Theme Park Bits: Change The Color Of Your Galaxy's Edge Lightsaber, More Magic Happens Details, Snow White Refurbishment Dates, And More
In this edition of Theme Park Bits:
It can be easy to think of just the big names when you think of theme parks in America: Disney and Universal. But that's not the whole story! Take, for instance, the upcoming ride being highlighted here, at Indiana's Holiday World. The new attraction, Cheetah Chase, is a dual-track water-coaster that will allow its riders to race, starting with a horizontal launch. Cheetah Chase will be the third such water coaster at Holiday World, a fascinating tidbit for those of us who had no idea that Holiday World was a thing before...well, right now. Cheetah Chase opens in May.
As we've mentioned in past editions of Theme Park Bits, one of the big new arrivals at Disneyland Park in 2020 will be a brand-new afternoon parade. The show, "Magic Happens," will celebrate some big animated classics and characters, and it'll be doing so with the help of some new music provided in part by singer-songwriter Todrick Hall. Hall has co-composed two new original songs, and talks about those in the video linked here. The parade begins on February 28, so it's time to get excited.
Let's say you've visited Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland or Walt Disney World since it opened in the two coastal parks. And you've even splurged to buy your very own lightsaber. As much as you love it, you might want a bit of freedom in deciding what color it'll sport. Well, good news: there is a way to change the color of your lightsaber...if you have an RFID read/writer. See, the light appears to be tied to a specific RFID code, so if you have the right tool, you can communicate a new code and thus get a new color.
As mentioned here, Disneyland will have lots of changes in 2020, but it's not just limited to a new parade. The Fantasyland dark-ride stalwart Snow White's Scary Adventures will be going down for an extended refurbishment. That's the bad news. The good news is that we at least know how long that refurbishment will be: from January 7 to May 21, 2020, the ride will be closed as it gets some well-deserved TLC. Of course, if you're visiting Disneyland during that time, there won't be much good news if you wanted to ride this one, but if you're heading there in the summer, you can rest easy.
Disneyland's not the only park going through some changes. We'll close out today's column by heading over to Walt Disney World – specifically Epcot. At that park, the entrance plaza has been undergoing serious changes, and those changes are...well, they're halfway finished. You can take a look at some photos of the revised plaza (though you'll notice construction walls in the background on the half that's still going through the refurb). That's just the start of a much, much larger overhaul of Epcot, but it's a nice kickoff.