Todd Martens’ newsletter delivers news and commentary on the past, present and future of theme parks, right from the theme park capital of the world — Southern California.
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So when I had the opportunity to talk to Chris Mortensen, one of the Disneyland Resort’s longest-tenured vacation planners, I wanted to know his.
Mortensen recently celebrated his 40th year with the company, and has spent more than 20 of them in his current role as director of West Coast Travel Operations. That means a significant part of his job is talking on the phone with those who want advice on how to plan their Disneyland days.
He comes from a Disney family. His wife has spent about 30 years with the resort, and one of their children is also a cast member. If anyone should know how to plan a special day at Disneyland, it’s Mortensen.
One of his key pieces of advice: Decide what’s most important to you as a guest. “Is it a thrill ride? Is it entertainment? Is it food?” Mortensen asks. “One of the things that I like to tell people is that you’re going to have a really busy day, but take time for yourself.”
Here are some of Mortensen’s other favorite park tips. We steered the conversation to Southern California locals, and those who may want a little glimpse of what makes Disneyland so special.
Get around the park by train
Here’s one hint, off the bat, that Mortensen says he gives most everyone: “Use the Disneyland Railroad as a form of transportation. Yes, it’s a great little attraction. Seeing the dinosaurs is one of my favorites. But it’s also a great way to get from one place to another. If you’re on Main Street and don’t want to walk all the way back to see ‘Bluey,’ jump on the railway. It’s a great way to get a little rest, and experience the park.”
Decompress at Disneyland’s most tranquil spot
Disneyland’s Snow White Grotto is a tranquil spot overlooked by many guests.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
Mortensen notes that it’s impossible to see all Disneyland has to offer in a single day, but rather than stressing about rushing from attraction to attraction, prioritize those that are important to you, and then take a breather at some overlooked park elements, especially those that add to its beauty and tranquility. I couldn’t agree more, and was pleased when Mortensen singled out one of my favorite places in the park: the Snow White Grotto, which is on a path on the eastern side of Sleeping Beauty Castle.
Sculpted by Leonida Parma from Carrara marble, the initial figures have, according to Disney’s fan club D23, been since replaced by fiberglass ones built from the original molds. The eight figures are still a sight, and Disney legendary designer John Hench constructed the fountain that holds them in 1960. The character figures, in the midst of a collection of jutting rocks and log bridges surrounding a peaceful waterfall, are all the same height, so Hench used forced perspective illusions to make it seem like Snow White was towering over the dwarf sculpts.
“The Snow White wishing well — you won’t find that anywhere [else],” Mortensen says. “Bring a quarter and toss it in, experience that.”
Take time for the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough, a lesser-known attraction
Don’t sleep on the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough at Disneyland.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
“People don’t know about it,” Mortensen says of the self-guided mini-tour that tells the tale of Princess Aurora.
Indeed, I had the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough to myself one late Sunday morning. The attraction, best experienced with patience in mind, is largely inspired by the artwork of Eyvind Earle. Earle’s approach, after all, is designed to transport us, to place us in lush, fairy-tale-like environments that contain an ever-so-slightly foreboding atmosphere.
Think of this as a mini-art gallery where illuminated dioramas spring to life and transform before us. The walk-through was updated with new effects and artwork in 2008 but dates to 1957.
It’s Disneyland. Order the iconic turkey leg.
Mortensen and I clearly have different palates. If I’m recommending a must-try Disney snack, it’s not the churro. It’s the corn dog. Mortensen, however, is voting for the turkey leg. A brave choice, I believe, as it’s a hefty item and, well, a lot of tough meat. Mortensen, however, made his case.
“It’s unique,” he says. “Yes, you can get a churro, but where else can you walk around and just literally bite out of a turkey leg? It’s about trying to create memories. Every time we have conversations with someone, it’s about, ‘What’s going to make a memory for you?’ You’re always going to remember walking around Disneyland as a 5- or 6-year-old little boy or girl with a turkey leg.”
Turn It’s a Small World into a scavenger hunt
Cinderella is one of the many Disney characters that was added to It’s a Small World in the late 2000s.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
Mortensen had my attention when he declared It’s a Small World a must-do attraction at the park. After all, the Mary Blair-styled boat excursion is my favorite Disneyland ride.
Mortensen highlights a once controversial but now beloved late 2000s renovation that added more than two dozen Disney and Pixar characters to the attraction. When riding It’s a Small World, he says, try to spot as many as possible. Disneyland even recently placed Miguel from “Coco” in the ride. Focusing on the scavenger hunt, says Mortensen, helps turn a familiar attraction into one that feels fresh.
“There’s more to it than just riding the attraction,” he says.
Spot details in the windows of Main Street
Enjoying a horse-drawn trip around Main Street, U.S.A., is a relaxing start to a Disneyland day.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
Disneyland’s introductory land is a joy. Often, I start my day with a ride on one of Disneyland’s horse-drawn carriages, which venture from the foot of Main Street, U.S.A., to the Sleeping Beauty Castle and back. It’s a relaxing way to settle into the theme park and take a look at the exquisite designs of the Main Street buildings, which many guests rush past on their way to one of the park’s many rides.
Mortensen wanted to call specific attention to Main Street’s windows, which celebrate those who were integral to the development of the park. Many are nods to famed Disneyland designers. Most recently, the park awarded a window to the just-retired Kim Irvine and her mother, Leota Toombs. Irvine and Toombs were longtime creatives with Walt Disney Imagineering vital to the development of the park.
“I love to point out the windows on Main Street,” Mortensen says. “If you and I were walking in, that’s what I would do. I’d grab a box of popcorn, and just point out two or three of the names. Some people you may recognize. Some people you may not.”
And I certainly won’t argue with popcorn for breakfast.
This week in SoCal theme parks
Disney legend Don Iwerks died last week at 96.
(Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)
A legend was lost. Don Iwerks, whose inventiveness helped transform Disney’s theme parks, died July 9 at the age of 96, reported the Walt Disney Co. For Disney and his own studio, Iwerks Entertainment, Iwerks helped develop technologies and techniques like Circle-Vision, the 360-degree camera behind “America the Beautiful” and other early Disney attractions, and the 3D effects used in attractions like Captain EO and Star Tours. He also had major contributions to the world of cinema, instrumental, particularly, in the effects sequences of “Mary Poppins.” Read more about Iwerks in The Times’ obituary by Corinne Purtill.
Fiesta Village is no more. The Inland Empire amusement park, which stood for more than 50 years, closed for good last weekend. A center for mini golf, roller skating and go-karting, Fiesta Village announced the closure last week, citing rising operation costs and declining attendance.
Montezooma’s Revenge is back. The reimagined coaster, now known as Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress, is set to return to Knott’s Berry Farm on Monday. Shuttered for the last four years, the ride has essentially been rebuilt, now featuring enhanced Aztec theming, new trains and a modern launch system. Look for a report on the remade coaster next week.
It’s almost Halloween season. Disneyland in mid-August will launch its Oogie Boogie Bash, Universal will follow in early September with Halloween Horror Nights and Knott’s Berry Farm isn’t far behind with its Knott’s Scary Farm. The latter is the longest-running Halloween event in the Southland, and defined the maze-focused haunt formula. Tickets are now on sale for all three happenings.
Happy 71st anniversary, Disneyland! On Friday, Disneyland will turn 71. While the occasion won’t be as grand as the 70th anniversary, which has been celebrated for the past year and will essentially continue up until the start of the park’s Halloween activities, the Anaheim theme park typically recognizes the birthday with some light festivities for guests. Think, perhaps, a character cavalcade or some specialty treats.
Tell us your stories. Ask us your questions.
Have a theme park tale to share? Whether it was a good day or less-than-perfect day, I would love to hear about it. Have a question? A tip? A fun photo from the parks to share? Email me at todd.martens@latimes.com. I may feature your note in an upcoming newsletter.
Ride on,
Todd Martens
P.S.
The initial news for those who purchased Disneyland’s specially priced $59 nighttime ticket is good. While now sold-out, Disneyland launched the promotional evenings this past Sunday, and the park didn’t appear flooded with twilight guests. Attendance was continuing a summer trend of being relatively light, and though wait times increased in the evening, nothing was headache-inducing.
At times, even showcase attraction Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance stood at about 40 minutes, with Space Mountain often showing a similar wait time. Most rides, however, were even more approachable, topping off at around 25 minutes throughout the night. Since the evening ticket only gives guests a taste of Disneyland — five hours worth — it’s a positive sign that the event’s opening night kept things manageable, providing those who bought in at a budget price a prime experience.
It’s a Tuesday evening, just before sunset, and I am in a meadow thrashing an air guitar with a dozen strangers in Griffith Park.
We take the lyrics to Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” literally as we gyrate and bend to the song’s iconic guitar solo, which lasts almost 45 seconds. Huffing and puffing, we leave the meadow, laughing together at the beautiful end of the hourlong “silent disco” hike we completed along one of the park’s dirt trails.
I stay for an extra 45 minutes, talking to two other dancers whom I hope become future friends — and that we all dance together again soon.
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That night, I participated in Dance Quest’s silent disco hike, a new way to experience Griffith Park where participants shimmy and shake on a trail alongside L.A. improviser and comedian Kristen Smith.
For a suggested donation of up to $25 — Smith emphasizes that no one will be turned away for lack of funds — participants don headphones and hike as they listen to a playlist that Smith has curated. That Tuesday night’s playlist included Donna Summer, Madonna and Carly Rae Jepsen (whom Smith unapologetically stans).
Smith plans to host at least two night hikes a month, but will schedule more if those events sell out. She’s taking a brief pause, though, because her wife gave birth to their second child last Thursday.
Dance Quest leader Kristen Smith pumps her fists in the air on an overlook along a trail in Griffith Park.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
I’m kind of an experiential purist when it comes to hiking — never headphones, never music. I love putting my phone away and just being there with the trees and bees. I couldn’t help but wonder: Would this silent disco ruin or enhance the outdoors experience?
I was pleasantly surprised by the answer, but I think it largely depends on who leads the dancing.
Smith, a tribal member of the Chickasaw Nation who identifies as two spirit and uses she/they pronouns, said they were inspired to start Dance Quest while on a trip to Scotland in 2024 to celebrate their mother’s 70th birthday.
Kristen Smith of Dance Quest leads hikers on a silent disco trek through Griffith Park.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
While out and about, Smith and her mom spotted Guru Dudu, a character created by Melbourne-based performer David Naylor, leading a silent disco through the streets of Edinburgh.
“That looks fun,” Smith’s mom said.
They both signed up for a tour, led by Dudu, who wore a purple sequin jumpsuit.
“We danced through the very crowded streets of Edinburgh, and it was the most fun I’d had in such a long time,” Smith said.
L.A. artist Heidi Neilson, center, dances alongside other silent disco hikers in Griffith Park.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
Smith, who’d spent years performing on stages throughout L.A., had been stuck inside and away from people for much of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In summer 2021, just as vaccines were becoming available and it was becoming safer to gather with groups indoors, Smith was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Smith’s summer was soon full of surgeries and tests until they started chemotherapy that September, receiving a dose every three weeks until early 2022, when their doctors switched Smith to chemotherapy every three months.
Smith’s treatment was going well, but that didn’t mean an immediate return to normalcy was on the horizon. Her doctors said Smith and her family needed to assume Smith’s COVID-19 vaccine didn’t give her immunity to the virus.
As Smith watched her friends return to a semblance of their pre-pandemic lives, she worked inside at her Nickelodeon job, grateful for health insurance and employment in the entertainment industry, but missed the joy and connection that comes with performing.
Kristen Smith of Dance Quest is surrounded by silent disco dancers in Griffith Park.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
Smith kept wondering how they could find a way to remain active and connect with others. Plus, being outside remains the safest option for Smith to be around people, as the type of cancer they have is not considered curable and is managed like a chronic illness.
“I know that one of the things that I offer to the world is joy and sparkly effervescence,” Smith said. “I was like, ‘What can I do to be my own boss, is something that’s of service to people in this time of darkness and is also good for me as well?’”
During the silent disco in Edinburgh, Smith realized as they danced alongside others that they felt like they were performing and letting go in a way they hadn’t been able to do in a long time. “When we finished, I was like, ‘I can do this,’” Smith said.
Smith told their mentor at Nickelodeon about their idea to start Dance Quest and they immediately encouraged them to give it a shot. Smith bought the equipment the next week and launched Dance Quest, her company that hosts the silent disco hikes, earlier this year. After doing a test run with friends and family, they started hosting events in the park.
When I arrived to the silent disco, I quickly met my fellow dancers, a welcoming group of people ages 5 and older. I liked that I could adjust the volume on my headphones rather than listen to music all at the same volume.
Holly Gray, an L.A. event planner, throws her arms in the air alongside other dancers in Griffith Park.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
We took a wide dirt path in the park that’s not as popular as other routes, which allowed us to spread out and really do whatever we wanted. I quickly realized this was primarily going to be a lot of frolicking to a good beat, which was exactly what I wanted.
Along the way, Smith pointed out invasive plants like black mustard and native plants and animals that live in the park. Whenever a hiker headed our way, we made a tunnel of “spirit fingers” for them to pass through, which I detected 95% of people actually enjoyed. In today’s fast-paced and often negatively focused world, it’s kind of nice to turn a corner and find strangers cheering for you.
Smith, who taught improv to children, teenagers and business professionals, will not force participants to dance. That isn’t the purpose of Dance Quest.
Kristen Smith of Dance Quest, center, leads two children along a dirt path in Griffith Park.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
Rather, it’s to find joy with others and escape the harsh political environment that queer and BIPOC people face on a daily basis.
“When you put on the headphones, you forget how you look, and hopefully I provide a no-pressure environment where, however your body tells you to move, you move that way,” Smith said. “And there’s strength in numbers with the silent disco.”
3 things to do
Families play volleyball at an L.A. County overnight camping event at a local park.
(Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation)
1. Camp with family and friends around L.A. Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation will host family campouts on weekends in July and August at five of its parks. That includes campouts at Castaic Lake Recreation Area at 6 p.m. Friday; Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas at 6 p.m. Friday; Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area at 6 p.m. July 17; and 6 p.m. July 24 at Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area. Those parks, along with Whittier Narrows Recreation Area, will host additional family campouts in August. General admission is $15. Children age 13 and younger are free. To register, visit anc.apm.activecommunities.com.
2. Clear out streambeds in L.A. Friends of Griffith Park needs volunteers from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday in the park’s Fern Dell hiking area. Participants will clean streambeds and trails, yanking weeds and restoring habitat. Learn more at friendsofgriffithpark.org.
