Cosmic Rewind, which opened this spring, is an indoor roller coaster with a storyline that swings through outer space and is set to a pop-music soundtrack. Bermuda Storm, a motion-simulator attraction at Chimelong Spaceship theme park in Zhuhai, China, also was recognized in the attraction division.

SeaWorld’s Yas Island in Abu Dhabi won in the indoor marine park category.

Other outstanding achievement winners were Disney Encanto x CAMP in New York (retail experience, limited budget), Mussikkfabrikken Hunderfossen at Hunderfossen Eventyrpark in Norway (attraction, limited budget), Geneva Journey of Switzerland (live spectacular), Deutschlandmuseum of Berlin (museum attraction, limited budget), “Le Mime et L’Etoile” at Puy De Fou in France (live show), Titanic Belfast of Northern Ireland (visitor experience re-envisioned, limited budget), Johnnie Walker Princes Street in  Edinburgh, Scotland (brand experience), Aura: The Forest at the Edge of the Sky in Haikou, China (immersive mall experience), Peaky Blinders: The Rise at Camden Stables Market of London (live interactive experience), Colored (Noire) of Centre Georges in Paris (extended reality exhibit) and Eatrenalin of Europa-Park in Germany (experiential dining attraction).

Individuals recognized include Su Zhigang, chairman and CEO of Chimelong Group, for the Buzz Price Award; Paul C. Hutton, principal and director of Regenerative Design at Cuningham for the Thea Catalyst Award, and David Green and Lisa Passamonte Green of Visual Terrain for the Peter Chernack Distinguished Service Award.

Liseberg, an amusement park in Gothenburg, Sweden, received the Thea Classic Award.

Winners will be honored at a gala in Hollywood, California, in March. IAAPA Expo at Orange County Convention Center continues through Friday.

dbevil@orlandosentinel.com

Radar is a weekly digest of theme park news and notions. It appears on OrlandoSentinel.com on Wednesdays.

Mrs. Claus stirs things up

SeaWorld Orlando has sprinkled some new elements into its Christmas celebration, which is now underway on select evenings. Among the additions is “Mrs. Claus’ Magic Kitchen,” a stage show in Seaport Theater.

“You get a sneak peek into the culinary habits of the Clauses,” said John Minneci, manager for entertainment. In the story, “Mrs. Claus is getting all into social media. She wants to be the next TikTok trend.”

The plot involves her doing a video shoot on how to make the cookies that Santa loves most, he said.

“At the end, we learned a little lesson about how Mrs. Claus does her magic,” Minneci said.

It’s SeaWorld’s first holiday season with Pipeline, the roller coaster that opened this spring. The park is divided into “seas,” and the area around the ride has been designated Sea of Memories. The pathway is lined with trees decorated to represent different decades of holiday traditions, Minneci said.

“We took a lot of inspiration just from the ride itself,” he said. “The ride has a kind of retro vintage kind of vibe.”

Orlando theme parks: 10 things we’re thankful for in 2023

Among the holiday holdovers at SeaWorld are “O Wondrous Night,” “Elmo’s Christmas Wish Show,” a Christmas parade in Sesame Street Land, “Winter Wonderland On Ice,” the Sea of Trees display and the “Holiday Reflections” fireworks show.

The Christmas Market has moved into the Wild Arctic area.

“One thing that we really wanted to do this year was kind of elevate the theming of the seas that you see in the park. … Each one [sea] has a different theme based on the different holiday feeling, and it’s been like that for years,” Minneci said.

“What we wanted to do is really find ways that we could still enhance that and make sure that our guests know what those feelings are. So you’ll see a little bit more, you’ll see some signage, you’ll see some decor that kind of really helps tell the story of each land,” he said.

For dates and showtimes, go to SeaWorldOrlando.com or use the park’s official app.

Getting Very Merry

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is back in full swing at Magic Kingdom. It’s a hot ticket again: 17 of the 29 nights have sold out already. And beware, every night was a sell-out in 2023.

