Florida Thrills: News, Updates, Reports, and More

The brand new LEGOLAND Water park at LEGOLAND Florida is scheduled to open to guests Saturday May 26, 2012 and is going to look amazing. What was once the Splash Island water park at Cypress Gardens is currently in the midst of a transformation with brand new Lego inspired decor. The new water park is an up-charge extension of the LEGOLAND Florida park costing an additional $12 on the base ticket price, the best way to experience it is with a premium annual pass.

On Monday January 24 LEGOLAND Florida invited the local media to tour the water park and to see what was in store for park guests later that summer.

Upon entering the water park we get our first look at the final layout. ...

The Blue Man Group (BMG) opened their Orlando show on June 6, 2007 and recently went dark to completely redo the popular show. On Jan 10 I saw the current show for the last time and realized in all the time this show has been performing there has never been a review on FTN, To make up for it here is a review on the old show.

About the Show:
Blue Man Group Orlando takes place inside the Sharp Aquos Theatre located within City Walk and features a trio of blue performers wearing black clothing who are mysterious and skilled in the art of percussion.

Pre-show involves a pair of LED message boards telling you information such as: “All the paper used in this show is 100% recycled,” ...

Here is a look at the recently announced Universal’s Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories.
A few days ago universal announced the brand new show; here is an excerpt from the press release:


Here is a sample of footage that will be used in the show:
The barges were getting some new accessories installed to go with the speakers that were installed since our last update. Also the control room is getting finnished with metal paneling added to cover the insulated walls.
...

Today FTN has a quick look at the Fantasyland expansion as seen on January 24 including a look at the new Railroad Station and the removal of the old Dumbo mechanism. We also have a look at the development on the new walkway that will be between Fantasyland and the haunted mansion.

Fantasyland Walkway:
With the recent removal of the old Fantasyland Skyway Chalet a much improved walkway is going to be constructed featuring a new restroom complex to replace and aging and small peter-pan restrooms. The exit of this walkway will be in the haunted mansion area but appears to be angled directly ...

Big Thunder Mountain is a staple at the magic kingdom, famous for being a great stepping stone for children who graduated the Great Goofini Barnstormer and not yet ready for Space Mountain. As a result this attraction has suffered a lot of wear and tear without a major refurbishment in recent years.

On January 09 it went down for a multi month refurbishment that will make the ride feel and run like new when it returns. Until then the attraction is hard to see, except on the railroad where track work is going on.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is currently ...

We have been covering the Hollywood Drive-In Miniature Golf Course being construction at Universal Orlando’s CityWalk for quite some time. Today we are trying something different with our coverage. Included in this update is a video showing how it looks in real time. We’ve also included photographs showing better detail of what’s going on at the construction site. We appreciate your input on the forums if you enjoy or dislike the video update, Click here to discuss.

The construction site appears to be almost finished with today’s announcement of a grand ...