The flashback machine is cranked up again for this 2016 overview.<\/p>\n
Mighty Mako<\/p>\n
SeaWorld Orlando<\/a> opened Mako<\/a> roller coaster, which it touted as the fastest (70 mph), tallest (200 feet), longest (4,700 feet) coaster in town. It held all three of those superlatives until Stardust Racers<\/a> \u2014 and its 5,000 feet (times 2) of rail \u2014 opened at Epic Universe<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n Elsa and elsewhere<\/p>\n Disney leaned into the popularity of its \u201cFrozen\u201d franchise,\u00a0launched in 2013, with\u00a0Epcot\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0Frozen Ever After<\/a>, a replacement ride for the once-maligned, now-mysteriously beloved\u00a0Maelstrom, which closed in 2014<\/a>. The attraction added upgraded animatronics<\/a> for Elsa, Anna and Kristoff this year.<\/p>\n Elsewhere at Epcot, a fresh Soarin\u2019 film was installed with an international flair, a new Soarin\u2019 Around the World title and a third theater to slice wait times. This year, we got another new film \u2014 called Soarin\u2019 Across America<\/a> \u2014 that blasts off with a scene of an Artemis rocket going up at Kennedy Space Center.<\/p>\n Kong confrontation<\/p>\n Skull Island: Reign of Kong<\/a> brought the king back to Universal with a trackless ride-through attraction in an island unto itself at Islands of Adventure<\/a>. Among its features: a variety of animatronics, from the batty Terapusmordax to the roaring Kong head and back into the queue with a chanting Shawoman. (During soft opening, I wrongheadedly referred to the figure as a \u201cmanly witch\u201d<\/a> in print.)<\/p>\n Somehow, my grade for Skull Island improved after the similar Fast & Furious: Supercharged opened next door at Universal Studios in 2018.<\/p>\n Back in \u201816, IOA also completed the dramatic retooling of its Incredible Hulk coaster. All of its rail was replaced, new trains with on-board speakers were introduced and smooth status returned to the thrill ride.<\/p>\n Coiled<\/p>\n There was yet another coaster in the 2016 news, as Cobra\u2019s Curse<\/a> debuted at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay<\/a>. It\u2019s known for its 80-foot snake statue of King Venymyss (sound it out) and a ton of spinning.<\/p>\n Gatorland<\/a> opened the Gator Gauntlet<\/a>, a wheelchair-accessible stretch of zip lines. And like its Screamin\u2019 Gator Zip Line, the route travels over the park\u2019s breeding marsh and more than 100 alligators. The reaction of the new zip line users was so intense\u00a0that the scene became the lead anecdote in\u00a0my 2016 year-in-review<\/a>.<\/p>\n Springs forward<\/p>\n Another big chunk of the Disney Springs<\/a> expansion debuted, including the Lime Garage, STK, Morimoto, Homecomin\u2019 (then known as Homecoming) and Sprinkles with its cupcake ATM<\/a>. The last one went out of business this year, and already it feels like we dreamed up that sweet ATM, like our ancestors won\u2019t believe it, as if it were as crazy as a giant turntable dance floor.<\/p>\n In the Sentinel files, I was reminded that Imagineers said the Town Center neighborhood of the Springs was painted in 15 shades of white to make it look well-worn.<\/p>\n Sweet talk<\/p>\n Universal\u2019s CityWalk<\/a> added the Toothsome Chocolate Emporium<\/a> and its lineup of a dozen special milkshakes, currently including ones called Heavenly Hazelnut (with Nutella) and Espresso Buzzzz. The sugar shock lives on.<\/p>\n Faire play<\/p>\n \u201cMickey\u2019s Magical Friendship Faire,\u201d<\/a> a character-driven stage show, debuted at the foot of Magic Kingdom\u2019s Cinderella Castle. It\u2019s another use of the \u201cFrozen\u201d folks, as well as troupes from \u201cTangled\u201d and \u201cThe Princess and the Frog,\u201d including trumpet-playing alligator Louis.<\/p>\n Orlando Science Center<\/a> expanded KidsTown and its trademark orange grove and packing factory, which continues to keep the younger set working. (Fun flashback fact from the archives: the factory is a salute to Dr. P. Phillips\u2019 first factory in Orlando, which was mere blocks away at the corner of Princeton Street and \u2014 predictably \u2014 Orange Avenue.)