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Reminder: Florida has awesome attractions

By JAY CRIDLIN
Published May 25, 2007

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This year is shaping up to be one of the biggest ever at Florida's theme parks.

Oh, wait. Did we say this year? We meant next year. 2008. Sorry about the confusion.

Yes, you'll see plenty of new bells and whistles across Central Florida's theme park alley in 2007, as you do every year. But just feast your eyes on what's in store for 2008:

- The debut of Aquatica, Sea World's $50-million, 59-acre water park, featuring giant sandy beaches, twin wave pools and thrill rides that shoot through dolphin tanks.

- A motion simulation ride based on The Simpsons at Universal Orlando, part of a planned $120-million upgrade to the park and Islands of Adventure.

- An interactive Toy Story ride at Disney-MGM Studios.

- A new, unnamed attraction that will take the place of Busch Gardens' now-defunct Python, as well as upgrades to the Congo area.

So as we steel ourselves for major changes across Florida's theme-park landscape, let's take stock of the current state of amusement along I-4, and see what's new in 2007.

After all, we're only 393 days from the start of next summer.

Busch Gardens

Two years after Busch Gardens unveiled its gargantuan dive coaster SheiKra, the park's powers that be apparently believe it's slipped out of fashion. So they gave it a face lift.

SheiKra will close down for two weeks starting Monday; when it reopens on June 16, its cars will be floorless. That means you'll have a 200-foot-high, straight-down, unimpeded view of the earth below.

Clench your flip-flops accordingly.

"After everybody rode SheiKra, and everybody said, 'This is unbelievable - is there anything you could do to make it better?' " said Mark Rose, Busch Gardens' vice president for design and engineering. "That's when we started thinking about this."

It does raise the question, though: Considering SheiKra is only a couple of years old, why didn't Busch Gardens build it without a floor in the first place?

Chalk up the change of heart up a case of sibling rivalry. This weekend, Busch Gardens' sister park in Williamsburg, Va., will unveil Griffon, a 205-foot-high dive coaster that upped SheiKra's ante by removing it floor.

"Then we started questioning ourselves: 'Could we do that, too?'" Rose said. They did, and park guests will reap the rewards.

Also in store for 2007 are a handful of entertainers for the park's Summer Nights concert series: The B-52's on June 2; KC & the Sunshine Band on June 9; the Guess Who on July 3; and Grand Funk Railroad on July 4. All concerts begin at 7 p.m. and are free with park admission.

Sesame Street characters will be more prominently featured throughout the park, as part of a deal with Sesame Workshop, the company behind Big Bird, Elmo and Grover. The company has announced the park will create a permanent Sesame Street-themed attraction in 2008.

Finally, coaster enthusiasts won't have the Python to kick around anymore. The park's oldest coaster was shuttered last fall to make way for some unnamed delight that won't be ready until next year at the earliest. Visit www.buschgardens.com.

Universal Orlando

Welcome to Las Vegas, Fla.

Universal's big upgrade in 2007 is a permanent show by the Blue Man Group, those indigo oddballs whose artsy stage show became a Vegas sensation, and who performed at the St. Pete Times Forum in February.

The offbeat collective customized a show for a 1, 000-seat theater at Universal CityWalk, and will debut June 6. It's a separate-ticket event - the cost is $59 for adults and $49 for children ages 3-9, and you don't need a park ticket to get in.

"This theater is super cool, " says Anthony Parrulli, an Oldsmar native and Blue Man who's performed with the troupe in New York, Chicago, Las Vegas and now Orlando. "It's kind of like a hybrid of all the other theaters we've ever been in."

That means you'll see most of the bits and music that made Blue Man Group famous, from drumming on paint and PVC pipe to catching flying marshmallows and pulverizing Captain Crunch.

"There's a piece that we're putting in this show that's specific and will only be performed here, " Parrulli says. "It's called 'Eardrumming, ' and rather than go into any long explanation, it's one of those things that you're kind of just going to have to see. The title is self-explanatory. It's a fun piece, and I think a lot of people are going to enjoy it."

Spoken like a true Blue Man of mystery.

For more information visit www.universalorlando.com.

Disney World/Epcot Center

The Magic Kingdom's biggest addition in 2007 is the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, an animated, 400-seat "comedy club" featuring the yuk-filled stylings of Mike, the one-eyed star of Pixar's Monsters Inc. Guests can interact with the digital performers via jokes that get text-messaged to their cell phones.

