Southern California Attractions | Development News

[saiholmes]

Originally Posted by Los Angeles Times

Six Flags Magic Mountain spills plans for record-setting coaster
By Brady MacDonald
Los Angeles Times
5:30 AM PST, March 7, 2012

Six Flags Magic Mountain is expected to add a terrain-hugging launched roller coaster in 2013 featuring the world's tallest loop, according to an employee who wasn't authorized to speak on behalf of the amusement park.

The new multi-launch coaster will be called Full Throttle, according to the official Six Flags Facebook page.

Full Throttle's record-setting vertical loop is expected to top the Superman: Krypton coaster at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, which holds the current title of world's tallest loop at 145 feet. Magic Mountain's own Viper, with a 144-foot-tall loop, is a close second, according to Roller Coaster Database.

Full Throttle would become Magic Mountain's 18th coaster, moving the California park ahead of Ohio's Cedar Point for the title of "Roller Coaster Capital of the World."

Read More: http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/...,2643870.story

[saiholmes]

Originally Posted by OC Register

Disney announced that construction would begin in May on the Fanasy Faire, a "village square" featuring the stories of princesses.

While construction is underway, Disney is moving the Jump, Jive, Boogie Swing Party to the Westside Stage in Downtown Disney. The first free Downtown Disney party is set for May 5.

Read More: http://www.ocregister.com/news/disne...aza-faire.html

[saiholmes]

Originally Posted by Los Angeles Times

New penguin exhibit to open Thursday in Long Beach
May 15, 2012 | 9:28 am
Los Angeles Times

A new $1.5-million exhibit at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach featuring a colony of 13 Magellanic penguins is set to open to the public Thursday.

As staffers prepared the 3,000-square-foot June Keyes Penguin Exhibit for its debut — installing sunshades, inspecting plumbing fixtures and setting up kennels to mimic nesting burrows — the first penguins in the aquarium's collection of 11,000 animals were exploring the amenities of their new digs.

Some of the flightless black-and-white birds used their stubby flippers to glide gracefully through the water of a 14,000-gallon pool chilled to a constant 60 degrees. Others waddled and swayed on land like tiny partygoers heading home from an all-nighter. A few fluffed their feathers in anticipation of a bucket lunch: Herring and smelt prepared in the aquarium's stainless-steel kitchen.

Read More: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...he-public.html

[saiholmes]

Rob Lowe
Official "Unofficial" California Tour Guide
http://www.visitcalifornia.com/Life-...rnia/Rob-Lowe/

[saiholmes]

[saiholmes]

[saiholmes]

[saiholmes]

Originally Posted by The San Diego Union-Tribune

Safari Park to get $9 million gift for new tiger exhibit
Written by Lori Weisberg
10 a.m., May 18, 2012

An entirely new home for San Diego Zoo Safari Park's Sumatran tigers could open by 2014, thanks to the park's largest pledge ever of $9 million.

Park officials announced Friday that the planned $19.5 million Tiger Trail attraction is assured of the donation as long as an additional $2 million is raised by the end of the year.

A couple who has chosen to remain anonymous pledged to contribute $9 for every $2 in donations to finance the new attraction, designed in part to draw attention to the dwindling Sumatran tiger population. The gift, at most, would be $9 million if the park succeeds in attracting $2 million in donations.

Read More: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/...ers-thanks-to/

[saiholmes]

Originally Posted by Orange County Register

[saiholmes]

[milquetoast]

COLORFUL!!

[saiholmes]

Originally Posted by Los Angeles Times

NBCUniversal scraps plan to build housing on Universal back lot
Instead of developing apartments and condos on Universal Studios land, it now suggests adding more film and TV production facilities, enhancing the theme park and building an extra hotel.
By Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times
6:10 PM PDT, July 16, 2012

NBCUniversal has dropped controversial plans to build thousands of residences on its famous back lot and hopes instead to add movie and television production facilities and expand the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park.

The new $1.6-billion proposal was unveiled Monday just before the release of the final environmental impact report on the company's proposal to improve the sprawling studio and tourist attraction in the San Fernando Valley.

An earlier plan, valued at $3 billion, called for nearly 3,000 apartments and condominiums at the east end of the studio's property; they would have been served by proposed shops and restaurants. Many neighbors were opposed to the housing, and this year Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky called on NBCUniversal to ditch the residential component of its "Evolution Plan."

Housing development would have made economic sense for the company, Universal Studios President Ron Meyer said a meeting with The Times on Monday. Yaroslavsky and Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge, however, "urged us to focus on our core business," Meyer said, "and they are right."

Yaroslavsky and LaBonge attended the meeting at Universal and voiced support for what they called the "no-residential alternative" while stopping short of endorsing the new plan, which still faces city and county approval processes.

Eliminating a portion of the back lot to build housing would reduce television and motion picture production at Universal — potentially costing jobs — because there would be less room for filming, Yaroslavsky said. He also expressed sympathy for neighbors in the hills above the studio.

"If you lived over the back lot, you wouldn't want Park La Brea Towers erected in your backyard either," Yaroslavsky said, referring to a massive apartment complex in the mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles.

LaBonge said he hoped Universal would continue to emphasize film and television production on the lot and the popular Universal Studios tour.

"This is an important tourist attraction," he said. "You see people outside smiling with anticipation."

