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After just seven months at the helm of SeaWorld Entertainment, Gustavo “Gus” Antorcha has resigned as chief executive and board member of the publicly traded theme park operator effective immediately. In a filing Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Orlando-based owner of SeaWorld San Diego and the Aquatica water park in Chula Vista said Antorcha informed the company that his resignation was due to disagreements over the board’s involvement in the decision making at the company.
Related: What is the highest-paid summer temp job in theme parks?
Related: SeaWorld Lays Off 100 Orlando Call Center Employees
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In the halls of the Expo Porte de Versailles, in the middle of the French capital Paris, the starting signal for the largest amusement park fair in Europe was cast this morning. Thousands of industry representatives will come together in the next few days at the event, which is organized by the amusement park umbrella organization IAAPA.
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For the eighth time, the European Star Awards were presented in 2019 - awards for the best theme parks, roller coasters, rides and novelties in Europe. Elected by a jury of experts, the winners were announced in the setting of the Parc Asterix on the eve of the largest European theme park exhibition, the IAAPA Expo Europe in Paris.
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Walt Disney World still is working to finish the the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride, which is the final piece of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park in Orlando. The ride puts guests in the middle of the conflict between the First Order and the Resistance. Riders have been recruited to bolster the ranks of the Resistance, but find themselves captured by the First Order and its sinister leader, Kylo Ren.
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The firm, which planned to build a 60-bed hotel, more than 100 holiday lodges and a water park on the site, made the announcement on Tuesday.
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Will Belgium be given a brand new amusement park? There are plans for the construction of an indoor theme park that is entirely devoted to aviation. The initiator is Jack Schoepen, the son of Bobbejaanland founder Bobbejaan Schoepen. Today he presents a detailed model of the park.
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The people who run theme parks always have been coy about the work they do. When your product is “magic,” you can’t give away the secrets of creating those illusions without destroying their effectiveness. You never will meet anyone who admits to working as a character in the parks, for example. At best, someone might cop to being a “good friend” of Mickey Mouse or Cinderella while at work.
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Though we've known about Universal Orlando Resort's plan to bring Super Nintendo World to life inside Universal Studios Florida since 2015, it has been a long time since we have heard anything about this new land coming to Florida, with plans reportedly shifting away from putting this new area at the current resort, and instead building it at Universal's Epic Universe.
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The state attorney’s office has formally filed felony charges in a bizarre case that’s captivated Disney enthusiasts and reveals a deeper look into the lucrative black market for exclusive collector items at Disney World.
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Last month at the biennial D23 Expo, Disney announced massive updates to Epcot that included many changes which have been rumored for years. But despite what will likely be over a billion dollars in upgrades and new additions, there were a few glaring absences in the announcements.
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As soon as it was revealed the gondolas don’t have air conditioning onboard, everyone has been wondering how hot they will get. We took this to the test. The outdoor temperature today at Disney’s Hollywood Studios was 91 degrees Fahrenheit, with a real feel of 104 degrees in the direct sunlight. So, can these wind-cooled hanging glass boxes keep you relatively cool? The answer is yes!
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A special prop from Phantasialand is for sale. On auction site eBay, a giant moving doll from the German amusement park is being offered for 2,500 euros. It is about the Yeti that could be found in Phantasialand from 1989 to 2004.
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The theme park will be transformed into Vampire Pleasure Beach with all kinds of creepy goings on including the truly frightful Journey to Hell Freak Nights.
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SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment announced that is has added the Impossible Burger to all menus at all 12 company properties including, SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
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With the entirety of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disney’s Hollywood Studios enclosed within the Chinese Theatre, there’s little way to know what’s going on inside or how much progress has been truly made on the attraction.
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VALLEJO — Six Flags Discovery Kingdom received ZAA accreditation for demonstrating the highest level of professional standards in animal welfare, safety and ethics for the animals in their care. This includes dolphins, sea lions, alligators, sharks, giraffes, tigers and many other exotic wildlife species.
