Newsletter: In the Loop: Look inside Banksy’s Dismaland anti-theme park art exhibit
Welcome to another edition of In the Loop, the L.A. Times' theme park newsletter. I'm Funland theme park blogger Brady MacDonald, and this week we take a look inside Banksy’s Dismaland, tour Walt Disney’s birthplace, marvel at the man buns of Disneyland and wonder what’s next for Knott’s GhostRider wooden coaster.
GhostRider
Knott’s Berry Farm plans a full restoration of the aging GhostRider wooden coaster as part of a 75th-anniversary celebration of the Ghost Town area of the Buena Park theme park. The few details released by Knott’s left many unanswered questions: Who will do the makeover? Will any inversions be added? When will GhostRider reopen?
(Knott's)
Dismaland
Offering a dystopic riff on Disneyland, mysterious graffiti artist Banksy is hosting the Dismaland art and music festival at an abandoned theme park in England. Check out the Guardian for some photos from the wild exhibition.
Halloween haunts
Halloween Horror Nights 2015 at Universal Studios Hollywood features four mazes from recent years, including “The Walking Dead,” which will serve as the face of the annual event for an unprecedented fourth straight year.
After years of incremental growth and consistent improvements, Six Flags Magic Mountain pushes the pause button this Halloween as it rolls out fewer haunted mazes, a repurposed show and a relocated scare zone along with a host of recycled offerings for Fright Fest 2015.
Fright Fest 2015 at Six Flags Magic Mountain runs on select Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights from Sept. 26 through Nov. 1.
(Six Flags)
Walt’s birthplace
A Los Angeles couple is hoping to transform a home in a Chicago working-class neighborhood where Walt Disney was born in 1901 into a museum dedicated to the animation and theme park innovator.
Brent Young and Dina Benadon inside Walt Disney’s birthplace in a working-class Chicago neighborhood. The owners aim to open a multimedia museum showing what life was like for the Disneys in the early 20th century.
(John Owens / Chicago Tribune)
German castles
Europa-Park theme park snatches the title of top tourist attraction in Germany from Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. Europa-Park is known for its Disney-like flourishes and fake castle, while Neuschwanstein is the real castle that inspired Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle.
(Thomas Kienzle/ AFP/Getty Images)
Man buns
Man Buns at Disneyland is suddenly the happiest Instagram account on Earth. We know you want to click.
Crime report
“Jackass” star Steve-O is charged with a slew of misdemeanors for an anti-SeaWorld stunt in which he climbed atop a crane and shot off fireworks in Hollywood.
Police report that tourists watched in horror as a fight broke out between two homeless men across the street from Disneyland, resulting in the stabbing of one man and the arrest of the other.
Visitors to Disneyland wait to cross Harbor Boulevard on the eastern side of the theme park in Anaheim.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
True or false
LAist gets to the bottom of 10 Disneyland urban legends -- and some of them are true.
And finally
Eight hotels that will give you a free ticket to Disneyland. Plus how to get free tickets to SeaWorld San Diego, Belmont Park and more.
MISSION BEACH, SAN DIEGO, CA: Belmont Park on Mission Beach features the Giant Dipper wooden roller coaster.
(San Diego Tourism Authority)
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