Month: July 2026

Disney just cannot win with remakes.

Most folks who are into movies like good movies, and dislike bad movies. If a movie is a remake, and is good, folks like this may like it. If the movie is an original, but is bad, folks like this may dislike it.

Then there are the haters that simply hate something because it is a remake, regardless of if it is a good movie or a bad movie.

Disney has put out a number of live action remakes of their animated films. Some have done better at the box office than the original animated version, and others have … not.

When a remake happens, and the content is changed too much from the original, some folks will dislike it. It could be simple — “why is her hair straight?” — or more involved — “why did they completely leave out the dragon? he was a major part of the original!”

With the live action Moana being discussed, early reviews of it I have watched have not criticized it for changing things too much … but … for making it so close to the original it falls into the “what’s the point” category.

Honestly, I think I am on the side of “make it like the original” unless there is some universally hated aspect of the original that a remake could fix. You know the types… “I loved everything about this movie except the ending.” A remake could change the ending and, perhaps, make people happier.

But for Disney, if they change too much, haters hate. If they make it too close to the original, solving that issue, apparently haters hate.

Which reminds me of Wargames…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpmGXeAtWUw

Darned if you do, darned if you don’t.

Good luck, Disney!

Using Iowa’s Adventureland pass at other parks

When Iowa’s Adventureland was purchased by Palace Entertainment in 2021, it joined a list of other amusement centers owned by them. Certain levels of the Adventureland season pass gained access to other Palace properties.

When Herschend Family Entertainment bought the Palace Entertainment parks in 2025, it now joined a list of attractions that this company owns.

With HFE’s original park, Silver Dollar City, a mere six hour drive from Des Moines, folks began to wonder if their Adventureland season pass would allow access to Silver Dollar City.

HFE confirmed early on (via website updates) that the Adventureland pass was still only good at other former-Palace Entertainment Parks. The HFE parks were not part of the perks, currently.

https://www.adventurelandpark.com/buy-tickets/season-passes

When we visited Silver Dollar City this year, we asked at the ticket counter if the Adventureland season pass offered a discount on day tickets there. They said no. We have since confirmed that they actually do, but not at the ticket counter. You have to go to guest relations first:

“Adventureland Pass Holders receive 50% off full priced one-day admission for the pass holder only. Please visit our Guest Relations team, located on the right-hand side of the pathway just before the park turnstiles and present your Adventureland pass to purchase the discounted ticket. The offer is only for the passholders.”

HFE Customer Support

When we inquired about discounts at other HFE parks, they did not know.

“We are very limited on this information. I have forwarded your email to the appropriate leadership team to answer your question. Thank you!”

HFE Customer Support

We have since received more details. HFE does not know, but…

“I have been advised that the Adventureland Pass Holder will need to reach out to Adventureland regarding discounts/benefits for other properties.”

HFE Customer Support

So … it might. HFE does not know which of their parks get a discount, but Adventureland should. Fair enough.

We have been Silver Dollar City passholders for the past few years and find the park very unique and charming. And, they have free parking for everyone, not just pass holders! Maybe we’ll see some of these perks make their way into the Iowa park.

More to come…

Translating Lost Island in-park names.

The Aukipi Dictionary, now in its second edition and sold at Lost Island Theme Park in Waterloo, Iowa, can be useful in understanding all the signs you see in the park.

The dictionary itself is needed to understand the subtitle:

“An Official Auk Modu Language Guide”

Auk means “lost” and modu means “island”, so it is the Lost Island Language Guide for the island’s language, Aukipi. And you can infer some meaning of that word if you know that ipi means “to speak.”

They must have had such a great time coming up with this language!

With our dictionary in hand, let’s translate some signage we see in the parks…

Realms (lands) of the park

  • Ara Matua – “to open” “ground”
  • Awa – “water”
  • Mura – “fire”
  • Tamariki – “spirit”
  • Udara – “air”
  • Yuta – “earth”
Lost Island 2025, Awa (water) entrance.
Lost Island 2025, Mura (fire) entrance.
Lost Island 2025, Tamariki (spirit) entrance.
Lost Island 2025, Udara (air) entrance.
Lost Island 2025, Yuta (earth) entrance.

