It’s the ultimate superhero showdown – a conflict so epic you could imagine a tuxedoed Michael Buffer introducing the combatants as they enter the ring to rumble. In one corner stand the upstarts, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. In the other, perhaps the most famous collection of superheroes the world has ever known, DC’s Justice League. And their battle begins this summer, at Southern California’s theme parks.
The Disneyland Resort landed the first punch with the opening of Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: BREAKOUT!, a newly re-themed version of its former Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride. The former Hollywood Tower Hotel at Disney California Adventure is now the Fortress of The Collector, Taneleer Tivan, who has “collected” (OK, captured) the Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel’s space-traveling superhero team. But Guardian Rocket Raccoon has escaped, and he’s enlisting park visitors to help spring the rest of the crew.
Riders walk past displays of Tivan’s collection of galactic oddities before boarding the elevators for their wild ride up and down the tower. This time, though, every trip won’t take riders through the same sequence of drops, as Disney is throwing multiple drop patterns into the mix. Each new trip through the ride will provide a slightly different adventure.
Many longtime Disney fans online blasted the announcement that Disney would close the Twilight Zone version of the ride, but Guardians of the Galaxy is one of Disney’s hottest franchises, and with a new movie in theaters since May 5, this might be the most popular new attraction in the region this year.
Up the road in Valencia, Six Flags Magic Mountain will take on Disney’s Marvel characters this summer by introducing the most ambitious dark ride in its history — Justice League Battle for Metropolis. Imagine Disneyland’s Indiana Jones Adventure combined with a Buzz Lightyear-style shooter ride. That’s what visitors will find at Magic Mountain, as Cyborg, Bat-man and rest of DC Comics’ Justice League call on them to help defend the city of Metropolis from The Joker and Lex Luthor.
Visitors will ride in trackless vehicles that will spin and rock through the streets of Metropolis as the riders take aim at an onslaught of targets that will appear on the many 3D screens embedded in the ride’s scenery.
Six Flags has installed the Justice League ride at many of its parks across North America, starting with its original Six Flags Over Texas park in 2015. The ride has won multiple industry awards and drawn praise from fans who are happy to see Six Flags try some-thing other than its traditional roller coasters and take on a project that would seem right at home in a Disney or Universal theme park.
The Magic Mountain version, though, will differ slightly from previous installations, changing the finale and adding ultra-villain Harley Quinn to the action.
A hot franchise, coupled with the traditionally searing summer temperatures at the Santa Clarita Valley park, should make this indoor, air-conditioned ride an irresistible attraction for Six Flags visitors this summer. So plan to arrive at the park gates at least half an hour be-fore it opens and then make a bee-line for Justice League to avoid wait times crazier than The Joker’s latest diabolical plan.
Here’s a look at what else is new and different at Southern California theme parks:
DISNEYLAND
The Magic Kingdom will reopen its Rivers of America this summer, allowing visitors once again to ride the Mark Twain Riverboat and Disneyland Railroad. But these won’t be exactly the same trips as before. Disneyland has shortened the river around Tom Sawyer Island and diverted the railroad onto a new river trestle to clear space north of the park for its new Star Wars land, which remains under construction for a planned 2019 opening.
Also in the park, the music and pyrotechnics show Fantasmic! returns for 2017, and the Main Street Electrical Parade continues its limited-time run through Aug. 20.
The Disneyland Resort has expanded its Fastpass ride reservation system this year to more attractions across the two parks, while eliminating the loophole in the system that some fans used to hold Fastpass reservations in each park at the same time. You can’t do that anymore.
Expect longer standby times this summer for popular rides such as the Matterhorn Bobsleds, too, as many of the available seats on those rides now are being given to Fastpass users. With more attractions on Disney’s Fastpass system, getting those ride reservation times will become more important than ever if you want to avoid the ever-increasing wait times.
Disneyland is making it easier to get those Fastpasses … but for a price. Disney will start selling a new MaxPass benefit this year that will allow people to book and manage their Fastpasses via a smartphone app. You still can hold only one Fastpass at a time, but you won’t have to walk to a ticket machine to get it. Instead, you can save the time and the steps and reserve the Fastpass with a tap on your cell-phone, for $10 a day. Think of it as a Fastpass to getting a Fastpass.
