Theme parks across Southern California are debuting new rides just in time for summer vacation.
A few of the most anticipated rides are SeaWorld San Diego’s Turtle Reef, Disneyland Park’s Star Tours 2 and Six Flags Magic Mountain’s Green Lantern.
According to a SeaWorld Press Release, “A new attraction called Turtle Reef will allow guests to get an up-close look at more than 60 threatened or endangered sea turtles here in the marine-life park, as well as learn more about the threats sea turtles face in the wild. In addition, it will feature thousands of tropical fish, and a new ride that takes passengers on an exciting rescue mission of their own” (seaworld.com).
The Turtle reef attraction will also feature a brand new ride, called Riptide Rescue. The new ride can be found just outside the aquarium and will “spin passengers in boats on a rescue mission of their own” (seaworld.com).
Senior Mieya Brown said, “I’m really excited for the new rides at SeaWorld! They told me about them last year when I worked there.”
Disney announced that it will kick off the summer season, according to the OC Register, an Orange County newspaper, by opening The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure and Star Tours 2 on June 3, following the opening of Goof’s Sky School on July 1 (ocregister.com).
According to the Disney Parks Blog, “The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure is a journey under the sea where you can experience all the fun and adventures that take place in Ariel’s world. In Star Tours 2, you are taken as a guest on interstellar adventures to Coruscant, Tatooine, and other destinations in the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy. With the return of favorite Star Wars characters and the addition of more familiar faces and destinations, guests are going to experience Starspeeder travel like never before. While Goofy’s Sky School is a wild ‘mouse-style’ roller coaster that is a makeshift flight academy taught by Goofy” (disney.go.com).
Senior Brook Needham said, “I’m looking forward to these new rides because it’s something new to experience and they’re going to be really fun!
Over Memorial Day Weekend, according to the LA Times, Six Flags Magic Mountain opened Road Runner Express and their eighteenth roller coaster, Green Lantern: First Flight. The new Road Runner Express is a 28-foot-tall junior coaster, has a 36-inch height requirement, and replaces the former Sierra Falls water-tube slide. The Green Lantern, a fourth-dimension vertical coaster with zigzag track, is billed as a first of its kind in the US. The addition of Green Lantern comes with the renaming the Gotham City Backlot as DC Universe (latimes.com).
“The Green Lantern Ride looks so cool! I can’t wait to go to Six Flags and ride it,” said Junior Jesse James Rania.