Free Republic

Rendition of planned American Heartland theme park in Oklahoma. (Credit: American Heartland) As we’ve reported, the Walt Disney Company has dug itself into a hole with its woke offerings, declining theme-park experience, and altogether avoidable feud with the state of Florida and Governor Ron DeSantis.Read: Disney Collapses Under Its Own Woke Weight and Iger Is Looking to SellThe company’s stock has dropped almost 20 percent in the last six months, and in May, its market value plummeted by a cool $16 billion. But theme parks are the second most profitable part of their income—trailing only media and entertainment—so they...

A massive, $2 billion “Americana-themed” amusement park is opening in 2026 — and it's thousands of miles from the typical theme park hubs. The American Heartland Theme Park and Resort will include an amusement park comparable in size to Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Florida or Disneyland in California — but it won’t be in either state. Instead, the park and resort are planned to be built on a 1,000 acre property in the heart of northeast Oklahoma, just off Route 66. The 125-acre theme park was designed by a team including more than 20 former Disney Parks builders and...

<p>A 14-year-old boy has died after falling from a 430-foot-tall thrill ride at an amusement park in Orlando, CBS Miami reports.</p><p>The Orange County Sheriff's Office says they received 911 calls about an emergency at the "Orlando Free Fall" at ICON Park just after 11 p.m. on Thursday night after witnesses reported seeing a person fall from the ride to the ground.</p>

The first Six Flags in the nation to reopen after months will be the one in Oklahoma City, a company official announced Tuesday. “It’s pretty exciting,” Trevor Leonard, general manager of Frontier City Six Flags, said during an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show. “Things are going to look a little different in the park when you get here.” Every person who wants to enter the park will have to make a reservation. Customers will be screened en masse by a new system after presenting themselves at the front gate. And marks in lines for rides will force family units to...

Visitors in face masks streamed into Shanghai Disneyland as the theme park reopened Monday in a high-profile step toward reviving tourism that was shut down by the coronavirus pandemic. The House of Mouse's experience in Shanghai, the first of its parks to reopen, foreshadows hurdles global entertainment industries might face. Disney is limiting visitors, requiring masks and checking for the virus's telltale fever. Reserve tickets for the resort sold out three days before the reopening. "We hope that today's reopening serves as a beacon of light across the globe, providing hope and inspiration to everyone," said Joe Schott, the president...

J. Arthur Bloom said Wednesday that American media outlets doing the bidding of the Chinese might not be entirely ideologically driven. Bloom, a Daily Caller alum and managing editor of The American Conservative, told Fox News host Tucker Carlson that Comcast had business ties to Beijing that could explain the company-wide trepidation in directly challenging the coronavirus claims coming out of China. Carlson, co-founder of the Caller, began the segment by noting that anti-Trump bias could be driving some media outlets to side with China, but Bloom said that at least with regard to Comcast — parent company of NBC...

Starting in May, the only smoke coming out of Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom will be from the fireworks. Disney announced on Thursday that it is banning smoking, vaping, and stroller wagons in Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disney water parks, and the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, effective May 1. There will be designated smoking areas outside of the entrances, and smoking visitors will be able to return to their park once they are finished, a Disney spokesperson told the Orlando Sentinel. Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services, said it's "about time" smoking was banned at Disney...

ORLANDO, Fla. - A woman said she felt fat-shamed when she was unable to ride Skull Island: Reign of Kong at Universal's Islands of Adventure. Angel Morales said she asked workers if she could ride the ride bench with one fewer person so that she wouldn't make anyone sitting beside her feel uncomfortable. Morales said she felt humiliated when employees declined her request. The theme park doesn't have weight restrictions, so Morales said she didn't know she couldn't go on the ride until she was about to board it. Morales said she bought annual passes to the park last year...