Here are notes taken from opening night.

• Among the new offerings: A boy band called the Collective 5ive performs pop holiday songs on the Rockettower Plaza Stage in Tomorrowland. A three-piece country-western group called Reindeer Wranglers was in the streets of Frontierland. Most visibly, “Frozen Holiday Surprise” (Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, castle projections) kicks off the event at the base of Cinderella Castle.

• Some attractions have mild holiday makeovers. A surprise: From the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover, you get a red-and-green lit glance of Space Mountain and its rockin’ soundtrack. As we passed by, we got a look at the whole attraction in moody blue/black lighting.

• If you thought you’d be the only one there in pajamas, you’d be wrong headed. Folks have shifted into holiday dressing mode for the event, although we can probably agree that flannel in Florida is pushing the season.

• Things I had forgotten about in “Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration”: Clarabelle cow doing her best Mariah Carey and making a cowbell joke, Daisy Duck’s song about texting, Mickey Mouse breaking into a version of the Carlton.

• Very Merry begins at 7 p.m., although ticketholders can enter at 4 p.m. There can be a rush at the turnstiles for the event and to get the required wristband. A workaround for annual passholders: Go in through “regular” gates (you’ll need reservations on Saturdays or Sundays still) and get banded inside.

Mr. Gold standard

Mr. Gold has moved into Legoland Florida. He’s a sought-after minifig that the Winter Haven theme park uses to encourage interaction between visitors and employees (a k a model citizens or MCs.)

“Every day, some of our team will have a Mr. Gold,” said Kelly Hornick, head of marketing and communication. “Some days, there’ll be multiples, you don’t know who has it. It could be me, it could be the park president, it could be the ride operator.

Mr. Gold has been a staple at Legoland California and is popular with annual passholders. But anyone can just ask a worker if they have Mr. Gold.

“If we have Mr. Gold, which is a pop badge with Mr. Gold on it, we’ll give it to the kid and then the family gets to go up to guest services and get some really awesome prizes,” Hornick said. “The prizes, honestly, will change throughout the days. … But they’ll always be something really fun and new for the kids and for the families to do.”

There are consolation prizes too.

“For those of us who aren’t lucky enough to be Mr. Gold for the day – even though we’ll get asked about 40 times a day now when we are around the park – we have more pot badges and fun things just to give the kids for being brave enough to talk to the grown-ups and take the time to chat with us,” Hornick said.

First look: Disney Jollywood Nights debuts at Hollywood Studios

Weekend outlook

• Island H2O Water Park’s new Holiday Nights show, featuring light presentations, live entertainment, family activities and a holiday market, starts Nov. 15 and continues on select nights through Dec. 31.

• The Dinos in Lights holiday show is now playing at Orlando Science Center through Jan. 9.

• The Santa Workshop Experience is now open at Icon Park. St. Nick is scheduled for appearances through Dec. 24.

• Gaylord Palms’ “ICE” exhibit based on “A Charlie Brown Christmas” begins Friday and runs daily through Jan. 3.

• Universal Orlando’s holiday celebration, including a parade and Grinchmas festivities, launches Friday and goes through Dec. 31.

• The movie for Saturday’s Beach Nights event at Aquatica water park is 2018’s “The Grinch.”

• At Walt Disney World, the new Disney Jollywood Nights event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is sold out for Saturday but tickets are available for Nov. 20. At Magic Kingdom, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is sold out through Nov. 22 and at least seven other dates.

• The final day of the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival is Saturday.

What’s on your radar? Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com.

It gave it a makeover complete with new floors and a ceiling with about 600 bubble carvings to give it that “under the sea” feeling, said Sharon Siskie, senior vice president and general manager for the line, during an opening ceremony for it on Monday.

