{"id":326558,"date":"2026-05-21T19:01:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T19:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/326558\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T19:01:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T19:01:15","slug":"whats-coming-to-southern-california-theme-parks-this-summer-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/326558\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s coming to Southern California theme parks this summer \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

Southern California theme parks have a full lineup of fun planned for this summer with new roller coasters, revamped rides, rethemed lands, nighttime spectaculars, live concerts, food festivals, special events and after hours parties on tap.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a closer look at what\u2019s going on from Memorial Day through Labor Day at Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Universal Studios Hollywood, Knott\u2019s Berry Farm, Six Flags Magic Mountain, SeaWorld San Diego and Legoland California.<\/p>\n

\"ConceptConcept art of a Endor destination created for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run in Star Wars: Galaxy\u2019s Edge at Disneyland. (Courtesy of Disneyland)
\nDisneyland
\nMillennium Falcon: Smugglers Run<\/p>\n

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run<\/a> will let the crew decide which Star Wars planets to visit when the rebooted Disneyland ride embarks on a journey to four new destinations with the Mandalorian and Grogu.<\/p>\n

The refreshed Smugglers Run ride in Star Wars: Galaxy\u2019s Edge will visit Tatooine, Endor, Bespin and Coruscant when the updated attraction debuts on May 22 at the Anaheim theme park.<\/p>\n

\"DetailedDetailed image of the \u201cSoarin\u2019 Across America\u201d attraction poster for the updated ride coming to Disney California Adventure and Epcot. (Courtesy of Disney)
\nSoarin\u2019 Across America<\/p>\n

The new \u201cSoarin\u2019 Across America<\/a>\u201d film coming to the venerable flight simulator ride at Disney California Adventure will debut July 2 \u2014 just in time for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cSoarin\u2019 Across America\u201d will be filmed at 33 locations across the United States with the new scenes capturing a bird\u2019s-eye view of the \u201cscenic wonders, amazing cities and the beauty of the coasts\u201d in a celebration of America\u2019s diversity and grandeur.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Welcome Pride cavalcade with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Donald, Daisy, Pluto and Clarabelle in rainbow outfits during Pride Nite at Disneyland. (Courtesy of Disneyland)
\nPride Night<\/p>\n

Gay pride will take center stage at Disneyland with rainbow-colored streets, buildings, attractions, parades, fireworks, dance parties and photo opportunities with Disney characters in a celebration of all things LGBTQ.<\/p>\n

The Pride Nite<\/a> events will be held on June 16 and 18 at Disneyland as part of the Disneyland After Dark series of after hours, separate admission special events.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Paint the Night Parade travels past It\u2019s a Small World at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. Disneyland is celebrating its 70th anniversary from May 16, 2025 through summer 2026.(Photo by Jeff Gritchen\/MediaNews Group\/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
\n70th Anniversary Celebration<\/p>\n

Disneyland\u2019s 70th anniversary celebration<\/a> continues through the summer with most \u2014 but not all \u2014 of the original entertainment lineup.<\/p>\n

The 15-month celebration that began on May 16, 2025 will officially come to an end on Aug. 9 of this year.<\/p>\n

The entertainment lineup includes the \u201cWondrous Journeys\u201d nighttime spectacular, Paint the Night nighttime parade, \u201cWorld of Color Happiness\u201d water show, \u201cTapestry of Happiness\u201d projection show and Celebrate Happy Cavalcade.<\/p>\n

The Pixar-themed Better Together parade that was part of the 70th anniversary entertainment lineup ended its run at the end of last summer<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift roller coaster during a test run at Universal Studios Hollywood. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)
\nUniversal Studios Hollywood
\nFast & Furious: Hollywood Drift<\/p>\n

The new Fast & Furious coaster coming to Universal Studios Hollywood will open sometime this summer.<\/p>\n

The summer 2026 launch window means the first riders will climb aboard Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift<\/a> sometime after June 21 \u2014 the first day of summer. An official opening date has not yet been announced.<\/p>\n

\"ButterbeerButterbeer Season returns to Universal Studios Hollywood. (Courtesy of Universal)
\nButterbeer Season<\/p>\n

Butterbeer Season<\/a> has returned to Universal Studios Hollywood as the movie theme park celebrates the 25th anniversary of the first Harry Potter film.<\/p>\n

Butterbeer Season runs through May 31 in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter themed land.<\/p>\n

\"ConceptConcept art of the Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress roller coaster via the official Knott\u2019s Berry Farm YouTube channel. PHOTO COURTESY OF KNOTT\u2019S BERRY FARM
\nKnott\u2019s Berry Farm
\nMontezooma: The Forbidden Fortress<\/p>\n

The rethemed Montezooma\u2019s Revenge roller coaster at Knott\u2019s Berry Farm will transport treasure hunters to a hidden fortress when the historic ride returns this summer after a four-year renovation.<\/p>\n