3. Kayak the L.A. River near Van Nuys L.A. River Expeditions will host a two-hour kayak tour at multiple times Saturday through the Sepulveda Basin, a lush area of the Los Angeles River. Paddlers will move through the tree-lined, mud-packed riverbanks, observing local fish and birds. Trips are at 9 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Tickets are $53.74. Register at eventbrite.com.
The must-read
Mary Saba Tehran takes part in a Mindful Archery class at the Woodley Park Archery Range in Van Nuys.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Times staff writer Deborah Vankin recently learned via a bow and arrow the importance and freedom that can come with literally letting go. Vankin wrote about her experiencing at Mindful Archery, a course led by spiritual counselor and archer Angie Fadel at Woodley Park Archery Range in Van Nuys. Fadel said her goal is to help female and BIPOC participants release something holding them back or take aim at a goal. “An archery range can be a very white, male-dominated space,” she said. “And the stance, with a bow and arrow in your hand, shooting — it’s very male. And [men] don’t have any problem, most of the time, taking up space. So it is a practice to remind ourselves, as a queer woman, a trans person, nonbinary person, anybody that’s kind of othered in our society, to be able to take up space. To adopt a power stance and be, like, ‘I’m allowed to be here.’”
Happy adventuring,
P.S.
Great news! State lawmakers have selected the California State Library park pass to receive ongoing funding in future budget cycles. Previously, lawmakers had to approve funding every year for the program to be added into the state’s budget, according to the California State Parks Foundation. This development means Californians will be able to check out a state parks pass for free at their local library for the foreseeable future, unless a governor or the Legislature announces otherwise. In L.A. County, participating parks include the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, Leo Carrillo State Park, L.A. State Historic Park and Malibu Creek State Park. You can find out which library near you offers the pass by visiting this interactive map. Have fun out there!
For more insider tips on Southern California’s beaches, trails and parks, check out past editions of The Wild. And to view this newsletter in your browser, click here.
My dinner course is served. It is a Campbell’s-inspired soup can, lightly angled so strands of broccoli are peeking out. I lift the can to uncover a slow-braised short rib and mashed potatoes. An American dish to represent an American artist, here Andy Warhol.
The room is overtaken with projections, scenes of bustling New York traffic paired with bachelor-pad-like guitar riffs. Shown on a wall above a dinner table is a selection of Warhol silkscreens. It’s a Friday night in West Hollywood, and I’m surrounded by a mix of out-of-towners and those celebrating an anniversary. And while this is a special occasion, we’re urged to get a little messy with our food — to use our hands, to paint with a salad, to draw on a cookie.
The main course: A tomato soup can? “7 Paintings” is an immersive event that occasionally hides dishes in artist-inspired presentations.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Play is the primary side dish at “7 Paintings,” a tech-infused dinner theater that aims to be a crash course in fine art. That selection of veggies paired with multiple mini cups of colorful dressings? Guests are encouraged to mix and match the vinaigrettes into a mess of hues, a nod to abstractionist Jackson Pollock. And yellowfin tuna with dashes of avocado and taro chips? That’s an edible tribute to Banksy, of course. What does raw fish have to do with stenciled street art? It’s bold, heavily angled and has a short shelf life? Maybe? Perhaps don’t overthink it.
Even the paper is edible.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
“Have you ever eaten a painting before?” says Nadine Beshir, the Dubai-based creator of “7 Paintings.” “We try to get people out of their comfort zones and eating paper. I want to bring out the child in them.”
“7 Paintings,” held at Sunset House L.A. through the end of August, is the latest example of immersive dining to arrive in this city. These experiences often involve guest participation and are accentuated with advanced multimedia technology and sometimes theatrical elements.
Worldwide, there have been standouts. For instance, Eatrenalin at Germany’s Europa-Park, a dining room-meets-ride where participants are whisked around the space on trackless “floating chairs,” has just received a coveted Michelin star. Ibiza’s Sublimotion has similar haute ambitions, pairing 12 diners together in a room that will come alive with otherworldly projections and performers. At times, diners will win don virtual reality headgear.
“7 Paintings” pairs food with art and music. It’s “fun dining, not fine dining,” says its founder.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Bartender Luca Famulari shakes a cocktail at the immersive dining event.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
“The economics of a restaurant are not the same as the economics of theater and the challenge of combining the two lies in thinking outside the box with respect to pricing and cost structure, such that the customer perceives high value from both the food and the experience,” says the Gallery co-founder Daren Ulmer.
Entrepreneurs keep aiming for that careful balance. “Le Petit Chef and Friends” is currently running at Tangier at downtown’s Hotel Figueroa, an event in which a fully animated film is projected on our plates and tables. Long-running pop-up event Fork N’ Film leans more dinner and movie, pairing dishes directly inspired by what is happening on screen. Upcoming films include “Ratatouille” and “Lilo and Stitch.”
The field comes with challenges. “The costs are very high,” says Joanna Garner, an immersive designer and former creative director with experiential art firm Meow Wolf. Garner has been experimenting herself with communal, immersive dinner events, and her next, the flirtatious “Please Open Your Mouth,” is set for July 11. (No tech there, as Garner is after a more sensual, adult-focused gathering.) Tickets for her event are $150 and a spot in the “7 Paintings” dining room runs $175, priced on par with a number of city’s most acclaimed restaurants.
There is also the reality that all public dining is in some fashion immersive, usually requiring varying combinations of engagement, communication and presentation. And then, are all these added elements distracting?
An animated Mona Lisa sits on the wall as guests enjoy their meals. Throughout the dinner, the painting provides factoids on various artists.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Throughout “7 Paintings,” for instance, an animated Mona Lisa, situated on the wall next to the main dinner table, will provide brief biographical details of each artist represented.
“Being able to nail the food, and nail the story, those are two very difficult threads to weave,” Garner says. “I do think, ultimately, people come to a dinner table to talk to the people at the table and to have intimate experiences. To have an experience where you’re constantly being taken away from the food, I’m not so sure if that’s what people are looking for.”
Food is framed as a star of “7 Paintings” but tasting it is just one component. At one point, we must uncover a cheese course in a tiny treasure chest, the code for the lock hidden in the projections (don’t stress, it’s not a hard puzzle). Beshir highlights the Pollock-inspired salad course, which is accentuated with a jazz soundtrack, as the thesis of the evening.
1
2
1.A guest uses a silicon brush to apply sauces onto an entree, a nod to abstractionist Jackson Pollock.2.Projections fill up the dining table during meals.
“This course is really about getting people to free their minds from preconceived ideas,” Beshir says. “Like, you have to eat with a fork and knife, or the salad comes and then the dressing. No, the dressing comes and then the salad, and it’s trying with big brushes to paint the way he did. A lot of people do not understand Abstract Expressionism, and they think it’s people just splashing colors around. But when you understand the link between the rhythm of the music and painting, you live it. We give you time to paint with your salad dressing.”
In L.A., Beshir has partnered with nightlife impresario Kim Kelly, who is plotting a “Sleep No More”-inspired walk-around theatrical show for the Sunset House venue later this year. “7 Paintings,” however, is fully seated, and purposefully a little silly. Beshir and Kelly have been evolving it during its L.A. run, recently adding a stronger painting component by giving guests their own canvas to work on throughout the evening. Each night crowns a winner.
“Everyone comes over to look at their art,” Kelly says. “It just kind of changed the whole thing, to be honest. People are now being creative throughout the entire evening. Instead of just watching and occasionally painting, you’re now painting the whole time.”
As for what, perhaps, soba noodles with edamame and mushrooms have to do with Pablo Picasso, or why Salvador Dali gets an unexpected dessert course of a white chocolate potato souffle, Beshir clarifies the goal of the evening. While the animated Mona Lisa will provide backstories on each painter, this isn’t an educational night. “It’s fun dining, not fine dining,” Beshir says.
And by the end of my night, strangers were socializing, showing off their painted cookie creations, sharing Banksy tidbits and asking for recommendations on various vinaigrette combinations. Ultimately, it’s an evening of discovery, packed with surprises like finding an entire course hidden under a canvas.
Darryl Mayes of Charlotte, N.C., left, and Taylor Smith of North Hollywood, right, uncover their course.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
“We try not to have too much sophistication, like fried ants or something. I’m personally very adventurous in how I eat, but if I want to have this in 100 cities around the world, I cannot be too meticulous.”
And Beshir has big goals.
“I want this be your movie and dinner thing,” Beshir says. “I want people to be waiting for our next show, and to be able to afford to come every couple months.”
And to come home not with leftovers, but perhaps a painting of their own.
America’s semiquincentennial came and went, and the Disneyland Resort marked the occasion with a transformation of its now-classic Soarin’ ride. Gone, for now, is Soarin’ Over California and Soarin’ Around the World. In their place is Soarin’ Across America, a lightly patriotic-themed journey from coast to coast.
There are flyovers of nationalistic symbols such as the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore National Monument and the Washington Monument, but the majority of its dozen locations are national parks, making Soarin’ Across America a love letter to America’s natural and diverse beauty. And it felt like a four-and-a-half-minute celebration.
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Soarin’ Across America has the strongest scene of any of the three attraction films, which envelop riders as they ascend in the sky on a hang glider simulator. That’s its opening, a shot of a rocket launch at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. We start level with the spacecraft, and then follow its journey into the clouds. Being this close to a liftoff, and feeling the sensation of rising with it, creates an inspiring, rousing moment. As in any Soarin’ film, we are promised the great outdoors, but here we get magnificent ingenuity.
Is it the best Soarin’? I’d still rank Soarin’ Over California as No. 1, as it has a sort of goofball charm, such as tumbling skiers or a golf ball flying toward the audience. But Soarin’ Across America is a worthy successor. It takes a more patient approach, as the ride now seems to linger longer over certain locales, allowing us to take in the majesty of the Grand Canyon West or vibrancy of the Louisiana bayou without distraction. I appreciated the tonal shift, which makes it stand on its own and doesn’t try to force itself to capture the original’s whimsy.
A coastal scene from Soarin’ Across America.
(Disney Parks)
I also enjoyed the new smells. When hovering near the Hawaii coast, for instance, the tropical fragrances that wafted over guests seemed to reflect the gummy fruitiness of a mai tai. (No, that wasn’t just me longing for an afternoon break at Trader Sam’s.)
I went in with a bit of skepticism, and I’m relieved to say my fears weren’t realized. Well, fully realized. This is a divisive time in American history, and cultural works are increasingly viewed through a political lens. When announcing the attraction, Disney did so with symbolism of the American flag, a bald eagle and the Statue of Liberty, art that was admittedly bright and welcoming, but also could be read as giving it an uncomfortable, chauvinistic sheen.
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Not everyone in 2026 may be excited with a flight simulator that serves as a cheerleader for America. And I still question the inclusion of Mount Rushmore, which has a long, controversial history, and has been a fascination of President Trump’s. But aside from that scene, and some odd red, white and blue sparkler-like fireworks visible in the New York Harbor, which curiously distract from a view of the Statue of Liberty, Soarin’ Across America doesn’t lay on the jingoism. At least until the final moments, when we see an American flag in the sky above Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle.
I’ll take it. The vibe throughout is one of restraint. When we glide near a Maine lighthouse, the film seems to pause, allowing the rocky coast and long-standing structure to be the stars. A dip across the American plains takes us above a herd of bison, but by and large movement is kept to a minimum (here the scent is of grassy freshness, which I’m betting is not what a bison smells like). A train in the Ozarks, for instance, comes to us rather than the film rushing to trace its path.
Filmed primarily with helicopters and drone shots, Soarin’ Across America utilizes CGI, courtesy of Industrial Light & Magic, less than Soarin’ Around the World, and primarily on scene transitions when we appear to fly next to a bird. This is an attraction that leans more National Geographic, that is it is unobtrusive and unstaged, than past iterations of Soarin’. While some may miss more active visuals, I appreciate that each Soarin’ film takes a different approach. Long term, it will allow Soarin’ Across America to serve as a snapshot in time, of an America at a certain point in history.
Soarin’ Across America shows aerial vistas across the United States, and it’s arriving at a divisive moment in our nation’s political history.
(Disney Parks)
And that’s already true. For when the film takes us down in front of the Washington Monument, we can off in the distance ever-so-slightly glance at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, caught before its current Trump adminstration remodeling. Depending on your point of view, it can be unintentionally uncomfortable or amusing to see a locale before it became a political lightning rod. But that’s sort of the appeal of the Soarin’ films. They’re glimpses of not just a moment in time, but of a constantly changing world.
In that sense, there’s something relatively quaint about Soarin’, especially for our fast-paced, thrill-focused world. Soarin’ was groundbreaking when it debuted in 2001, but today we have venues like Las Vegas’ Sphere and Inglewood’s Cosm, whose spherical screens are higher definition and can even create the illusion of movement. Soarin’ Across America charms — all four of my rides last week ended in audience applause — by simply being a calming, relaxed journey that stokes our sense of adventure.
This week in SoCal theme parks
Disneyland Park has now welcomed more than 1 billion guests.
(Christian Thompson / Disneyland Resort)
Disneyland: More than 1 billion served. The Disneyland Resort over the weekend welcomed its 1 billionth guest. The distinction went to 8-year-old Andres Robles, who with his family was treated to a VIP tour of the park. Disneyland has updated its population sign atop the Disneyland Railroad’s Main Street Station. To help put into context how unfathomably large 1 billion is, it’s worth noting that it took Disneyland, which in recent years has been drawing around 17 million attendees, nearly 71 years to reach that number.
The Cenobites are coming to Universal Studios Hollywood. The latest addition to this year’s Halloween Horror Nights has been revealed, and it’s a haunted house based on the “Hellraiser” franchise. Pinhead actor Doug Bradley will reprise his role for the walkthrough attraction by voicing the character’s representation in the house. Halloween Horror Nights is set to launch Sept. 3.
Don’t miss this look into Disney history. PBS SoCal will on Friday, July 17, show the documentary, “Bob Gurr: Living by Design.” It’s a revealing look into the life of a key early Disneyland designer, as Gurr created the look and feel of the Haunted Mansion “Doombuggies,” the original Autopia cars, the bobsleds of the Matterhorn and, of course, the first Disneyland Monorail. Before you watch, get to know the colorful, outspoken Disney legend.
A Disneyland deal for Anaheim residents. Good news for those who live near the Disneyland Resort. For a limited time from July 20 through Aug. 8, Anaheim residents will have access to a locals-only deal. Adult one-day tickets will start at $71, while child tickets will be $50. Park-hoppers for adults will sell for $104 while child tickets will remain $50. It’s a significant savings and a great way to see the start of the park’s Halloween season. The tickets go on sale July 16.
