Well everyone, it’s now the start of the summer season here in Orlando. That means lots of people packing the theme parks to wait several hours in line for a two minute ride. 😀
But at least this year you have new rides and attractions to see and enjoy in the hot Florida sun. All 3 major theme parks; Disney, Universal Studios and SeaWorld, have added or are adding new attractions for the summer.
Disney has most of the new Fantasyland open at the Magic Kingdom. In this area you can enjoy a new little mermaid ride geared toward little kids. There is a new Beauty and the Beast castle which looks pretty cool and sits on top of the new “Be Our Guest” restaurant.
Inside this restaurant it looks like your right in the dinning room from Beauty and the Beast; there are several rooms in fact. It has some neat new ways of ordering your meals and well worth checking out.
There is a princess meet and greet area where you can have your little girl meet all the different Disney princesses. Then there is the new Storybook Circus area for the little ones.
This area has two twin Dumbo rides and several other rides for little kids, plus a big water splash play area. The Snow White and the seven dwarfs roller coaster will be added next year.
Universal Studios will open Transformers: The ride 3D on June 20th. But they already are letting guest use the ride during their “soft” opening as they work out the bugs.
They also are doing The Simpsons Springfield expansion over at the Simpsons ride area. This will be a very cool area as you can walk the streets of Springfield and check out some neat places like Mo’s tavern and Krusty Burger! opening this summer.
While your over at the “old” part of Universal Studios you can see the construction going on where the Jaws ride use to be. This of course is the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley land!
This will connect to the Wizarding world of Harry Potter land over at Islands of Adventure via a new Hogwarts express train. It will have London and Diagon Alley, just like in the movies.
The centerpiece ride will be a new indoor roller coaster at Gringott’s bank, complete with fire breathing dragons and more. It should be the best ride made yet! This land will open in 2014.
Finally not to be outdone, SeaWorld has just opened a new, 4 acre attraction called SeaWorld Orlando’s Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin. It has lots of cool things to do, including a free flowing ride through Antarctica.
You will be able to get up close to several different types of penguins and enjoy several marine exhibits. It’s already open but expect long lines for the ride for a while.
So if your taking an Orlando vacation this year, you’ll find lots of new rides and attractions to enjoy at all the theme parks. Just be ready to stand in line for an hour or two. 