The extensive transformation into Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress<\/a> will introduce an Aztec-themed train and randomized launch sequences along with a new backstory.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe cover band, Hiatus, performs on the Calico Stage at Knott\u2019s Berry Farm during the kick off of Knott\u2019s Summer Nights in Buena Park on Thursday, May 20, 2021. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
\nSummer Nights<\/p>\n

Knott\u2019s Summer Nights<\/a> turns the park into a big block party barbecue from June 12 through Aug. 30.<\/p>\n

Bands take turns on a pair of stages near the Calico Mine Ride with DJs spinning dance tunes in between sets.<\/p>\n

The popular Ghost Town Alive interactive role-playing game will once again run throughout the summer with a new storyline set in Calico.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe DC Heroes & Villains Fest at Six Flags Magic Mountain. (Courtesy of Six Flags)
\nSix Flags Magic Mountain
\nDC Comics Heroes & Villains Fest<\/p>\n

Superman and the Justice League of America will face off against the Joker\u2019s League of Anarchy when Six Flags Magic Mountain hosts a summer festival of good versus evil with a cast of super heroes and super villains.<\/p>\n

DC Heroes & Villains Fest 2026<\/a> will run on Friday and Saturday nights from June 19 through July 25 with character appearances, live shows, dance parties, music tributes, themed food, event merchandise and DC-themed rides and attractions.<\/p>\n

\"ConceptConcept art of Granny\u2019s House planned for Looney Tunes Land at Six Flags Magic Mountain. (Courtesy of Six Flags)
\nLooney Tunes Land<\/p>\n

Six Flags Magic Mountain will update a 40-year-old kids area starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner and the Tasmanian Devil as the Valencia amusement park prepares to celebrate its 55th anniversary.<\/p>\n

Bugs Bunny World will be transformed into the rethemed Looney Tunes Land<\/a> with the kids area set to reopen this summer.<\/p>\n

\"ThisThis sea turtle is an example of what can be seen in SeaWorld\u2019s drone light show
\nSeaWorld San Diego
\nOcean of Dreams<\/p>\n

SeaWorld San Diego will host a nighttime spectacular with 600 aerial drones this summer that will light up the sky over Mission Bay with towering images of breaching whales, pulsating jellyfish and flipping dolphins.<\/p>\n

The new \u201cOcean of Dreams<\/a>\u201d aerial drone show will kick off on May 22 at the San Diego marine park.<\/p>\n

\"SouljaSoulja Boy and Bow Wow perform as part of the 2025 SeaWorld summer concerts lineup. (SeaWord San Diego)
\nSummer Concert Series<\/p>\n

SeaWorld\u2019s Summer Concert Series<\/a> running June 6 through Aug. 8 will feature platinum-selling musical acts like Jordin Sparks, Ashanti, Ginuwine, Bow Wow and Soulja Boy.<\/p>\n

\"SeaWorldSeaWorld San Diego celebrates it\u2019s 60th anniversary. Park visitors at the Shark Encounter in Mission Bay on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 in San Diego, California. (Alejandro Tamayo \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)
\nShark Encounter<\/p>\n

SeaWorld will open the refreshed Shark Encounter exhibit on May 22 with 11 species of sharks gliding overhead in a 180-degree viewing experience.<\/p>\n

Bayside Bands, Brew and BBQ<\/p>\n

The Bayside Bands, Brew & BBQ seasonal event returns to SeaWorld San Diego with smoked and grilled foods, craft beers and live music.<\/p>\n

The waterfront event included with park admission will take place on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays plus Labor Day Monday from Aug. 14 through Sept. 7.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe FIFA World Cup 2026 Experience at Legoland California. (Courtesy of Legoland)
\nLegoland California
\nFIFA World Cup 2026 Experience<\/p>\n

Legoland California will celebrate the World Cup with a special event tied to the international soccer tournament taking place in the United States, Canada and Mexico.<\/p>\n

The Lego World Cup experience running June 11 through July 19 will feature brick building activities, games and photo ops.<\/p>\n

Lego Festival<\/p>\n

The Lego Festival built just for kids will feature play zones, live music, character meet-and-greets and brick building activities.<\/p>\n

The summer event runs July 20 through Aug. 30 at Legoland California.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Southern California theme parks have a full lineup of fun planned for this summer with new roller coasters,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[2223,163,165,164,1311,7,2222,1341,1743,74884,47,137,611,84,16188,16192,16187,420,3306],"class_list":["post-326558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-amusement-parks","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-buena-park","tag-california","tag-disney-california-adventure","tag-disneyland","tag-hollywood","tag-legoland","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-orange-county","tag-san-diego-county","tag-santa-clarita","tag-seaworld-san-diego","tag-six-flags-magic-mountain","tag-things-to-do","tag-valencia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}