The best thing I ate at the parks
The al pastor pork chop at Lamplight Lounge.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
One of Disneyland’s best dishes is currently available at Disney California Adventure’s Lamplight Lounge, its Pixar-decorated pub-like outpost. It’s a sliced al pastor pork chop served with cheese polenta, pineapple relish and a spicy red chili butter sauce ($32). The pork is soft, the polenta creamy and it carries just enough heat to give it a bit of an edge. While filling, it’s surprisingly not too heavy, and Lamplight is always a lively spot to take a break from the parks. I only wish the place had a non-hazy IPA.
Your questions answered
Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle on a crowded 2019 day.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Hi Todd, we went to the park [Sunday] and it was empty: walk on to Cars, walk on to Indy. Thirty minutes for Guardians. Everything else was down to about 5 [minutes] besides Tiki Room because it’s a 15 min show. Are they struggling this summer? I haven’t seen a day like that at Disney since I was a kid. — Jake from Riverside
Disneyland has been unseasonably comfortable this summer (read: less people). And the Fourth of July holiday week was kind of a breeze, with low wait times at most attractions at both parks.
But I wouldn’t says struggling, as I have seen busy days in recent weeks and Sunday was particularly unique. Mexico and England were playing a much-buzzed-about World Cup match, which no doubt kept crowds at bay. But it’s true that Disneyland this summer has, on a whole, been more pleasant, crowd-wise, than in year’s past.
Ultimately, I attribute the potentially lighter attendance to a combination of factors. One, the park has likely hit the peak price it can currently offer guests (fingers crossed this is true, as I don’t think most Disneyland fans can absorb another yearly price hike right now). Two, the aforementioned World Cup is drawing away potential attendees. And three, everything is more expensive today, forcing families to choose between, say, an afternoon at Dodger Stadium or a day at Disneyland. It’s increasingly untenable to do both.
And people are hungry for different, approachable ticket options. Last week, for instance, Disneyland unveiled a new evening ticket deal for all guests. The $59 offer allows attendees to enter either Disney California Adventure at 5 p.m. or Disneyland at 7 p.m. Available Sundays to Wednesdays through Aug. 5, all dates sold out in six days, unless Disneyland allots more tickets for the deal.
Tell us your stories. Ask us your questions.
Have a theme park tale to share? Whether it was a good day or less-than-perfect day, I would love to hear about it. Have a question? A tip? A fun photo from the parks to share? Email me at todd.martens@latimes.com. I may feature your note in an upcoming newsletter.
Ride on,
Todd Martens
P.S.
Universal Studios Hollywood first began exploring a high-speed coaster more than a decade ago.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
Universal Studios Hollywood’s new Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift is set to open soon, and while many are excited, I’m curious to hear from those who live near the theme park. Universal has emphasized how it has instituted a number of noise-mitigating factors, from placing pea gravel in the tracks to building sound walls and creating shields designed to capture rider screams.
Theme park rides, however, can still be loud. If you’re in one of the neighborhoods surrounding the park, drop a line at todd.martens@latimes.com and let me know if Universal’s efforts have been enough, or if the coaster is a disruptive presence.
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Eddie Huang has never felt lighter. Last month, after his debut novel, “Come Undone,” finally released, something shifted.
“I have a family. I feel healed,” he said over coffee and short ribs in Santa Monica hours ahead of a live talk with Ottessa Moshfegh, the bestselling, critically acclaimed author of Huang’s favorite book, “My Year of Rest and Relaxation.”
“People always write me off as a personality or a multi-hyphenate,” he said. “It’s a nice way of saying I’m not really good at anything. But I didn’t have any of that this time.” He leaned forward, serious. “I have to be honest. I do think the Knicks are a big, big part of it.”
His beloved Knicks winning the championship, he said, kept him from spiraling over the book. In person, Huang subdues his ironic braggadocio with polite eye contact and rolling belly laughs at his own jokes. For years, audiences have watched Huang resist whatever box you put him in. His particular brand of cultural fluency — a rapid-fire mix of food, fashion, basketball, politics and pop culture — is what made the “Gua Bao Bad Boy” impossible to categorize.
For most of his career, Huang has seemed constitutionally incapable of standing still. Chef. Memoirist. TV host. Filmmaker. Lawyer. Comic. Podcaster. His first book, “Fresh Off the Boat,” became the longest-running network sitcom centered on an Asian American family, even as Huang publicly distanced himself from the show. Since leaving post-fires L.A. for New York, he’s reopened Baohaus — returning to the kitchen that built his career. Waiting for him at home after the book tour is his wife, Natashia Perrotti, and their 2-year-old son.
Now there’s “Come Undone,” fiction that Huang called his most honest — and vulnerable — work to date.
“It’s sort of this next-gen auto fiction type thing that is creating its own rules,” Moshfegh said ahead of their Q-and-A. “It made me think about my own appreciation for the experience of male heterosexuality and how much it’s been commodified.”
The book follows Hubie, a globe-trotting food-show host drifting through Chateau Marmont, Madeo, Nobu and other “dirtbag L.A” (as Huang coins) spots. He meets Janine, his equal in appetite and id, sending him into a tailspin of yearning and loops of Sky Ferreira’s “Everything Is Embarrassing” on sadboi walks. The “two walking red flags” decide to try to make it work.
Huang called the novel an “autofictional riddle.” The puzzle isn’t especially difficult if you’ve followed his relationship with Perrotti, who co-hosts their podcast, “Canal Street Dreams.” Marrying a writer, she’s learned, often means finding out what he feels by reading it. “We’ll get into a fight,” she said, “and I’ll wake up to a Substack article about it.”
It’s also part of the private life she’s since conceded. “It’s annoying,” she added. “But now I can read it, and maybe understand him a little bit better. He’s trying to communicate through the writing, like sending somebody a song and saying, ‘I want you to listen to these lyrics.’”
The novel goes further, drawing from experiences the couple has never discussed publicly. In the novel, Hubie and Janine’s relationship pivots after an ectopic pregnancy ends in loss. Perrotti said the scene is fictionalized but mirrors a similar experience they had early in their own relationship.
“It brought us closer together,” she said. “It was the catalyst for us realizing we were serious.”
Before Huang could finish the book, the life he was writing about had to fall apart. “This book was very much about breaking up with your family to start your own,” he said. “There was a lot of anger in the book that had not been resolved.”
By the end of 2024, Huang had stopped speaking to his mother. The break followed what he described as a blowup at a Cheesecake Factory. It also unlocked the ending he’d been chasing.
Eddie Huang.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Looking back, Huang thinks the earlier versions failed because he was still arguing with her. He’s still trying, in some way, to communicate with her through his writing. “If there’s one person I wish would read the book,” he said, “it would be my mom.”
There were other chapters he had to close the book on, mainly Hollywood. His foray into fiction coincided with the writers’ strike, drying up all his income and future projects. That same year, he became a father. “I had to accept and realize that my value was not in making money,” he said. “Because for three years, I couldn’t.”
He recalled a particular low point researching life insurance policies. “I had to rebuild my whole self. Really love myself despite not being able to offer anybody anything.”
That new certainty didn’t make Huang any less willing to pick fights. Last year, as his documentary “Vice Is Broke” — an autopsy of the media company behind “Huang’s World” and its eventual bankruptcy — awaited release, Huang said distributor Mubi shelved the film after he boycotted the company over Sequoia Capital’s investment in an Israeli defense technology startup. (Mubi denied this and said it still planned to distribute the film.)
The ghost of Vice still lingers in today’s media ecosystem in what he called our “era of cartel journalism:” creators navigating a world of blurred incentives and corporate interests. He traced this instinct to challenge those systems back to Socrates’ “gadfly” — the person whose job was to annoy power. “As a writer, you should be challenging people,” he said. “If your memoir can be turned into a sitcom, it probably wasn’t challenging.”
Eddie Huang.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
After the 2025 L.A. fires drove his new family back to New York, Huang went back to cooking. He worked pop-ups, reopened Baohaus and found himself alongside line cooks half his age. In March 2025, he rewrote the novel in five days. That same month “was the first month I didn’t overdraft my credit card,” he said, with the majority of his income today coming from the restaurant. It’s allowed him to make films, write books and walk away from deals he doesn’t believe in. “Being a chef is the anchor that allows me to maintain my artistic integrity.”
For years, comparisons to Anthony Bourdain followed Huang everywhere. The two eventually became friends.
“He was one of the few people who was as advertised,” Huang said. “Nicer and more generous in person. And wounded.”
Bourdain is the only real person who appears in “Come Undone” under his own name.
When Huang mentions him, he stops talking. He covers his face. Tears come.
“I don’t believe in God,” he said, “but I asked the universe why for many, many years.”
Bourdain’s suicide, he said, was one of the reasons he walked away from “Huang’s World” in 2018. At the time, few people understood why. “It was Tony. It was family. It was everything.”
Eddie Huang.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Now, looking back, Huang thinks he was writing “Come Undone” toward a different ending than the one he’d imagined.
“This book is a guy saying, ‘I don’t want to be like my biological father,’” he said. “And, in the most respectful, loving way, I don’t want to go out like Tony.”
He paused. “I needed to name the sadness in me. I needed to allow myself to be loved.”
Huang is already writing another memoir about getting back into the kitchen. Still, he said, these days, he’d rather write fiction.
Rudi, an L.A. native, is a freelance art and culture writer. She’s at work on her debut novel about a stuttering student journalist.
Since its opening in 1967, Pirates of the Caribbean has stood as an anchor at Disneyland, a statement piece that has defined the direction of the park.
And that remained true last week when Walt Disney Imagineering unveiled a new audio-animatronic pirate. It’s wow-inducing. It’s also narrative-wrecking. And it fundamentally shifts the vibe of the attraction’s early scenes.
The high-tech pirate, we can bet, is just a small preview of the park’s next-gen toys. Because when changes come to Disneyland, they often hit Pirates of the Caribbean first. Over a half-century ago, the robotic figures of Pirates were a symbol of Disneyland’s technological ambitions, dazzling audiences with characterized but lifelike movements. With the ride, Disneyland made it clear that as the world advances, so, too, would the park.
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As culture shifted and the lecherous buccaneers of the ride began to look more like symbols of sexual harassment, they would be forced to undergo some welcome personality adjustments. A redheaded victim of sex trafficking would transform into one of the ride’s most striking characters, and a number of rides from the Jungle Cruise to Splash Mountain would eventually undergo similar reassessment.
For Pirates of the Caribbean, after all, is the attraction that defined the Disneyland template. Its mastery is that it is a series of larger-than-life dioramas constructed around an abstracted narrative where themes of greed, lust and intemperance take precedence over a plot with a firm beginning, middle and end. And thus it made sense for Imagineering, the outfit of the company responsible for theme park experiences, to unveil its latest tech-driven master work on the ride.
A new animated pirate on Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean shifts from living to dead using projection technology.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
Reaction, however, has been less than enthused. Disneyland’s own social media accounts are flooded with pointed critiques, but even if we consider that social media tends to lead with gripes, some of the park’s most ardent fan sites have referred to the reimagined scene as a gutting. Why so much hullabaloo over a single robot? If we allow that Disneyland is a place that generations make pilgrimages to, then Pirates of the Caribbean is its most sacred temple. Handle with care.
Where once was a foreboding skeleton frozen in time atop a treasure and swords, there is now an animated figurine built with the latest in projection technology. The latter transitions from living to dead, caught in a perpetual loop with each glimpse of the cavern’s “cursed treasure,” which it continually lifts and drops. The pirate is placed after the ride’s two dips in a gold-filled room among the winding, mysterious underground chambers that help set its tone.
Dead pirates fill the caverns of Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
Since the attraction’s opening, the only living beings in this portion were a lone seagull and maybe a stray sea critter or two. It is here where the mystique of Pirates of the Caribbean is set, and guests are placed in the active role of piecing together the time-shifting narrative. Story is hinted at rather than fed to us. We hear tales of the hexed fortunes found in the caves via ghostly narration, but see only its after-effects — skeletons locked in a chess battle or standing behind the wheel of a crumbling ship.
The centerpiece treasure room, where our new pirate is found, has long been a breathtaking scene. Previously, a now decayed body sat atop a mountain of wealth, an empty, soulless figure done in by selfish pride. It was disquieting, and a bit ghoulish. Stray, soft musical notes underscored the tragedy. Further on, a trapped pirate quietly transitions from living to dead via an old theatrical mirror illusion, and the boats float into a city filled with battles and buffoonery.
Gone is the subtlety. A somber tableau is now relatively loud, as our eyes no longer take in the full set but zero in on a bright and at times lively figurine. I cannot deny that it is an impressive piece of technology. On the multiple rides that I took Monday morning, I overheard two teens describe it as “pretty cool” and watched as a young child excitedly shouted to his mom and dad that the figure’s face was changing.
The caverns of Pirates of the Caribbean set a foreboding tone.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
Such reactions are no doubt what Imagineering is hoping for. Part of the job of stewarding a classic attraction, after all, is ensuring it maintains an appeal to future generations. But I believe two things can be true. The new pirate may captivate some audiences and it can also stylistically and tonally clash with the attraction. This is the right tech, perhaps, for a more animated experience, one such as the in-development “Coco” ride coming to Disney California Adventure. Unfortunately, in Pirates it’s misplaced. Worse, it’s distracting, as we’re immediately drawn to its movement, grunts and quick-transitioning face.
I lament losing what was there. Projected figures, even the best of them, such as this one, are still media and can still gleam with light. And while the original Pirates of the Caribbean designs by Marc Davis were exaggerated, they were brought back to reality by Blaine Gibson, who sculpted them with bold, hardened features that made them at once heightened but believable. They may have been cartoonish, but they weren’t actual cartoons, and this figure is too much of a contrast, its comic-like excess feeling less relatable, less human. And that says nothing of its snort-like laughs, which reminded me too much of the huffs and puffs of the ride’s donkeys.
It also raises more story questions than it answers. Why, for instance, aren’t the other skeletons caught in a loop? Sometimes more is said by saying less, and this feller leans silly in a portion of the ride that calls for spooky. Ultimately, it just feels unnecessary, a symptom of our often exhausting, tech-obsessed, digital-drenched age where new, needless tools are shoved in our faces daily.
Thankfully, the rest of the attraction serves as a reminder that no computer wizardry can out-class old-school theater. Theme parks should evolve with the times, but sometimes it takes artful restraint to not mess with what’s already timeless.
This week in SoCal theme parks
Disney California Adventure turns Soarin’ Over California into Soarin’ Across America. The makeover will be unveiled July 2, just in time for the Fourth of July holiday and the celebration of America’s semiquincentennial. While Soarin’ Across America is already open at Florida’s Walt Disney World and I’ve written about the patriotic re-imagining, I’ve waited to see it in the flesh and will have impressions next week.
