Traveling the Globe for the Best Coasters and Theme Parks
Sean and Alex disect the 2024 D23 announcements in detail. Reactions, Details, Analysis, and Questions – 90 minutes of Disney Horizons talk that covers all the bases.
** Please note this was recorded prior to Walt Disney World releasing plans to place the Magic Kingdom Cars attractions where Rivers of America are.
Continue reading “D23 Announcements – Answers and Questions!”
Diverting to Hong Kong and taking a nine-week-old to Disneyland? You bet, bébé. How’s this stepchild of Disney parks holding up? Join us on yet another asian theme park adventure with can’t-miss rides like Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars, Mystic Manor, Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs, Frozen Ever After, Iron Man Experience, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle!, Hyperspace Mountain, and more!
Continue reading “Hong Kong Disneyland Bébé”
Rattle your way around the track of Phoenix Rising at Busch Gardens Tampa, travel down to the Bayou with Tiana and her many musician animal friends at Magic Kingdom, and join us on SeaWorld Orlando’s second 2-seater B&M coaster, Penguin Trek! How do these three major new attractions in Central Florida measure up? Do they live up to the hype?
Continue reading “NEW In Central Florida: Tiana’s Penguin Rising!”Join Sean and Alex on their journey from Old Shanghai and Yu Garden on to the world’s fastest train and tallest observation deck. Of course, no trip to Shanghai is complete without a day at one of its most spectacular parks: Shanghai Disneyland. How is the brand-new Zootopia ride and land? How is the park holding up?
Continue reading “Shanghai + Shanghai Disneyland!”
This evening, the brand-new TRON Lightcycle Run roller coaster at Magic Kingdom reached another testing milestone. The ride’s massive canopy, light effects, and on-board audio were all synchronized for testing during park hours. Some trains even carried passengers. In addition, we’ve gotten a closer look at the accessible car at the end of select TRON Lightcycle Run trains, which allows those unable to ride the lightcycle while lying down to do so while sitting upright.
Continue reading “TRON Lightcycle Run at Magic Kingdom Tests with Light Effects and Human Riders!”
TRON: Lightcycle Run, a highly anticipated new attraction at Magic Kingdom, has been testing practically nonstop for weeks. The new Vekoma coaster has undergone numerous test cycles, but so far we have only observed empty vehicles and those with test dummies. Nonetheless, we now have footage of actual riders. Hopefully this signifies that the ride will open sooner rather than later.
Continue reading “Human Riders on TRON: Lightcycle Run at Magic Kingdom”
Beginning with resort-saving Space Mountain de la Terre a la Lune in 1995, Disney was the unlikely champion of the modern launch coaster. Before Premier Rides, Intamin, and other industry juggernauts had their hand at next-generation launchers, Disney partnered with Vekoma to create the first new catapult-propelled coaster in over a decade (one that, unlike its predecessors, would run multiple trains on a full circuit).
Continue reading “The 5 Best Disney Launch Coasters”
About this time in 2017, we dropped a Disney Rides Top 20 to celebrate the opening of Shanghai Disneyland. Five years and two revisions later, we’re back with the 3rd Edition of our Global Disney Top 20. We’re proud to bring an increasingly comprehensive countdown of Disney’s top rides from around the world – each one pushing the limits of storytelling entertainment and illustrating for the visionary artwork of Walt Disney Imagineering.
Continue reading “20 Best Disney Rides in the World – 2022 Edition”
Happy 30th anniversary for Disneyland Paris! The celebration started at Europe’s biggest theme park resort. We go through some of the festivities, including a review of the 30th anniversary Passholder Night. Plus, we also give you an update on Avengers Campus at the Walt Disney Studios!
Continue reading “30th Anniversary at Disneyland Paris”
While we’ve ranked all of Disney’s Space Mountains before, such an article can only spend so much time showcasing the pure brilliance of Disneyland Paris’ Space Mountain. After another recent trip to our french Disney home park across the pond, we decided to highlight this dazzling masterpiece of a roller coaster in a dedicated article.
