Disney’s decommissioned ‘20,000 Leagues’ ride gets a second life in VR

Disney’s classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride closed 27 years ago, but that won’t preclude you from hopping aboard. Polygon notes that Defunctland, Kevin Perjurer’s unofficial theme park preservation project, has recreated the 20,000 Leagues att...

Nintendo Stages Live-action Mario Run

Yesterday I talked a bit about the teaser that Nintendo released to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Super Nintendo World theme park at Universal Studios Japan. That trailer was CGI animated, though there were real people superimposed into it. As it turns out there was an on-site ceremony, which featured some fun live-action.

They put together a live-action Super Mario run, complete with a costumed actor running in place, coins popping out of bricks, turtle shells spinning along the ground, and side-scrolling stuff running by. Skip ahead to 1:08 for the fun:

It’s pretty awesome, though at one point, the coins are out of sync with the bricks, and then a brick magically breaks without him punching it. Just consider it a glitch in the code.

The set built for this is very cool and I hope the theme park has something like this for visitors to play on. It will be 2020 before the Japanese park opens its doors and years later before Super Nintendo World comes to US theme parks.

[via Kotaku]

Disney’s Avatar and Star Wars Theme Parks Get Opening Dates

During an earnings call, the Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the Pandora: The World of Avatar park will open on May 27, 2017 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida. This sounds really cool, but I have to wonder how many people even remember the film that the park is based on today. It has been eight years since that movie was in theaters, and it lost some of its cool if you watch it today. That said, there are a bunch of new Avatar movies in the works for release starting in December 2018.

During the same call Iger, also talked about their upcoming Star Wars themed lands, and stated that they will open in 2019 at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. The Star Wars parks will be enormous and are taking some time to create.

Apparently, the Star Wars attractions represent the biggest theme expansions in Disney history. They better rock, if we wait all that time and the parks are lame, it won’t be pretty.

[via io9 via Nerd Approved]

The Black Hole Water Slide Looks Like You’re In A Sci Fi Movie

The Black Hole Water Slide Looks Like You're In A Sci Fi Movie

Youtuber tuberides1 posted this video showing off Black Hole, a water slide equipped with all kinds of LEDs that makes it look like you’re flying through hyper space. Or something. I don’t know, it’s cool as hell though! If you’re in the Bremerhaven, Germany area, hit up the Bad 1 water park to ride the […]

The post The Black Hole Water Slide Looks Like You’re In A Sci Fi Movie appeared first on Incredible Things.


Visit IncredibleThings.com for the full post.

7 Best Theme Parks That Should be Better Known

Popeye Village

Everyone loves theme parks, whether you’re a young kid (obviously) or even if you’re aging, balding and running around kids of your own, worrying about a mortgage and your stock market portfolio.

In Europe, there are quite a few theme parks that don’t have a global appeal, but stand out in their uniqueness (each in its own speciality) making them worth a visit and be more than just a locals secret.

Area 47, Ötztal, Tirol, Austria

 

A mega park for extreme activities, Area 47 is one of those things you take a few days to digest, not just a morning + afternoon. It includes a 30 metre-high “mega swing”; a rope course suspended below a bridge, which is also fitted with a climbing wall; a water park and a diving tower; water-ski jumping slope and spectacular slides, and also rafting, canyoning and caving trips.

Bakken, Copenhagen, Denmark

 

The oldest amusement park in the world (1583) which mostly attracts locals to its gates doesn’t have thrilling rides, but the nostalgia, wood and scenery make it a very different experience, and one people shouldn’t miss if they’re in a dropping by distance.

Efteling, Kaatsheuvel, Netherlands

 

One of the best kept secrets in the Netherlands considering that 94% of the park’s visitors are local, Efteling is a huge fantasy theme park that opened in 1952, allegedly inspiring Walt Disney to open Disneyland. Its flagship rides are the grand double-track wooden rollercoaster Joris de Draak, or Joris the Dragon, in which two trains race each other around the track.

Gr?tas Park (Stalin’s World), Druskininkai, Lithuania

 

Unofficially known as ‘Stalin’s World’, Grutas Park is an attempt to preserve the history of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic era. It’s filled with huge statues, guard towers and concentration camps but also a kid’s playground and a small zoo. It’s not flashy, but it’s a unique experience, and a little tour down memory lane for those who remember living under communist rule.

Popeye Village in Malta

 

Remember the Live-Action Popeye film from the 1980’s with Robin Williams? Hardly anyone does. But the set built at Anchor Bay remains and became a lot more successful than the actual movie. It’s even free to enter!!!

Siam Park, Tenerife, Canary Islands

 

If Thailand is too far away for some of you, there’s a replica park in Tenerife (Spain), which is a huge water park which features Thai-inspired rides such as the Mekong Rapids, the Dragon and Tower of Power. It also has a calmer part, the Mai Thai river or Siam Beach.

Tripsdrill, Germany

Another oldie but goodie, Tripsdrill is Germany’s oldest theme park. Opened in 1929, it is still owned by the original owners (Fischer family) and blends new with old quite well. Besides the park rides, it also has a wildlife park with 130 different species, including wild horses, Arctic wolves and bears.

For a more futuristic take on the subject, check out the Robo-park in South Korea that will open in 2016, or read about how Disney could start using Drones in Theme Park shows.

Hat Tip: Telegraph

A Human-Powered Theme Park Exists & It Looks Fun AF

A Human-Powered Theme Park Exists & It Looks Fun AF

Youtuber Tom Scott posted this video of himself and a pal experiencing a human-powered theme park in Treviso, Italy. In it, you see them trying out the Bicycle Of Death, but there are tons of other rides that work only when powered by the rider(s) through peddling, pushing, and other physical movement. You get an […]

The post A Human-Powered Theme Park Exists & It Looks Fun AF appeared first on Incredible Things.


Visit IncredibleThings.com for the full post.