“It’s the most change that’s we’ve had in this park in the last 30 years easily.” MOVIES
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Epic adventure
Theme park updates from Tampa and Orlando. By Chelsea Zukowski Island that are expected to be ready in time for the park’s first spring guests. The entrance area is getting a much-needed facelift with two new, larger signs, café string lights across the walkway, palm trees and other greenery and some more modern tropical décor. “For people that walk into the park, it really previews what they’re about to see inside; you know, giving a nod to the quality that’s inside the gates—the rides and experiences,” Thom said. Adventure Island is also getting a seating upgrade to its main beach lounge area. When it’s complete the park’s “Beach” will have a little less sand and a lot more loungers and shade provided by new foliage and what Thom calls “fun-brellas.”
TRAVEL & LEISURE
Epic Universe, Universal Orlando’s fourth theme park, will open summer 2025 NBCUniversal’s parent company, Comcast, announced on Jan. 27 that the new Epic Universe theme park is set to open by the summer of 2025 in Orlando. The announcement was made by Chief Financial Officer Michael Cavanagh in the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. Comcast’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts also announced that Universal Orlando had “ the best quarter in the company’s history for any quarter.” From those earnings, NBC Universal plans to invest about $1 billion on capital expenditures for the theme park. After construction was paused for nearly a year, Epic Universe is “full steam ahead” according to Shell. The 25-acre theme park will include Super Nintendo World, extensive fountains, a direct park access celestial-themed hotel and many other features yet to be announced.—Sofía García Vargas
CHELSEA ZUKOWSKI
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hen Adventure Island reopens in March, it’ll have two new rides and some of the biggest upgrades in the Tampa water park’s history. “It’s the most change that’s we’ve had in this park in the last 30 years easily,” Adventure Island Vice President Brandon Thom said. “All happening at once. We have a lot of work to do, but we’ll be ready by the springtime.” The major draws when the park reopens will likely be the reimagined Wahoo Remix and the brand-new Rapids Racer—both raft rides with starting points in the same hilltop tower behind the Hang Ten Tiki Bar. Rapids Racer replaces the Runaway Rapids, which hadn’t operated since before the 2020 season. Adventure Island bills Rapids Racer as a speedy, two-person raft ride that propels riders through nearly 600 feet of slide. During a recent media tour of the construction site, Design & Engineering Project Manager Andrew Schaffer said the ride has “the world’s first dueling saucer element” and “six different dueling elements so that you can your family can have fun racing each other.” “It’s going to be very fun, lots of twists, lots of turns, lots of dueling, speed, excitement, water splashing all the way down to the end of the ride,” Schaffer said. After racing each other on Rapids Racer, riders can trudge back up the tower to hop on Wahoo Remix, a revamp of the popular Wahoo Run. The ride’s former dark, enclosed tunnels now sport new colors lit up with multi-colored lights that dance to the music pumping through the slide—about a dozen different songs of all genres, Schaffer said. Wahoo Remix is also getting all-new fourperson rafts to max its new color scheme. Thom said Wahoo Remix is the park’s most inclusive ride with the shortest height requirement. “If you can walk and hold yourself upright— that could be as young as two, three years old—you can ride it,” Thom said. “So that’s going to be huge for families.” During the tour, Thom showed off two other big changes under construction at Adventure
“I think that’s going to be spot number one when that gets finished,” he said. Adventure Island and its sister theme park Busch Gardens are simultaneously bouncing back with new rides and attractions two years after the pandemic upended the theme park industry. Days before essentially the world shut down because of COVID-19, Adventure Island was able to open the Solar Vortex water slide. Then last summer, the park’s full-service Hang Ten Tiki Bar opened with a menu packed with tropical classics, local beers and snacks like the Tiki Man soft pretzel. And in spring of 2022, Adventure Island will boast two new rides while Busch Gardens finally opens the epic Iron Gwazi hybrid coaster, which is set to debut on March 11. Adventure Island reopens on March 5 and is expected to remain open year-round thanks to the addition of pool heaters. Tickets, passes and more information can be found at adventureisland.com.
AMUSÉMENT BOUCHE: We got a sneak peek at upgrades to Adventure Island
cltampa.com | FEBRUARY 17 - 23, 2022 | 45