Fireworks! If you’re looking for them this weekend, our theme parks have got you covered. Disneyland, of course, has an annual Fourth of July show with patriotic music, and the park will be running “Disney’s Celebrate America! — A Fourth of July Concert in the Sky” Friday through Sunday. If you’re heading to Knott’s, be sure to check out the park’s free-to-visit Independence Hall, a replica of the Philadelphia landmark that will be offering guided tours Friday and Saturday, while Six Flags will feature fireworks Friday through Sunday. Universal Studios Hollywood will on Friday and Saturday debut a new Fourth of July-themed fireworks show.
Shattered glass on Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift. Fans are eagerly awaiting the opening of Universal Studios Hollywood’s new “Fast & Furious”-inspired coaster, and word spread via social media recently that a panel of glass on one of the ride’s sound barriers had shattered. Universal declined to comment, but sources familiar with the ride characterized it as an “installation error” that shouldn’t delay the public launch of the ride, which is expected by mid-summer. I reached out to California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s Amusement Ride & Tramway Unit (Cal/OSHA), which monitors the state’s theme park attractions. A spokesperson said the situation was looked into but did not warrant further evaluation.
Have a theme park tale to share? Whether it was a good day or less-than-perfect day, I would love to hear about it. Have a question? A tip? A fun photo from the parks to share? Email me at todd.martens@latimes.com. I may feature your note in an upcoming newsletter.
Ride on,
Todd Martens
P.S.
Visitors tie paper tags bearing wishes onto trees in the courtyard of the Broad as part of an exhibition dedicated to Yoko Ono.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
Theme parks often are about the power of imagination, allowing us to play pretend in heightened, alternate worlds. And I had theme parks on my mind while I traversed the Broad’s excellent current exhibit dedicated to Yoko Ono.
What, perhaps you wonder, does Ono have to do with theme parks? “Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind” documents the entirety of the artist’s career, and much of her early work centers on play. Real, philosophical play, essentially the idea that through creativity, fantasy and a bit of silliness, we can all see the world differently.
Whether it was communicating with her audience while in a bag (1964’s “Bag Piece”), an antecedent to Meow Wolf’s “Experience Tube,” or offering instructions to count stars, tally our wrinkles, drop off peas on a morning walk, attach wishes to a tree or create fictional maps of our neighborhoods, much of Ono’s career was dedicated toward building community and connections through playfulness and imagination.
It’s freeing work, and a reminder that a little frivolity via participatory art — and that’s really what theme parks and so-called immersive entertainment provide — is a necessary ingredient for happiness.
She’d been out for over a year, her long, arduous recovery from a season-ending knee injury kept almost completely under wraps. But as JuJu Watkins took her place in front of a microphone for the first time since returning to practice this summer, the USC superstar could barely contain her gratitude.
Asked Monday what the best part about being back has been so far, a big smile crept across Watkins’ face.
“Honestly everything,” Watkins said. “Like I don’t even know, the smallest stuff just gets me excited.”
Watkins’ return is a momentous mile marker for a team that has serious national title aspirations this season. Her status remains uncertain, and reporters in attendance Monday were told not to inquire further about Watkins’ specific recovery timeline. But Watkins did say that she’s already been able to scrimmage during USC’s summer practice and that she’s “feeling back like myself.”
“It’s just been a long time coming,” Watkins said. “I’ve just been working out and grinding every day so that I could be in position, so to see all of that hard work pay off right now, it’s really fulfilling.”
Watkins was a two-time consensus All-American and the Associated Press Player of the Year in 2025, when her knee buckled that March during a breakaway in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The injury, a torn ACL, wouldn’t just derail a possible title run for USC that season, but also upend the Trojans’ trajectory for the next one.
Facing one of the toughest schedules in the nation, USC missed Watkins dearly. The Trojans finished their frustrating campaign 18-14 before losing in the Round of 32.
As she sat out, Watkins said she struggled to keep still. Patience didn’t necessarily come naturally. She found herself leaning on others, she said, like Dallas Wings point guard Paige Bueckers, who went through her own ACL recovery.
“She was constantly checking up on me, sending me texts, encouraging me,” Watkins said of Bueckers. ‘I really appreciated that.”
Coaches suggested she pour that energy into her teammates. So she took solace in doing the little things, like arranging the locker room chairs during pre-game.
“Just to watch her take something that was so difficult and pour herself into everything that went into last year was something I’ll never forget,” coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “I really do take a lot of inspiration from it.”
The silver lining, coming out of a season without their superstar, was the emergence of freshman Jazzy Davidson, who came to USC to play alongside Watkins. Instead, she ended up winning National Freshman of the Year and becoming a rising star in her own right,
This month, Watkins and Davidson were finally able to take the floor together, just as Gottlieb had once envisioned. She’d waited quite a while for that pairing, she reminded Monday. But Davidson, she thinks, will be all the better for having survived her freshman season without Watkins.
“You just come back with a different level of confidence,” Gottlieb said. “I hope she brings with her every experience she had because who had more experience than Jazzy in terms of a freshman year where she handled so much?”
Now, with Watkins back and Davidson set to take another step forward, there won’t be so much pressure on the Trojans’ newest top recruit.
Saniyah Hall marks the third straight No. 1 overall prospect to sign with Gottlieb and USC, but she steps into a decidedly different scenario than the other two did. In addition to Watkins and Davidson, the Trojans also brought in two other top freshmen in Sitaya Fagan and Sara Okeke, as well as two priority portal adds in Ryann Bennett and Pania Davis.
“With the talent that’s on the team,” Hall said, “I think it could be something that’s very special.”
That starts with Watkins, who, in spite of a year away, apparently hasn’t skipped a beat in her return.
“I feel like she’s back like she never left,” guard Kennedy Smith said.
Andrés Chait has been named superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District three days after the resignation of Alberto Carvalho in a lightning-speed transition that elevates a well-liked insider to the top of the nation’s second-largest school system.
The Board of Education announced its unanimous decision Wednesday, which was made official during the board’s last scheduled meeting before August.
“I firmly believe in leading with gratitude and never taking the work and support of others for granted,” Chait said after the announcement. “So I begin today in that spirit of gratitude. Thank you to the board for your faith in me and for this opportunity.”
“I have always known that there is no greater accelerator of change and opportunity than the school house, and that is still true today,” Chait added. “Throughout my career in various roles, that has remained my focus. How I can be of service and support to our students and families in accessing these opportunities. Please know that commitment has not changed.”
Chait had been serving as acting superintendent since Feb. 27, two days after the FBI raided the home and office of his predecessor, Carvalho. Law enforcement sources have confirmed that the ongoing investigation includes a review of Carvalho’s actions related to a company hired to create an ill-fated AI chatbot. Carvalho has not been charged and maintains that he is innocent of wrongdoing.
Chait’s style and background stands in sharp contrast to Carvalho‘s, who had 14 years of experience leading one of the nation’s largest school systems in Miami.
Carvalho carefully curated his appearances — before and during his L.A. tenure he maintained a high national profile as a sought-after voice in education. In 2018, he had accepted the job leading the school system in New York City before changing his mind and staying in Miami. He was a familiar face in national conclaves on education and among national leaders. He took charge in L.A. in February 2022.
Chait is a district parent who started off as a kindergarten teacher at Queen Anne Place Elementary School and rose gradually through the ranks. He has never worked in another school system, although his experience in L.A. Unified included a variety of roles, including elementary school principal, regional superintendent. Most recently he served as director of operations — a non-academic function — for the entire school system.
Chait was not among the phalanx of senior officials who sat directly behind the school board on the elevated stage during board meetings. Instead, Chait’s was stationed in the back next to the audiovisual equipment, where he was off camera and frequently able to joke and interact with other district staff and community members. He’d also sometimes deal directly with a community member or employee who brought forward a personal problem or issue during the public hearing portion of a board meeting.
Over the last two years, Chait has presented periodically at board meetings, including over such issues as school safety.
The announcement was made by school board President Scott Schmerelson after the board emerged from a closed session.
“This board’s decision reflects the confidence in Mr. Chait’s leadership, his decades of service to Los Angeles Unified, and his demonstrated ability to guide the district during this period of transition,” Schmerelson said. “Throughout his career, and most recently as acting superintendent, he has shown deep commitment to our students, families, employees, and school communities.”
The decision to offer the job to Chait was not entirely a surprise because he already had taken on key tasks typically handled by a long-term superintendent. These included finishing up a four-year strategic plan and selecting administrators to fill key senior positions.
The Board of Education approved a four-year strategic plan Tuesday with academic targets and measures of college, career and social-emotional readiness.
Chait also received good marks from board members and union leaders during a trial-by-fire experience with a labor dispute that came within hours of a three-union strike that would have shut down the school system.
Chait was a key participant in getting to a deal, along with Mayor Karen Bass.
“It was wonderful to have the cooperation from the leadership of the district, from the superintendent, from the school board, from the entire school board, all of that … made a difference,” Bass said in a City Hall news conference, referring to Chait, after the all-nighter.
Leaders of the three unions each praised Chait at the time.
“I want to give you a thanks, Superintendent Chait, for showing humanity. Humanity. Humanity for seeing us, seeing the workers, and believing that you can get it across the finish line,” said Cecily Myart-Cruz, the outgoing president of United Teachers Los Angeles.
Last week, Myart-Cruz said in an interview that Carvalho needed to be replaced and that Chait appeared to have the skills needed to take over — although she said she would prefer a formal selection process that included input from labor leaders and others.
Max Arias, executive director of Service Employees International Union Local 99, also praised Chait after the contract was settled.
“I want to appreciate you … for coming into a very difficult situation and stepping in and showing leadership,” Arias said. “We are ready, our members are ready, to always give a chance to building relationship or partnership.”
Interviewed last week, Arias said Chait should be offered the job outright — that a search process was unnecessary.
Also praising Chait during that April gathering in City Hall was Maria Nichols, president of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, which represents schools principals and assistant principals among others.
“Thank you so much for listening,” Nichols said. “I know the acting superintendent’s style — collaborative, listens. He takes action. He’s humane, and he wants the best for our students, because he’s a parent and has students in LAUSD.”
The deals accepted by Chait also have critics, who contend is it more than the district can afford.
This $20.6-billion spending plan that was approved Tuesday incorporates the layoffs of up to several hundred workers with due-process rights and perhaps 1,000 more without job protections. Over the next three years, officials project thousands of additional layoffs.
The spending plan for the 2026-27 school year is nearly $2 billion higher than last year’s figure of $18.8 billion. The district’s projected revenue is $18.6 billion, although that figure could rise based on promising state tax revenues.
In the meantime, the district will cover the shortfall with reserves, which may or may not be exhausted over the next two to three years. The increased spending results largely from significant salary increases, maintaining health benefits amid rising costs and expanding the number of part-time employees eligible for benefits.
Also straining the budget has been the expiration of COVID-relief funds, inflation surpassing state funding increases and steadily declining enrollment. L.A. Unified, with about 390,000 students in transitional kindergarten through 12th grade, is about half as large as in the early 2000s.
The board did not immediately release details of the new superintendent’s contract, including the length of the term, on the grounds that is not yet in final form.
Chait’s salary as acting superintendent was $395,867. He also has received $250 per month for expenses and the use of a district car and driver for work-related activities. In his previous job as chief of school operations, which he held for about 20 months, Chait had earned $278,205.
Carvalho’s salary was $440,000 per year with an additional $50,000 paid annually into a retirement annuity. District officials have so far declined to say if Carvalho received a severance package.
Carvalho’s predecessor as permanent superintendent, Austin Beutner, was paid $350,000 per year.
When the creators behind Universal Studios Hollywood’s soon-to-open “Fast & Furious” coaster discusses the attraction, they speak of it not only as the most grown-up, intense ride at the park, but also as one of the most extreme coasters in Universal‘s global portfolio. That means, in theory, a ride as vaunted as its Florida coasters Jurassic World VelociCoaster and Stardust Racers.
For riders, some of the perception of danger will come from the coaster’s location. Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift is set on a hill between the park’s upper and lower lots. It will careen over, under and around guest escalators, and take attendees on a journey that includes multiple inversions and speeds of 72 mph, making it the fastest coaster at any Universal park. A particularly unique facet is the ability for its cars, each meticulously designed after a real vehicle, to rotate 360 degrees.
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Plenty of coasters have the capacity to spin, but Universal has been hyping the high-speed “drift” sensation of its cars. Each ride vehicle will have distinct programming along the coaster’s 4,100 feet of track, and the hope is to create the feel of a stunt car just barely maintaining its control.
I like a coaster, but I’m also, I’ll admit, a tad squeamish. Hollywood Drift is expected to open by mid-summer, and at the time of writing, only Universal stakeholders had been on the attraction. Jon Corfino, the park’s lead creative executive, was one of those riders, so as he gave me a tour of the coaster, I pressed him to describe what the experience is like. Here’s what I learned.
So Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift is intense. But just how intense is it?
A loop on Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
The late, great theme dark designer Eddie Sotto once devised a simple formula for what makes a good coaster: Fear minus death equals fun. I wanted to ask Corfino just how scared I would be. Answer: Pretty frightened. Probably.
“It’s a high level of intensity, absolutely, for sure,” Corfino says.
And yet Corfino tried to calm my nerves. Hollywood Drift, he explained, is designed to feel relatively slick — polished, if you will.
“I’ve ridden coasters that I would say are high intensity, but they’re very aggressive,” he says. “They’re very rough. But if you look at what we tried to achieve here, it’s that you’re in a [car] vehicle. It’s very smooth. It’s not something that would be not natural for a car, if that makes sense.”
Well, except for the whole going upside down part. Based on Corfino’s assessment, we can expect some white knuckles, as Hollywood Drift will lift riders off their seats at multiple points.
“You definitely feel you’re coming out a couple times, and not the least of it is when you’re upside down,” Corfino says. The coaster will utilize a lap restraint that extends from the top.
“You’ll be holding on,” he says. “When you’re upside down, you’re holding on.”
What about the drops?
Unversal Studios’ Hollywood’s Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift is set to open this summer.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
Corfino didn’t pinpoint the exact steepness of the drops on Hollywood Drift, but riders will encounter one immediately after launch. When exiting the show building, designed to look like a warehouse garage, Hollywood Drift will take a sudden dip off a cliff. The sharp drop is one of many.
Riders will encounter, for instance, a so-called “bunny hop,” which is typically a series of small hills that provide airtime. But Hollywood Drift will play with riders’ expectations through its terrain. Those mid-ride hills are “actually pretty darn steep,” Corfino says. And then before the ride ends, riders will go up, over and under Universal Studios’ most recognizable feature (except perhaps Stuart the Minion): its escalators.
