theme park – News Stories About theme park - Page 4

May 11, 2012 1:24 AM CDT

Japan Getting Harry Potter Park

Wizarding World in Osaka will be first outside US

(Newser) - Hogwarts is coming to Honshu. Universal Studios is planning to open a Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Osaka by late 2014, reports the Guardian . The park, like the one in Orlando and the one under construction in Hollywood, will feature rides, a Hogwarts castle, and a Hogsmeade...

Coming Soon:
Avatar Theme Parks

Sep 21, 2011 2:32 PM CDT

Coming Soon: Avatar Theme Parks

Disney strikes deal to build them within its own parks

(Newser) - Avatar fans who couldn't get quite close enough to the lush world of Pandora via 3D will be able to visit in real life. Or at least real life as brought to you by Disney. The company has struck a deal with James Cameron to build "Avatar Lands"...

Shanghai Disney Under Way

Apr 8, 2011 11:41 AM CDT

Shanghai Disney Under Way

CEO: It will be 'both authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese'

(Newser) - After a long wait , Mickey’s new home in China is officially under construction. The iconic mouse joined Disney CEO Robert Iger and top Shanghai officials—as well as Goofy, Princess Jasmine, and other friends—for a groundbreaking ceremony today at the future site of Shanghai Disneyland, the Los Angeles ...

Coming to Kentucky: Creationism Theme Park

Dec 2, 2010 10:28 AM CST

Coming to Kentucky: Creationism Theme Park

Complete with 500-foot Noah's Ark replica

(Newser) - Disneyland, pshaw. Soon the new hot amusement park will be located in Kentucky, and called ... Ark Encounter. The Christian theme park will include, among other attractions, a 500-foot-long Noah's Ark complete with live animals, a Tower of Babel replica, and a re-created first-century Middle Eastern village. "Make no mistake...

Shanghai Signs Deal
for $3.6B Disney Park

Nov 5, 2010 4:13 AM CDT

Shanghai Signs Deal for $3.6B Disney Park

Deal marks one of China's biggest-ever foreign investments

(Newser) - Disney has moved a step closer to bringing the Magic Kingdom to Shanghai, which just closed the doors on a record-breaking world expo. The company and a firm backed by the city government have signed a $3.6 billion deal to build the theme park, a year to the day...

Harry Potter Roller Coaster Makes Space for Fat Muggles

Sep 15, 2010 2:30 AM CDT

Harry Potter Roller Coaster Makes Space for Fat Muggles

Orlando ride adds seats for the obese

(Newser) - Universal Orlando's "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" ride is no longer a forbidden journey for larger riders. The theme park—which received complaints from many plus-sized Muggles who were turned away from the popular ride—has altered the cars to accommodate obese passengers, ABC News reports.

Fat Muggles Turned Away
at Harry Potter Theme Park

Fat Muggles Turned Away at Harry Potter Theme Park

More than 265 pounds? No Forbidden Journey for you

(Newser) - Weight, not the wait, is turning out to be the big problem for some parkgoers eager to go on the "Forbidden Journey" ride at Orlando's new Harry Potter theme park. With its weight limit of around 265 pounds, portly Potter fans are finding themselves banned from the much-hyped ride...

Harry Potter Theme Park
Enchants Muggles

Theme Park Review

Jun 18, 2010 11:50 AM CDT

Harry Potter Theme Park Enchants Muggles

'Wizarding World of Harry Potter' delightfully American

(Newser) - Today marks the grand opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a $250 million mini-theme park tucked into Universal Orlando Resort, and at least one actual British person, Tom Leonard of the Telegraph , was on hand to shake his head at the daftness of it all. He does admit...

Drunk Dad Ditches Baby
to Find Drunk Mom

a gem from Monday

Mar 20, 2010 10:13 AM CDT

Drunk Dad Ditches Baby to Find Drunk Mom

Universal Studios debacle leads to child endangerment charges

(Newser) - A Florida man has been charged with child neglect after he—while drunk—left his 4-month-old daughter in her stroller in some bushes at the Universal Studios parking lot while he searched for the girl's drunken mother. The infant was alone for 2 hours before a park employee found her,...

Chinese Flock to Ethnic Minority Theme Parks

Feb 24, 2010 1:21 AM CST

Chinese Flock to Ethnic Minority Theme Parks

Money-spinning parks also serve political purpose

(Newser) - The fastest-growing theme park experience in China involves meeting not Mickey or Goofy, but actual members of some of the country's 55 official ethnic minorities. Parks like the Dai Minority Park in the ethnic group's Yunnan homeland offer Han Chinese—who make up 96% of the country's 1.3 billion...

