January 13, 2023, 2:25 PM ·

The topic park industry didn’t have to go this hard for us to start off 2023. But it did. And I couldn’t be happier about it.

Let us recap what has been a ridiculous week for the themed entertainment field at the starting of the new yr. Walt Disney Environment got points started off by saying the opening date for its TRON Lightcycle Run roller coaster in the Magic Kingdom.But the day in advance of that, Disney invited me to the Walt Disney Imagineering headquarters in Glendale for a a person-on-1 interview with Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro. I got a preview of some eye-opening, jaw-dropping stuff inside of WDI – which, to be reasonable, is ordinary for a go to to WDI – and Josh discovered the news that I would get to share the upcoming day.Including… relaxed reservation needs for once-a-year passholders at Walt Disney Environment and no additional right away parking expenses for Disney World lodge visitors. At Disneyland, the park will be offering away totally free ride pics to all park guests, making it possible for Park Hopping to start previously and will be assigning much more days to its most affordable-priced day by day ticket pricing tier.Then at Disneyland, Downtown Disney bought an opening when La Brea Bakery decided to get out of the restaurant business. But Earl of Sandwich will return to take above the La Brea Bakery place, at least until eventually it gets bulldozed to make way for the new Porto’s place. Within the park, Disneyland announced that the French Market place will be closing following thirty day period to make way for Tiana’s Palace, which will open up later this yr.

Common could not allow its rival Disney get all the attention this 7 days, and it surprised a great deal of observers with its moves. Universal introduced that it would be opening a relatives-focused topic park exterior Dallas, as effectively as year-round horror installation in an Location15 growth in Las Vegas.On the other side of the planet, Ferrari Entire world Abu Dhabi stepped into the highlight by formally opening its extensive-awaited roller coaster, Mission Ferrari.Former WDI World Ambassador Bob Weis also amazed a lot of marketplace insiders by announcing yesterday that he would be becoming a member of international style and design and architecture organization Gensler, the same company from which WDI’s present-day president, Barbara Bouza, came to Disney.Lastly, Universal topped it all off by soft-opening its Tremendous Nintendo Planet to all comers at Universal Studios Hollywood.And we are hardly completed. Coming up soon will be the start off of the Disney 100 Years of Speculate celebration with the opening of Mickey & Minnie’s Runway Railway, the Wondrous Journey nighttime stunning and the new World of Colour – One particular display at the Disneyland Vacation resort later this thirty day period. That will direct us into the formal opening of Super Nintendo Globe subsequent month and TRON Lightcycle Operate in March, shortly adopted by the debut of the year’s new coasters at seasonal parks around the world.You should continue to keep your arms clicking on the web site at all situations, individuals, since this year’s gonna be the wildest experience in the concept park biz.For far more concept park news all through the 12 months, please sign up for Topic Park Insider’s weekly e-newsletter. And to help guidance Concept Park Insider and preserve me off the streets when conserving revenue on discounted theme park tickets, make sure you adhere to the ticket icon back links our Topic Park listings site.

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