Rides of the park

Not all of the rides use the Aukipi language. You will find things like “Sea Swell” that are in English. But, some of them make more sense if you know what the word(s) mean…

  • Amara Aviators – amara means “flying machine”
  • Awaati Water Battle – awaati means “otter”
  • Eeki Eeki Escape – eeki eeki means “giant squid”
  • Golapa Sprouts – golapa is a “species of tree, identified by its helicopter seed pods”
  • Kapulele Gliders – kapulele means “butterfly”
  • Kukui Station – kukui means “crazy”
  • Lokolo – “caterpillar”
  • Mama Pezaki – pezaki is a “topical fish; fuchsia in color”
  • Mura Dancer / Mura Fury – mura means “fire”
  • Nopuko Air Coaster – unofficially, some fans pronounces this as “no puke, oh!” and say it means “do not puke”. It is not listed in the dictionary 😉
  • Ohu Hoppers – ohu means “frog”
  • Tuka Tumbler – tuka means “turtle”
Lost Island 2026, Lokolo (caterpillar).

Shops of the park

While some of the locations have English names, such as “Whalebone Grill” and “Thirsty Voyager”, others use the in-park language:

  • Totara Market – totara is a “species of tree”, and this food location looks as if it was built into the base of a large tree.
  • Udaran Delights – Udarans are the people of the Udara (air) realm.
  • Ummi Ummis – ummi ummi means “food” so this location is literally a stand with “Foods” on it 😉
Lost Island 2025, Totara Market

Where to go now?

And with the dictionary giving us the Aukipi word for restroom – wakatiki – you might expect to look for that on signs, but thankfully they went with English on those.

Lost Island 2025, Udara restroom sign.

The one thing that might make this more fun is if the signage were bilingual, like the signs at the Japan Disney parks. I have never been to those parks, so I don’t have a photo to include, but here is a blog post about it if you are curious:

https://tdrexplorer.com/17-basic-japanese-phrases-for-tokyo-disney-resort

And there’s more!

The people of Lost Island will speak to you with phrases in this language, and you will find more items to decode (using the dictionary, or my online translator) throughout the park. They even have a special font they use.

This is not your average amusement park — it is an actual theme park.

I love Lost Island so much.

What did I miss that you think should be in this article? Leave a comment…

360-degree video from Atlas9 in Kansas City, KS

I do a poor job of remembering to post here about the 360-degree photos and videos I have been adding. There are now over 100 360-degree photos taken at Atlas9 in Kanas City shared to my Park Hopping in VR Facebook group. Here is a link to the gallery:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set?set=oa.1714705839703383&type=3

I have also uploaded a 360-degree video of various scenes from within the attraction. Even when you can look up, down, left and right (and even behind you), these images don’t do justice to what actually being there is like.

Atlas9 Scenes

And, I have an 18-minute walk through of most of the rooms in the attraction. I missed a number of them, but this should give you an idea on how all the craziness is connected. SPOILERS AHEAD!

Atlas9 Walkthru

Be sure to check out the 90+ 360-degree videos shared on my Park Hopping in VR YouTube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgRQUiV2HcTjs6hv2RwyDA

Viewing (and recording) this type of video is generally very boring (at least to me), but it is great for preservations. Posting in coming weeks are similar 360-degree videos from the Lost Continent section of Universal Islands of Adventure in Orlando. That area is now a construction zone, and I had recorded it my previous visit due to rumors that this would be happening. I just regret not doing it before they already had much of the area closed down.

More to come…

Childless vloggers invited to Universal Kids Resort?

TL:DNR – Folks say a lot of stuff on the internet. This article is just a compilation of some predictions I’ve seen about Universal allowing or NOT allowing adults without children access to their new kiddie park. Don’t shoot the messenger 😉

Universal Kids Resort is a new kiddie park opening July 1st in Frisco, Texas. Frisco is about 30 miles outside of Dallas, and about 40 miles from the very first and original Six Flags.

