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The Saudi monarchy has been saying since 2016 that it is weaning the kingdom from its dependence on oil production. Led by the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, the government has been working to diversify and improve Saudi Arabia’s non-oil economy. Today, came news about the kingdom’s attempt to become a tourist destination, which was meant to be a celebration but is more of a warning of the infeasibility of the diversification plan.
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Disney and theme park fans heard a lot of exciting news at the recent D23 Expo in Anaheim. But there was one phrase said there that I was hoping not to hear. “Phase two.”
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Hello from the afterlife, where I now reside, because I am dead from D23 Expo 2019. The three-day Disney fan convention is known for being a biennial news dump — especially for people who are interested in Disney World and Disneyland. Although there was plenty of news this year, however, it probably wasn't what a lot of fans were expecting.
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Plenty of focus at this weekend’s Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products panel at D23 Expo was on Epcot’s transformation, but the rest of Walt Disney World isn’t being forgotten. With billions of dollars in new investments across the resort ahead of its 50th Anniversary there will be plenty for guests to experience for the first time. Bob Chapek confirmed the resort will have unique anniversary food, beverages, merchandise, and entertainment offerings at all four theme parks.
Related: Bowman’s Travel Brief: The Theme Park Battle in Orlando Heats Up
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The cartoonish-looking SC-1 Sociable Cart is designed to be used places like golf courses and theme parks. The self-driving cart has a maximum speed of 11.8mph, so that movement isn’t going to happen particularly quickly — but it should be an entertaining ride, at least.
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A man was held against his will as armed robbers broke into Twinlakes early this morning, police have revealed. Emergency services were called at around 4.40am to an incident at the Melton theme park.
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Disney World ushers in fall with the Epcot Food & Wine Festival even as the heat index across the state hovers near 100 degrees. This culinary celebration is beloved by Disney-goers for the autumn-inspired dishes and drinks. This year's festival will be a record-long 87 days, spanning from August 29 through November 23.
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The adventure park Tripsdrill plans to open a new roller coaster from Vekoma in 2020. Due to the formation of the first foundations, the construction work on the park is now really getting going.
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Hong Kong Disneyland Resort (HKDL) has teased an upcoming opening for the Castle of Magical Dreams, a major expansion and part of the park’s ongoing transformation, which has been underway since 2018.
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OWNER SETTLES SUIT — The owner of Sylvan Beach Amusement Park, shown above in this file photo, and other recreational properties throughout upstate New York, has settled a second lawsuit against him by female tenants of his rental properties for another $450,000 penalty. (Sentinel file photo)
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The Walt Disney Company officially announced that previews for the all-new Cirque du Soleil show coming to Disney Springs will begin March 20, 2020, leading up to the world premiere on April 17. As part of the announcement, Disney released multiple renderings showing some of the scenes Guests will be able to see during the show.
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The Italian amusement park Movieland today responded for the first time to a bizarre accident that took place on Sunday afternoon. Then a monorail lane collapsed, causing two carts with seven passengers to land on the ground. In a press statement, management now reports that the attraction was approved by safety authorities.
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A ride has reopened at a Vancouver amusement park after it malfunctioned and showered fairgoers with oil earlier this month. The pendulum-style ride at Playland known as the Beast was stopped mid-August after witnesses reported seeing oil spilling as it swung.
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In the whirlwind of D23 news, some very sad news came from Tokyo today, as it was silently revealed that Fantasmic! will come to an end after nearly nine years of performance on March 25, 2020. There is no replacement yet announced for this beloved show. More details are likely to come, as I wouldn’t imagine DisneySea going without a nighttime show for too long, especially with the Olympics on the horizon.
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The Dutch rides manufacturer KMG shows its new attraction model X-Drive in action. On the premises, the novelty is currently making its first test drives before being delivered later.
