The opening of Toy Story Land in late June is part of a reimagining of Disney's Hollywood Studios park, whose overhauling will culminate next year with the opening of the park's much-anticipated Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Here's a look at new Florida attractions that will entice visitors to keep coming through those turnstiles. "This is an arms race in the theme park realm," Hill said. Revenue at Universal's parks grew by 14 percent in the first quarter.Įven Orlando-based SeaWorld, which had been bleeding visitors since the release of the 2013 documentary, "Blackfish," reported an almost 15 percent attendance jump in the first quarter of 2018, helped in part by a pivot away from orca shows.īut the Florida theme parks risk becoming victims of their success if new attractions pull in so many visitors that parks are forced to close because of overcrowding, said Jim Hill, who runs a website and podcast tracking theme parks. Disney reported a 13 percent increase in parks revenue in its most recent quarter. Orlando tourism officials announced recently that a record 72 million visitors came to the theme park mecca in 2017. Recent new attractions are bringing more people through turnstiles in Orlando, whose market has a third of North America's theme park attendance. "It is a very strong continuation, leading up to the biggest things that they will ever do." "The product they have coming on is very strong," said Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services, Inc., a Cincinnati-based consulting firm. Theme park aficionados will have to wait until 2019 for the openings of a Star Wars land at Walt Disney World, a new Harry Potter ride at Universal Orlando Resort and a Sesame Street-themed land at SeaWorld Orlando.īut theme park experts say this year's crop of lands and rides - including Toy Story Land at Disney and a new "Fast & Furious" attraction at Universal - are nothing to sneeze at and are worthy stepping stones toward what's to come. If this is a golden age for theme parks, then nowhere are new thrills more abundant than in Orlando where the major theme park resorts have been in an arms race, opening new attractions every year recently, with even bigger blockbusters slated for next year.
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