Continue reading “The Best Space Mountain”
It’s that time a year again! Welcome to Coaster Kings’ 3rd annual Twenty Year Top 20, where we count down our picks for the twenty best coasters turning 20 in 2021!
Continue reading “Twenty-Year Top 20: The Best Coasters of 2001”
Shortly before most borders (and theme parks) closed, Alex and I traveled to Disneyland Paris for a few days at one of our favorite parks. At the time we did not realize we’d cancel our next several international trips. This summer we finally were able to leave the US again, and the first park we visited was Disneyland Paris of course. Let’s take a look at the French Disney destination, without the usual crowd!
Continue reading “Disneyland Paris: Our Last International Park Before – and Our First International Park Since – the Pandemic Started.”
Disney’s second park was the very ambitious “Florida project”. Magic Kingdom opened in 1971 with much fanfare and started what has become the World’s largest resort. Magic Kingdom as a park continues to be the most attended theme park in the World at 20M+ annual visitors (pre-pandemic). Today, let’s see if Magic Kingdom is worth the hype.
Continue reading “Magic Kingdom – Crown Rating”
After a little break, today we’ll continue our series about the Spanish Theme Park History with the fifth article. Every two weeks we’re publishing one of eight articles about the history of thirteen Spanish amusement and theme parks. Some of them no longer exist, but some others are still operating and receiving guests nowadays. In this series, we travel in time through 168 years in theme park history, starting in 1853, to our days in 2021. In this article we’ll focus on PortAventura, the very first theme park of Spain and the only Universal park that has ever existed in Europe.
Continue reading “Spanish Theme Park History – Part 5: PortAventura”
Today we’re starting a new series about Spanish Theme Park History. This eight part series will be released bi-weekly. Come back every other week for another article! We’ll be covering the history of thirteen Spanish amusement and theme parks. Some of them no longer exist and others are still operating and receiving guests. In this series, we’ll travel through 168 years of theme park history, starting in 1853, to our days in 2021. Today we’ll focus on Camps Elisis, the first Spanish amusement park.
Continue reading “Spanish Theme Park History – Part 1: Camps Elisis”
While we’re only a few weeks into the year, we’ve already got our second Asia update for 2021! This time around we’ve got a ton of news, including projects in Dubai, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Beijing and additional exciting coaster and theme projects in China to update you on!
Continue reading “Asia Coaster News – Mid-January 2021”
There are many ways to show your love for roller coasters and theme parks, and for many of our readers these attractions are a way of life. Today we’re taking a look some of our own coaster tattoos, as well as readers’ theme park and roller coaster tattoos!
Continue reading “Roller Coaster and Theme Park Tattoos”
Since their creation amusement and theme parks have utilized landscaping and theming as an important part of the experience. The massive popularity of Disneyland standardized the idea of themed lands within a park. Most parks which opened in the resulting regional park boom incorporated this idea. Theme parks have the ability to transport guests to different times and worlds. A well-themed area can be an attraction in and of itself. But these areas often fall flat. The following are five of the weakest theme park areas. Also included are some ideas on how they might be refreshed. This is by no means an exhaustive list so please make your own suggestions, they may find their way to a part two!
Continue reading “Weakest Theme Park Areas”
The first Asia Coaster News update of the year is filled with exciting news from several countries! We’re excited to continue offering timely coverage of an array of notable projects throughout the continent!
Continue reading “Asia Coaster News – Early January 2021”
It’s been two years since our last Florida Coasters Top 10 – needless to say a lot has happened in these two years. We planned on holding off on our next Florida Top 10 until Iron Gwazi and VelociCoaster had opened; with the way 2020 unfolded, we ultimately decided to sound off on the region’s current collection of coasters without them. The next two years promise a dramatic shuffle in Central Florida coaster hierarchy, so let’s consider this 2020 countdown the foundation upon which we’ll judge the region’s variety of new coasters.
Continue reading “Coaster Kings’ Florida TOP 10 Coasters – 2020”