Fire strikes Europa-Park
In other news, PortAventura celebrates the opening of 'Uncharted," while Disney announces new holiday entertainment.
What should have been a celebratory week for the industry turned grim with the news of a major fire at German's Europa-Park.
Many of us hold fresh memories of the 2018 blaze that destroyed the park's Pirates boat ride, so it's especially tough to see the park facing another reconstruction project so relatively soon. While the park reopened the day after the fire, its Alpenexpress, World of Diamonds, and log flume ride remained closed with their futures uncertain as of my writing time.
Major fire leads to evacuation of Europa-Park: Smoke towered over the park and was visible for miles after the blaze started just before 5pm local time Monday. Park officials ordered the evacuation soon after, with firefighters bringing the fire under control within about 90 minutes. Two minor injuries were reported.
Moving beyond the tough news from Germany, many industry insiders and fans were celebrating the opening of PortAventura's new attraction in Spain this past week.
PortAventura crafts a winning adventure with 'Uncharted': Created with help from Intamin and Sally Dark Rides, Uncharted: The Enigma of Penitence delivers the grown-up dark ride experience PortAventura has been lacking until now. Read Ben Mills’ review.
At Walt Disney World, a 'Journey' can be the destination: No one wants to spend money to experience boring or ugly. Given that the majority of time people spend at theme parks is spent in the spaces in between attractions, those spaces had better be worth the cost of a ticket, too. Let's look at how EPCOT's newest project is differentiate Walt Disney World's theme parks from the competition.
Disneyland will use a virtual queue for its new Marvel musical: We've got the latest on how to see Rogers: The Musical when it opens at Disney California Adventure this month, as well as a reveal of the show-themed food and beverage items that will be for sale.
More theme park news
'The Last of Us' is coming to Universal's Halloween Horror Nights: Universal gets a big get for its 2023 Halloween Horror Nights, with “The Last of Us” coming to Orlando and Hollywood in September.
Walt Disney World adds another after-hours holiday party: "Disney Jollywood Nights" is coming to Walt Disney World at the Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park this holiday season. We've got the details.
Good news, bad news for Six Flags roller coaster fans: El Toro returned to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey last weekend, even while a launch failure kept its neighbor Kingda Ka closed.
Management changes at Disney, Merlin and Six Flags: Time for another news round-up, with this week's focus on personnel changes around the theme park industry.
Gavin Newsom visits Disneyland to celebrate Pride: Some world-class trolling going on, as California’s governor and Disney leadership showed up to support Pride, with a dose of support for DisneylandForward on the agenda, too.
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Need tickets?
Check this fresh batch of amusement and water park ticket deals: If you have been thinking about visiting a regional amusement or water park in the U.S. this summer, we have some fresh admission deals for you, with dozens of Palace Entertainment destinations now available through our ticket partner.
Get the best deal on Disneyland's new summer discount: Disneyland and Disney California Adventure are offering a three-day ticket discount for California residents, and we have a link to that deal, starting at just $78 a day - that’s less than what Disneyland is offering on its own website.
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Robert