Recap: 2008 amusement & theme park preview

In case you missed any of our six-part series previewing the new rides and attractions debuting in 2008 at amusement and theme parks in California, across the United States and around the world, here’s a brief recap of the highlights:

Part 1: California amusement parks
* Toy Story Mania dark ride and Pixar Play Parade at Disney’s California Adventure
* Pony Express horseback coaster at Knott’s Berry Farm
* The Simpsons simulator ride at Universal Studios Hollywood
* X coaster upgrade and Thomas Town kiddie land addition at Six Flags Magic Mountain
* Land of Adventure themed area and Sea Life aquarium addition at Legoland California
* Sesame Street Bay of Play themed area at SeaWorld San Diego
* Tony Hawk’s Big Spin rotating coaster at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
* Firefall flipping-spinning ride at California’s Great America

Part 2: SeaWorld’s Aquatica
* New $50-million water park opening in Orlando, Fla.

Part 3: Florida theme parks
* Toy Story Mania dark ride and Block Party Bash parade at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney-MGM Studios)
* The Simpsons simulator ride at Universal Studios Orlando
* Spaceship Earth dark ride renovation at Epcot
* Jungala themed land at Busch Gardens Africa in Tampa

Part 4: Hard Rock Park
* New $400-million rock ‘n’ roll theme park opening in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Part 5: U.S. amusement parks
* Evel Knievel wooden roller at Six Flags St. Louis.
* Tony Hawk’s Big Spin rotating coaster at Six Flags Over Texas (Arlington)
* Goliath suspended coaster at Six Flags Fiesta Texas (San Antonio)
* Dark Knight indoor coasters at three Six Flags parks: Great Adventure (New Jersey), New England (Massachusetts) and Great America (Chicago)
* Fahrenheit vertical lift coaster at Hersheypark (Pennsylvania)
* River Battle boat ride at Dollywood (Tennessee)
* Dominator floorless coaster at King’s Dominion (Virginia)
* Thunderhawk inverted coaster at Michigan’s Adventure

Part 6: International amusement parks
* It’s a Small World boat ride at Hong Kong Disneyland
* Twilight Zone Tower of Terror free-fall drop ride at Walt Disney Studios Paris
* A permanent Cirque du Soleil show at Tokyo Disney
* A $700-million (U.S.) expansion at Ocean Park (Hong Kong)
* A mile-long wooden coaster at Everland (South Korea)
* Glow in the Dark nighttime parade at Six Flags Mexico
* Behemoth — Canada’s longest, tallest and fastest coaster at Wonderland

You can find more amusement and theme park news at the Los Angeles Times Funland blog.

— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

[Image: Universal Studios]

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This entry was posted on Saturday, December 29, 2007 at 11:54 pm by Brady MacDonald and is filed under Disney's California Adventure, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disneyland Paris, Epcot at Walt Disney World, Hong Kong Disneyland, Knott's, Legoland, Magic Mountain, SeaWorld San DIego, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Theme Parks, Tokyo Disneyland, Universal Studios Florida, Universal Studios Hollywood, Weekend Getaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.