
Move over Wiggles, the Jumpitz are coming to Legoland for the Red, White and Boom! celebration on the Fourth of July. Legoland boasts a fun-filled Fourth of July this Saturday for families venturing out to Carlsbad, about 40 minutes north of downtown San Diego in San Diego County. In addition to the Jumpitz performing music and dance from their latest DVD ,”Celebrate Animals,” Legoland will have old-fashioned family-picnic lawn games including potato sack races and “LEGO Limbo” on the Miniland Lawn. Uncle Sam will be walking around on stilts. If you need to refresh your memory on the Jumpitz, check out their website or watch a video that introduces the Jumpitz on San Diego’s NBC 7/39 TV.
