Theme Park Update: Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm & Universal Studios

Well, it's time for another Disneyland Resort update, but today I will be including a brief Knott's Berry Farm and Universal Studios update as well.

The latest news from Disneyland is the big celebration that has been planned in honor of the 75th Anniversary of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." During the celebration, a special "Snow White Sandwich" (served on white bread, and with apple slices instead of fries) will be available at select restaurants throughout the park. To promote the special menu item, Snow White can be found in a new "meet 'n greet" over at Carnation Gardens along with Dopey and Grumpy, who will be wearing special costumes created just for the promotion.



And speaking of Snow White and food, Disney fans have been demanding that the new Carthay Circle Theater in Disney's California Adventure be a restaurant, but Disney said "No, we insist on making this recreation of the Carthay Circle Theater a tribute to our first feature-length animated film and the man behind it's creation, Walt Disney!"



So now, the latest plans are for an "E" ticket-quality dark ride to go into that space. Here's a sneak peek at the Audio-Animatronic figures currently being installed in the attraction.



Meanwhile, across the esplanade at Disneyland, Peter Pan's Flight recently had it's official last day of operation and is now being converted into "The Many Adventures of the Absent-Minded Professor."



The overhead track will stay in place, but brand new sets will be installed as a part of the attraction's re-theming. Replica's of Professor Brainard's Model-T will also be replacing the old pirate ship ride vehicles.



Instead of flying over London, the new vehicles will now fly over a miniature version of Washington D.C.



The Audio-Animatronic figures of Fred MacMurray and his faithful canine companion are going to be state-of-the-art.



Let's jump back over to Disney's California Adventure. I forgot to mention the new exhibit in the Blue Sky Cellar. Exit surveys have been showing that guests are not very excited about the "Lush New Park Planned Just For YOU!" that was going to replace the Maliboomer.



So management has decided to rebuild the Maliboomer in it's former Paradise Pier location. This time however, it will have just one tower instead of three, but that single tower is going to be five times taller than it's predecessor. The new attraction will be called, "Fun Mickey's Fun Tower of Fun." A model of the reworked attraction is currently on display in the Blue Sky Cellar exhibit.



Now we will venture up north to Universal Studios Hollywood. Based on their exit surveys, which were showing just how much the old King Kong Audio-Animatronic has been missed by guests, they have decided to replace the newer 3-D projection of Kong with another giant-sized Audio-Animatronic figure. This new A.A. figure will also be state-of-the-art and is currently being constructed off-site. Work is expected to be completed soon and they are hoping for a mid-summer opening date.



And last but not least, over in Buena Park....Knott's Berry Farm has just announced the closing of their recently reopened "Sky Cabin," but the good news is, they are bringing back the old "Sky Jump" parachute attraction. This time around, instead of standing up in open-air baskets, riders will be seated in enclosed gingerbread houses that hold up to four people. This is part of a plan to give the Boardwalk section at Knott's a new "Nursery Rhyme" theme. The new name for the area has not yet been announced, but it will include a brand new dark ride, "Knott's Fair-y Tales" which will go into the old Kingdom of the Dinosaurs space. The area will also feature new versions of old favorites such as, "Jack and Jill's Perilous Plunge" and "The Boy Who Cried Wolf's Supreme Scream."



Well, that concludes this special "April 1st" theme park update. Happy April Fool's Day, everyone!