China OKs Shanghai Disney

Nov 4, 2009 4:40 AM CST

China OKs Shanghai Disney

Theme park deal green-lighted after decades of talks

(Newser) - The Magic Kingdom is coming to the Middle Kingdom after nearly 20 years of negotiations, Disney announced yesterday. The massive Disneyland-style theme park to be built in Shanghai will dwarf the one in semi-autonomous Hong Kong, and will eventually rival the size of Florida's Disney World. Analysts believe the $3....

Harry Potter Park
Opens This Spring

Sep 15, 2009 2:12 PM CDT

Harry Potter Park Opens This Spring

Visiting Muggles can buy wands, meet hippogriffs, drink butterbeer

(Newser) - Get your wands ready: the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens next spring, Universal Orlando announced. Muggles will enter through the village of Hogsmeade, where they’ll visit Hogsmeade station, Zonko’s joke shop, and the Three Broomsticks pub to sample some butterbeer. But the main event, called Harry Potter...

I Now Pronounce You
Carnival Ride and Wife

Aug 7, 2009 3:35 PM CDT

I Now Pronounce You Carnival Ride and Wife

(Newser) - A Pennsylvania woman will take her new spouse's last name, but they can't live together—the object of her affection is an amusement park ride. Amy Wolfe is so devoted to the "1000 Nachts“ gondola at Knoebels Amusement Resort that she rides it 300 times a year, the Sun ...

Six Flags Files for Bankruptcy

Jun 13, 2009 1:04 PM CDT

Six Flags Files for Bankruptcy

(Newser) - Theme park operator Six Flags has declared bankruptcy, Bloomberg reports. The company has not had a profitable year since 1998 and is burdened with $2.4 billion in debt. Six Flags underwent a wide-ranging reorganization starting in 2005 when Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder became chairman. The company, whose 20...

Chinese Raze Sex Theme Park

May 18, 2009 4:39 AM CDT

Chinese Raze Sex Theme Park

Officials rip 'vulgar' park

(Newser) - China's revolutionary sex theme park has been crushed before it could even get off the ground, reports the BBC. Just as the world press was touting "Love Land" and its giant plastic genitalia and sexual technique workshops, outraged Chinese officials were demolishing the park that had been slated to...

China Plans
Sexy Theme Park

May 17, 2009 7:17 AM CDT

China Plans Sexy Theme Park

(Newser) - China is about to topple taboos big time with giant plastic genitalia and sexual technique workshops at a new sex theme park, reports the BBC. "Love Land" is slated to open in Chongqing in October. "Sex is a taboo subject in China but people really need to have...

Disney to Slash
Theme Park Jobs

Feb 19, 2009 5:04 AM CST

Disney to Slash Theme Park Jobs

Company announces layoffs, major restructuring of park operations

(Newser) - Tomorrowland holds unemployment for an undisclosed number of Disney employees, reports the Orlando Sentinel. The company is restructuring its theme park division—which employs 80,000 people—and plans to cut jobs by consolidating its East and West Coast operations. Analysts believe Disney can make substantial savings this way but...

Jacko Bro
Plans Slavery
Theme Park

Feb 17, 2009 9:32 AM CST

Jacko Bro Plans Slavery Theme Park

Historians condemn $3.4B project

(Newser) - Michael Jackson's big brother Marlon wants to bring tourists to Nigeria by building a $3.4 billion resort—complete with an ever-so-slightly controversial slavery theme park, a replica slave ship, oh, and a Jackson Five exhibit, the Telegraph reports. Visitors to the park, located in Badagry, the departure point for...

Coney Island Rides
Hit Auction Block

Sep 7, 2008 6:43 PM CDT

Coney Island Rides Hit Auction Block

Coney Island rides on sale online today

(Newser) - Ever dreamed of owning your own theme-park ride? With 10 of Coney Island’s famed Astroland Park rides now for sale online, your chance has arrived, the New York Post reports. The Astrotower will set you back $99,000, while the Top Spin will leave your wallet $499,000 lighter....

Dubai Is the New Mecca
for Theme Parks

Apr 3, 2008 3:56 PM CDT

Dubai Is the New Mecca for Theme Parks

Abu Dhabi, Shanghai also among locations planning impressive amusements

(Newser) - The big US amusement companies—Six Flags, Universal, SeaWorld, Warner Bros., MGM—have all seen the future, and it's in Dubai. That's where the world's largest playland—a sprawling $64-billion collection of theme parks, golf courses, museums and hotels—is going up, but it's only the most dramatic of projects...