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Disney World workers get spit on, yelled at, and pushed trying to enforce COVID safety rules
ORLANDO, Fla. — A security guard reminded a guest to put on his mask before he walked into Disney World’s Contemporary Resort near the Magic Kingdom last month. “I’m a guest,” argued the middle-aged, fedora-wearing man. He asked to be left alone. Then he spat, and some of his saliva hit the guard’s forehead. It was one of several confrontations on Disney property in recent weeks as some guests have angrily refused to follow Disney’s pandemic safety rules. Some of the situations have led to arrests, although not in the case of the spitting man, who hurried inside the hotel and disappeared in th...
Orlando Sentinel
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Chris Jones: A quarter-century later, the musical ‘Rent’ still resonates
When “Rent” opened at the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway 25 years ago next month, the likes of Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were all clamoring for tickets. David Geffen coughed up a million bucks just for the chance to make the cast recording. Whitney Houston wanted to work with Jonathan Larson’s profoundly emotional score. And every slumming New Yorker with cash wanted the chance to share the orchestra with the edgy “Rent-heads” from the East Village, the hipster kids who’d stand in line all day to snag $20 front-row tickets for “No Day But Today.” Broadway had never seen s...
New York Daily News
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Key tourist state in Mexico easing some COVID-19 restrictions
Mexico’s state of Quintana Roo, part of the Yucatan peninsula that borders the Caribbean Sea and home to popular tourism destinations like Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Tulum and the Riviera Maya, has begun easing some of its COVID-19 restrictions. Regional reopening plans rely on the Mexican Ministry of Health’s four-tier Traffic Light Monitoring System, in which each state is assigned one of four colors—Green, Yellow, Orange or Red — to represent its present epidemiological status, based on hospital occupancy rates and new infection rates. Quintana Roo’s status has just been downgraded from Oran...
TravelPulse
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At Universal, fresh views pop up for VelociCoaster watchers
ORLANDO, Fla. — Jurassic World VelociCoaster is not open at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. But the theme park is open to folks getting a closer look. More construction walls have been removed from the site of the roller coaster, and there are a few fresh — and up-close — angles for visitors to explore. The themed paddocks — numbered 1 through 5 — that run along the side of the attraction now offer views for possible future riders through sturdy bars and metal plates with round cutouts. Roller-coaster enthusiasts and theme-park bloggers gathered there Tuesday, cameras ready. What they saw: t...
Orlando Sentinel
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Imagineer shares more about change at Epcot’s Spaceship Earth
ORLANDO, Fla. — More details have emerged about changes to Epcot’s Spaceship Earth, thanks to a recent Instagram post by Imagineer Zach Riddley. They enhance the announcement regarding the celebrations tied to Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary this year. “Spaceship Earth is a unique structure recognized around the world,” Riddley writes. “To honor this idea, our Imagineers have created custom lighting features that literally emerge from her unique architecture. These features will shine across Spaceship Earth’s silver panels and ‘connect’ with one another, resembling shimmering stars in a n...
Orlando Sentinel
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Six Flags Great America plans spring opening with new reservation system and 4,000 Illinois workers
CHICAGO — Six Flags plans to reopen its theme park and water parks in Illinois this spring, with a reservation system, on-site temperature checks and mask requirements. Six Flags Great America plans to open April 24, with water parks Hurricane Harbor Chicago and Hurricane Harbor Rockford on May 29. The company is hiring 4,000 seasonal workers in Illinois, said spokeswoman Sandra Daniels. The company, based in Arlington, Texas, is instituting an online advance reservation system to help control capacity. People will be able to go online, answer a series of health questions, select a date to vis...
Chicago Tribune
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Disney World unveils first of its 50th anniversary plans
ORLANDO, Fla. — Walt Disney World has announced the first details for its 50th-anniversary celebration, which will last 18 months and include lighting enhancements to all four of its theme parks’ icons, including Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom. The event — dubbed “The World’s Most Magical Celebration” — will begin Oct. 1, the resort announced Friday morning. Disney World opened to the public Oct. 1, 1971. Expect the castle’s makeover to include more gold décor. The landmark received a paint job that shifted its color scheme to deep blues and light pinks last year. “The entire castle will s...
Orlando Sentinel
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Trump Plaza implodes in Atlantic City
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. —The congregation gathered early Wednesday at the Ducktown Tavern to deliver last rites for Trump Plaza, the once gilded, later decrepit former casino built by former President Donald Trump. In its final incarnation, 19 seconds of deliberate destruction, Trump Plaza took its place alongside Atlantic City’s most iconic symbols of failure, imploded during an Ash Wednesday breakfast hour, followed by the after party. . From the beach, where several hundred gathered, the Plaza’s 9:07 a.m. final death rattle thudded against the sand until the main tower, already stripped of its ...
The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Polar bear killed during breeding at Detroit Zoo
DETROIT — A female polar bear at the Detroit Zoo was killed Monday by a male companion who was trying to breed with her, officials said. Scott Carter, the Detroit Zoological Society's Chief Life Sciences Officer, said Anana, 20, and Nuka, 16, had lived together without incident in 2020. “This was completely unexpected and the Detroit Zoo staff is devastated by the loss of Anana in this sudden and tragic event,” Carter said in a statement. The incident was the first time an animal has killed another at the zoo since 1988, officials said Monday. The last instance also involved polar bears. Anana...
The Detroit News
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Christina Milian replaces Naya Rivera in ‘Step Up’ series after fatal drowning
Christina Milian is stepping into Naya Rivera’s dancing shoes. The 39-year-old New Jersey native has joined the cast of Starz’s “Step Up” series, replacing Rivera as the lead role of Collette after her July death, the network announced Monday. “Naya’s death was a terrible loss to our world that we will, frankly, never stop mourning,” series creator and executive producer Holly Sorensen said in a statement. “It was almost impossible to consider there could be someone so graceful and loving who could both help us honor our loss, while also bringing a deep reservoir of talent to our show, in so m...
New York Daily News
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