Theme Park Bits: Land Of Oz Garden Opens At Epcot, DreamWorks Animation To Open Indoor Theme Parks In Russia

Two upcoming family films are getting a nice theme park presence. First up, Disney's Oz the Great and Powerful opens March 8. Rumors of a full land based on the film continue to spread, a Land of Oz garden based on the film just opened at Epcot Center in Orlando, FL as part of the 2013 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival. We've got a video tour of the space below.

Next, DreamWorks Animation also announced they'll begin working on three massive indoor theme parks in Russia based on their films Shrek, Madagascar, How To Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda and this summer's snail-racing comedy Turbo.

The Disney Parks Blog posted the following video of the Land of Oz garden, which is the largest garden ever created for the annual Epcot Festival. (Still, it's only a third of an acre.)

Deadline wrote about the DreamWorks Animation theme parks, which are scheduled to open 2015 in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. Each one will feature "a movie and concert hall, 4D movie theater, three-star 400-room hotel and retail space." They're doing the same thing in Shanghai and East Rutherford, New Jersey.

DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said the following:

Russia is one of the most important markets in the world for us. All of us at DWA are extremely excited to work with [property development and management firm] Regions CG to be the first Hollywood studio to create not just one, but three, theme parks in Russia.

Read more at the link.