ARLINGTON, Texas - Six Flags Over Texas had a change of heart and took down the Confederate States of America flag at the park in Arlington. Since it opened in 1961, the park has displayed flags for governments of Texas history: Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the U.S. and the Confederate States of America. The amusement park initially said it would continue to fly a version of the Confederate flag despite the recent push to wipe out such symbols. Park officials told TMZ it felt park patrons were “astute enough to know the difference” between the Confederate States...

~snip~ Six Flags Over Texas will remove the Confederate States of America flag from its lineup, and fly only U.S. flags, the company told mySA.com Friday morning following backlash earlier this week. ~snip~ The company flipped its decision Friday morning saying they strive to "make people happy and to create a fun, thrilling and safe family friendly experience for our guests.""We always choose to focus on celebrating the things that unite us versus those that divide us. As such, we have changed the flag displays in our parks to feature American flags," the park said in a statement.

ARLINGTON Ever since Six Flags opened in 1961, the six flags that have flown over Texas have been a staple of the park. No more. As of Friday morning, the five flags other than the United States flag — representing France, Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas and the Confederacy — are being left to the history books.

Initial damage was estimated to be around $180,000, authorities said Seven people were treated for signs of excessive smoke inhalation and four were transported to a nearby hospital, firefighters said. The lot was evacuated, with park-goers being unable to return to their vehicles until just before 7 p.m. Videos from the scene show thick black smoke billowing from the structure. It was not immediately clear what led to the fire, but authorities did not suspect foul play.

he Orange County Fire Authority told CBS2 riders got trapped when the Sky Cabin stalled about 130 feet in the air just before 5 p.m. Emergency crews were responding to the park to conduct a technical rescue. “What we’re gonna do right now is formulate a plan on exactly how to bring them down,” Capt. Larry Kurtz told CBS2. The OCFA had four technical rescue trucks on scene. The ride is enclosed and the guests all appeared to be safe, Kurtz said.

Thinking of planning a vacation to Walt Disney World for the next year? Maybe you should think again. Here are a few things that Disney doesn’t want you to know about what they are up to in Orlando.

BEAR, Del. (WPVI) -- A 59-year-old woman is dead after falling approximately 40 feet from a zip line at a Delaware state park, police say. The fatal accident occurred around 1:40 p.m. Wednesday at the Go Ape Tree Top Adventure attraction at the Lums Pond State Park, located at 1068 Howell School Road in Bear.

According to Disney, their theme parks are 'where dreams come true,' but according to recent video footage of one man's visit to the new Shanghai Disneyland, a lot of nightmare manners also surface. In the new YouTube clip, an American-Chinese man called Disney Dwayne takes a tour of the new theme park and points out all of the aspects that he was shocked by during his two-day visit. They included a woman helping a young boy to urinate in a public place, an electrical socket ripped from a wall and children freely playing in an off-limits display area.

Part 1: This is how Disneyland looked in 1955Part 2: This is how ​Disneyland changed from 1956 to 1959Part 3: Here's how Disneyland looked and changed in the 1960sPart 4: This is how Disneyland looked in the 1970sPart 5: Star Tours, Captain EO, Splash Mountain – see how Disneyland changed in the 1980sPart 6: From 'Fantasmic!' to Toontown, this is how Disneyland changed in the 1990sPart 7: Gold, diamonds and new lands for the new century at Disneyland

Noah's Ark replica made of 3.1 million board feet of timber Creationist theme park tries, fails to make theology scientific Many Christians don't see conflict between faith, evolution

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The 2-year-old boy who witnesses said was pulled by an alligator into a lagoon near a Walt Disney World hotel has been found dead, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Wednesday.

Universal’s Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey has bedeviled many big and tall riders who discover at the last moment that their journey aboard the new attraction is indeed forbidden because they don’t fit in the “enchanted benches.” The uncomfortable scene is a familiar one to anybody who has ever visited a theme park: The overweight rider becomes increasingly embarrassed as the ride attendant pushes and shoves with all his might on the over-the-shoulder restraint that stubbornly refuses to click closed. Everybody waiting in line knows what comes next: the walk of shame. “The walk of shame is an embarrassing...