“When we stand here today, and we look at the space and we think back to when we initially did our walkthrough, and we leverage the imagination of the teams to envision what it would be able to become, we had that discussion of how do you really elevate the brand presence and really make this a Disney experience,” she said,

The Disney touches range from cartoonish murals, including a black-and-white homage to Steamboat Willie on the walk-in from the parking garage to the terminal adorned wall-to-wall with characters from “Finding Nemo.”

The 104,000-square-foot terminal is cavernous, unlike the line’s terminal at Port Canaveral, but with Disney’s expertise in managing lines, it should make for a quick onboard experience for when Disney Dream arrives for its first sailing on Nov. 20.

With a week before its arrival, officials with the cruise line, the port and Broward County government were on hand to dedicate the space, which has seen little use since the port reacquired it from Carnival Corp. in a pandemic-related deal.

“This is a complete reimagineering and rebranding,” said Port Everglades CEO and port director Jonathan Daniels. “It’s a different agreement than any agreement that we’ve had with any of the any of the lines in the past. … Because of all the intellectual property that they have in here — the branding that has occurred — this is Disney’s terminal.”

The line had been sailing from PortMiami to some degree since 2012, but only seasonally, and with Disney Dream’s four- and five-night sailings that will give way to Disney Magic in May doing three-, four and five-night sailings, it marks the beginning of a 15-year commitment to Port Everglades that guarantees 10.6 million passengers over the term of the lease.

That means both year-round sailings through 2024, but a second ship sailing seasonally beginning in 2025. The port and Disney can agree to extend the lease in five-year increments for an additional 15 years as well, bringing in another 11.25 million passengers.

It’s also going to be the first port with regular visits starting next summer to the line’s new private Bahamas destination, Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point on the southern end of Eleuthera. Port Canaveral-based ships won’t get regular visits there until fall of next year.

Benefiting from a $120 million investment made before the pandemic, the terminal’s parking garage pairs up with the adjacent Cruise Terminal 2 used by Princess Cruises so that combined they have more than 1,800 spaces, sitting adjacent to the Broward County Convention Center and close to the hotels and restaurants just north of the port.

That includes automated walkways and the promise of complete coverage from garage to ship to shield travelers from Florida’s heat and inclement weather.

The port has its own drive-in market but also pulls travelers from the nearby Fort Lauderdale International Airport and from Miami and West Palm’s airports to a smaller degree. That also means some of the cruisers are shuttling in from nearby hotels, so the parking impact remains to be seen, Daniels said.

“The one thing we’re not going to do is we’re not going to go out there and build a massive 1,500-car, 2,000-car parking garage without seeing what this year looks like,” he said. “If we need another one, it’s because we’re in a great position. We’ll know some of the pain and pressure points this year.”

For Disney, the market is one ripe for new business, not just those with families, but the real adult market craving a Disney experience, Siskie said.

“We’re bringing the product closer to home right on the back door of guests here who, you know may not get all the way to Orlando as often as they might like,” she said. “This is a great opportunity for them to have a little Disney fix.”

And the line is leaning on the port’s backyard of Fort Lauderdale and the greater Broward County area with its own unique spillover benefits.

“We did like the location,” she said. “Port Everglades in general, there are things that we really did like a lot about it. … Fabulous beaches … restaurants, just a great overall place for guests to come to take a Disney cruise. So we started there and we said, ‘Can this be a really good fit for our guests?’ And we said, ‘Yeah, we think it can.'”

“Disney’s Hollywood Studios was my first park when I was hired back in the day,” Tom Vazzana, creative director with  Disney Live Entertainment, said Saturday. “So I know the pockets, and I know the storylines. So I knew we wanted to have diverse offerings in terms of not only authentic voices and styles, inclusivity. But also … What is the street telling us?”

“It was really a lot about how can we interpret and reimagine what’s existing in the park and then kind of plus it up for our older demographic,” said RJ Temple, show director.

Here are some of what was experienced on opening night.

What’s this? Two shows

The after-hours/separately ticketed event features two stage productions that showcase wildly different Disney characters and themes. “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along” begins with a memorable, monumental on-stage appearance by Jack Skellington and continues with big-screen interactions with two live performers plus some Oogie Boogie action.