“When you go up over the loop, that’s very steep. You’re coming straight down over the stairway and then underneath the stairway,” Corfino says.
How real are the cars?
The minicars of Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
The coaster will feature four heavily detailed miniature cars as ride vehicles. These four-seaters — mimicking a Dodge Charger, Mazda RX-7, Nissan Skyline GT-R and Toyota Supra — all come complete with working taillights. And each has its own distinct sound effects, engine and brake noises that match their real cars. Guests will hear brakes each time the vehicle drifts or turns.
The minicars aren’t complete tiny re-creations. The odometers in the coaster cars, for instance, are for show only.
“The truth is I was really laboring,” Corfino says of the accuracy of the coaster cars. “They all have realistic sound effects, and when you hit the bottom, the big launch, I wanted to hear the NOS kick in. But you’re going so fast, at 72 mph, and with the wind, you’re not hearing anything. Quite frankly, your vision is even kind of shaky because you’re going so fast.”
That sort of attention to detail is what separates a Universal or Disney coaster from so much of the industry — even if riders will be clutching their restraints too hard to notice the discrepancies in each car’s engine roar.
I’m eager to get on the ride. I will, however, pretend I didn’t hear Corfino say that thing about “shaky” eyesight.
This week in SoCal theme parks
Dataland is now open in downtown Los Angeles. Theme park fans should give it a look.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
“Stranger Things” lives at Halloween Horror Nights. Universal Studios Hollywood’s trickle of announcing haunted houses for its Halloween event continues. After unveiling a “Sinners” house earlier this year, Universal has added “Stranger Things” to the roster. “Stranger Things” is no outsider to the festivities, but this house will be themed specifically to the show’s fifth and final season. Expect, of course, some Demogorgons and other nasty creatures. Halloween Horror Nights is set to launch on Sept. 3.
Theme park fans, pay attention to this new museum. Now open in downtown Los Angeles is Dataland, which was described by this outlet as a “25,000-square-foot immersive, environmental, generative, multisensory AI arts museum.” While there’s much to discuss and debate regarding the center’s use of AI, Dataland’s inaugural exhibition, “Machine Dreams: Rainforest,” is the kind of all-encompassing, wrap-around display theme parks are known for (I’d argue Dataland is, in fact, more indebted to theme parks than the world of fine arts, but that’s another column). No doubt those in the immersive space are paying close attention as to how Dataland is received.
“Toy Story 5” has arrived, in theaters and at the Disneyland Resort. Fans of the “Toy Story” franchise will want to make their way to Disneyland’s Pixar Place Hotel, where a second-floor exhibit features drawings and sculptures from the new film. And for hotel guests, coming July 2 is the “Disney Poolside Splash Bash,” a pool party with music, trivia and appearances from Jessie, Bo Peep and Woody. If you’ve seen the movie, I encourage you to check out Amy Nicholson’s review of the work. She found, perhaps, that the toys have overstayed their welcome.
Bag checks and metal detectors arrive at CityWalk. Universal Studio’s theme park adjacent shopping and dining area is home to a couple should-be cultural institutions: the Los Angeles outpost of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville and one of the finer Imax theaters in the nation. Now getting to either comes with an extra hurdle, as Universal has placed CityWalk within the theme park’s security zone. Prepare for bag checks, metal detectors and extra time if you’re heading to a sold-out screening of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey.” The local film community, as reported by The Wrap, is having a fit.
What I’m thinking about
A media image distributed by Adobe and Walt Disney Imagineering is designed to show how AI software can be used in the design process.
(Adobe / Walt Disney Imagineering)
Generating attention this week was an announcement from Adobe and Walt Disney Imagineering, the creative arm of the company responsible for theme park designs, regarding a new AI partnership. AI is a term I generally believe is rightfully viewed with skepticism, especially when it comes to creative work. As a writer, I view utilizing AI to help craft a story as strictly forbidden; journalism, after all, is a storytelling art. But I’m not above tools that can help accelerate tedious aspects of the process, such as using AI to help transcribe an interview.
So places in which Adobe’s Firefly Foundry could, say, transform drawn 2D renderings into potential 3D models seem not entirely troublesome, especially for an industry in which one of the most time-consuming aspects is the build. And yet there were components of the announcement, as well as the press materials distributed with it, that made me cringe. The generation of on-demand, on-brand assets, for instance — one of the promised abilities of the software — is a job for an artist, not a computer.
And Adobe and WDI proved my point. Accompanying the press release was an image of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion ride vehicles, the Doombuggies, as re-imagined by the program. A perfect, coffin-like design from Bob Gurr was now bedazzled with garish, grotesque imagery that had little similarity with anything in the Haunted Mansion. That the two companies viewed something this amateurish as a prime example of what the software could achieve should raise an eyebrow.
Tell us your stories. Ask us your questions.
Have a theme park tale to share? Whether it was a good day or less-than-perfect day, I would love to hear about it. Have a question? A tip? A fun photo from the parks to share? Email me at todd.martens@latimes.com. I may feature your note in an upcoming newsletter.
Ride on,
Todd Martens
P.S.
Changes are coming to Disneyland’s classic Autopia ride.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Disneyland’s classic Autopia attraction is facing a deadline. The Disneyland Resort has already stated that the gas-powered minicars of Autopia would be on the way out in early 2027. Disneyland officials confirmed just a few weeks ago that the park has an agreement with the California Air Resources Board to retire the current engines next year. No closing or reopening date has been announced, and no details on the new cars have yet been released.
But, thanks to new reporting from environmental reporter (and former Times staffer) Sammy Roth, it’s been revealed that the theme park faces a strict deadline to begin making the switch. In a recent edition of Roth’s Climate Covered Goggles, the writer noted that due to an agreement with the board, Autopia in its current form must shut down by Feb. 1, 2027.
While that doesn’t shed any clarity on when the ride may reopen with refreshed vehicles, it at least provides a timeline as to how long it will likely exist in its current form.
Sitting in the control room of their home studio known as the Centre of Mental Arts (COMA for short), Long Beach husband-and-wife duo Scott Montoya and Julia Kugel smile as they discuss new music they recorded for their band Soft Palms. Their new album, titled “In Echo,” has been in the works for over five years. The 10-song album, out Friday on Everloving Records, was inspired by their frustration about how they feel the world has devolved since 2020.
“The first record I was like, ‘I want to give the world a hug,’” Kugel says. “And then this one I was like, f— this world.”
For Kugel and Montoya, the album serves as the latest chapter of their creative and personal journey. The pair met in 2012 at a music festival in Dallas (“The most romantic city,” Kugel quips), while playing in the Atlanta-based band the Coathangers and Orange County’s the Growlers, respectively. They bonded over a shared disgust at gladiator shoes, and soon thereafter, were in a relationship.
By 2017, they were married and settled in Long Beach. Despite Kugel’s role in the Coathangers at the time (Montoya left the Growlers in 2016), the couple wanted to form a band. Previously, they recorded a pair of songs that constituted Kugel’s second solo seven-inch single. That experience made them comfortable knowing they could balance their professional and personal lives.
“He’s super easy to work with,” Kugel says of Montoya, who sits beside her, trying to hide a smile. She looks at him and continues, “he’s very talented and very patient.”
“When we were in our other bands, we used to meet up on tour,” Montoya, who also produces and engineers for other artists, says. ”You see the absolute worst of people on tour … so this is nothing.”
To kickstart Soft Palms, Kugel drew from a batch of songs she had previously written that had no home. Being able to record in their own studio allowed the pair to craft songs without feeling any pressure to meet a deadline.
By late 2019, the pair put the finishing touches on their self-titled debut. When the record was released in July 2020, the pandemic was still in full force. The pair were disappointed and upset by the state of the world, and after a few years of stewing, Kugel and Montoya got started on a second album.
Don’t be fooled by its breezy ’60s-analog vintage pop sound. Soft Palms are angry, and that informs the spirit of “In Echo.”
The pair points to “Radio” as the album’s bellwether. First released in 2025, the song rails against how, over the past handful of years, people have fought for the sake of fighting, with no end in sight.
More strikingly, on the biting “Nervous as Hell,” Montoya points to Fox News as “infecting everyone’s parents.”
“I did some digging because I couldn’t believe something that hateful existed,” he says of the network, specifically its landmark $787-million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. “It turned it from this horrible thing into this s— business that has taken advantage of the elderly and destroyed families.”
That anger continues on the angsty rocker “The Wedding Song.” Kugel points to attending a wedding where a family member married a “total raging maniac,” and how they dealt with the buildup of delicately balancing being cordial yet firm.
“He [the family member] goes, ‘I just want you to show up and shut up!” she says. “I was like, ‘Well, firstly, f— you. Then secondly, this is a song — you just handed me gold.”
Since settling in Long Beach, for the last 10 years Kugel and Montoya took it upon themselves to help foster a positive, artistic community. It’s that mindset that pushed them to found and operate their 501(c)(3) nonprofit called Studios for Schools with the goal of providing recording equipment to underprivileged schools.
Their DIY work ethic in entertainment was also the driving force behind Happy Sundays, a free Long Beach-based music festival. Running for 10 years, the fest created a block party in the city’s Zaferia neighborhood that eventually expanded into a full weekend of shows across stages set up at local businesses to host a diverse lineup of veteran and up-and-coming area bands. Though the event was paused this year so they can focus on the new album and book, the couple plan to bring it back in 2027.
“It was like a statement in that way of like f— these giant prices, VIP experiences and all of that stuff,” Kugel says. “It’s the anti-music festival and a celebration of community.”
Keeping with that spirit, and drawing from the experiences of their two-decade careers, last month the pair released a book titled “How to Be Self-Reliant in the Music Business.” The genesis of this self-published guidebook occurred when the pair realized they were not receiving a portion of a royalty stream they were owed. They knew that if they were in the dark on the issues they thought they knew, others likely were as well.
“We decided to turn it into a book because we realized there’s so much stuff that few artists know about on their own,” Montoya says. “I want people to understand the scope of what they’re actually getting into, and the reality of their situations.”
“It’s a very thorough overview,” Kugel adds.
The book includes information beyond what one would find in Donald S. Passman’s longstanding industry bible “All You Need to Know About the Music Business.” With assistance from a lawyer friend and a CPA family member, the pair addresses topics ranging from backstage etiquette to managing social media to dealing with record labels and publishing companies. They hope that it will provide a blueprint for bands old and new to better navigate music’s notoriously choppy waters. Their accessible, snack-size chapters move fluidly as they explain the realities artists face in 2026.
Battling through the disappointment of the first part of the decade allowed Kugel and Montoya to find their creative way. Armed with this infusion of activity across various disciplines, the couple is inspired to continue to shake their way out of the past. Though focused on their impending U.S. and European tour, the duo promise that the next Soft Palms album won’t take as long and are mulling over their next music-industry book project. For now.
“It’s a lot to keep up with all of these projects,” Montoya says. “We work all day, every day. And it’s been cool to see signs that it’s paying off.”
When Jon Corfino was among the first to test ride Universal Studios Hollywood’s new high-speed “Fast & Furious”-inspired coaster, it was the culmination of a convoluted decade-plus journey filled with uncertainty. For before any track was laid, before the ride was even associated with “Fast & Furious” or any film franchise, Corfino, the park’s lead creative executive, didn’t know whether a coaster could even exist.
Universal Studios Hollywood is landlocked, constructed around a working film studio, meaning space is at a premium. And then there’s the problem of noise. Coasters, historically, are loud, and film productions necessitate a quiet environment. The theme park is also nestled against a neighborhood full of homes and apartments.
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Todd Martens’ newsletter delivers news and commentary on the past, present and future of theme parks, right from the theme park capital of the world — Southern California.
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To make it work at all, the coaster would need to stand on a relatively steep hill, winding over, under and around escalators between the park’s upper and lower lot. It extends significantly beyond guest-accessible areas, visible even from nearby Ventura Boulevard. “It wouldn’t be your first choice,” Corfino says of the topography. “But in a way, it makes it more dynamic that we were able to do it.”
He continues, “Everything we do is a bit of invention.”
When discussion on the project first began a decade or so ago, Universal Studios Hollywood was far from a thrills park. While the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was nearing completion and would open in 2016 — a full-scale re-creation of a fictional world that would alter the tenor of the park — the vast majority of Universal rides were designed to place guests inside the world of stories they had already seen on the screen. Or to let them “ride the movies,” as Steven Spielberg once coined. The park’s portfolio was also dotted with stunt and animal shows.
Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift will reach speeds of 72 mph and take riders through multiple inversions.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
Universal was once heavily dedicated to pulling the curtain back on how movies were made. A coaster simply didn’t fit the vibe.
“It was never a thought,” Corfino says of his earliest days at Universal back in the 1990s. “It was a different ethos. We were going to take you behind the scenes and show you stuff. But during the epic transformation of bringing in ‘Potter,’ and immersing you in different environments, it became more of a reality.”
And so began the process of looking for a franchise to associate with the coaster, one that would still make sense with Universal’s inside-the-movies mindset. At the time, there already was a “Fast & Furious” segment on Universal’s behind-the-scenes tram tour (now shuttered, a replacement is expected to be unveiled in 2027).
“You go through a lot of ‘what ifs,’” Corfino says. “I can say, one of the earlier ‘what ifs’ was ‘what if this,’ in terms of brand. We already had one [‘Fast & Furious’ attraction] on the backlot, but we didn’t know what else we were going to be doing, so you go through a lot of different ideas. But it was early on that we said, ‘This brand speaks to it.’”
The view of Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift from Universal Studios Hollywood’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
Fast & Furious, the street racing mega-franchise that’s celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, works in part because Universal could theme the coaster around cinematic stunts. Before guests board the ride, they will walk through a twisting queue area that will focus on prop cars with installations designed to show how movie magic is brought to life. Guests will be prodded to scan QR codes to further go behind-the-scenes, that is if they’re not distracted watching the coaster, which will launch directly above them and then go on a journey through multiple inversions on the side of a hill.
And then there was another problem: Would it be too loud? Before land was moved, Universal placed speakers on the old special effects and stunt buildings to see how noise traveled down the hill. “We did recordings all over the place and really established a baseline on which to design,” Corfino says.
Ultimately, the tracks would be complemented with multiple sound walls and shields, the latter clear structures designed to block coaster rumbles and audience screams. And because the cars can rotate 360 degrees, Universal can in theory direct rider yells away from the studio below and the neighborhood nearby. What’s more, the actual track has been filled with pea gravel, designed to minimize nose from any reverberations.
“It’s incredibly quiet,” Corfino says. “We were able to do that by putting materials inside portions of the track to deaden the sound. I’m not sure we would have needed it, but it was important to do the right thing. It’s pea gravel and rocks. It’s quieter than I ever thought it was going to be.”