Homeowner groups have been watching Universal's plans with interest over the years.

The president of the Hollywood Knolls Community Club, Daniel Savage, said dropping the housing component would be "a welcome change in terms of lessening the potential negative impacts on traffic and infrastructure such a housing complex would have, but also preserve to the greatest extent possible the historical Universal back lot and keeping it available for production, which is greatly needed in this city."

The new plan calls for adding 327,000 square feet of development to the theme park, which might include an expansion of the well-known tram tour and parking. The boundaries of the theme park would not grow.

The theme-park enhancements might seem to be a natural complement for the planned Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which NBCUniversal said in December would cost "several hundred million dollars" to create. The studio hopes to emulate the success of the attraction at Universal Studios Orlando in Florida.

But on Monday, NBCUniversal officials said they hadn't determined where they would place the "Harry Potter" attraction, which is expected to include a re-creation of the Hogwarts castle as well as Potter-themed rides, shops and restaurants.

A key revision of the proposal calls for construction of two 500-room hotels instead of one. The new plan also would bump up the amount of new production facilities and offices to 1.45 million square feet from 1.24 million square feet.

The revised plan calls for $100 million in transit and roadway improvements as originally proposed, said Thomas Smith, senior vice president in charge of real estate on the West Coast for NBCUniversal.

The budget would include a new ramp and other improvements on the 101 Freeway. About half the $100 million would be spent on improving traffic flow on nearby streets, intersections and freeways; the other half would be spent on transit programs, including shuttles, a Metro bus and employee and visitor incentives to forgo car trips.

The final EIR has deemed the no-residential alternative "environmentally superior," officials said, and NBCUniversal has asked the city and county to focus on that version of the plan for the upcoming approval process.

Comcast Corp., which owns a majority interest in NBCUniversal, supports the new plan, Meyer said. Public hearings on the final environmental impact report lie ahead. If the proposal is approved, construction will begin right away, he said.

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., a business trade group, said it supports NBCUniversal's latest proposal, which would create thousands of construction jobs.

"Not only will these new attractions, destination spots and recreational options boost the economy around the Universal City facility, but they will significantly stimulate our entire region's hospitality and tourism industry," the group said.

Read More: http://www.latimes.com/business/real...,2938879.story

[pesto]

It would be interesting to see how much of this change was market driven and how much NIMBY driven. It's unfortunate that more housing couldn't be added to the area, since much of the East Valley is starting to get pretty run-down. Nothing encourages landlords to take care of their property like new housing on the market. You can imagine that they and home owners fought this tooth and nail.

Are they really expanding production, or is this just trying to cover up for their failure to get approval for housing? The didn't seem very interested in production facilities for the last several years.

Technically, not even hotel and office is approved. I expect the locals will now turn to battering this down to nothing as well. But the unions will go on the other side which makes it tougher for the City Council to oppose.

[croyboy]

i actually don't care for the housing either. universal studios needs to focus on how to make itself more amazing and entertaining. i really think housing (in this situation) limits the lot for upcoming expansions/upgrades. if housing were placed, they would just have to evict everyone in the near future for any expansion on work/entertainment (which might not even work out).. l.a.'s theme park industry needs to step it up in order to compete with orlando as it is.

[saiholmes]

Originally Posted by croyboy

i actually don't care for the housing either. universal studios needs to focus on how to make itself more amazing and entertaining. i really think housing (in this situation) limits the lot for upcoming expansions/upgrades. if housing were placed, they would just have to evict everyone in the near future for any expansion on work/entertainment (which might not even work out).. l.a.'s theme park industry needs to step it up in order to compete with orlando as it is.

[pesto]

Originally Posted by croyboy

i actually don't care for the housing either. universal studios needs to focus on how to make itself more amazing and entertaining. i really think housing (in this situation) limits the lot for upcoming expansions/upgrades. if housing were placed, they would just have to evict everyone in the near future for any expansion on work/entertainment (which might not even work out).. l.a.'s theme park industry needs to step it up in order to compete with orlando as it is.

Terrible idea. On that theory, Century City would still be two sound stages and a western backdrop instead of 100M condos and high-rises. AND it would never be used since other places would do the same at a lower cost.

But, in any event, that's a decision made by the investors not by polling the SoCal electorate and landlords.

[klamedia]

Terrible idea not to include residential. If it isn't built here it will be built 50 miles out which only continues sprawl. LA needs permanent residents who can support its local economy and this would have done just that. As of now I haven't read anywhere that LA is having a problem attracting tourists to the region but we are finding it difficult attracting middle income urban dwellers with families to our core.

[pesto]

Agree completely. Plus the E. Valley housing stock is generally low grade and needs some capital. This is the usual coalition of landlord and home owners blocking new housing and feeding the growth of Santa Clarita, Palmdale, and ultimately, Texas.

[croyboy]

i agree we need housing, but not on a bottlenecked mountain. universal doesn't even have to provide it either (unless of course it was on the red line universal city station). housing on the same lot as the actual theme park (to me) doesn't make sense.

there's plenty of room for housing south of the park. we don't need to sprawl further out. there's room within two blocks of every singlle subway station for housing.

[112597Jorge]

Six flags getting anew slingshot to be installed at the deja vu old site an be running by august.