The lyrics appear at the top of the screen in a “Nightmare”-ish font. The songs are fast-paced and wordy, so familiarity with the film is helpful. But it’s not required to enjoy the show. I saw only a handful of people singing along at the singalong, and that might be because the show is overwhelmingly visual.

Meanwhile, “Disney Holidays in Hollywood” pretends to be a televised variety show, complete with commercial breaks, with the Jollywood crowd as the studio audience. There is some comedy – jokes worked in about both figgy pudding and spirit jerseys. Puppet-sized Miss Piggy and Kermit appear alongside Mickey, Minnie, dancers and an eight-piece live band.  There are jazzy songs, traditional and original, including a couple of numbers by Tiana and Belle, and ambitious staging.  A friend noted it had a Disney Cruise Line feel.

Both shows clocked in at just under 30 minutes.

Tune town

The event is divided into zones sprinkled between the Tower of Terror area and Commissary Lane.

“You go to Echo Lake; you’re going to have a throwback to the ‘80s. Then you go down Sunset, we’re going to 1939, and that’s where we experience the Tip Top Club. And then we go to Commissary Lane, which is now our Fiesta en la Calle, our Latin festival,” Vazzana said. “South Beach was the inspiration [for the latter]. I was there last year, and I said we could string up lights, and we could do a festival here.”

For the most part, visitors can go with the flow, although for Jazzy Holiday at the Hollywood Brown Derby, folks must join a “mobile walk-up list” via the My Disney Experience app.

There was a jam of party-goers for the band at Tip Top Club near the base of the tower (which remains open during the event), and there’s also a bar down there that got a lot of attention, creating a human logjam. There was more elbow room at Holiday Fiesta en la Calle.

There were reports of gaps in the musical programs. Rain toward the end of the evening also disrupted performances.

Eating your way through the holidays

Although crowds are thinner at Disney after-hours events, there are still queues to endure. We waited about 30 minutes for edible fare at Fairfax Faire on Sunset, including tasty and filling “popovers” (one with turkey, one featuring “the sides”); Kermit’s Frozen Banana Bliss beverage, which was smooth, overwhelmingly banana tasting and non-alcoholic; and Mistletoe Martini.

The dining options are spread over the park and not always evident in the darkness, so checking out Disney’s online foodie guide before arrival is advised.  Among the items for sale here and there are yuca con chicharron, tuna ceviche, spicy pimento-kimchi dip, brisket Reuben funnel cake, Frozone’s snowball macaroons, antipasto flatbread, Sandy Claws hot cocoa and Twilight Daiquiri.

Picture it: Characters

As with many Disney events, characters are in demand.

Echo Like goes throwback with Powerline Max, Rescue Rangers plus Phineas and Ferb. Mickey and friends are found in Animation Courtyard, decked out in new holiday costuming that includes greens, pinks and aquas, a palette out of the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, Disney says.

“They have a hot set where he just finished wrapping up a holiday film,” Temple said. There are also giant candy cane props and photo ops with camera arrays and robotic arms.

The park is loaded with photo ops, including Disney PhotoPass and do-it-yourself Christmas card backdrops.

Dapper daze

Disney pushes the event as “a night of dapper delight” on its website, and folks were more dressy than Floridians usually bother with. Many broke out sequined dresses or novelty seasonal suits. There were some hybrid attempts with formal tops and shorts. I did see some interesting choices, including a man as Woody from “Toy Story,” which felt Halloweenish, but, hey, who argues with a toy during the holidays?

Of course, plenty of people chose comfort over styling.

“I would love people to dress up and come and spend the evening with us,” Vazzana said. “I just think it adds to, you know, a holiday party that you always wanted to go to that no one ever invited you to.”

Theme Park Rangers Radar: Ticket prices, Six Flags future, 2024 festivals

Finale

Hollywood Studios didn’t discard all its previous holiday fare. The retro decor around Echo Lake and Sunset Boulevard is still prominent, and the evening ends with a “Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam” nighttime spectacular outside the park’s Chinese Theater.

