rides

Tokyo, Friday, 31 October 2025.
Tokyo Disneyland opened The Happy Ride with Baymax last Wednesday, introducing a compact, IP-led flat ride that reimagines Big Hero 6’s nursebots as ride operators who pull vehicles that whirl and pivot in unpredictable ways — the attraction’s standout detail and primary guest draw. Presented by Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd., the experience is built for high-frequency, family-focused capacity: short cycles, deliberate load/unload choreography and strong visual storytelling let the resort broaden day-part appeal for younger demographics without the land or investment of a coaster. For retail and operations teams, the ride underscores two trends: leveraging familiar characters to drive throughput and monetizing corporate sponsorships to underwrite attraction growth in mature urban parks. Expect integrated audio content — including a special-version track tied to the attraction — and measurable queue pressure early on, making this a useful case for planners balancing guest mix, sponsorship revenue and compact footprint economics.

Orlando, Wednesday, 29 October 2025.
At IAAPA Expo Orlando, key suppliers signalled a shift toward modular, interoperable attraction ecosystems to operators and merchandisers. Vekoma teased a ‘surprising’ coaster tied to Grupo Vidanta, WhiteWater unveiled compact, capacity‑boosting waterplay systems, Dronisos highlighted near‑500 shows at Disneyland Paris validating drone spectacles, and Accesso updated its accessoPassport guest‑management SaaS. Together these reveals point to shorter lead times, bundled procurement opportunities across rides, shows and retail/F&B systems, and rising demand for systems‑integration expertise to turn IP‑compliant show tech into per‑capita revenue. For retail teams this means tighter tie‑ins between show scheduling and F&B/merch forecasts, higher yields from dynamic bundles, and new vendor negotiation levers around modular delivery and post‑install platform fees. Operators should prioritise integration roadmaps, rider throughput metrics and IP licensing terms when evaluating bids. Expect procurement windows to shorten and the premium on cross‑discipline project managers to grow as suppliers push packaged, interoperable stacks that monetise flow.

Louisville, Tuesday, 28 October 2025.
Kentucky Kingdom announced Monday that Flying Fox, a custom Vekoma suspended family coaster, will open for the 2026 season as the park’s sixth coaster and the most of any park in Kentucky. The 421 m (1,380 ft) layout climbs to 20 m (65 ft), reaches 60 km/h (37 mph) and runs about 63 seconds on a single 20‑rider train; the $14 million investment is part of a multi‑year capital programme following Discovery Meadow. The attraction leans into local storytelling — a red‑barn queue, hand‑painted murals and an agricultural crop‑duster narrative starring local legend Jeb Fox — delivering themed impact with a modest footprint. For retail and operations teams, key takeaways are clear: single‑train throughput will drive dispatch cadence and hourly capacity planning, suspended‑coaster architecture has specific maintenance and mixed‑climate lifecycle implications, and the product is positioned to capture family demand while incrementally increasing park capacity.

Hershey, Pennsylvania, Monday, 20 October 2025.
Hersheypark has extended its Halloween Dark Nights through Sunday, pairing unlit coaster runs with five haunted houses and expanded family offerings to concentrate demand in evening hours. For retail and F&B leaders this is a tactical, low‑capex overlay that intentionally compresses guest flow into limited-night windows to lift evening throughput, increase per‑capita spend, and boost souvenir and food attach rates. Operational priorities are clear: align park versus event hours, implement robust ride lighting and safety protocols for lights‑out coaster operations, optimize queue management for time‑limited activations, and deploy flexible staffing and scheduling for extended entertainment windows. Commercial teams should push Fast Track and bundled F&B offers while finance monitors attendance uplift, average check, and shoulder‑season hotel occupancy. Early signals from last Friday’s roll‑out show strong interest in the lights‑out coaster experience — a behaviour that can be monetised if safety and throughput remain tightly managed.

Anaheim, Monday, 20 October 2025.
Disney has announced Soarin’ Across America will replace current Soarin’ films at both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort in summer 2026 as part of a company‑wide ‘Disney Celebrates America’ program tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary. The most intriguing fact: this is a coordinated, cross‑park content deployment that leverages existing high‑capacity flying‑theater assets to deliver time‑bound, IP‑neutral programming across marquee parks—a clear lever to stimulate mid‑season demand. For retail and operations teams this signals concrete implications: synchronized rollouts and marketing across installations; planned downtime for film installation, testing and AV recalibration; and the need to model changed throughput and guest flow during peak celebration periods. Expect streamlined promotional campaigns and opportunities to align retail assortments and F&B offers with patriotic programming windows. The announcement offers a practical case study in using temporary content overlays on high‑capacity attractions to drive attendance, operational complexity and cross‑channel merchandising opportunities for the summer celebration.

Orlando, Monday, 20 October 2025.
Universal Studios Florida permanently retired Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit in August, and last Friday demolition work visibly cleared its iconic lift hill — freeing one of the park’s highest‑value footprints adjacent to the entertainment boulevard. For retail and operations leaders this is significant: the removal eliminates a mid‑park capacity anchor that handled express and standby throughput, while creating a redevelopment parcel optimised for higher‑yield uses. Expect options to include a higher‑capacity coaster, IP‑driven family experience, or revenue‑focused retail and F&B that leverages footfall and dwell time. The most intriguing fact: demolition moved from planning to visible progress within weeks of closure, signalling aggressive capital reallocation rather than long‑term mothballing. Retail teams should watch permitting filings, job ads for design/construction roles, and contractor activity as near‑term indicators of concept direction and timelines — critical signals for forecasting guest flow, merchandising strategy, and temporary concessions during construction.

