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Universal’s Islands of Adventure wins Theme Park Insider – best theme park award

Orlando theme parks fared very well in this year’s Theme Park Insider Awards, scoring victories in three of the four categories.

For the second consecutive year, Universal’s Islands of Adventure won best theme park.

Star Tours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios was named best new attraction.

Epcot’s Bistro de Paris earned the best theme park restaurant for the second year in a row.

The Theme Park Insider Awards are based on average reader ratings on www.themeparkinsider.com over the past 12 months.

No doubt Wizarding World of Harry Potter contributed to IOA getting top reviews.

Busch Gardens in Tampa was a runner-up for best theme park. Cheetah Hunt, the new coaster at Busch Gardens, fell just short of the best new attraction prize.

In the restaurant category, multiple winner Mythos at Islands of Adventure, and Epcot’s Via Napoli were runners-up.

Universal’s Portofino Bay and Disney World’s Beach Club Resort were voted runners-up in the hotel division by the website’s readers.

Yet another reason we love Orlando!

Enjoy!

Bill Cowie

The coaster is scheduled to open in May and will feature a Manta-ray theme coaster in which guests will fly face-down in horizontal position.

SeaWorld Orlando guests might catch their first glimpses of the new Manta roller coaster in action when its three trains are tested on the rails already snaking through the theme park.

The trains, which seat 32 passengers apiece and are fronted by a 12-foot manta design overhead, are tucked away in a maintenance building on the site. Construction of Manta, an inverted flying roller coaster that incorporates an enormous aquarium in its queue at SeaWorld, is on track for its official opening May 22.

“It’s like the homestretch for us we’re about 2 months away from wrapping it up,” said Brian Morrow, director of design and engineering, during a walk-through of the area Wednesday. The sea life including 3,000 animals will be moved into the aquarium in about three weeks, Morrow said. “We’re putting in landscaping, so that’s an indication that we’re very far along in our attraction,” he said.

Manta, very visible from the park entrance, will be a major addition just before a peak tourism season threatened by difficult economic times. The ride has been planned for years. “We just keep trucking ahead because we’re really looking for this ride to be an important asset to SeaWorld Orlando,” Morrow said.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal.

Harry Potter’s World of Wizardy in coming to Universal in 2010!

Some early information can be found here and at the Universal link below.

http://www.harrypotterspage.com/images/photogallery/displayimage.php?album=137&pos=9

http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/

You can request email updates of how the attraction is coming along.

Universal Studios has been known to operate a number of theme parks based on the movies it has produced over the years. In an attempt to further boost up its customers, Universal Studios has decided to build a new ride based on The Simpsons, which will be constructed in Orlando, Florida.

Universal Studios has chosen The Simpsons as an added attraction mainly because of its immense popularity and sturdy reputation over the past eighteen years, not to mention its award-winning prominence. "What we want to do is bring the Simpsons experience to our guests. They’re going to get to experience the Simpsons like they’ve never experienced the Simpsons before. They know and love them from the TV show, but they’ll actually be able to be a part of their world and have fun with them," Jennifer Sauer, Universal’s attraction designer, said.

According to officials, The Simpsons site is still currently in the design phase and conceptualizing stages although they assure that park guests will get the chance to enjoy an adventure-ride with Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, and will also be featuring the voices of the original Simpsons cast. The Simpsons site will be assembled on the Back to the Future site, a ride that was closed down at the end of March.

Universal Studios is just one of the companies that has taken advantage of the fame and popularity of The Simpsons. In line with its approaching movie, the popular convenience store chain 7-11 has previously proposed to transform eleven of their 4,700 stores into Kwik-E-Mart imitations, which would sell and promote Simpsons products like Buzz Cola, Squishee cups and Krusty’o cereals among others.

http://www.universalorlando.com/usf_attr_simpsons.html

Universal Studios in Orlando Florida had a bumper summer with an attendance level topping 3.1 million visitors! A 12% Increase over Sumer 2006 and the first summer increase since 2004.

Similarly Walt Disney World posted year on year increases! Similarly SeaWorld are expecting to post record numbers.

Universal are not only posting bumper numbers but the visitors are also spending more! They believe that the increase is due to the publicity of the blue man group as well as the coming Simpsons ride and the long anticipated Wizarding World of Harry Potter in just over a year!

The figures are great for the tourist industry as a whole in the Orlando area.

Theme parks a definately an exciting topic for discussion, however someone always wonders; who designs the rides? Who comes up with the ideas? What rides may be in store in the future?

Well, the IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) trade association is holding an expo in the Orange County Convention Center to show off the latest ideas and technology to industry insiders.

This is where inspiration occurs! Check out the article below for the weird and wonderful ideas that are at the expo!