Jollywood Nights experienced opening-night confusion about locations, queues and timing that comes with the unfamiliarity of a new event.

Disney Jollywood Nights is scheduled for 10 select evenings through Dec. 20. Ticket prices vary with date between $159 and $179.  Three nights had sold out as of opening night.  Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party event, which cranked up for the season on Thursday, continues at Magic Kingdom on select nights through Dec. 22.

Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. Threads: @dbevil. X account: @themeparks. You can subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.

Orlando theme parks: 10 things we’re thankful for in 2023

We won’t go all pilgrim or canned cranberry on you. But here are 10 things, in no particular order, from Central Florida’s theme parks and attractions for which we’re grateful. Bring your own cornucopia.

• We’re glad that Epcot’s Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana attraction, which officially opened in October, hasn’t been too crowded or too deserted during our visits. Looking forward to more nearby additions in the near future.

• Anticipation grows for Disney Jollywood Nights, a new holiday event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios that debuts Saturday. It sounds jazzy and, dare we say, adult? (Translation: Adult beverages.)

• It’s nice to see SeaWorld Orlando recycle its Turtle Trek, a film-in-the-round attraction, into an educational and conservation effort involving coral rescue. Also, manatees are nearby.

• Baby animals such as the sawfish pups at SeaWorld, crocodile hatchlings at Gatorland, young flamingos at Discovery Cove and cotton-top tamarin monkeys at Disney’s Animal Kingdom continue to delight.

• At Icon Park, we like looking up at the colorful light show on the Wheel and down at the families on the central lawn.

• It’s exciting to peek — even through the airborne lens of others — at the ongoing construction of Epic Universe, the theme park slated to debut in 2025. (Other construction to watch: Penguin Trek, a roller coaster set to roll out in spring at SeaWorld, and Magic Kingdom’s transformation of Splash Mountain into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, scheduled to open in late 2024.)

• A trio of Hollywood Studios sites still bring top people-watching angles: Baseline Tap Room, a shady bench on Sunset Boulevard and all around the massive Millennium Falcon at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

• We enjoy the mix of big brand-name stores alongside unique and rare establishments at Disney Springs and Universal CityWalk, not to mention the former’s Orange Garage.

• On days that we can’t just face heights or spills, we appreciate Islands of Adventure’s viewing areas for Jurassic World VelociCoaster and Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure.

• E.T. Adventure at Universal Studios. That’s it. That’s the item. E.T. Adventure. Welcome home. You’ve arrived.

Pass the pumpkin pie. Then we’ll pretend we don’t see those Christmas trees for another week.

Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. Threads: @dbevil. X/Twitter: @themeparks. You can subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.

Theme Park Rangers Radar: Holidays on horizon, ‘N Sync at Epcot, cashless SeaWorld

Radar is a weekly account of spending and planning at Orlando’s attractions. It appears on OrlandoSentinel.com on Wednesdays.

Today’s ticket

When Universal Orlando recently raised ticket prices on daily rates, I realized I had lost grip on how its rates really compared with Walt Disney World and SeaWorld Orlando on a day-to-day basis.

It’s kind of a trick question, thanks to variable pricing, in which the companies charge different rates depending on the day and sometimes the park in question. That’s not factoring in combo packages or discounts for multi-day tickets or Florida resident benefits or any add-ons such as express passes.

One pass that all the parks have is a one-day, one-park ticket. Just for grins, I charted the posted prices from their official websites.

Universal now says its one-day pass starts at $119 and peaks at $179, depending on the day. SeaWorld’s one-day ticket ranges from $84.99 to $119.99, but those are the online/advance prices, and the usual price (marked out in red on the site) appears to be $138.99 every day.

