If this theme park year were a laundry detergent, it could be marketed as “new and improved.”  Several major additions to Central Florida attractions were updates, takeovers or re-imagined rides. As another old slogan used to say, recycling makes sense, right?

At Magic Kingdom, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is a makeover of Splash Mountain with new scenery, characters, story and music. The signature splashdown remains. Country Bear Musical Jamboree, its Frontierland neighbor, modernized its tunes and reopened with a slightly elongated name (just add “Musical”).

At Universal Studios, DreamWorks Land opened in the space previously known as Woody’s KidZone. It features attractions based on “Kung Fu Panda,” “Puss in Boots,” “Trolls” and “Shrek” as well as “DreamWorks Imagination Celebration,” a musical stage show with characters and dancers.

SeaWorld Orlando introduced Penguin Trek, a launch coaster that reuses space from its former Empire of the Penguin dark ride and maintains a fairly close (and definitely chilly) encounter with the birds.

Aquatica, SeaWorld’s water park, enclosed a slide’s big bowl and added projections of sea life to create Tassie’s Underwater Twist.

Orlando Science Center completed its largest expansion with “Life,” which features a trio of environments — swamp, ocean and rainforest — and their animals. Its ground-floor footprint is on the museum’s former NatureWorks/Kids Town territory.

The year did feature originals and exits.

Flurry of firsts

• Universal Studios introduced the Mega Movie Parade – think “Ghostbusters,” “Jaws,” “E.T.” and more, as well as “CineSational: A Symphonic Spectacular,” a nighttime show based on blockbusters and using 600 drones. It also opened Wicked: The Experience with merchandise and memorabilia based on the 2024 film.

• Gaylord Palms Resort debuted, for the first time anywhere, ice sculptures based on “Elf,” the 2003 Will Ferrell film, for its “Ice” show.

• The completion of Epcot’s CommuniCore Hall, a meeting/greeting/eating spot, symbolized the conclusion of the park’s longtime, oft-publicized transformation.  The space also accommodates a stage show with “Encanto” characters.  New topiaries this year for the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival were based on “Coco” figures and Groot, the tree-like character from “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

• Legoland Florida added Lego Ferrari Build & Race, an exhibit that includes a life-size Ferrari made from 400,000 Lego bricks.

• Busch Gardens Tampa Bay added Phoenix Rising, an inverted family coaster.  It also reopened its SkyRide.

• New, updated models of the Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort, a Disney Vacation Club offering, were installed.  DVC’s Island Tower addition at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows, facing the Seven Seas Lagoon, opened in December.

Farewells

• Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade, an opening-day Magic Kingdom attraction, closed in June.

• In September, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay shut down Scorpion, a roller coaster that debuted in 1980.

• “Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy” ended at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in October. It will be replaced by “Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After” stage show.

• Legoland Florida will end its “Brickbeard Watersport Stunt show,” a water-skiing production with historical roots with Cypress Gardens, at the end of 2024.

News and notes

• Longtime Imagineer Joe Rohde, one of the masterminds behind Disney’s Animal Kingdom and other park projects, was made an official Disney Legend.

• Madame Tussauds Orland added figures for soccer superstar Lionel Messi, actor Chris Pratt and singers Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa and Rihanna.

• Merlin introduced an annual pass that is valid for the Orlando Eye, Madame Tussauds and Sea Life Aquarium, as well as Orlando attractions at Icon Park.

• Orlando Science Center set a world record for most paper rockets fired at the same time. The attempt was tied to the “The Science of Guinness World Records”  exhibit, which ends Jan. 6.

• “Glisten,” an ice-skating show, was added to the Disney Jollywood Nights lineup at Hollywood Studios.

• SeaWorld’s orca stadium received cosmetic upgrades.

• Orlando-based Ripley Entertainment purchased a set of 45 Olympic torches, bringing its total collection to 116, representing every Games held since 1936 except for the 1964 Innsbruck Games. (Ripley says the combined value of the relics is more than $10 million.)

• Hurricane season messed with operating hours and forced closures and cancellations, including sessions of Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights and Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom.

• Great Wolf Lodge, an indoor water park and resort, opened in Naples.

• Orlando-based International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions reported record attendance of more than 41,000 attendees at the IAAPA Expo in November.

• Gatorland celebrated its 75th birthday; SeaWorld marked the 60th anniversary of the opening of its first park; Disney’s Hollywood Studios turned 35.

Corporate reports

• Walt Disney Co. announced a development plan that would invest $17 billion over the next two decades. It coincides with a “kiss and make up” moment between Disney and Gov. Ron DeSantis after two years of political tensions.

• Eventually, Disney revealed more details about its Florida plans, which include Magic Kingdom rides based on “Cars,” a Tropical Americas land at Animal Kingdom and a “Monsters, Inc” area at Hollywood Studios.

• Universal Orlando announced that its Epic Universe theme park would open May 22, 2025, and shared details about its attractions, which are groups in lands devoted to “How to Train Your Dragon,” Super Nintendo World, Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, classic monsters at Dark Universe and Celestial Park, an entry with restaurants, retail and rides.

• In February, SeaWorld Entertainment, the parent company of the SeaWorld parks and other attractions, changed its name to United Parks & Resorts.

• After three of its books were put on a “flagged” list for possible banning in Escambia County schools, Ripley Entertainment offered free copies of its “Dare to Discover” publication to Florida residents. It gave away 20,000 copies.

• Walt Disney Imagineering President Barbara Bouza resigned in March. Merlin CEO Scott O’Neil announced his resignation in November.

• Concerned about misuse, Walt Disney World changed procedures to obtain disability passes.

• Disney started allowing advance purchases of Lightning Lane, and it rolled out a new Lightning Lane Premier Pass that let buyers use every express lane within a theme park a single time in one day.

And always end with animals

• Gatorland took in three red fox siblings in Save a Fox Rescue sanctuary, added a Walk of Fame featuring rescued animals and announced a name for its rare hatched-at-Gatorland leucistic alligator. She is Mystic.  (Her brother is Mayhem.)

• Among the additions born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom are triplet cotton-top tamarins living on Discovery Island and Bakso, a Sumatran tiger. Making debuts on the park’s savanna are Corra, a baby elephant; Elijah, an okapi; and three lions named Mshango, Zahara and Neema.

• At Epcot, a manatee named Lou and three male dolphins were relocated from The Seas With Nemo & Friends attraction.  A new manatee named Inigo has joined the continuing resident named Lil Joe.

• Discovery Cove opened Flamingo Point, a gathering place for flamingos and guests of the day resort.

• Among the rescue animals getting attention from SeaWorld were 12 Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, a distressed manatee from North Carolina and a sea cow set to return to Charlotte County, and a Pacific walrus calf found abandoned on the beaches near Utquigvik, Alaska.

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