Mousekingdom Blog

What happens if you might be forced to pay a $1.5 billion debt one year from now but only have $98 million in cash on hand? It’s a question that needs to be answered for Universal Orlando!

The two main problems are trying to refinance during these dark times of recession and the domino effect that will take place if a first dept of $950 million cannot be paid by April 1, 2010 deadline. If Universal cannot pay the $950 million all other dept will come up for immediate payment and the company would need to pay another $500 million straight away. This second number is covered by Universal Studios assets, including all of its property.

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While the Mousekingdom Blog is all about the magical world of Disney we can’t help ourself to sometimes talk about some other great stuff in the world of theme parks. For me that’s especially true when it comes to Roller Coasters. It’s never been a secret that I love Island of adventure too (although Harry Potter could change this feeling as I am not a fan of that change in the park), and when visiting Walt Disney World, a visit to the Universal Parks is a given. However, Universal Studios has not been on my list of favorites. Nor me or my family are a fan of the park and the only reason I returned there in 2007 was because of my love for Halloween Horror Night. But… then they came up with Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit and I have been following the project from the beginning. Now, I can’t wait to return to Universal on our next trip to try that monster! All it needed to convince me to visit their park again was too add a great coaster (See how easy I am pleased).

So why this long introduction? Here is one awesome picture from the new ride, taken from a helicopter above the Studios. You can find the big version on the Johnnyupsidedown.com site. Not only will you be able to gaze on the fantastic photo, but you can also follow the work done on the coaster on the site. There are always a great set of construction pictures added on regular basis. Enjoy the ride…

Picture copyrights Jordan Scarano

I can’t explain why I feel like it was, but it felt that this trip was the best so far… I just loved every minute of it. Could have been the great weather (finally after this terrible and could winter), could have been the company (well, that’s a given as I was their with my family) or was their another reason. I might not know why I felt like that on this trip, all I now is that it was great.

It started out fantastic with a super deal we found on Expedia.com (sounds a bit like an advertisement now) for the Marriott. I never expected to ever stay their but the deal was to sweet to let it pass. Now I am happy we did. The accommodations are great, big spacious rooms, 2 bathrooms, big living room and a kitchen with everything you need (if you wanted to cook for yourself). We loved and if another deal like that would pop up we would go again. However, even if we thought it was a great place, it is advised to visit this only when you have your own form of transportation. There is a shuttle bus but on the low season day it was packed to full capacity and I have heard from people staying their you can sometimes wait for 1 hour before you can catch another one. It is said the shuttle only goes out every 40 minutes, but in high season that might just not be enough.

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Disney theme parks are more than just a collection of thrill and family rides – they are a unique fantasy world featuring attractions that present thrills and laughter in highly themes environments telling unique stories. However, Disney certainly is able to provide a good adrenaline rush to those seeking it – and most families traveling to Central Florida for a visit to Walt Disney World will have at least one member that is looking for the perfect rush. So it is only fair to ask, how WDW is fairing in this regard - the major daily of the area, the Orlando Sentinel, asked its “Theme Park Ranger” Dewayne Bevil to compare the various coasters in the area and rate them.

In the category “top-tier rides” for the biggest adrenaline rush SheiKra at Bush Garden’s conquered the top spot, but WDW’s sole looping coaster, Rock’n'Roller Coater at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, managed to claim the fifth rank with a ranking of 4 out of 5 in the wild or mild scale and a perfect 5 of 5 in the theming / atmosphere category. Certainly any rating and comparison has a subjective element. However, what I personally think more interesting than the actual place R’n'R conquered is one of the explanations in the article…

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Any theme park fanatic’s dream, a visit to the IAAPA show! I would love to visit it one day but until then I’ll have to browse the web to still my hunger. If you want to see some pictures visit the Coaster Crew website and you’ll be invited to view a collection of 400 pictures from the event that is currently taking place in Orlando.

There is enough to see on the collection of pictures to get any roller coaster, dark ride, or thrill ride fan’s hart beat a little faster.

Or, if you’re a visitor at the trade show, you can go and make an offer to one of the Cypress Gardens Rides! (a real shame)

Picture copyrights Coaster Crew.

While adding Harry Potter to Islands of Adventure will be a goldmine for Universal Studios, I never liked they idea of it being added to the park. I loved the park how it was and will miss the “old” Lost Continent land. The land will be changed a lot, including the Dueling Dragons. If rumors are indeed correct Universal has now destroyed the dragon statue… The news isn’t 100% verified so I hope this rumor is incorrect. Please somebody come and tell us here Harry Potter didn’t kill the Dragons. (via screamscape)

As already mentioned on DLP.Info it’s only a rumor picked up from a CNBC article about the new Toy Story Mania ride, but Ratatouille mentioned to be the next Paris ride does sound exciting. If this will be the next Disney ride, Disney might well be back on track on bringing us exclusive rides for each Disney Park.