KNOTT’S BERRY FARM
At Knott’s Berry Farm, the park has added Sol Spin, a Mondial Top Scan ride that puts riders on one of six floorless arms that spin and flip as they rotate above the ground. Across the street at its Soak City water park, Knott’s has added two new water slide towers this summer: The Wedge, a family raft slide, and Shore Break, a collection of six different slide experiences.
Knott’s interactive, role-playing Ghost Town Alive! experience also returns for a second summer, allowing visitors to get caught up in the further adventures of the citizens of Calico, the park’s Old West ghost town. Ghost Town Alive! provides what might be the most unique experience in any of Southern California’s theme parks, and you don’t have to wait in long lines to play. Just mosey on up to one of the many costumed characters in Ghost Town, listen to their stories, and let yourself get drawn into the show. Sure, the residents prob-ably will send you on one silly goose chase after another around the land, but it’s a great excuse to wander around and take in all the detail of Southern California’s original theme park.
LEGOLAND CALIFORNIA
The Carlsbad park has added a new Star Wars — The Force Awakens section to its Star Wars Mini-land display.
Featuring a 16-foot-long model of the Star Destroyer Finalizer from the 2015 movie, the addition also depicts six scenes from the film: Kylo Ren capturing Poe on the planet Jakku; Rey’s rescue of BB-8; Poe and Finn’s escape from the Finalizer; the wreckage of Finn and Poe’s TIE Fighter; Rey, Finn and BB-8’s escape from Niima Outpost; and the escape from the Starship Graveyard.
Legoland also is making an addition to its adjacent water park. The new Surfer’s Cove will include a water “sprayground” as well as a six-lane water slide for kids to race down.
For visitors who choose to spend the night at the park, Legoland also has opened 20 new Ninjago-themed rooms at its Legoland Hotel, following last year’s opening of Ninjago — The Ride, in the park’s new land themed to Lego’s popular Ninja franchise.
Legoland is designed for elementary school-aged children — once they hit puberty, most kids seem to become allergic to the place — but give them a few more years after that, and they’ll grow up to join the legions of adults walking slack-jawed through Mini-land, amazed at the detail in each of the models.
SEAWORLD SAN DIEGO
Down the coast, SeaWorld San Diego is opening a new Ocean Explorer pavilion this year. The highlight will be a new interactive ride called Submarine Quest.
Visitors will climb inside six-passenger vehicles styled to look like submarines for a ride around the new pavilion. While on board, riders will use a digital dashboard to learn about and answer questions about undersea life. The display will adjust to the age and knowledge level of the riders, according to park officials, which should allow children and adults to learn something from the experience, which also will include aquariums featuring moray eels, Pacific octopuses and Japanese spider crabs.
The three-acre land also will include Tentacle Twirl, a wave-swinger ride themed to look like an enormous jellyfish, with riders swinging in seats mounted on its tentacles. Three kiddie rides will complete the land: Aqua Scout, a submarine-themed spinner; Octarock, a rocking swing ride; and Sea Dragon Drop, a kid-sized drop tower.
Looking ahead, SeaWorld already has announced its new ride for 2018 — a Premier Rides Sky Rocket roller coaster called Electric Eel — as the park transitions from a focus on animal shows toward more rides and education-focused animal exhibits.
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD
Universal is taking it relatively easy on the theme park front in 2017 after the opening of its Wizarding World of Harry Potter last year. The focus instead this summer lies on the CityWalk dining and entertainment district, where Universal has rebuilt its AMC movie theaters, converting to leather reclining stadium seats in every auditorium. CityWalk also has added the first California location of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville restaurant, as well as the first local outlet of foodie cult favorite Voodoo Doughnut from Portland, Oregon.
Even though the Wizarding World is a year old, it remains the top priority for most visitors to Universal, so consider leaving it until later in the day of your visit to avoid the crowds that pack the land when it opens. Universal posts its current attraction wait times online at ushwaittimes.com, if you want to see exactly what waits you’re in for at certain times of day.
However, the theme park has announced changes for 2018 with Hello Kitty and DreamWorks’ “Kung Fu Panda”.