Returning late this summer for an encore engagement is Disney's Pirate and Princess Party, an after-hours event featuring parades, giveaways, interactive quests and character meet-and-greets. Kids are invited to come dressed as (what else) pirates and princesses. The parties, which require additional tickets and advance registration, take place on eight nights between Aug. 11 and Sept. 3. Tickets are on sale now.

At Epcot, the attraction inside the park's iconic geodesic sphere - Spaceship Earth - will get its first major upgrade in years. New exhibits include a 20-foot-high globe illuminated with images of the future; a 3-D game called Body Builder that allows visitors to put together a digital human body; and a driving simulation game called Super Driver. To make way for more improvements, Spaceship Earth will be closed for renovations June 22 and 23 and from July 9 to Nov. 1.

Epcot's Mexican pavilion will debut the Gran Fiesta Tour starring the Three Caballeros, an update of the El Rio Del Tiempo, based on The Three Caballeros, a Donald Duck cartoon from the 1940s.

For more information visit www.disneyworld.com.

Cypress Gardens

Florida's dainty old dame of Theme Park Alley had its work cut out for it after its owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last fall.

So far in 2007, the park looks up to the challenge.

Bolstered by a $15-million loan, Cypress Gardens will open two major new attractions in 2007: Bugsville, an insect-themed children's area, and the Starliner, a historic wooden roller coaster that was moved from an amusement park.

Bugsville, which opened Wednesday, is an insect-themed children's area featuring 13 rides, a special theater featuring the new show "A Bugsville Adventure, " and a handful of new bug mascots.

And then there's the Starliner. The 2, 640-foot-long, 70-foot-tall Starliner was the first coaster of its kind when it was unveiled in 1963 at the Miracle Strip Amusement Park in Panama Beach, which closed in 2004.

When the park closed down, Cypress Gardens CEO Kent Buescher vowed to rescue the Starliner. In 2005, he paid a reported $100, 000 for the coaster, $200, 000 to have it taken apart, and more than $1-million more to have it rebuilt in Winter Haven. It will open in mid to late June, said a park spokeswoman.

SeaWorld

SeaWorld's biggest planned upgrade, Aquatica, will feature three dozen rides, a half-dozen rivers and lagoons, and more than 80, 000 square feet of beaches. Alas, Aquatica isn't scheduled to open until March.

In the meantime, the park will stage "Elmo and the Bookaneers, " a Sesame Street-themed musical stage show running through Labor Day; and a new killer whale show, "Shamu Rocks, " premiering this weekend.

The children's play area, Shamu's Happy Harbor, is doubling in size and adding three new family rides: The Ocean Commotion, a swinging boat ride; the Flying Fiddler, which lifts riders 20 feet into the air; and the Sea Carousel, where riders can sit atop faux otters, dolphins, sea lions and sharks.

For more information visit www.seaworld.com.

Kennedy Space Center

What? Kennedy Space Center has rides? Huh?

Until this year, the closest thing to a ride at Kennedy was an IMAX theater. But Kennedy is making a big push into experience-driven thrills with the $60-million Shuttle Launch Experience, opening today.

The Experience is exactly what it sounds like: A detailed simulation of a space shuttle mission, from pre-launch briefings to the moment of takeoff to panoramic views of the Earth from space. Each of the four "crew cabins" contains 44 seats that tilt, vibrate and compress, tricking the inner ear so riders think they're actually lifting off. In front and overhead are screens playing video footage and computer animation

The highlight is the moment when the cabin breaks from Earth's atmosphere; the sudden movements of the seat are designed to simulate weightlessness. "For about a second and a half, it is exactly like the real deal, " said astronaut Rick Searfoss, a design consultant on the project.

The Shuttle Launch Experience is included in admission, which is $38 for adults and $28 for children ages 3 to 11. Riders must be 48 inches tall. Go to Kennedyspacecenter.com or call (321) 449-4444.

Elsewhere

- Orlando water park Wet 'n Wild has unveiled Brain Wash, a six-story tube ride enabling teams of two and four to plummet through a 65-foot domed funnel into a pool. In all, it's a 53-foot vertical drop - the equivalent of six stories. www.wetnwildorlando.com

- It's not a theme park, but Largo's Highland Family Aquatic Center has opened a second water slide to join its 28-foot-high corkscrew slide. The 30-foot Super Slide, which drops steeply into a pool, opened last month, giving the city two of the more impressive publicly run water slides around. For admission info and summer hours, visit www.largo.com. 400 Highland Ave., Largo, (727) 518-3016.

[Last modified May 25, 2007, 17:31:33]

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