VP of Universal Creative Jon Corfino, who led the creative development of the Fast & Furious coaster, photographed in 2019.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
A 72-mph coaster with 360-degree rotation and multiple loops and inversions that’s relatively muffled? Perhaps. I can only say that as I watched test cars speed by me last week from an upper lot lookout, the soundtrack from the Jurassic World water ride below was certainly louder.
An opening date for the coaster has not yet been set, but it’s soon. The other week the Universal website briefly posted June 26 as a launch date, and while that was once a targeted day, it will not be the coaster’s grand opening, which is now expected after the Fourth of July holiday (the coaster will be open intermittently for tech rehearsals for some time before its official date).
But Corfino is willing to make one promise. “Given the physical realities of putting this on the side of a hill,” he says, “this is the best view in Hollywood.”
That is, if you’ll be brave enough to keep your eyes open to take it all in.
Universal Studios Hollywood first began exploring a high-speed coaster more than a decade ago.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
This week in SoCal theme parks
Los Angeles loves a parade. Head to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Saturday evening for the Art Parade, which is designed to showcase L.A.’s thriving creative community with a colorful procession down Museum Row. Of particular note: Experiential art firm Meow Wolf, which is in development on its first-ever Los Angeles installation, will be participating. Meow Wolf’s L.A. exhibit, influenced equally be sci-fi and cinema, is on target for a winter opening.
Disneyland history is Los Angeles history. The Autry Museum of the American West has a new exhibit, “Life, Liberty and Los Angeles.” As part of the show, which highlights how SoCal reflected and contradicted our nation’s founding ideals, guests will come across a 1967 Autopia vehicle from Disneyland. Now perhaps a bit quaint, the ride once exemplified our region’s dreams of an open freeway. Autopia is due next year to be remade with electrical vehicles.
Plan a tour of Walt Disney’s former Los Feliz home. Disney and his family in the 1930s lived in a storybook mansion. Keepers of the house have announced that it will be open on a few select Saturdays this summer for tours. Though a private residence, tours are led by Disney expert Dusty Sage, who oversees the Micechat website and fan community. I’ve been inside, and can report the house is full of unique design quirks as well as a number of only-in-SoCal historic tales.
A lively night at Downtown Disney. Head to Downtown Disney on Friday at 5 p.m. for Yardfest 2026, an evening to honor the music and traditions of historically Black colleges and universities. Expect performances from the Texas Southern University Ocean of Soul Marching Band near the area’s live stage, which itself has a unique design paying homage to famed Black architects, as well as specialty food offerings and Mickey Mouse in his drum major outfit.
Ride report
Knott’s Berry Farm has a new show inside the Calico Saloon dubbed “Spirits and Shenanigans.” The production is part of the park’s summer offerings.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
Today’s report is on a show. It’s summer season at Knott’s Berry Farm, which means a new storyline for its popular Ghost Town Alive!, a heavily improvised, actor-led experience that unfolds like a live-action role playing game. New this year is a hootin’ and hollerin’ good time of a show in “Spirits and Shenanigans,” which takes place in the Calico Saloon inside the park’s historic Ghost Town.
At 25-minutes, the production centers on the fictional husband-and-wife bar proprietors, who sing of leaving Illinois to open the spot, as well as its boot-tapping, can-can dancing staffers. Just ever-so-slightly risque with a bit of a patriotic feel, it’s a fast-moving ode to drinking holes and the sense of local community they provide. Expect tap dancing as well as numbers that will turn the entire stage into a drum kit. So if you’re heading to Knott’s this summer, “belly up to the bar,” as they sing, and grab a Boysenberry IPA and one of the few inside seats for this lively, can’t-miss production.
Tell us your stories. Ask us your questions.
Have a theme park tale to share? Whether it was a good day or less-than-perfect day, I would love to hear about it. Have a question? A tip? A fun photo from the parks to share? Email me at todd.martens@latimes.com. I may feature your note in an upcoming newsletter.
Minecraft fans can enjoy an immersive pop-up event during the school summer holidays that includes the chance to meet baby Mobs and other characters from the popular video game universe
Minecraft fans will be able to spot ‘Mobs’ around the theme park(Image: Staffordshire Sentinel News Medi)
Alton Towers will launch a pop-up event for the six-week summer holidays where guests can enjoy an immersive Minecraft experience, including meeting adorable all-new Baby Mobs.
Announcing the new arrivals with a Buckingham Palace-style sign, the theme park has promised fans the chance to “meet baby Minecraft Mobs in real life across the park” in a first-of-its-kind event. Minecraft Meet the Mobs will take place between July 18 and August 28, coinciding with the school holidays in England and Wales.
Character appearances will include the Iron Golem, Chicken Jockey and Creeper, plus baby Mob scenes featuring yellow axolotls, pandas, pigs, goats, chicks and wolf pups.
The baby Mobs will be positioned in six Minecraft-inspired scenes across Alton Towers, and as visitors find each one, they can stamp their game card. Those who complete the trail will unlock an exclusive downloadable in-game reward – only available to visitors who’ve been to the theme park.
According to Alton Towers, Mobs “are living creatures in the Minecraft videogames that move, interact with the environment and can be passive, neutral, or hostile.”
In addition to the Minecraft trails, visitors can enjoy themed snack stands featuring Minecraft-inspired TNT popcorn and ice lollies. There will also be a range of exclusive Minecraft merchandise to purchase in the park.
Minecraft fans can book tickets for Alton Towers online now for summer dates, and the Meet the Mobs experience is included with the regular price of admission for all visitors from July 18 to August 28.
Minecraft is one of the best-selling video games of all time, with 350 million copies sold, a number only beaten by the addictive puzzle game Tetris. Its first formal release was in 2011 for the PC, and since then, it has been released on a number of consoles and mobile platforms. A version for the Nintendo Switch 2 was recently announced, with many fans speculating it could be released by the end of 2026.
Howard Ebison, vice president at Alton Towers Resort, said in a statement: “Minecraft is loved by families around the world, and this summer we’re bringing that sense of play and discovery into our park. ‘Minecraft Meet the Mobs’ is set to delight our guests with interactive moments across the park, an opportunity to unlock exclusive in-game rewards, enjoy themed treats and plenty of surprises along the way.
“We are proud to offer this unique Minecraft event for our guests joining us over the summer, all within the price of admission to Alton Towers Resort.”
Recently, the Staffordshire-based theme park opened brand new Bluey the Ride: Here Come the Grannies!, the world’s first rollercoaster based on the much-loved cartoon pup and her family. It’s also home to CBeebies Land, where kids can enjoy rides and experiences based on Hey Duggee, JoJo and Gran Gran, Go Jetters, and the Octonauts.
Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com
The new Hollywood adaptation of Homer’s epic work The Odyssey, released next month, is expected to give a huge tourism boost to Greece this summer. We’d love to hear about your favourite travel experiences in Greece, whether it’s island hopping, exploring antiquities in Athens, trekking in the Peloponnese or watching the sun set into the Aegean from the perfect beachfront taverna.
The best tip of the week, chosen by Tom Hall of Lonely Planet, wins a £200 voucher to stay at a Coolstays property – the company has more than 3,000 worldwide. The best tips will appear in the Guardian Travel section and website.
Keep your tip to about 100 words
If you have a relevant photo, do send it in – but it’s your words we will be judgingfor the competition.
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THE upcoming Eden Project Morecambe has unveiled its biggest attraction yet – a £4.5million immersive experience.
Called ‘The Elder Tree’ it will guide visitors through a unique journey when it opens in 2028.
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Eden Project Morecambe will have ‘The Elder Tree’ as its focal pointCredit: Eden ProjectThe new Eden Project will consist of two domes in Morecambe BayCredit: Eden Project
The £100million garden attraction set to be built on Morecambe Bay has revealed its centrepiece called ‘The Elder Tree’.
It has been described as “one of the most significant elements” of the attraction.
It’s being built at the cost of £4.5million, which was donated from a charity lottery.
The 65 foot tree will guide visitors on a journey from its roots to the trunk hollows in a one-of-a-kind immersive experience.
It is set to show people how to “reconnect” with and “restore nature”.
The Eden Project in Morecambe will be the newest of its kind in 25 years with the only other attraction being in Cornwall.
Inside the new attraction will be two very different experiences called The Realm of the Sun and The Realm of the Moon.
The Realm of the Sun has been described as “a bright, lush landscape of the near future — a place where humanity has rediscovered how to repair and re-engage with the broken rhythms of the natural world”.
The Realm of the Moon is as an immersive but “darker” space with a hyper-real rockpool which will have sped-up cycles of tides.
Also inside the domes will be 1.5 acres of landscaped gardens, which will open earlier than the other exhibits in 2027.
The garden attraction will have a light and a dark realmCredit: Eden Project
Other details that have been previously mentioned include hanging plants, mini gardens, a multi-sensory area, a waterfall and a ‘Town Square’.
Between the two realms, there is expected to be an area called Metronome, where visitors will buy their entry tickets.
There will be a 750-capacity Tidal Theatre, a 300-capacity restaurant and a shop at the attraction as well.
Once open, Eden Project Morecambe is expected to bring in around £80million to the local area.
Andy Jasper, Eden Project CEO, said: “The funding has specifically secured The Elder Tree – which will sit at the heart of the experience for visitors.
“More than a striking landmark, it will help tell the story of our changing relationship with the natural world and inspire people to imagine what an incredibly positive future could look like.”
Krutzsch says the event was designed to be accessible. “It was critical to make sure that there were affordable opportunities for the community and fans of the World Cup, or any of these countries that are participating, to have a place to come be part of these official celebrations,” he says.
Tickets for FIFA Fan Festival are $10 including fees, with free admission for children ages 12 and under when accompanied by a paid adult. (There is a limit of three free child tickets per one adult ticket purchase.)
TikTok content creator Carlos Maciel plays a game at the DoorDash booth during a media preview of the FIFA Fan Festival.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Meanwhile, reserved club seats and loge boxes are $30 including fees. These premium tickets offer access to shaded lounge areas, enhanced seating, food and beverage offerings and elevated viewing locations overlooking the festival grounds and match screens.
Tickets can be purchased online or at the Coliseum box office on event days when the festival is not sold out. The box office is located at Gate 29. General admission entry will be at Gates 1, 4 and 28.
There’s a sense of quiet mystery in tarot. That’s why during my reading last week, it was more peculiar than disruptive when a dancer hopped on a table to lay at a 90-degree angle and jet her feet in the air.
Despite said activity, the tone was contemplative, and moments later, as I was being asked to describe the colors and mood of a Ten of Swords card, I was tapped on the shoulder. After a gesture to follow, I was handed a lantern.
The way I swayed the light would now dictate the performer’s movements. We may not have been dancing, but it was close. Melancholic and intimate, the performer (Haylee Nichele) silently guided me to become comfortable in my discomfort, to sit with the evening’s themes of longing, loss, confusion and impending grief.
Sam Alper’s Bill, foreground, and Haylee Nichele’s Constance in Koryn Wicks’ “You Must Be Here for the Reading,” an immersive tarot show.
(Daniel Kleen)
“You Must Be Here for the Reading,” running through June 20 at North Hollywood’s After Hours Theatre, is part theatrical and dance performance, part tarot reading and part cocktail hour. It’s also personal, led by two actors who encourage the attendees to open up, to complete poems and to generally tune into their vulnerability.
The 60-minute show, partly scripted and partly improvised, comes from the mind of Koryn Wicks. Trained in dance and choreography, Wicks’ day job is in themed entertainment while her personal projects explore the immersive space. They’re theatrical works that experiment with audience interaction. “You Must Be Here for the Reading” is no different.
The setup: Collectively, our group of eight has arrived at a tarot reading, only the famed reader we are there to work with, Constance, performed by Nichele on the night I saw, never arrives for her assigned role. We know her fate, but her partner, Sam Alper’s Bill, who nervously attempts to carry on with the performance in her absence, does not.
From there, “You Must be Here for the Reading” becomes a show heavy on audience participation. There are scripted, story-specific beats, but the cards pulled — and the tales they tell — is, of course, randomized.
Sam Alper as Bill, an unsuspecting tarot card reader in Koryn Wicks’ “You Must Be Here for the Reading.”
(Daniel Kleen)
“I knew that I wanted the audience to be the primary drivers of the tarot reading,” Wicks says. “I knew that I wanted the host to not be a tarot reader and there to be some sort of event that made it so the audience would have to take the reins and read the tarot.”
In turn, “You Must Be Here for the Reading” works for both those who are novices to the space as well as those who are more experienced. During the pre-show, guests can explore tarot books and uncover slips of paper hidden in them that prompt us to answer questions or complete poems — the latter will figure into the performance. A worksheet given to us asks us to interpret some core tenets, as well as to enter the reading with a question we would like to explore.
The show then focuses on how each attendee’s desires, concerns or lived experiences shape the perception of the reading.
“What’s drawn me to tarot is the way it’s built on symbolism and the way that symbolism is embedded in the collective unconscious,” Wicks says. “I think it’s really fascinating that we have this artifact that has this ability to give us insight into a lot of shared experiences. When I’ve read different books about tarot, or had my cards read by different people, there is an openness to interpenetration.
“The assignment I gave myself for this piece,” Wicks continues, “was to create an experience in which you had a group of people coming together and going through the process of defining the symbolism and meaning of the cards in real time.”
And yet the show also pulls from Wicks’ background in dance. While Constance never shows for the reading, her presence is still felt, often hovering or circling around the table with movements designed to interpret the tone of the reading. She’s a ghostly presence, the gracefulness heightening the somber emotions of the night. Though she and Bill never interact directly, much of the dance seeks to explore their unseen bond. At times, Constance may call on various audience members to act as a dance partner.
Koryn Wicks, creator of “You Must Be Here for the Reading,” an immersive tarot performance in which audiences are tasked with deciphering their own cards while a melancholic story unfolds around them.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
“I really believe that one of the most beautiful things art does for us is remind us that we are not alone,” Wicks says.
Immersive art allows for a sense of participation, which Wicks hopes will increase one’s appreciation of dance.
“Dance is an embodied art form,” Wicks says. “There is science that shows that some of the enjoyment from watching dance comes from imagining yourself moving. In North America, a lot of people haven’t had an experience or education with dance, especially not concert dance. Then we ask them to sit in a dark auditorium in a small chair and not move to enjoy it. I found through my research, both practical and academic, there is something to inviting audiences to participate in dance that allows them to derive meaning from it.”
‘You Must Be Here for the Reading’
While there isn’t enough time in the show for everyone to have a one-on-one experience with the dancer, watching an audience and cast member attempt to get in sync with each other underlines the night’s themes of connecting. Ultimately, that’s the space where the show resides. “You Must Be Here for the Reading” uses tarot as a means to bring some structure to our often disconnected lives.
