Happy birthday Disney
It's the company's 100th anniversary this week. Celebrate with some Disneyland tickets at the old prices, plus a round-up of the week's theme park news.
Disney grabbed a lot of attention this week with the 100th anniversary Monday of the company's official founding. But many fans were still reeling from last week's announcement of that big price increase at the Disneyland Resort. We have a way for you to get around that price increase, at least for a little while for those of you who act fast.
But Disney did have some treats for fans this week, too. Its new Moana walk-through -Journey Through Water, Inspired by Moana - officially opened at EPCOT. Walt Disney Imagineering play tested a trio of adorable new walking robots inside Disneyland's Star Wars Galaxy's Edge. Hong Kong Disneyland unveiled a new statue that pays tribute to the moment Walt first envisioned Disneyland. The park also revealed the menu for its new World of Frozen land, which opens officially November 20.
But the biggest news involving Disney might be the impending $10-billion-plus check that it appears likely to write to archrival Universal sometime in the next few months. To put that in perspective, that’s enough money to pay for Universal’s new Epic Universe theme park several times over. I wrote about that and more detailing the current economic landscape for Disney, Universal and the other big players in the entertainment business in “Why Hulu holds a key to the future of theme parks.”
Looking ahead over at Universal, the company has filed a couple of new patent applications for interactive dark rides. And it announced the name for the new year-round horror attraction that it will build in Las Vegas.
Speaking of horror, the three SeaWorld theme parks in the United States are gently trolling their haunt competition with a ticket discount for employees at Universal, Six Flags, and Knott’s.
And in our weekly round-up of other theme park news, we’ve got some personnel changes, a reveal at Disneyland Paris, and a contest to name the new water coaster at Six Flags in Georgia.
Finally, as always, you can help support my work on Theme Park Insider while saving money on discounted theme park tickets by purchasing from our attraction tickets partner.
Before your next trip, see our reader rankings and advice on visiting top theme parks around the world in our visitors guides. And read the reviews and watch on-ride videos from our archive of 2023’s new attractions.
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Robert