Disney’s site indicates that one-day ticket prices are “from $109.” But once you find a $109 day on the site – look for August and September weekdays – you’ll see $109 gets you admission only to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. For  instance, that’s the DAK price for Aug. 21, but on that day you’d pay $119 for Epcot, $129 for Disney’s Hollywood Studios and $134 for Magic Kingdom.

That day in August would cost $139 at Universal’s parks, Islands of Adventure or Universal Studios, and $138.99 at SeaWorld, though its advance purchase price is posted as $99.99.

It could be pricier, say, for snowbirds on Feb. 17. That’s when a one-day pass is $164 for Animal Kingdom, $179 for both Epcot and Hollywood Studios and $184 for Magic Kingdom. Universal parks are $169 that day, and SeaWorld is back with $138.99 or $114.99 in advance.

Granted, the one-day, one-park system isn’t the fairest barometer, but it is consistent across the parks. (A friend recently paraphrased my oft-used riff as “One day, one park is for … chumps.”)

But let’s make it worse: One-day, one-park tickets for use on Christmas Day.

Oh, the humanity. These are among the highest of the high-end single days to buy. This year, a Dec. 25 ticket will be $159 for Animal Kingdom, $179 for Hollywood Studios and Epcot, then $189 for Magic Kingdom. Both Universal parks will be $179. SeaWorld is posted at $99.99, a relative gift, for an advance purchase.

But wait’ll next year. Prices go up, according to the Disney website, for Christmas Day ‘24 … by $5 at only Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Bean counters move in mysterious ways.

None of this is corporate wrongdoing, mind you. But the lesson could be you better click around.

Bonus notes:

• Disney’s $109 deals – aka DAK days – are in late August and 12 days in September. Its priciest stretch is Feb. 16-24 and then the tail-end of March.

• Universal’s lowest prices ($119 for a day) are Sept. 9-12. They hit their heights the last between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. It levels off in summer. July is $154 every day except for two days when it’s $164.

• SeaWorld leans heavily into the day of the week factor in the new year. One-day tickets go for $114.99 on Saturdays in January, February, March, April, August, September and October. That goes up $5 on Saturdays in June and July.

New math: Six Flags + Cedar Fair

Six Flags and Cedar Fair, two major theme park companies, have agreed in principle to a merger deal. It’s pending approval by Six Flags shareholders, but it could be complete next year. The resulting company could operate 27 theme parks and 15 water parks in 15 states.

But not Florida. The closest attractions to Orlando would be Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Six Flags Over Georgia near Atlanta. So the merger won’t directly mess with Orlando.

“This isn’t going to affect Disney and Universal that much immediately,” said Dennis Speigel of International Theme Park Services.

“But you’re taking and you’re homogenizing the two largest regional operators, which are 42 parks,” he said. “If it’s properly executed and well-marketed, you could see where the season- pass programs and the cross-pollination of promotions could create longer and more staycations in their areas in those markets.”

A stay-away-cation from Florida?

“That’s not going to pull away millions and millions of visitors,” Speigel said. “But, you know, it could definitely have an impact.”

Save the dates

• Epcot International Festival of the Arts will be Jan. 12-Feb. 19 and will again feature the Disney on Broadway Concert Series.

• Universal Orlando says dates for its Mardi Gras celebration at Universal Studios theme park are set for Feb. 3-April 7. The parade will be nightly, and there will be big-stage concerts on select nights.

Weekend outlook

• Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Celebration, the after-hours, extra-ticket event at Magic Kingdom, begins Thursday. Activities include “Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade,” a seasonal stage show at Cinderella Castle, “Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks Show,” dance parties and character meet-and-greets.

• Disney Jollywood Nights, a new after-hours, extra-ticket event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, kicks off Saturday. Festivities include “Disney Holidays in Hollywood” stage show (Kermit/Piggy alert), a “Nightmare Before Christmas” singalong, “Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam” nighttime spectacular plus “swanky” venues with themed holiday music.

• SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration – with Sea of Trees, stage shows, Sesame Street Land parade, storytelling, “Holiday Reflections” fireworks – starts Friday.