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Bayside Marketplace will soon offer a brand new attraction to the city of Miami. SkyViews America is building a 176-foot tall observation wheel. Their goal is to have it done by the time the Super Bowl rolls in, February 2nd, 2020. Miami’s Planning and Zoning Board approved the construction of the observation wheel on July 31, 2019. “It will be a good way to get a panoramic view of what downtown has to offer,” said Seth Gordon, a business consultant for Bayside. Of course, this is right near Ultra Miami’s home, Bayside Park.
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Puttshack’s second site, one of Hollywood Bowl’s biggest venues and trampoline park brand Flipout have now opened there and a fourth leisure anchor, Nickelodeon’s first UK family entertainment centre, will launch in the autumn. The Hall, the first out-of-town concept from food hall operator Market Halls, and a range of other restaurants including new brands Chiktopia and Casco Lounge have all joined intu Lakeside’s growing dinner offer.
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The London Fire Brigade's (LFB) former headquarters ‒ a Grade II listed building across the River Thames from the Houses of Parliament ‒ is being transformed into a new and permanent home for the Brigade's museum, which currently operates as a pop-up on Lambeth High Street.
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Model heads of Guy Fawkes, Oliver Cromwell and Sir Thomas More have been stolen from the front of a London tourist attraction. They were taken from the entrance of the London Bridge Experience on Saturday morning. A man was captured on CCTV using a rope to tug the figures down before walking away with Fawkes's head under his arm.
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KidZania Doha, the multi award-winning educational concept, and Ghadeer, the leading Dairy and juice brand in Qatar, have signed a partnership agreement to create a Kid-sized realistic “Juice factory" inside the city of KidZania Doha.
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PLANO, TX -- Main Event Entertainment Inc., a fast-growing bowling-anchored entertainment center chain based here has named QubicaAMF Worldwide its exclusive bowling equipment and related services provider.
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For all you people in Webster who love bouncing on stuff, there'll be a new playground opening up that'll be like a bouncy Heaven on Earth. Urban Air Adventure Park, the indoor playground and trampoline park chain that has locations all over the country (including several in and around Houston), will have a grand opening of its newest location at 20251 Gulf Fwy., in Webster.
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Plano, TX (RestaurantNews.com) Reinforcing its spot as the entertainment industry’s most progressive innovator, Main Event announced today that it will exclusively debut the top virtual reality (VR) game, Beat Saber, at its 43 centers nationwide.
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It hasn’t been easy to visit one of this country’s top tourist attractions. Immediately following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty were closed to visitors. Three years later, the base, the pedestal and the observation deck were reopened after the National Park Service spent $6.7 million in improvements to fire and security systems. Five years after that, in 2009, the crown — and the 146 narrow steps to it — reopened on the Fourth of July. Then, in August of 2011, everything shut down again for one year, reopening on the 126th anniversary of the statue's dedication in October of 2012. The very next day, Hurricane Sandy hit, causing significant damage. Liberty Island was closed to visitors again.
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The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, which adjoins the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA), reopened this summer after a major expansion. The renovated garden includes a variety of amenities for education and entertainment, including an amphitheater, a gallery, and an outdoor learning environment. Pathways and pedestrian bridges snake past groves, open fields, and lagoons to enable visitors of all physical abilities to fully explore the garden’s art. NOMA maintains a particularly impressive collection of contemporary sculpture in the outdoor space, including pieces by Yinka Shonibare, Beverly Pepper, and Frank Gehry.
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WhiteWater is pleased to announce the release of this new report, which provides readers with an in-depth understanding of emerging trends in the water ride market. The Splash Factor Report is based on a survey of over 100 parks around the globe and was compiled using a quantitative research methodology.
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The Brazilian adventure bath Thermas da Mata has announced that a new theme area will be opened in October 2020. With a large water playground, the facility called "BeachKids" will be specially designed for children.
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Nearly three months after Volcano Bay visitors and employees were mysteriously shocked by an electric current at the water park, Universal Orlando and city-owned OUC have worked in tandem to withhold records that might shed more light on what happened that day.
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An alcohol-ridden brawl involving dozens at a California water park Sunday was sparked after two families got into a confrontation over a beach towel, police said. The brawl left one man in critical condition and closed business operations for the rest of the day, police said.