“It stands in contradiction to our current historical moment,” Wicks says of the show. “It’s very anti-AI. It’s asking people to sit with books and to find little seeds and not necessarily pursue solutions or puzzles. It’s asking us to connect, sometimes with strangers.”
I kept my question that I brought to the reading secret, but I found the show provided a hopeful answer. Not because the cards offered a solution. Instead, they provided a community.
Tim Ream is the only player on the American World Cup team who was alive the last time the tournament was played in the U.S. But he was only 5, so the memories are kind of sketchy.
“I remember bits and pieces of 1994,” he said.
Still, it’s fallen on Ream, as both the captain and the oldest man on the roster, to prepare the team for what they’re about to experience when the U.S. opens play Friday at SoFi Stadium.
“I’ve tried to tell guys and tried to convey the message that this is a once-in-a-career [opportunity] and with that comes more expectation, more pressure,” he said. “But at the same time we have to enjoy it.
“It’s about just opening your eyes and taking everything in because this is unique, this is completely different from anything that any of us as players has experienced.”
Only 22 men in history have suited up for a home World Cup game on U.S. soil. Players including Alexi Lalas, Eric Wynalda, Cobi Jones and Marcelo Balboa parlayed that fame into broadcasting careers. Others have become coaches. Fifteen of them were inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Ream, who played in the last World Cup in Qatar, said it’s difficult to compare the experience of that tournament with this one — especially since this one hasn’t started yet.
“It’s not our first rodeo, but it’s our first one on U.S. soil,” he said. “So it’s kind of our first rodeo in a way. It’s exciting.
“So take it in, enjoy it, embrace everything that it is. Because it’s so unique, it’s so special. And it’s not something that we will ever get to do again.”
Midfielder Cristian Roldan was also at the last World Cup, although he didn’t appear in a game. He says the energy is different this time around.
“You feel it when you’re there. You’re kind of isolated, you’re alone,” said Roldan, one of 13 players on this team who were also on the team in Qatar, half a world away. “But it’s different here. You see how many media members are here. You see how many people we’ve seen in training over the last few weeks. You feel that energy, you feel that support.
“Now it’s about translating that energy, that support, that pressure into something good.”
Goalkeeper Matt Turner agreed.
“This one, obviously, it’s a lot more tangible,” he told reporters Tuesday. “You guys are all here, right, real close to us. We have 5,000 fans for training yesterday. It’s very different. In Qatar, you’re in a lot more of a bubble.
“But us players, the ones that had the [World Cup] experiences, I think we’ve done a really good job of keeping that boundary.”
What’s lacking this time, Turner said, was the pressure of a qualifying campaign to bring the team together. Because the U.S. is one of the three host countries — alongside Mexico and Canada — it was assured a spot in 48-team field when it won the right to stage the tournament eight years ago. As a result it hasn’t played a competitive game in more than 11 months.
“The intensity of those games, the environments that you have to dip into and get results, you find out a lot about the players and find out a lot about the team,” he said. “This time around, it’s been different. We’ve had a lot of different looks, a lot of different players getting a chance to prove themselves and show themselves.
“It’s not anything bad or good. I just think it was a little bit different.”
Striker Folarin Balogun, one of 13 World Cup newbies on the U.S. team, said he doesn’t expect the gravity of the experience to hit him until he lines up for Friday’s opening game with Paraguay.
“It’s probably going to start to go more real to me when I’m preparing to go on to the pitch,” he said, sitting behind a table next to Ream. “I’m hearing the fans shouting and screaming, so I definitely think it’ll be real to me the closer I get.
“But you know, this is the first opportunity for me to play in the World Cup so I don’t really have any expectations.”
Balogun then looked over at a frowning Ream, who had just finished urging his teammates to be sure to stop and smell the flowers along this World Cup journey.
“Just trying to stay present, stay in the moment,” Balogun hastened to add. “You know, enjoying the experience. I think it can be a really memorable World Cup.”
Now open is a revamped, kids-focused area in Looney Tunes Land, a remake of the former Bugs Bunny World and Whistlestop Park. All told, it’s a 5-acre space with nine rides, including two kiddie coasters, as well as still-to-come play areas, a live show and an in-development augmented reality experience.
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I last walked through the area about two summers ago, and it was in a derelict state. I’m happy to report it’s more welcoming, prettier and dotted with plant life and landscaping.
Gone is the vintage Magic Flyer, once Magic Mountain’s oldest coaster (the park’s eldest thrill seeker is now Gold Rusher). Also among the casualties: Tweety’s Escape, a steel swing that placed children in birdcages that had begun to look like mini jails. It was a grim-appearing ride.
The remaining attractions have all received some much-needed TLC. Some even have added mini storylines. What was Whistlestop Train, for instance, is now Taz’s Tasmanian Train Tours. It follows a narrative in which the ride’s titular character has escaped the zoo and is eluding capture, generally causing havoc on the countryside. It’s a calm, slow-moving ride through a small green space, and we see failed attempts to trap Taz, such as an overgrown mice contraption. The ride concludes with a mechanical not-so-hidden Taz, but not before glimpsing a statue of Tasmanian She-Devil in full kiss mode.
A look into the Bugs Bunny-focused area of Magic Mountain’s new Looney Tunes Land.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
The reimagining comes two years after Six Flags Entertainment Corp. and the Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. completed a merger, which in SoCal brought Magic Mountain and Knott’s Berry Farm under the same ownership. Six Flags’ corporate creative producer Clayton Lawrence says post-merger, the company pinpointed upping the family appeal at Magic Mountain as among its first orders of business.
That meant last summer devoting resources to improving the Hurricane Harbor water park, which Lawrence says specifically attracts families and grandparents. This year, attention was turned to the primary park in Looney Tunes Land.
“We really thought about what this park needs,” Lawrence says. “What will the parents need? How do we slow the guests down a little bit? This park has so many thrills in it — so many coasters — that we wanted to create a place that was nice to take a break from all the action and also develop areas where grandparents and parents could watch little ones burn off energy.”
It’s safe to say that Magic Mountain’s core audience is likely always going to be thrill seekers. And that fan base will be served next year with the planned opening of a new coaster that will overlook the Looney Tunes area.
The kiddie coaster the Road Runner Express at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Magic Mountain attracted 3.3 million visitors in 2024, according to data released by the Themed Entertainment Assn. While Lawrence was not able to break down which percentage of that number included those traveling with children 12 and under, it’s safe to say that a greater family appeal is viewed as one of the ways to boost a SoCal audience.
“There’s a lot of people who grew up coming up here, or their first ride was inside Bugs Bunny World,” Lawrence says. “A lot of families have a daredevil teen who can go on the rides, but they also have a little one. This is about the multi-demo family.”
Looney Tunes Land is broken into four mini areas — Taz-Mania, Road Runner Ridge, Bugs Bunny Play Park and Camp Duck Amok. While there are no major distinctions between the spaces, there are slight differences. Taz’s footprints, for instance, are found in the gravel-colored pavement of Taz-Mania, and in the Daffy Duck locale the flooring looks a bit like rockwork. A small outback-like trail in Taz-Mania will soon be home to an augmented reality game, and a much-needed green space in the Bugs Bunny spot will later this summer be populated with tunnels and little climbing structures.
Asqwer Turki, 13, poses for a picture with Wile E. Coyote at the new Looney Tunes Land at Magic Mountain.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
There are fun additions to spot on the refreshed rides. The Canyon Cruiser beginner’s coaster, for example, nods to classic Looney Tunes cartoons, specifically prank-filled episodes featuring Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. The children’s theater has been remade into Bunny Bowl, and given giant carrots that call the attention of guests.
Such light thematic touches, said Magic Mountain President Brian Oerding, have been missing from parts of the park. They’re vital, he says, in lengthening a guest’s day.
“We’ve learned that softening the hardscape creates a better environment, a better experience, and that means you’re going to want to hang out more,” Oerding says. “Some folks will walk by black asphalt and not think anything about it, but when you look into Looney Tunes Land, and you look at the softness of the pavement and the additional landscaping, we’ve created a happier space. Mom and Dad are happier, and that means they’ll hang out longer.”
Mountain Park President Brian Oerding officially opens the new Looney Tunes Land at Magic Mountain.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Looney Tunes Land has also given Magic Mountain some much-needed in-park entertainment, as the area has been lacking a live show for a number of years. “Vacation Mayhem” comes in at just under 15 minutes and features Bugs, Daffy, Porky Pig and Sylvester imagining their perfect getaway spots in song.
Things go wrong, of course, and Bugs even explores some vices by gambling in Las Vegas, which was an odd choice I thought for a kids show, but Looney Tunes did always have a bit of an edge. Nevertheless, the musical numbers, ranging from reworkings of “The Gold Diggers’ Song (We’re in the Money)” to “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter From Camp)” keep it zipping along.
“If we don’t believe that entertainment and character shows are important, we’re missing it,” Oerding says. “Yes, the rides are cool, but we haven’t done an actual entertainment show in here in a long time.”
And Lawrence says Looney Tunes is essentially a model for the entire park. No, that doesn’t necessarily mean more kiddie rides in the coming years, only that Six Flags is looking at other places where the park can use some beautification.
“This is what we want to do for the rest of the park,” Lawrence says. “Disciplined design. Nice hardscape.”
And here’s hoping for some more plants and an additional fountain or two.
This week in SoCal theme parks
Alexis Rosales of Bell gets drenched by Luke Brodowski, performing as Fluke Mayfield at Knott’s Berry Farm’s Ghost Town Alive! in 2024.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Knott’s Berry Farm begins its summer season on Friday, and that means the return of Ghost Town Alive! This interactive live show, now a decade old, is unlike anything at any other SoCal park, and in my mind it’s the best summer entertainment available. This hybrid live-action role-playing game and work of interactive theater enables guests to live out mini-Wild West adventures while interacting with more than two dozen actors. Players follow a loose story centered on the drama in the fictional town of Calico, in the park’s Ghost Town area. It’s silly, it’s wacky and there’s even a daily newspaper. Ghost Town Alive! runs on select days, and I’ll see you there Friday.
World Cup, Lego Style! Carlsbad’s Legoland is celebrating the arrival of the World Cup with a host of limited-time activities and Lego creations. The park, for instance, has built a 30-foot-long re-creation of SoFi Stadium, and elsewhere has created brick versions of a host of soccer stars. There are interactive events as well, such as accuracy challenges and games that have attendees trying to score goals off of Lego minifigures. Legoland’s FIFIA World Cup Experience 2026 launches Thursday and runs through July 19.
Oogie Boogie Bash tickets drop — and a Haunted Mansionstreet parade? The Disneyland Resort’s popular after-hours event Oogie Boogie Bash returns Aug. 18, and tickets for Magic Key passholders go on sale June 16 (the general public sale is June 18). New this year to the Disney California Adventure experience is what the resort is calling “Madame Leota’s Swinging Wake.” Though not a full-scale parade, expect Haunted Mansion characters — the concept art shows floats of the attraction’s “stretching room” portraits — as well as ghostly dancers. But with something new, something must depart. “Madame Leota’s Swinging Wake” is replacing the “Frightfully Fun Parade.” Ticket prices vary by day, starting at $139. October dates, for instance, top off at $199.
“Harry Potter” will hover above Dodger Stadium. A theme park-like drone show is arriving Saturday at Dodger Stadium. More than 1,200 drones will soar over the park as part of a “Harry Potter”-inspired production, which will also feature music, trivia and an appearance from the film’s Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley). Expect re-creations of “Potter” iconography such as Hogwarts Castle, magical creatures, the Sorting Hat and more. The hourlong show begins at 9 p.m. and Butterbeer will be on hand. Tickets start at $52.90 for adults.
Tell us your stories. Ask us your questions.
Have a theme park tale to share? Whether it was a good day or less-than-perfect day, I would love to hear about it. Have a question? A tip? A fun photo from the parks to share? Email me at todd.martens@latimes.com. I may feature your note in an upcoming newsletter.
Ride on,
Todd Martens
P.S.
Last week I put out a call for Disneyland fans to share their Carousel of Progress memories. The theater attraction, centered around a rotating auditorium, debuted at the 1964 World’s Fair before making its way to Disneyland in 1967. It was moved to Florida’s Walt Disney World in 1975. The Walt Disney Co. announced recently that the Florida version would be undergoing a top-to-bottom overhaul, but its dedication to technological optimism throughout the decades would remain.
I’m thoroughly enjoying the remembrances. Many cited it as a favorite. “My father was a musician, and it became a family tradition that we’d sit in the back row and sing ‘[There’s] a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow’ loudly at the top of our lungs from the very beginning of the ride, which I’m sure newcomers thought was weird and probably annoying,” wrote one reader. Another noted, “The mid-60s were exciting years to be a kid, as the future seemed so promising and exciting; the [Carousel of Progress] plugged right into that enthusiasm.”
Many shared similar sentiments. “The animated activities of the characters and their dialogue embraced the ‘Happiest Place on Earth” theme that was prevalent throughout Disneyland in those earlier days,” said one fan. A few, however, called out that the attraction was sponsored by General Electric, making it feel a bit like an advertisement. As one reader summarized: “It was incredibly clunky product placement, even to a kid’s ears.”
They call this place the Sunshine State for a reason. It beats down with a fierce intensity, allowing little air to puncture it… until a fierce thunderstorm hits.
Such sweltering conditions were exactly what Clarke wanted, though, as he stressed the importance of “acclimatising” this week to the conditions his squad will face throughout their tournament.
The Scots start against Haiti (Sunday, 14 June, 02:00 BST) – live across the BBC – and also play Morocco in Boston, before returning to Miami to face Brazil on Wednesday, 24 June (23:00).
“It maybe would have been a shock if we had came out to the Miami game because it hits you as soon as you come off the plane, the humidity and the heat,” Hendry told BBC Scotland at the team’s hotel in Fort Lauderdale.
“So it’s good that we can come out here for this week, prepare and get used to it and I’m sure that will put us in really good stead going into the game.”
Water breaks will be in operation, and Hendry stressed the importance of “using them efficiently”.
“They’re certainly going to help us from a recovery point of view, but maybe tactical. as well,” he said.
“I’m accustomed to it in Saudi; we have these water breaks and it might disrupt the rhythm of the game a wee bit, but from the players’ point of view it definitely helps.”
By the time the Scots return south following back-to-back games in Boston, it could be they have already done what no other Scotland side have by reaching the knockout stages of a World Cup.
It’s undoubtedly the aim for this talented, together squad, but they’re not looking too far ahead. They’re still Scottish after all.
“It’s just trying to get as far as possible, I think,” Hendry said of what success for the country looks like this summer.