Lately we have seen clones pop up from rides already out there (Soarin for Walt Disney World, Buzz Lightyear made its way into Paris, Tower of Terror concurred all resorts, etc) and with (old or new) rumor suggesting even more clones (Crush’s Coaster clones for the US, more Soarin for Paris, etc), future Disney cloned rides are expected. But with Expedition Everest, Crush’s Coaster (not cloned yet), Mission Space or even whole new park concepts like Tokyo’s DisneySea, Disney proofed again and again that putting out something new and never been done before is a guarantied success. Although the clones do bring success (like the Tower does everywhere), it is nice to see that Disney still takes the road of innovative new attractions.

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Today, April 22, 10 years ago Animal Kingdom opened its gates to the general public for the very first time. The park opened with 5 attraction, 9 exhibits and 12 live entertainment show on a 500 acres location. The main attraction of the resort are its inhabitants, the many incredible animals.

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SeaWorld is om of those parks us Disney fans can appreciate so I wasn’t to surprised when I found some concept art related to the new B&M flying roller coaster that will be build there on a Disney website.

The British website “The Disney Information Bulletin Board” has some nice artist impressions of the new Manta coaster that will open in 2009. Click on the picture to see all three artist impressions, including a track lay-out.

Pictures copyrights Busch Entertainment Corporation

In an unfortunate event a 14 year old Spanish girl died yesterday while riding Rock’n’Roller coaster in the Walt Disney Studios in Disneyland Resort Paris. When the ride vehicle returned to the station the girl was found unconscious by her friends. A medical team tried to revive her but by the time an ambulance arrived at the scene the girl was death. The cause of this regrettable death is unknown at this moment. There is no prove of mechanical failure of the rollercoaster but the rollercoaster will remain closed until the investigation has been concluded. An autopsy is planned for today.

Our thoughts are with the family.

f you want to keep up to date on this tragedy visit: dlp.info

Over at the Orlando Sentinel blog Theme Park Rangers a series started with some historical Pictures from Walt Disney World.

The first picture is from August 1973 shot from Sentinel photographer Carl Bergquis and shows Space Mountain under construction.

“Shots from near top of large crane of RCA “mountain” at Disney World.”

If you are a Disney History buff make sure to bookmark the blog to see the rest of the series.

Click on the picture to see full size

(Picture copyrights Orlando Sentinel)

If you want more visitors in your park only one thing will help; build a one of a kind new experience! Just look at Expedition Everest and what it did for Animal Kingdom. This park was considered to be not even a day filler by many and for some not there would not even be a reason to visit it at all. It would not have been the first time I read a forum or even talk to somebody who has been to Walt Disney World without adding a visit to Animal Kingdom. (I’ll never understand as I think this park is an Imagineering masterpiece – but that is a story for another time). Since Expedition Everest opened this has changed!

Animal Kingdom attendance rose 8.6 percent to 8.91 million paid visitors in 2006, according to estimates contained in a theme park attendance report released Wednesday by TEA (formerly called the Themed Entertainment Association) and Economics Research Associates. That was the biggest gain among the 20 most popular North American theme parks. (Florida Today)

I’ve always said it, build something new, never seen before and make sure it is something amazing and the visitors will come to your park. (But who listens to me). Universal Studios is surely listening (not to me, but to the numbers). They see what Expedition Everest did and now they want to build their own “Everest” so to say.

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Although I do like to listen to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, I must admit I don’t know what to make of the temporary Space Mountain Rock Version that is running at Disneyland at this time. You can check out a video on Youtube and see if you like it. Of course the best way to find out is to visit the park and take a ride yourself if you can…

The new temporary version, including the new light and special effects will run until April 26th.

With the success of Expedition Everest the Yeti will get into the spotlight even more. The new restaurant planned for Animal Kingdom, near Kali River Rapids, has changed its name from “Ying & Yak” to “Yak & Yeti”.

I wonder if the Yeti likes to be on the second place and if we might see another name change in the future

A 5 day visit comes to an end and as a Disney fan it is never nice to know you’re going to leave your happy place. Sure, I’ll be back, but wouldn’t it be nice to have “another” day…

Although this was to be my last day in Disneyland Resort Paris, I did make the decision that I will leave at 6pm and no later. I could have stayed and driven home late at night but there are things to do in the “real world”. But you’re not gone before you really left and I had another couple of hours of Disney fun in front of me. Because of the long travel home I did sleep in this morning. I didn’t want to be too sleepy for the trip home so no early entry this day. I packed, left the Holiday Inn, and drove over to the New York Hotel to park the car. Went for some breakfast and a drink at the shareholders club and after that I was ready for my last day in the parks.

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