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An 11-year-old boy was killed and three others, including two young boys, were injured in an unexplained electricity leak at a water park in eastern China on Saturday.
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Southland Casino Gaming's $250 million expansion might not be the only major development for West Memphis tourism in the coming years. The City of West Memphis is receiving proposals from firms through the U.S. for a tourist attraction feasibility study. According to an outline study, the city has determined that the study should determine the viability of three types of attractions: a waterpark, a movie theater, and an outdoor family entertainment district. The process is being spearheaded by West Memphis Mayor Marco McClendon.
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Zoo Knoxville is closing its African penguin exhibit and sending its four remaining birds to Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg. The penguins will be moved to Gatlinburg in September. There they will join the penguins living in the aquarium’s Penguin Playhouse.
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A trio of howler monkeys escaped their enclosure at a Texas zoo and were caught on camera before being captured about 15 minutes after the initial escape. The Abilene Zoo confirmed the three monkeys escaped about 10:50 a.m. Sunday when a worker accidentally left a door open.
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And the title of heavyweight champion of the zoo goes to… Frogs, penguins, pythons and more animals at the London Zoo are stepping up to the scales for their annual weigh-in. Some 19,000 critters are being weighed and measured so keepers can check on their health and progress.
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Barcelona Zoo is in the early stages of a project which will see the attraction transform into Europe’s first ‘animalist’ zoo. A legal amendment prohibiting the breeding of species which cannot be released into the wild is now law. It is being seen as as a win for animal rights activists. In response, Barcelona Zoo is investing in a new project.
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Visitors to Blijdorp Zoo can now experience the park in a completely different way. The Rotterdam zoo has developed an interactive journey of discovery, suitable for groups of 25 people and more. They must perform assignments to unravel a mystery.
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Berlin's zoo is hoping to hear the patter of tiny panda paws soon. The zoo on Tuesday released a few seconds of footage from an ultrasound scan of its 6-year-old panda Meng Meng, which it said shows "a mini-panda with its heart beating fast." It said that the birth isn't far off, but didn't specify when.
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DADE CITY — Dade City’s Wild Things owner Kathy Stearns is facing three criminal charges related to her alleged misuse of the zoo’s funds. The charges come on top of an ongoing civil lawsuit brought by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals alleging she exploits tigers for profit.
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Monkeys have been known to use tools to crack open nuts and grind food, but visitors at a Chinese zoo found out last week that the smart animals also use them for attempted escapes. A Colombian white-faced capuchin monkey, a resident at the Zhenzhou Zoo in China’s Henan province, was captured August 20 on tourist video using a small rock to shatter an enclosure wall made of tempered glass, according to Chinese online news outlet The Paper.
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Gunnar, the red-tailed hawk who flew away from his home at Woodland Park Zoo on Thursday, returned to his keepers Monday afternoon, the zoo announced. “At around 2:30 pm, Gunnar decided to fly down, and landed on the glove that his keeper wears on his hand,” said zoo spokeswoman Meghan Sawyer. He initially took flight during a routine training session, she added.
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The Monterey Bay Aquarium's ad campaign on San Francisco BART platforms gives a snarky pitch for protecting the ocean.
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To mark the fall of the Berlin Wall Radio Free Europe photographer Amos Chapple visited the precise locations of 14 striking photos taken when the city was split - in the 1950s, 60s and 70s - and took 2019 versions of those scenes. And the contrasts - or lack thereof - are fascinating.
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Once a year, Steve Stefanoff and Tammy Beggs make a trip to Las Vegas to see their favorite attraction. It’s not the Bellagio Fountains or a five-star restaurant on the Strip — it’s the Sigma Derby, a 10-player horse racing game first released in 1985.
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During its heyday, about 165,000 people visited the Blue Hole on an annual basis, according to the book “Castalia, Cold Creek, and the Blue Hole.” Why? Mostly because of its size, about 75 feet in diameter, clarity, vibrant blue hue and mysterious “bottomless” appearance.
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