IOA is the Best Theme Park?
The website Theme Park Insider, announced the winners of their 2020 Best Theme Park Award. The annual competition uses readers’ ratings of theme parks from around the world to select finalists, which are narrowed down to a winner by poll. Parks are judged in eight categories, including best show, best roller coaster, and best park. This year the honor of best park went to Universal’s Islands of Adventure. Earlier, they announced the best ride to be Rise of the Resistance at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Universal Orlando’s new ride, Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, made it to number six on the list. The full results of the competition have yet to be released.
SeaWorld’s Dynamic Habitat Initiative
Like Disney’s Animal Kingdom, SeaWorld Orlando has live animal exhibits and encounters that allow guests to observe and interact with a diverse array of species. Also like Disney, SeaWorld is trying to make the housing environments more stimulating for their inhabitants. Last year, SeaWorld started their Dynamic Habitat Initiative at their three parks in Orlando, San Diego, and San Antonio. In a blog post, SeaWorld highlighted some of their successes. To date, more fish species have been added to the orca and dolphin habitats in their Orlando park. They also added fish and shellfish to their Orlando Asian otter exhibit. SeaWorld’s Director of Environmental Design says their efforts help the well being and welfare of the animals. Their activities also have other benefits, like improving the water quality of the aquariums and increasing behavioral complexity of their animals.
New Disney Star Wars Merch
Star Wars fans will be happy to hear Disney is launching a new line of Star Wars apparel. The collection is part of the Her Universe, a women’s clothing line that features pop culture icons. The collection will be available at shops in the Disney parks, and will soon come to the official online Disney store, shopDisney. Items that will be available include shirts, jackets, hoodies, and more. The collection will not be just for women. Mens/unisex apparel will also be sold. The aesthetics of the line is minimalistic, featuring black and white as the only colors, and “Star Wars” and “may the force be with you” as the text on the designs. See a preview of the collection here .