Seven categories of Harry Potter merchandise are available: accessories (including this Gryffindor backpack – one of my faves – for $39.95), apparel, collectibles, headwear, home decorations, souvenirs and toys.
I’ve talked with a couple of Harry Potter fans who ran to the park specifically for the home decor available there. I was surprised to find that they were more interested in pillows and fleece throws emblazoned with the Slytherin logo ($24.95 each) than the new ride or restaurant.
And that Slytherin pillow is already listed among the online store’s best sellers, so who am I to judge?
The dozens of collectible wands for sale are sure to be popular, as well. They come in Ollivanders gift boxes. This alder wand ($28.95) is said to denote intelligence and strength.
The biggest benefit of this online store for travelers, of course, is that you can save the extra baggage fees on your return trip from Orlando by waiting to order your Harry Potter souvenirs and having them delivered directly to your home.
When the Japanese city of Nagasaki wanted to honor their historic relationship with the Netherlands, they decided that a monument was just not going to be enough – so they built an entire Dutch city.
The Huis Ten Bosch theme park opened its gates in 1992 – and it has never turned a profit. Initially, the builders expected up to one million international visitors a year. Sadly, much to their surprise, international visitors preferred to visit the real country over a mock one.
In March, Japanese travel agency H.I.S. took over from the previous owners of Huis Ten Bosch, and hope to revive the park. Part of their plan is to add a casino and an outlet mall – because looking at old buildings was clearly not enough of a draw.
The first steps to raising visitor numbers were probably more effective than anything else – they slashed ticket prices and added more attractions.
Still, if you ask me, the best way to see The Netherlands is to actually visit The Netherlands.
The new attraction will take you to Peter Jackson’s version of Skull Island, right into the middle of a battle between massive dinosaurs and one very misunderstood giant ape.
Following the 2008 fire at Universal Studios Hollywood that destroyed the King Kong attraction, it was rumored that Kong would not return.
However, Universal officials tell me Steven Spielberg was at the studios before the fire was even out, discussing how to improve the King Kong attraction, and Peter Jackson signed on almost immediately for the update to match his 2005 film.
“As a filmmaker, you’re hoping to have the audience step inside your movie and become part of the experience. It’s only within a theme park attraction like this that you have the opportunity to do that,” Jackson said.
King Kong 360 3-D will use technology never before seen in a theme park setting. A pair of seamless, compound curved screens – each 187 feet wide and 40 feet high – will form a complete circle around guests.
The attraction’s film will run at 60 frames per second, delivering significantly more detail than the typical 24 frames per second rendered in a feature-length film. Universal Studios Hollywood promises “visceral special effects” to enhance the experience.
This summer, Universal Studios Hollywood is also opening 13 city blocks of production facilities in area of the Universal backlot that burned in the 2008 fire, including four acres of newly built New York street locations.
Cedar Fair Entertainment, owner of North American theme parks including Cedar Point, Knott’s Berry Farm, Kings Island and Carowinds, is offering its Platinum Season Pass for $160. The Platinum Pass is $90 for kids or seniors.
The pass offers admission to all 17 Cedar Fair theme parks and water parks every day they are in operation for the rest of 2010. The Platinum Pass also includes free parking for your visits.
You can buy the Platinum Season Pass online at any of the Cedar Fair parks’ Web sites. In some cases, you get extra benefits (such as early admission, preferred seating for concerts, or food and merchandise discounts) at the park where you buy the pass. So you may want to buy it at the theme park you will be visiting most frequently this summer.
%Gallery-90299%
The new Intimidator 305 roller coaster has opened at Kings Dominion theme park in Richmond, VA. The coaster, named in honor of the late NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, has ride cars that look like Earnhardt’s famous black Chevy. Earnhardt’s daughter Taylor visited the park last week to open the ride.
The Intimidator 305 screams along at 92 miles per hour, thanks to a 300-foot drop at the start.
Kings Dominion says that makes it part of a new class of giga-coasters – “complete-circuit coasters with a height of 300 feet or taller.” You can now check “add a word to my vocabulary” off today’s to-do list. You’re welcome.
Universal requires 4-night stay for Harry Potter packages (Orlando, FL, USA)
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens June 18, and if you want to book Universal Orlando Resort’s vacation package to go see the wizard, you will be staying in Orlando until at least June 22.
Universal tells the Orlando Sentinel that the package was designed as a 4-night experience when it was introduced in February, but the minimum stay requirement was just set this week.
The Orlando vacation packages include a hotel stay, Universal Orlando tickets, breakfast at the new Three Broomsticks restaurant and early admission to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.Coney Island Cyclone opens for 83rd season (New York City, NY, USA)
The landmark Cyclone roller coaster has re-opened for its 83rd season on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York.
It costs $8 to ride the combination wooden and steel structure that cost $175,000 to build in 1927. Although the thrill ride is on the National Register of Historic Places, it is still listed among coaster enthusiasts as one of the best current roller coasters in the country – both for its great views of the Manahattan skyline and its 60 mph hairpin turns.
Nearby, the new Luna Park is set to open its 19 rides on the Coney Island shore on May 29.
Great Wolf Lodge tries for water-slide world record (USA)
3,651 miles. That’s the distance that bathing-suit clad visitors slid at 11 Great Wolf Lodge indoor water parks last weekend, in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record.
The Great Wolf Lodges each kept one water slide open for 24 hours and asked sliders to donate to the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. The charity event/publicity stunt resulted in 47,660 trips down the designated water slides.
Guinness is still verifying the information before making the world record – which will be in the category longest distance water sliding in 24 hours in multiple venues – official. Oddly enough, there’s no previous record-holder for this very specific, new category in the company’s record books.
SeaWorld’s Aquatic water park opens new water slide (Orlando, FL, USA)
Orlando water park Aquatica has opened its new slide, the Omaka Rocka. The tube slide deposits riders in funnels designed to mimic the sensation that skateboarders feel in the half-pipe.
This is the third year for Aquatica, SeaWorld’s venture into the water park scene. Omaka Rocka is the first addition to the park since it opened.
Future questioned at Freestyle Music Park (Myrtle Beach, SC, USA)
The troubled Freestyle Music Park is facing foreclosure. The Myrtle Beach, S.C., park – which opened as Hard Rock Park in 2008 then underwent a brand change for the 2009 season – missed a debt payment deadline last week.
The Sun News reports that the theme park’s owners have not been able to find new investors and are facing bankruptcy or foreclosure. Owners are saying it is “unlikely” that the park will open for the 2010 season.
Six Flags releases iPhone app (USA)
The Six Flags Fun Finder, a free app, is now available in the App Store. Beyond the usual park maps and event listings, that app integrates with Facebook to help you find the exact location of your friends within any Six Flags theme park. The app is free.