Looking back at 2023, this really felt like the year that the theme park industry shook off the pandemic and got back to full speed. The year started stronger than any in my memory, with two award-winning major attractions making their California debuts.
When Universal’s first Super Nintendo World opened in Osaka in 2021, almost no one from outside Japan could see it due to ongoing pandemic travel restrictions. So the land’s soft opening in January at Universal Studios Hollywood provided many of us with our first chance to experience the land. Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge got most of the attention for bringing the wildly popular video game to life through an augmented-reality dark ride. But I loved the games elsewhere in the land, which offer physical challenges that made me feel like a real-life Mario.
The queue of the new Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway in Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland on Jan. 25, 2023. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Walt Disney World was the last major theme park attraction to open before the pandemic closed America’s theme parks in March 2020. Disneyland’s new installation in Mickey’s Toontown provided this delightful trackless dark ride with a better setup than the Florida original. Its new queue offers a museum of Mickey Mouse “artefacts” from his film career, selling the whole idea that you’ve walked into a world where cartoons are real.
I did not get to ride on nearly as many new roller coasters this year as I would have liked (which would have been all of them, by the way), but my favorite among those I did get to experience was — by far – the new Manta at SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, which opened in May. This Intamin coaster delivered a great mix of twists and airtime. Inside, this massive indoor facility reimagined what a SeaWorld park can be, excluding orcas in favor of leading-edge technology. One example was Hypersphere 360, an Intamin Dome Ride Theater than simulates a journey under the ocean surface by seating 80 riders around the middle of a giant sphere whose entire interior surface is a digital screen.
I also loved walking through Kingdom of Arendelle in the new World of Frozen land at Hong Kong Disneyland. While I am not the biggest Frozen fan, this land won me over with a plussed version of EPCOT’s Frozen Ever After boat ride, as well as smart character interactions and gorgeous scenic design throughout the land.
Pleasant surprises? With Rogers: The Musical, Disney took a tongue-in-cheek set piece from a Disney+ TV series and crafted it into a love letter to classic Broadway musicals. I just wish that Disney has kept this Disney California Adventure show going beyond its limited summer run, so that more fans could have had the opportunity to enjoy it.
Steve Rogers/Captain America and the Avengers perform during a scene from “Rogers: The Musical” at the Hyperion Theater inside Disney California Adventure. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Finally, Treasure Hunt: The Ride packed a major attraction’s worth of fun into a tiny basement space on Cannery Row in Monterey. This Sally Dark Rides production, in conjunction with Daniels Wood Land, throws a little California history lesson into a wild, pirate-themed shooting gallery ride. It’s a reminder that fans can discover plenty of theme park-style fun outside Anaheim and Orlando. Let that be something to inspire theme park fans’ travel in 2024, and beyond.
