By Robert Niles: Let us begin the week in review this week with a moment of Internet silence for Theme Park Insider’s favorite place to eat – Mythos Restaurant.[ … ]Thank you. Universal Orlando announced this week that it would close the Islands of Adventure table service restaurant next year. Universal is closing the remaining portion of its The Lost Continent land to make way for what is expected to be a new Pokemon-themed area. For years, Mythos has displayed a banner touting its Theme Park Insider Awards for Best Restaurant – honors that started back to the days when Theme Park Insider was one of the few websites covering Universal Orlando on a regular basis. I thank Universal for their many years of promoting Theme Park Insider for promoting them, and it’ll be shame to walk into IOA and not see Mythos anymore.And, in response to the many questions… no, I have no idea what Universal will do with the banner. Universal has hung several versions of that banner over the years and I do not know what have happened to any of them. Universal never has contacted me about the banner, and I would not have a place to store or display one of them if they did.Now, if Walt Disney World wants to send me a sign from Tom Sawyer Island, that’s a different story.To replace Mythos, Universal will be closing Thunder Falls Terrace in Jurassic Park to convert that into a new table-service restaurant. I wonder if that will be our first U.S. installation of Hammond’s, the Jurassic Park-themed table service restaurant from Universal Studios Beijing?My thank you to my supportersUniversal Orlando is not the only one I want to thank today for their support. To thank my email newsletter subscribers who have supported me with a paid subscription, I published my first bonus, “thank you” column this week: Why Disney should raise prices to become more affordable.”Say what?,” I can imagine many of you asking. How can that possibly make sense? Buckle in, because the post is a ride through Disney�s pricing policies to see how the company�s efforts to maintain affordability are actually driving away many would-be Disney visitors. If you want to read it, you can upgrade to a paid subscription here: https://themeparkinsider.substack.com/subscribe. Again, thank you to everyone who has. It’s nice to be able to write without any consideration for advertising or affiliate links or any of the other ways that writers make a living online these days. But that is possible only with your direct support.OpeningsIt’s opening day for the 2026 season at Cedar Point today. The Ohio park on Lake Erie offers five of our top-rated coasters in the world, earning its adopted “America’s Roller Coast” nickname. Here is a flashback to our Jeff Elliott and Jim Koehl riding the latest, Siren’s Curse, during its media preview last year.In the United Kingdom, World of PAW Patrol opened last Sunday at Chessington World of Adventures, just outside London. The land offers two themed playscapes and four new rides plus, including a new Zierer Force family roller coaster, Chase’s Mountain Mission.
Chase’s Mountain Mission. Photo courtesy Merlin EntertainmentsHeads up for theme park fans visiting Hersheypark anytime soon. Union employees of Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company have voted against the company’s latest contract proposal and have set a strike authorization vote next week. If approved, maintenance workers at the park could walk off the job, potentially disrupting or closing park operations, as well as concerts and other special events at Giant Center and Hersheypark Stadium.Earnings callsSegueing into the financial side of the beat, both Disney and Six Flags released quarterly earnings reports this week. Disney reported record second-quarter revenue and operating income [Disney shows strong financial results, despite oil prices], while Six Flags reported higher attendance this year, mostly due to a bad start to 2025 [Six Flags shows improvement to start 2026].Disney’s CFO also commented on the company’s approach to AI [Disney just revealed its AI strategy, and I love it]. Earlier in the week, Six Flags announced that it will bring “Holiday in the Park” events back to two of its theme parks in 2026 [Six Flags looks to add more holidays to its parks], which should help reverse the holiday attendance dip that the company felt at the start of the year.As always, thank you for reading, and I wish everyone a great weekend.