• Aquatica’s Beach Nights movie is “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” this Saturday.

• Orlando Science Center’s $12 Day, featuring $12 admission, is Sunday.

• It’s the penultimate weekend for the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. The final performers for its Eat to the Beat concert are Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on Friday and Saturday and 38 Special on Sunday and Monday.

What’s on your radar? Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com.

The global list salutes 50 leaders for innovation and creativity, and it singles out a group known as the Power 10.

Scott O’Neil, CEO of Merlin Entertainments Group, and Fiona Eastwood, chief operating officer of the company, made the Power 10 list. Kirsty Burkill, vice president of marketing for Merlin; Jonathan Lewis, global intellectual property licensing director; and John Burton, creative lead, resort theme parks division of Merlin Magic Making, are on the Blooloop 50 list.

Merlin operates Legoland Florida theme park in Winter Haven as well as Madame Tussauds Orlando, Sea Life Orlando Aquarium and dozens of other attractions.

Luc Mayrand, vice president and creative portfolio executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, was selected among the Power 10. Other WDI representatives among the 50 include executive creative director Scott Mallwitz, senior creative director Dustin J. Schofield, media designer Joe Herrington and creative executive Zsolt Hormay.

Page Thompson, president of new ventures for Universal Destinations & Experiences, was selected for the Blooloop 50, and Universal Creative is represented by executive producer Shelby Honea, senior show writer Patrick Braillard and art director Brandon Kleyla.

Jakob Wahl, president and CEO of Orlando-based International Association of Amusement Park and Attractions, and Alice Mathu, its vice president for business development and partnership, are on the 2023 list.

Tom Acomb and Mike Ostendorf, chief creative executive and CEO, respectively, of Winter Park-based AOA, were selected as members of the Power 10. AOA creates immersive experience design and themed entertainment projects.

Daryl White, executive vice president of global licensing and business development for Orlando-based Falcon’s Beyond, which develops resorts, theme parks, animation, gaming and movies.

Blooloop is a news website that covers the attractions industry. Readers nominate attraction professionals for the influencer list, and a panel of judges makes the final selection.

The entire list is available at blooloop.com.

dbevil@orlandosentinel.com

The second of Disney’s private destinations in the Bahamas joining Castaway Cay is on the southern tip of Eleuthera with the first ships set to visit beginning in June.

Designers promised to embrace Bahamian culture.

“There’s some pretty awesome, great collaboration happening right now between our teams and some unbelievably talented artists and cultural advisers in the Bahamas,” said Thomas Mazloum, president of Disney Signature Experiences, which includes Disney Cruise Line in September. “Together we’re going to shape an experience that truly celebrates that natural beauty, the traditions, the artistry of this one-of-a-kind nation.”

The arrival point is called Mabrika Cove, with “Mabrika” the Taino word for “welcome.” Disney said Taino was spoken by native Lucayans.

Central to the welcome area is the Goombay Cultural Center tied to the Bahamian carnival-esque festival Junkanoo, with a parade on tap during ships’ visits.

“Goombay is one of the traditional music styles of the Bahamas, involving singing, dancing and drumming. The brilliantly colored cultural pavilion and its Junkanoo-inspired arch will invite guests to embrace the traditions of the Bahamas, along with the sights, sounds and spirit of the country’s signature festival,” according to a post on the Disney Parks Blog.

Another new feature revealed for the destination will be Triton’s Trumpet Stage, a gazebo named after a common Bahamian spiraled seashell that doubles as a reference to King Triton from “The Little Mermaid.”

The 700-acre site, of which Disney plans to only develop 16%, will also feature retail shops with Bahamian gifts and crafts called Treasures of Eleuthera, part of the line’s promise to benefit the local economy.

Among the developed space will be an adults-only area called Serenity Bay similar to Castaway Cay, featuring its own beach and dining areas plus private cabanas.

