WHAT’S NEW AT CALIFORNIA THEME PARKS THIS SUMMER

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) – Summer vacation is around the corner, and California’s theme parks are pulling out all the stops with new rides, programs, attractions and entertainment geared for travelers of all ages.

“There’s never been a better time to visit California’s popular theme parks,” said Caroline Beteta, President and Chief Executive Officer of the California Travel and Tourism Commission (CTTC). “Whether it’s your first visit or you’re a returning guest, you’ll enjoy classic California rides along with mega-attractions.”

Slated to open July 1 is the $20-million SEA LIFE aquarium, a children’s guide to life in California’s local waters, from the fresh waters of the Sierra Nevada to the depths of the Pacific Ocean. This two-story, 36,000-square-foot aquarium, part of the LEGOLAND California Resort, features play zones, fun facts, quiz trails and marine exhibits designed to educate children about life under the sea. Highlights include a seahorse kingdom, a 360-degree ring of stingrays and fish, and an interactive tide pool. SEA LIFE is located in a new area adjacent to the front entrance of LEGOLAND California in Carlsbad, which is part the San Diego County Region. Travelers will also enjoy Land of Adventure, which opened last March at LEGOLAND and features four new attractions and rides, including the Lost Kingdom Adventure that transports guests back to ancient Egypt on a journey through temple ruins as they ride in desert jeeps blasting targets with lasers.

For parents and grandparents traveling with young children, SeaWorld San Diego is a must this summer. The cast of Sesame Street comes to SeaWorld with Sesame Street Bay of Play, opening Memorial Day weekend. This two-acre, Sesame Street-themed interactive play area features three kid-friendly rides: Elmo’s Flying Fish, Abby’s Sea Star Spin and Oscar’s Rocking Eel. The play area will also feature character meet-and-greets, photo opportunities and autograph sessions. Kids will take to Sesame Street Presents Lights, Camera, Imagination!, a new 4-D movie, which premiered earlier this spring, at the park’s Mission Bay Theater. The movie has Elmo, Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster and Big Bird swimming through the ocean and flying through the sky.

The festivities continue at the San Diego Zoo, which is offering an extended-hours event titled “Fiesta at the San Diego Zoo.” It’s a celebration of California, Central and South America, with special evening entertainment and animal encounters held outdoors in a tropical setting June 28 through September 1. Guests can also immerse themselves in the fabric of the San Diego Zoo in a show titled “TALAMASCA – The Storytellers,” a multimedia celebration of the zoo’s animal caretakers, punctuated by acrobatic and circus-style acts that are set to energetic and soulful music. At the attraction’s Dr. Zoolittle’s Amazing Amazon Adventure program, kids have the opportunity to make distinctive crafts, including dream catchers and piñatas. Up close encounters are also highlighted with Latin America critters, such as an armadillo, a sloth and a parrot.

Travelers can experience live music with stunning sunset views of the Pacific Ocean this summer during Birch Aquarium’s concert series, scheduled for May 21, June 18, July 16, August 20 and September 17 from 6 to 9 p.m. Musicians from the Southern California region will perform independent, classic rock and singer/songwriter sets during the events, with aquarium exhibits open for viewing. Birch Aquarium, based in La Jolla, is the public center for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

Beginning June 2008, Disney’s California Adventure Park in Anaheim, located in the Orange County Region, debuts Toy Story Mania, an interactive ride where visitors travel through virtual environments based on classic midway games. Players pair up and sit side-by-side for a friendly competition that delivers a changing variety of targets. Also new to Disney’s California Adventure is “Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage!,” a puppet-filled production developed specifically for preschoolers that features characters from Playhouse Disney shows, including those from the “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” “Handy Manny,” “Little Einsteins,” and “My Friends, Tigger and Pooh.” Kids and adults will enjoy the park’s Pixar Play Parade, which encompasses the electrifying worlds of Monsters Inc., A Bug’s Life, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Cars and Toy Story.

Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park is set to unveil its newest attraction, Pony Express, on Memorial Day weekend. Named after the famous Pony Express, which promised a faster mail service on the North American continent, Knott’s Pony Express promises visitors a horseback relay at speeds never imagined in the Old West. While sitting astride one of the team’s 16 custom “horse” cars, Pony Express riders leave their post with their steed launching them at speeds of 0 to 38 mph in less than three seconds. The terrain for the mounted riders is rugged as they navigate an ascending banked turn to a height of 44 feet, then through a series of 60-degree banked turns, camelback and tight maneuvers. The team covers a 1,300-foot route that takes it past Big Foot Rapids.

In the Los Angeles County Region, Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City opens its highly anticipated The Simpson Ride May 17, based on the blockbuster series “The Simpsons.” The characters of this longest-running television series – Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie – ride along with guests as they experience a side of Springfield previously unexplored inside the fantasy amusement park “Krustyland,” dreamed up by the show’s irritable Krusty the Clown. Also open to travelers this summer is the Universal Experience: Behind the Scenes of Universal Pictures, where Hollywood’s crown jewels are on display, including never-before-seen props, costumes, wardrobe and artifacts. Children visiting Universal Studios will enjoy the all-new Adventures of Curious George, a 30,000-square-foot water zone that takes kids on a voyage through space, a wild romp in the jungle and a fun trip to the zoo.

At Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, the park’s most popular coaster, X, will reopen May 24 with a $10-million investment that includes newly designed sleeker trains and all-new innovative visual, audio and sensory effects, taking X from the fourth dimension to the fifth dimension and becoming X². Unlike traditional coasters where trains parallel the track, X² sends riders around its 3,600-foot maze of steel track aboard massive wing-shaped trains, where the seats extend off of the track to the side of the vehicle, allowing them to independently rotate guests head over heels and backwards.

In Santa Monica, the wheel on the Pacific Wheel, located at Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier, is undergoing a makeover to the tune of $1.5 million. The renovation includes a new lighting package, with more than 160,000 energy-efficient LED lights replacing the 5,392 red, white and blue traditional lights that now flicker on the wheel’s spoke and hub. The official unveiling is scheduled for Memorial Day weekend. This solar-powered, nine-story Ferris wheel, soaring 130 feet above the Pacific Ocean, is part of a two-acre seaside amusement park, and has long been a backdrop in a variety of feature films, television commercials and music videos.

The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach celebrates its 10-year anniversary this summer with new exhibits, live music and special promotions. Visitors can meet the aquarium’s top 10 favorite animals and learn the 10 most important things one should know about the ocean. The aquarium is open until 10 p.m. on Sundays throughout the summer. Guests can also win one of 10 prizes, including travel getaways, awarded daily by staff. In celebration of its 10^th anniversary, the aquarium will also be hosting a black-tie Ocean Conservation Awards Gala June 14, expected to draw nearly 800 guests.

Located on a mile of sandy beach, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in the San Francisco Bay Area Region remains a true California experience. This 101-year-old attraction continues to keep rides and entertainment fresh, and this summer is no exception. On July 13 and August 21, the Amazing Chinese Acrobats will spin plates, balance atop precariously stacked chairs and maneuver bicycles loaded with acrobats daily at two free shows. Visitors can also enjoy Free Friday Night Bands on the Beach, popular bands from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, with two free shows every Friday night from June 20 through August 29. Opening this summer is the boardwalk’s Sea Swings attraction, also known as a “carousel swing,” which twirls riders past ocean views.

In Santa Clara, California’s Great America, which is offering extended summer hours as late as 10 p.m., has a new thrill ride and ice show that the entire family will enjoy. Taking riders head-over-heels, the attraction’s FireFall sends 40 guests to a height of 60 feet and then subjects them to a series of high-speed inversions. The three-minute ride, which debuted April 25, is enhanced with its
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