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LONDON, Sept 17 (LPC) - Madrid-based theme park operator Parques Reunidos has set pricing guidance for its €963m-equivalent buyout financing to back its acquisition by Swedish private equity firm EQT.
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Possibly inspired by the Mario Kart: Double Dash! level named Daisy Cruiser, Norwegian Cruise Lines has started building go-kart tracks on top of its biggest ships to lure vacationers who’d rather race flat-out than lazily watch the sun go down. The company is about to christen a massive ocean liner that will offer what looks like the most epic go-kart track yet.
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Brampton has officially upped its level of fun. Canada’s new Playdium complex opened its doors to the GTA today. The new 41,000-square-foot complex, located at Highway 410 and Steeles Avenue, is offering endless thrills, delicious food, and exciting prizes for everyone to enjoy.
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COLOMBO (Reuters) - The grand opening of Sri Lanka’s tallest tower was mired in controversy on Monday when President Maithripala Sirisena said one of the Chinese firms contracted to work on the project had disappeared with $11 million of state funds.
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Dave & Buster’s is now open at the South Point Retail Centre in McDonough, Georgia, US. The restaurant and entertainment hub occupies more than 40,000sq.ft, which includes hundreds of the latest arcade games, a chef-crafted menu and drink offerings in the sports bar with dozens of huge HDTVs.
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A cavernous brick building that long ago was home to the Denver City Cable Railway Building downtown and became a restaurant in 1973 now has a new lease on life as something completely different. Families that once flocked to the Old Spaghetti Factory at 1215 18th Street can now return for a different kind of fun: Urban Putt opened this weekend, offering two nine-hole indoor miniature golf courses along with a full kitchen and bar.
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As trampoline park injuries across the country skyrocket, WBZ’s I-Team found calls to Massachusetts Fire Departments are also jumping. “I think I just always had the assumption it’d be like going to the town swimming pool, like something happens, the lifeguard jumps down and takes charge of the situation,” said Tara Pottebaum, whose 4-year-old son Gabriel went to a birthday party at Launch in Watertown this summer.
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If you’re up for a little magic and mayhem, this Harry Potter-themed escape room is for you. The Exit Game is one of the largest and highest tech escape rooms in LA and San Diego. They've recently opened the magical Harry Potter-themed School of Sorcery room and it's even better than you could have imagined.
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A longtime miniature golf course and arcade that once hosted professional putter competitions was recently sold as the owners decided to retire. Bill and Pat Chrysan ran Putterz Golf and Games at 2675 Washtenaw Ave. in Ypsilanti Township for 41 years. But “it’s time,” Bill Chrysan said.
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All throughout the new Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, which opens to the public Wednesday, there are reminders of the “upstanders” — ordinary people who stood up against injustice during the Holocaust and in fights for human rights throughout history.
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The onePULSE Foundation announced on Monday that they have purchased a 1.75-acre parcel of land near Pulse nightclub as the site for the future Pulse Museum. They said that they acquired the tract of land at 438 West Kaley Street, which is about a third of a mile away from the Pulse nightclub. The land was purchased for $3.5 million with county funding granted for land acquisition and design costs of the museum. They officially closed on the land on September 13th.
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Diggerland USA has announced it is expanding with ‘The Water Main’, a two-acre outdoor aquatic park with two multi-zone pools, a slide tower, and a swim vortex.
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Laguna Waterpark is going to be getting into the Caribbean way of life for the next couple of months, with four weekends of festivities planned to help you kick-start the winter season in style. Found at La Mer, the waterpark has announced four Caribbean festivals will take place on Friday nights through September and October – and it includes the opening of a newly licensed rooftop bar in the park.
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It was supposed to be a fun-filled family trip to an amusement park. Instead, it turned into a huge disappointment. A Philadelphia family says they loaded up the car and drove to New Jersey only to discover the park closed for the season, earlier than expected.
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Polin Waterparks, a leader and innovator in waterpark technology, invites guests to visit its booth at IAAPA Expo Europe 2019 in Paris, where the company is a platinum sponsor of the event.