<\/p>\n The old lower-level KidsTown is now the Life exhibit, home of tamarin, sloth, reef fish, turtles, squirrels and free-flying birds,<\/p>\n VR x HHN<\/p>\n Ah, the virtual-reality era, which early on featured a Halloween Horror Nights<\/a> add-on called the Repository at Universal Studios. For $49, folks were issued headsets to solve a mystery among live actors.<\/p>\n This preceded\u00a0the installation of VR headsets on coasters at\u00a0Fun Spot Orlando<\/a>,\u00a0Legoland Florida,<\/a>\u00a0and SeaWorld Orlando\u2019s Kraken. None of these stuck around, perhaps because people like to look at each other.<\/p>\n The end<\/p>\n But 2016 saw some theme-park departures.<\/p>\n The Main Street Electrical Parade<\/a> again rolled away from Magic Kingdom.<\/p>\n At Disney\u2019s Hollywood Studios, preparation for Star Wars: Galaxy\u2019s Edge ended the runs of Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show, the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Playground and the fun-to-say Youse Guys Moychindice store. Also removed: the park\u2019s signature Earffel Tower<\/a>.<\/p>\n Finally, on the last day of 2016, Wet \u2018n Wild water park closed<\/a> forever. Universal\u2019s Endless Summer Resort now stands on that land, including its parking lot.<\/p>\n Star turns<\/p>\n In spring of \u201816, Aerosmith<\/a> lead singer Steven Tyler visited Hollywood Studios, and one ride in particular. A post on his Facebook page said, \u201cJust checking in on my Rockin Rollercoaster! Still the best ride in the place.\u201d He also posted a picture at Hogwarts Castle at Islands of Adventure.<\/p>\n Another star visitor was Tina Fey. Disney posed her with Lady Tremaine and her wicked offspring Anastasia and Drizella. It was a \u201cMean Girls\u201d<\/a> thing.<\/p>\n Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com<\/a>. BlueSky: @themeparksdb. Threads account: @dbevil. X account: @themeparks. Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com\/newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A recent dive into my stash of digital photos gave me renewed appreciation for 2016, a bustling theme…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":342022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[558,2659,104,28,29,9571,114,19041,266,5077,115,1335,139,141,140,1976,554,2043,109,76687,76688,76689,2411,106,1316,107,3434],"class_list":["post-342021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-business","tag-disney-world","tag-entertainment","tag-florida","tag-florida-news","tag-lake-buena-vista","tag-latest-headlines","tag-legoland","tag-local-news","tag-movies","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-osceola-county","tag-science","tag-seaworld","tag-social","tag-social-entertainment","tag-social-theme-parks","tag-social-travel","tag-theme-parks","tag-things-to-do","tag-tourism","tag-travel","tag-universal-orlando"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/342022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Epcot](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TOS-L-frozenever.jpg\")
Epcot visitors gather near the entrance of Frozen Ever After, which opened to the public on June 21, 2016. The posted estimated wait time for opening day was 240 minutes. (Orlando Sentinel file)<\/p>\n![\"Kong](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TOS-L-skullisland.jpg\")
A large animatronic version of King Kong’s head is featured in one of the final scenes of the Skull Island attraction at Islands of Adventure. (Courtesy Universal Orlando)<\/p>\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TOS-L-gatorland.jpg\")
Christina Martin takes her first zip-line ride on the Gator Gauntlet, which travels across the breeding marsh at Gatorland. (Orlando Sentinel file)
\nAdding zip<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TOS-L-kidstown.jpg\")
In 2016, Orlando Science Center opened a new, expanded KidsTown as well as its iconic orange grove feature. (Courtesy Orlando Science Center)
\nOrange you glad<\/p>\n