Parks reveal winter health issues
A child felt motion sickness on Universal’s Despicable Me Minion Mayhem ride while a 71-year-old experienced chest pains on a safari ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the theme parks disclosed in a report Monday.
The two health issues were among six incidents disclosed by Florida’s major theme parks revealing visitors’ health-related problems from January to March. Every quarter, theme parks disclose to the state any ride-related injuries or illnesses that required an immediate hospital stay of at least 24 hours.
The parks report the incidents as part of an agreement that allows them to avoid state inspections.
According to the latest report, a 52-year-old woman felt dizzy and weak after riding Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey on Jan. 6 at Universal’s Islands of Adventure.
On Jan. 14, a 69-year-old man with pre-existing heart conditions had chest pains on The Seas with Nemo & Friends, a ride at Epcot in Walt Disney World.
A 71-year-old man felt chest pain after riding Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on Jan. 17.
The following month, a 51-year-old woman reported ankle pain at SeaWorld Orlando’s Manta roller coaster on Feb. 23.
In March, a 7-year-old felt motion sickness after riding Despicable Me Minion Mayhem while a 41-year-old man with preexisting conditions “felt ill” after riding Flight of Passage, a ride that opened last year at Pandora — the World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Legoland Florida and Busch Gardens did not report any incidents.
At Walt Disney World, a new solar farm along State Road 429 will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 57,000 tons annually, Disney said in its park blog this week.
The 50-megawatt solar facility will provide renewable solar power to the Reedy Creek Improvement District, and ultimately to Disney World. The complex will sprawl across 270 acres on the western edge of Disney’s property with 518,000 solar-panel modules, the Sentinel reported in February.
Construction will be in the next few months and the facility online by the end of 2018, Disney said in the blog.
The opening of Toy Story Land will prompt longer operating hours for Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park, at least for a while.
The 11-acre area inspired by Disney-Pixar’s “Toy Story” films will have its grand opening June 30. Beginning July 1, the theme park will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. through Aug. 25, according to Walt Disney World’s official website. In contrast, Hollywood Studios’ hours in June are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
But the park will open as early as 7 a.m. for visitors staying at Disney World hotels if they take advantage of the resort’s Extra Magic Hours. The onehour head start also is scheduled into late August. Late-night versions of Extra Magic Hours — from 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. — are scheduled for Fridays during that period.
Disney-hotel guests can now schedule FastPass+ reservations for Toy Story Land attractions. The area will feature a familyfriendly roller coaster called Slinky Dog Dash and a spinning ride called Alien Swirling Saucers. Visitors can eat at counter-service restaurant Woody’s Lunch Box, which will serve sandwiches, soda floats and other specialty beverages. Toy Story Land also will include the existing Toy Story Mania ride with new entrance facing the other attractions.
The theming of the land has visitors being shrunk down to the size of a toy and exploring the yard behind Andy’s house.
An additional Toy Story Land is scheduled to open at Shanghai Disneyland on April 26. Walt Disney World representatives surprised five nonprofits in Central Florida with $100,000 each this week.
The Disney Grants are part of the company’s plans to give $34 million in cash and in-kind donations to the Central Florida community this year, the company said in a news release.
The first winner announced Monday was Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, an Orlando nonprofit where its leaders said they will use the money to expand a nutrition program for teenagers at Osceola and Celebration high schools.
Second Harvest’s grant will also fund Teen Nutrition Team, an internship where students work with each other on nutrition education.