The official website describes the Universal Kids Resort as follows:

“Opening July 1, 2026 in Frisco, Texas, this first-of-a-kind resort is specifically designed and developed for families with young children. Enjoy Universal Destinations & Experiences’ iconic brand of entertainment, adventure and fun, bringing to life beloved characters and stories in ways that will just wow the youngest theme park goers in a totally inclusive way.”

https://www.universalkidsresort.com/en/us

Unlike the other Universal Studios parks in America – Universal Studios Hollywood and the three theme parks at Universal Orlando Resort – this one is specifically targeting families with young children. There are no grownup rides in the park, though there are family friendly rides that parents can ride with their small child.

Folks have been comparing it to the concept of the LEGOLAND parks and LEGOLAND Discovery Centers. Fun for kids, but not necessarily something a grown adult would have much interest in. (Though, if you are into LEGOs as an adult, I could definitely see the appeal of a LEGO amusement center.)

The opening of this Universal kiddie park comes just a few years after the opening of the adult-oriented Universal Horror Unleashed in Las Vegas. That Universal experience has multiple bars, “scary” haunted houses and roaming serial killers and is about as opposite as you can get from Universal Kids Resort.

Will adults without children be allowed in?

When the park was announced, there was much interest coming from Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort fans. Those without children seemed to agree they wouldn’t be interested in visiting to ride the kiddie rides, but they were interested in seeing what Universal would do with the concept.

Then the question started popping up: would adults without children be allowed in?

The vast majority of people are good people, but these days an adult going into Chuck E. Cheese without kids may turns some heads. It is still a restaurant, after all, and serves beer and wine, but . . .

Some armchair theme park “experts” confidently stated that Universal could not turn away guests without children, and wouldn’t want to turn away extra money even if they could do that. Meanwhile, some folks involved in the legal aspect of family law mused on how this could go very wrong the first time something bad happened because the wrong “childless adult” was let in.

I’ll say it again: the vast majority of people are good people. But sometime it does only take “one bad apple“…

That’s ridiculous! But is it?

Even here in Des Moines, Iowa there have been scandals involving our local amusement park. Back around 2010 there were news articles about an incident where an adult had inappropriate contact with under-aged guests in the park. There was another incident involving a park entertainer, though I seem to recall they were caught after they left park employment. These instances caused the park to release a statement saying it would start checking all season pass holders against a sex offender database.

Adults without children go to amusement and theme parks all the time. While amusement parks are certainly designed with children in mind, they often have many rides a child cannot go on (roller coasters and such). Some even have places kids can’t go – such as full bars serving alcohol – or events that are open only to those 18+ or 21+. While some complain about “Disney Adults,” and some would prefer lower crowd levels by requiring only families with kids to be there, the reality is … adults enjoy having fun too 😉

But Universal Kids Resort is not one of those parks. I understand why so many were curious about how Universal Studios would handle this subject.

Now we know. I guess?

Portions of the theme park universe lit up recently when the first full video reports about Universal Kids Resort hotel were uploaded. Universal invited some out to stay at the new hotel and explore the park. This type of coverage is a great way to get the word out about new things, and Universal (and other parks) leverage this “free publicity” heavily.

Inevitably, the internet started saying “but they don’t have kids — why are they even there?” To me, the answer is simple: they love Universal and/or theme parks. It is possible to enjoy visiting a well-done theme park without ever riding a ride. Heck, many of us often do that (not voluntarily) when we go to a park during peak season and all the rides have 3 hour waits so we end up not riding rides 😉

Frankly, I have thought we might like to visit this resort if I ever make it to the Meow Wolf installation nearby in Grapevine, TX. I’d love to document it and add it to my theme parks photo gallery.

But I think we may want to bring a grandkid with us. Somehow I think an adult without children wandering around children play areas and taking photos would not be a good look in 2026 😉

Comment away if you wish…

UPDATE: Now that I have seen video coverage of the park, including multiple full walkthroughs, are are no longer interested in visiting it with a grandkid. We have a park here in Iowa – Lost Island Theme Park – that actually looks better themed than Universal Kids Resort, and has more things an adult can enjoy. It will be interesting to see how Universal’s new park evolves in coming years. I expect it to be quite popular with its target demographic of children.