Disney has promised to set aside at least 190 acres to be given back to the Bahamian government including the southernmost point of the land, which is expected to become a national park.

The second Bahamas site for the cruise line has been in the works since it won approval from the government to purchase the land in 2019, but it has faced delays because of the COVID pandemic, hurricanes as well as going through an environmental assessment. It began operating Castaway Cay in 1998 with the debut of its first ship.

It falls in line with the expanding fleet for DCL, which welcomed its fifth ship Disney Wish in 2022 sailing out of Port Canaveral and will bring on its sister ship Disney Treasure next December. The line has plans to grow to eight ships by the end of 2025.

Disney Cruise Line queues up old and new features for new ship Disney Treasure

Previous statements from Disney Cruise Line have said the plan for Lighthouse Point would see similar traffic as Castaway Cay, between three and five weekly visits from cruise ships year-round.

First sailings next summer will come mostly from Port Everglades, but that will expand to Port Canaveral-based ships in the fall.

The site also includes a main beach, family beach, gaming pavilion, market-style dining, water play area with two slides, water drums, fountains and dedicated space for toddlers, a club for children age 3-12 that has its own splash pad themed to “The Little Mermaid” and dedicated dining area.

Recreation options on the site include a covered gaming pavilion, volleyball court, gaga ball pit, watercraft and bike rentals as well as nature trails for hiking and biking. The line is working with local tour operators as well for a lineup to explore beyond the resort.

Details about the site can be found at lighthousepointbahamas.com.

So, it was a mellow meandering this year with my friends’ annual outing to the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. My mind wandered, too, bringing up random Epcot musings. (Before you ask, we went around clockwise. We aren’t animals.)

• The Mickey-shaped liquid nitro cake available from the fest’s Swirled Showcase marketplace is sold at a lower price than the everyday Mickey’s Premium Bar. That’s $4.75 versus $6.50. Sure, the Mickey Bar is ice cream, and the festival one is cake, but they’re about the same size and basically sweets on sticks. This makes the festival treat 27% less expensive.

• Did the pickle milkshake craze from Brew-Wing Lab pass? It was the buzz of the early days of the festival, but the newness/gag reflex may have faded. But the Odyssey building was nearly full of people – standing room only during our stop – even though the weather was gorgeous outside (perhaps you heard).

• It’s good to have an agenda for the festival. My willy-nilly meat-and-potatoes menu started with yuca fries from Fry Basket marketplace, then got very beefy at Belgium and whole-hog Canadian with both the filet and cheesy soup, festival favorites. But then the nitro cake impulse struck, and my stomach and I had to sit very still after we got home. (My group of nine people hit 18 festival kiosks by my morning-after calculation.)

• There are two kinds of people in the World Showcase: Folks who love to listen to Voices of Liberty, the a cappella group, and those who are confused by folks who love to listen to Voices of Liberty. I’m confused by the latter.

• There are two other kinds of people in the world: Folks who line up for hours for standby seats for Hanson, the brothers who are Eat to the Beat concert series staples, and the rest of us. Nothing against Hanson. I’m sure they’re very nice. Actually, wouldn’t they be a great Candlelight Processional narrating team? Where’s the suggestion box?

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• I shouldn’t share this aloud, but a prime location to sit in peace is the waterfront slice of seating next to Rose & Crown in the United Kingdom pavilion.

• Job I don’t want: Monitoring all those lights attached to Spaceship Earth.

• My group agreed that jumping into the lagoon feels like a boneheaded move, even with thousands of dollars on the line and the chance to go viral. Disney hasn’t said if the dude who did this – and got international attention – has been banned for life. But you know that’s an option.

• We didn’t last long enough for another round of “Epcot Forever,” and now the countdown can begin for “Luminous: The Symphony of Us,” the next nighttime spectacular, which debuts Dec. 5.

The Epcot International Food & Wine Festival runs through Nov. 8. The Epcot International Festival of the Holidays begins Nov. 24.

Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. My Threads account is @dbevil. You can subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.

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