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A $100 million expansion at one of Atlanta’s top tourist attractions just hit a construction milestone. The framework is complete at the Georgia Aquarium for a striking, four-level structure that will bring a new shark exhibit to downtown. General contractor Brasfield & Gorrie and city officials celebrated the topping-out last week.
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Mote Marine Laboratories is seeking $5 million over three years from Manatee County government to improve and expand programs at the City Island facility, located at 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway in Sarasota.
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It's almost that magical time of the year when more than 1,000 butterflies will be released from the Louisville Zoo. Butterflies n' Blooms will tag the butterflies before they are set off into the wild at Flutter Fest on Saturday.
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Zoo staff in northern Thailand donned black and white clothing and observed a minute of silence on Tuesday to mourn the sudden death of their popular male giant panda, who was on long-term loan from China.
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There’s more animals at the Franklin Park Zoo. A 23-by-7-foot, 52,000-piece puzzle depicting scenes of tropical wildlife has been installed at the city’s zoo, courtesy of Marshfield’s Jack Brait. The young man tackled the massive project, completing it over 32 days earning him a spot in the Ravensburger World’s Largest Puzzle Hall of Fame.
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Elmwood Park Zoo has received a $35,000 donation that will cover the creation of a new "Connection Corner" to showcase educational programming involving select animals from the zoo. The donation, a gift from the TD Charitable Foundation, will forma dedicated space across from the zoo's playground for daily presentations with the zoo's animal ambassadors.
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Zoo Knoxville has announced plans to close early Tuesday as construction gets underway. The zoo will close at 2:30 Tuesday afternoon while work is being done on its new amphibian and reptile facility. Staff says the decision was made to keep zoo visitors safe.
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The Birmingham Zoo is asking for the public’s help in finding a pair of white-crested laughingthrush birds that went missing Thursday. An inspection of the birds’ habitat revealed that the enclosure mesh has been cut and a large portion of the enclosure was removed overnight on Thursday, the zoo said. Staff learned on Friday morning that the birds were missing.
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The Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) has announced that the ZooMontana was granted accreditation by AZA’s independent Accreditation Commission. To be accredited, ZooMontana underwent a thorough review to make certain it has and will continue to meet ever-rising standards in categories which include animal care and welfare, veterinary programs, conservation, education, and safety.
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Here’s your chance to help the St Louis Aquarium at Union Station name its first animal residents. Three sibling North American River Otters are the first animals to arrive in St Louis and the Aquarium is asking followers and fans to help select their names by visiting the Aquarium’s Facebook page to vote. Two of the otters are female and one is male.
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In what should be a surprise to no one in the industry, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport is the busiest passenger airport in the world yet again. It is the 21st year running that the busy ATL hub has topped the list issued by Airports Council International. This past year more than 107 million travelers passed through Hartsfield-Jackson, which was a 3.3 percent increase.
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After a successful Texas launch in 2018, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Grand Prairie announced that the popular “Ripley’s Trashy Fashion Show” would return in 2019. While the world’s top designers showcased their new lines during New York’s famous Fashion Week (September 5-13th, 2019), promising designers in the Dallas and Ft. Worth, Texas, areas took the stage, displaying their talent by transforming trash and recycled materials into wearable art.
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MA - For the last nine years, Hicks Family Farm, on Route 2 in Charlemont, has been an autumn stop for those looking to either get lost or get scared. It’s become “our family thing” to make corn mazes each year, said owner Paul Hicks.
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Bolstered by millennials’ rapidly growing interest in camping, Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resorts is on track for its 11th straight year of record sales as it celebrates its 50th anniversary. North America’s largest franchised family camping chain, Jellystone Park, announced new resorts will open in Ohio and Texas in 2020. Overall revenue through the first six months of the year is up 10% with same location sales up 12% year-over-year. This follows a 6% sales increase in 2018, the company’s highest revenue year ever.
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