Theme parks debuting little additions, expansions
COMMENTARY watching of the “Light Up the Sky” fireworks show, which is preceded by a DJ playing dance hits along the Waterfront. Electric Ocean runs through Labor Day. Go to seaworld.com to secure the required reservations.
• Discovery Cove has revived its Shark Swim activities, and it made it even more exclusive. There are only eight slots for the experience per day. It includes a deep-water, free swim alongside zebra, nurse, bonnethead and blacktip reef sharks in the attraction’s Grand Reef. More info and pricing: discoverycove.com
• Halloween Horror Nights merchandise — including some branded for the ill-fated 2020 edition — is now available outside the parks. I saw retro T-shirts at kiosks at Universal CityWalk and some masks — the face-covering kind, not the Freddy Krueger look — at the nearby Universal Studios Store.
• Walt Disney World workers and their cohorts at Disneyland are getting new face coverings. The look, predominantly blue and silver, features pixie dust, stars and a Mickeyshaped constellation that I just cannot call “hidden.” It will be written all over their faces. Cast members on both coasts had input in the design, both in styling and construction. It will be exclusive to Disney’s cast members, come in multiple sizes and be pleated or contoured.
• Folks staying at Disney World resort hotels now can watch fireworks on demand … with the TVs in their room. A recording of Magic Kingdom’s “Happily Ever After,” the park’s most recent pyro production, is now available.
• Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex has tacked on another three-day Virtual Camp KSC, which is held via Zoom with the Brevard County attraction’s education staff. It features handson STEM activities and experiments from 1 p.m.-4 p.m., Aug. 25-27. More information and pricing: kennedyspacecenter.com