Los Angeles, Friday, 17 October 2025.
Universal Studios Hollywood moved Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift into on-track testing last Thursday, signaling a shift from construction to systems commissioning and imminent operational planning. The outdoor coaster will run along roughly 1,250 m of track, reach about 116 km/h and use individually 360-degree‑rotating vehicles—features that will dictate braking profiles, cycle times and maintenance regimes. Initial tests (images and video surfaced this month) will focus on launches, vehicle alignment, throughput calibration and noise‑mitigation systems already built into the design. For retail and merchandising teams this confirms a near-term IP asset to drive post-opening demand; for operations it sets firm timelines for staff training, spare‑parts stocking and capacity modelling. Strategically, the project underscores Universal’s franchise-led investment approach and alters competitive positioning in Southern California. With a public opening set for 2026, planners should finalise merchandise assortments, reveal schedules for remaining cars and lock in timed-entry and cross-promotional playbooks during this testing window.

Pigeon Forge, Thursday, 16 October 2025.
Operators in tourist hubs should note a key tweak: Truth Traveler pairs Simworx’s trackless motion‑base VR theatre and turnkey ops with Mindscape’s IP‑led episodic content to deliver a high‑capacity, multi‑seat experience that opens in 2025. The most intriguing fact is the business case — modular, IP‑enabled VR theatres promise higher throughput, easier content refresh and lower maintenance than bespoke dark rides, enabling shorter capital payback and new recurring revenue through licensed episodic programming. For retail and F&B planners, the format’s smaller footprint and faster deployment create more flexible opportunities for themed retail, merchandise tie‑ins and seasonal promotions inside entertainment districts and mid‑scale parks. Technical and operational priorities will centre on motion‑base integration, synchronized multisensory effects, content lifecycle management and uptime protocols to hit peak‑season capacity targets. For merchandising and revenue managers, the attraction’s design signals a shift toward scalable, refreshable IP ecosystems that support repeat visitation and ongoing retail monetisation.

London, Tuesday, 14 October 2025.
London’s dark‑ride renaissance is swapping pure mechanical engineering for software, real‑time rendering and electronics—driving a shift in capital from steel and track to compute, licensed IP and show‑control middleware. Ingenia’s feature this year maps technical advances (synchronised multi‑axis motion, AGV vehicles with on‑board media, edge compute for low‑latency control) and the operational consequences: new throughput modelling, maintenance regimes, supplier dependencies and cyber‑physical safety validations. For ride and capital planners, the most striking takeaway is capacity and cost trade‑offs—trackless AGVs enable dynamic storytelling and per‑cycle yield optimisation but increase lifecycle spend on electronics and third‑party rendering engines. The piece flags procurement choices between integrated turnkey systems and best‑of‑breed components, and stresses redundant architectures, regulatory testing and data‑driven guest segmentation as immediate priorities. Operators can expect fresh creative freedom and revenue levers, paired with heightened supplier risk and complex maintenance planning that must be baked into feasibility studies and OPEX forecasts and timelines.

Orlando, Monday, 13 October 2025.
IAAPA Expo in Orlando showcased coordinated unveilings that signal where procurement and operations should focus for 2025. Manufacturers pushed modular attraction systems to shorten installation timelines, while media-driven integrations—most visibly drone spectacles (including a 1,571‑drone aerial image record with Disneyland Paris)—are increasingly stitched into dark rides and night shows. Suppliers highlighted incremental safety upgrades (new restraint designs and flume platforms), waterpark products aimed at throughput and OPEX gains, and platform-level guest-commerce enhancements such as ticketing and access interoperability. Strategic partnerships and confirmed 2025 delivery pipelines were prominent, but so were implied supply‑chain timing risks that could affect scheduled openings. For retail and operator buyers, the Expo frames near-term choices: prioritize modular, interoperable tech to reduce capex/time-to-market; evaluate media/drone IP tie‑ins for guest appeal and OPEX impact; and factor vendor lead times into procurement windows to avoid launch delays.

Orlando, Friday, 10 October 2025.
This Friday morning a now‑closed roller coaster at Universal Studios Orlando was photographed burning while the attraction was off‑limits to guests — the most striking detail: the blaze affected external track elements during demolition activity, with no reported injuries. For retail and park operators, the incident sharpens focus on asset lifecycle risk, contractor oversight and continuity planning: potential ignition sources range from electrical and vehicle systems to demolition‑related work, each carrying different inspection, liability and insurance pathways. Expect immediate regulatory inspections, targeted root‑cause analyses and directed shifts to preventive‑maintenance and fire‑suppression protocols on similarly designed attractions. Communicators should prepare succinct stakeholder updates; operations teams must model downtime, remediation costs and supply‑chain impacts for replacement parts and contractors. Monitor official incident reports and technical findings closely — early responses will shape liability exposure, contractual remedies and whether maintenance schedules or demolition practices are revised across portfolios.

Kaatsheuvel, Tuesday, 7 October 2025.
Last Monday at the IAAPA Expo in Barcelona, Efteling and Vekoma unveiled a certified “seat-on-wheels” concept that allows guests to remain in their own wheelchairs while boarding tracked attractions—potentially the single biggest change to on‑ride accessibility in recent years. Developed with social sustainability partners and representatives from de Zonnebloem, the concept covers vehicle adaptation, restraint integration, evacuation procedures and safety compliance, while flagging operational trade‑offs such as throughput, retrofitting complexity, lifecycle maintenance and staff training. For park operators and manufacturers, the immediate takeaway is practical: inclusive engineering will require changes across design, operations and regulatory engagement, and could affect queue management, staffing models and capex planning for existing dark rides and family attractions. The presentation is a call to industry collaboration rather than a finished product; suppliers and parks are invited to co‑develop standards that balance guest experience, safety and operational efficiency.