I don’t know how I missed this when it was  first posted on Disney Parks Blog, but it’s really cool to see.

I’m glad I knew better than plan a Christmas trip to any of the theme parks in Orlando.  Universal had lines up to three hours long for the new Rip Ride Rockit coaster, and the Magic Kingdom had to close their gates to new guests after hitting capacity several times that week.

More information about the crowds from the Orlando Sentinel

An 18 year old killer whaled named Takara at SeaWorld San Antonio had a baby this morning at 7:15 AM. Both mother and baby are doing well.

Sully is the newest addition to the Sea World San Diego animal park.

Disney was fined 44,000 in penalties for violations that resulted in the death of a park employee caused by two monorails colliding.

Disney Parks Blog has release a short video outlining the changes coming to Disney’s california adventure park.

The LA times has published their top 10 list for new rides and attractions at US theme parks.  Overall, I agree with their list because I am looking forward to almost all of the items on their list.

Disneyland is doing maintenance on several rides.

• Because they are draining the rivers, all the river attractions are closed until May.
• No fireworks during weekdays this week, but a ‘new’ old show will be back starting Friday.
• The haunted mansion is closed temporarily to remove the holiday overlays.
• Captain EO is coming back

More details  from the Orange County Register here.

Carowinds Connection has posted pictures of the last piece of track for the new Intimidator roller coaster being put into place on Dec 22.    This is a great Christmas present for everyone who frequents this park.

Roy E. Disney, the nephew of Walt Disney, died Wednesday at the age of 79.  He was the last member of the Disney family to work at Disney.

Cedar Fair announced that it is being purchased by an affiliate of Apollo Global Management.  The transaction is worth around 2.4 billion.

Cedar Fair has been struggling with some debt after the purchase of the former Paramount Parks, to the point of selling land near their canadian theme park, so this isn’t a total surprise.  It looks like purchasing the Paramount parks just gave them too much debt for when the economy went south.

Knott’s Berry Farm won’t be getting the Demon Drop ride from Cedar Point.  Instead, the ride will find a new home at Dorney Park.  They will keep the name and logo, but the colors may be updated when it gets to it’s new home.

You can now view SeaWorld from the comfort of your home via Google Street View.  Busch Gardens is coming soon, but for now you’ll have to make do with a virtual tour of the Sea World parks in San Antonio, San Diego, and Orlando, as well as Aquatica and Discovery Cove in Orlando.

Carowindsconnection.com has posted new photos of Intimidator taken over the holiday weekend.  Most of the track looks to be complete and it is visible from miles away on I-77.

Now that Blackstone has officially purchased the Anheiser Busch Theme parks, they have changed their name to “Seaworld Parks & Entertainment.“  They are saying that at the moment nothing else will change.  I guess since Seaworld has the highest attendance figures and Busch Gardens is based on another company’s name it makes sense to go towards seaworld.  It’s just odd if they end up renaming Busch Gardens since they don’t really have much in the way of marine animals at those parks.