“It’s difficult to look too far ahead. The main ambition is going to be trying to get out of the group. Then we see where we can go afterwards.
“We can’t look too far ahead, just take it game by game and if we do that, enjoy it and play the best we can, then we should be able to achieve that.
“We’ve got to make the most of it and make sure we don’t come out of this with any regrets.”
Here in L.A., you can find plenty of yoga studios that are only a short walk from the beach. But Sol Seek Yoga — The Loft is the only one where, when your instructor tells you to “extend your feet towards the ocean,” you might actually wonder if you’ll get your toes wet.
Perched just above the Strand in downtown Manhattan Beach, this cozy studio has sliding doors that open up to a full, unobstructed view of the pier, beach and ocean only a few hundred yards away. The sound of sea waves infuses the room with nature’s original white noise, adding a sense of marine tranquility to every class.
“Because of our proximity to the ocean, we’re very connected to nature,” says owner Justin Randolph. “To be able to hear the waves and connect to that rhythm, especially during corpse pose — it’s a little slice of calm.”
In fact, calm is something of a specialty at this studio, which focuses less on high-intensity aerobic classes than on restorative, therapeutic methods. Soothing Yin classes are offered nearly every day, and Chair Yoga sessions are tailored for students who are nursing injuries — or just prefer a slower, deeper practice.
To keep your visit stress-free, it’s best to plan in advance for the challenges of beachfront parking. If you’re lucky, you might be able to snag a nearby metered space or a spot in one of the lower pier lots. Otherwise, your safest bet is the large parking structure at Metlox Plaza, about five minutes away by foot.
Single class: $30 New student offer: $59 for 21 days of unlimited in-studio, outdoor and livestream classes Unlimited monthly membership: $149
Nonfiction films and series are among some of the most-watched (and most-discussed) programming on TV. As Emmy season heats up, the directors of six notable contenders share thoughts about their projects.
‘The Yogurt Shop Murders’ (HBO)
“It’s just a famous, famous story in Texas, but particularly Austin,” director Margaret Brown says of the bewilderingly complex case of four teenage girls slain at a yogurt shop in the state’s capital in 1991. “You heard about it all the time at parties. My best friend was like, ‘That story is rabbit hole upon rabbit hole upon rabbit hole — no one knows what really happened. It’s impossible to figure out.’ I liked the idea of something that was impossible to figure out. But when I started doing the interviews, I was like, ‘This is dark, this is deep trauma.’ I’d never watched or done true crime before. I didn’t realize what it would be like to sit with people who hadn’t known what happened to their siblings and children for over 30 years. I remember [thinking], ‘I’ve got to get this right. I can’t mess this up. There’s just too much pain here.’”
‘The American Revolution’ (PBS)
“Leading up to it, I said I just don’t want us drowning in fife-and-drum treacle,” director Ken Burns says of his expansive treatment of America’s origin story, which draws out the experiences of Native Americans and enslaved people as well as the era’s atmosphere of civic discord. “Clearly it’s not, because we’re so existentially challenged by the moment. But the revolution gives us a sense of perspective. Times were more challenging then. More division. More division in the Civil War. More division in Reconstruction. Yes, the threats are unprecedented, but they’re not totally unfamiliar. Mark Twain is supposed to have said history doesn’t repeat itself, but he’s [also] supposed to have said it rhymes. I love that. So like Odysseus, I tie myself to the mast and resist the temptation to put a little neon sign in the film saying, ‘Isn’t this so much like today?’”
‘Sean Combs: The Reckoning’ (Netflix)
“There was so much noise,” says director Alexandria Stapleton, who tracks hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs’ rise and shocking fall in this series, executive produced by 50 Cent. “I’m scared for my safety, I’m scared for my career. Then there was every journalist, every giant corporation, trying to chase the same story. Because there was a feeding frenzy, there were a lot of people that were not truthful. It was making sure that we were going after the right people to speak with, and then … making sure that they felt safe emotionally. No one knew who I was interviewing while I was making it. In making a project about a man who’s very connected in media and very good at whatever he wants his narrative to be, there was a very deliberate decision to not drop this project until we literally were a week out.”
‘Ocean With David Attenborough’ (National Geographic)
(Keith Scholey / Silverback Films and Open Planet / National Geographic)
“It’s been weird, because I’ve got older, and he sort of stayed the same, like the Dorian Gray picture,” says Keith Scholey, one of the film’s directors, of the 100-year-old broadcasting legend and naturalist. “He’s still got that huge power and presence and commitment. It comes from the heart. He’s got a huge depth to him, in terms of knowledge, experience, personality … but he’s also very self-effacing. The most boring thing in the world for David Attenborough is David Attenborough. He’s interested in every aspect of the truth, and he loves uncovering that and passing that on to the world. He knows how to present in a way that it’s a performance, but it’s not a performance.”
‘Neighbors’ (HBO)
“Neighbor disputes are a great leveler,” says Harrison Fishman, who co-directs this gonzo excursion into neighborhood feuds with Dylan Redford. “If you think about class and race and politics, all that stuff gets thrown out the window when people are dealing with such small, concrete problems. You quickly start learning why people care so much about the things that they’re fighting for. It becomes a bit like a Trojan horse into learning about aspects of America and things about people that have nothing to do with the dispute. Those tangents are so valuable to us, because it gives context to the dispute. But it also helps people understand who everybody is in our country.”
‘Mr. Scorsese’ (Apple TV)
“We would get together and have these very long conversations,” says director Rebecca Miller, who interviewed American cinema’s great poet of tortured masculinity over five years. “But then in terms of the other voices, I thought, ‘Who knows him best?’ There was this wonderful movie called ‘Crumb,’ by Terry Zwigoff. He interviewed [cartoonist R. Crumb’s] ex-girlfriend at a certain point, and I felt like I got a view into the person, not in a gossipy way, but … trying to get a rounded view. If you only get the front-facing part, you’re not going to get a full sense of who they are. It was very important to me that we hear from the daughters or his wife, that there’s a sense of a person in there.”
Tiki, an offshoot of the Midcentury Modern movement, flourished in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s, but began to experience a decline in the ’70s. Thus, by the ’90s, there were concerns at Disney that the Enchanted Tiki Room — the pivotal 1963 attraction that pioneered audio-animatronics — was no longer in vogue, its singing birds, totems and flowers a relic of another era.
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The company explored some early concepts to remake the Enchanted Tiki Room. One idea was to transform it into an ecological, save-the-rainforest show. Another was to redesign it with a “Lion King” theme.
“Let me tell you, we hated it,” says artist and designer Kevin Kidney of the latter concept.
Kidney, who worked in Disneyland’s art department in the ’90s, says he and his longtime collaborator Jody Daily were “terrified” the Enchanted Tiki Room would disappear, so much so that they began making fliers to advertise the show and putting them up all over L.A., in restaurants, bars and museums. “We started an underground movement to save the Tiki Room even while we were working on these projects. We tried to frame it in a cool, hip way, like, ‘Everyone needs to go and re-experience this amazing show.’”
Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar took its influence from Disneyland’s Adventureland attractions, namely the Enchanted Tiki Room and the Jungle Cruise.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed, and the Enchanted Tiki Room remains to this day a vital piece of Disneyland history. And now with the modern tiki revival, it’s no longer an archival curiosity. In fact, the connection between Disney and tiki may be as strong as it has ever been, as this spring the Disneyland Hotel’s Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar turned 15. Trader Sam’s took its cues heavily from the Adventureland attraction, its bar flanked by tiki totems with slowly wandering eyes. And watching over guests and bartenders is a re-creation of one of the show’s tiki gods.
“The totem pole on the bar, and Koro up in the rafters above the bar, are all original designs and sculpts for the Tiki Room at Disneyland,” Kidney says. “They made new castings for the bar off of the elements from the attraction.”
Kidney and Daily collaborated with Walt Disney Imagineering, the arm of the company devoted to theme park experiences, on some of the early designs for Trader Sam’s. It’s their mug collection, for instance, that was seen in the bar on opening day. And the pair designed a magnificent glowing ship in a bottle, which thanks to a Pepper’s ghost illusion, occasionally looks as if it’s breaking apart and sinking.
Trader Sam’s, says author and historian Sven Kirsten, writer of “The Book of Tiki,” is one of the more influential bars on the modern tiki landscape. Though it didn’t kickstart today’s movement, says Kirsten, it often serves as “a gateway,” introducing Disney’s millions of guests to the scene.
Kirsten says Trader Sam’s has rightfully earned its place among SoCal’s most respected tiki bars. And most popular. An unofficial Instagram page devoted to the bar, keeping tabs on its mug releases and off-menu bartender creations, has more than 39,000 followers.
The erupting volcano “windows” of Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
“In the early 2010s the craft cocktail revival brought forth these so-called tiki bars that thought if they had a tiki cocktail menu they were a tiki bar,” Kirsten says. “But it was basket lamps and palm leaf wallpaper and that was it. Places like Trader Sam’s and Strong Water and Royal Hawaiian are floor-to-ceiling fully decorated. They’re what a tiki bar should be.”
Before the Disneyland Hotel had Trader Sam’s, the space was home to Hook’s Pointe, which was lightly themed to “Peter Pan.” Yet about a decade after the Walt Disney Co. completed a purchase to assume control of the Disneyland Hotel, Hook’s Pointe was earmaked for renovation.
“We were designing a Caribbean-style bar where Trader Sam’s is now, and that was where I said, ‘Let’s rethink this,’” said Kyle Barnes, an Imagineer who was instrumental in the creation of Trader Sam’s. Barnes was speaking at a recent event hosted by Disney’s fan club D23 on the history of Adventureland and Trader Sam’s.
“I said, ‘That’s more East Coast. This is West Coast.’ Hawaii and Midcentury really fit together with the tiki theme,” Barnes said, noting that the park’s Enchanted Tiki Room was initially pitched as a restaurant and once sat next to the Tahitian Terrace, a Polynesian-themed restaurant complete with hula dancers.
Trader Sam’s is home to many show elements. In addition to the sinking ship, there are bar seats that will begin to drop the longer guests sit in them. Also, there are two theatrical windows looking out toward a volcano, which will erupt when guests order a specific drink. The ship in a bottle and dipping barstools, said Barnes, were inspired by the Adventurers Club at Florida’s Walt Disney World, while the volcano windows were influenced by Florida’s version of the Enchanted Tiki Room.
The Kungaloosh cocktail at Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
The Adventurers Club closed in 2008, but I was fortunate enough to visit it as a child, and it was instrumental in my love of Disney, theater and, well, bars. Full of actors, puppets and walls filled with artifacts that seemed to spring to life, the Adventurers Club was a place of play, and I still remember as a kid being asked by one of the actors to join the imaginary guild. It was a glimpse into a grown-up world full of revelry, silliness and colorful cocktails.
Trader Sam’s fills a similar niche for me today, and as part of its 15th anniversary, it added the Adventurers Club signature drink, the sweetly tropical Kungaloosh, to its menu. As a kid, I longed to enter an adult world. As a grown-up, I love an adult world with a childlike playfulness.
Tiki bars aren’t perfect, and have occasionally come under criticism as escapist fantasy that appropriates Hawaiian or Polynesian iconography. As such, Trader Sam’s has changed over the years. Shrunken heads, for instance, that once hung from the walls, were years ago removed.
Progress, and part of Trader Sam’s enduring appeal. “The jokes that we accepted long ago, they were jokes for only a part of the population,” says Kidney.
And Trader Sam’s remains full of absurdities — spend some time just soaking up the puns and ephemera that dot the walls. Just be prepared to duck when you see the bartenders reach for a spray bottle.
So cheers to another 15 years, and I hope to see you at the bar.
This week in SoCal theme parks
Space Mountain at night.
(Paul Hiffmeyer / Disneyland Resort)
A refreshed cartoon world. Magic Mountain will on Saturday unveil its new kid-targeted Looney Tunes Land, which is a makeover of its previous Bugs Bunny-focused area. Expect a brand new live show, and spaces designed to represent the personality of characters such as Bugs, Daffy Duck, the Tasmanian Devil, and Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. Each of the attractions, such as calming train and balloon rides, has received a tune-up. I’ll take a closer look next week!
‘The Odyssey’ comes to Universal. While theme park fans await the opening date of Universal Studios Hollywood’s new “Fast & Furious” coaster, the park is zooming ahead with its Mega Movie Summer promotion. As part of the latter, a ship from Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” will be added to the park’s tram tour. Elsewhere, Minions from “Minions & Monsters” will start meeting with guests, and various dining locations will receive light makeovers to represent films such as “Jaws” and the “Fast & Furious” franchise.
Changes afoot at CityWalk. Universal’s CityWalk is in the midst of a multiyear transformation. New spaces, such as one from Malibu Brewing Co., are on the way, while some legacy retailers are unfortunately disappearing. The latest: Publisher Dark Horse Comics is closing its Things From Another World retail location. The pop-culture shop is slated to close in September. No word yet on what may move into the space.
Space Mountain is back! After a brief overlay as the “Star Wars”-themed Hyperspace Mountain, Disneyland’s classic Space Mountain has returned just in time for the busy summer season. The coaster, which tops off at about 32 mph in near total darkness, should be back in all its vintage glory as of today.
A renewal perk. The Disneyland Resort in a move to create more loyalty among its Magic Key passholders is offering a bonus for those who opt to stick around for another year. A dining promotion, in which annual passholders can receive a dining gift card for as much as $100 if they choose to re-up, is underway through May of next year.
Tell us your stories. Ask us your questions.
Have a theme park tale to share? Whether it was a good day or less-than-perfect day, I would love to hear about it. Have a question? A tip? A fun photo from the parks to share? Email me at todd.martens@latimes.com. I may feature your note in an upcoming newsletter.
Ride on,
Todd Martens
P.S.
I’m curious if any longtime Disneyland fans have any memories of the Carousel of Progress. I’d love to hear them. The theater show, built around a rotating auditorium, debuted at the 1964 World’s Fair before making its way to Disneyland in 1967. It was moved to Florida’s Walt Disney World in 1975.
In case anyone missed it, the Walt Disney Co. announced last week that Carousel of Progress would be undergoing a top-to-bottom overhaul to update the show. No longer will it begin in the distant past, as the refreshed attraction will now start in the 1960s and take guests into the ’80s, the late ’90s and beyond. An ode to technological optimism, the original show was overseen by Walt Disney, but had undergone multiple changes throughout the decades, most notably in its final scene.
I’ll miss its glimpses of the 1920s and 1940s, but concede the attraction was notable today more for its Disney history than its cultural relevancy. Thus, I’m cautiously hopeful that this makeover can ensure the Carousel of Progress remains a Disney staple for decades to come.
