WHAT’S HOT ON THE HORIZON FOR 2026! – Dandy Fun House episode 56 cover art

WHAT’S HOT ON THE HORIZON FOR 2026! – Dandy Fun House episode 56

WHAT’S HOT ON THE HORIZON FOR 2026! – Dandy Fun House episode 56

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 watch the video below: listen to the podcast below: It’s time to close out yet another year of the Dandy Fun House. While all those “other shows” are slacking off and giving you retrospectives of everything they’ve already done in the past year, it is instead our tradition here at the Dandy Fun House to leave the past exactly there… in the past and instead look ahead to the brand spankin’ new year coming at us like Frehley’s Comet and take a glimpse at the coolest stuff we’ve been able to find that’s waiting for us in 2026! We’re going to look at theme parks, movies, pinball and of course the TOTY AWARD NOMINATION picks for the upcoming 2026 Toy of the Year Awards! Are you ready to get your kicks in 26? Then LET’S step into the FUN HOUSE! Hello and welcome to the Dandy Fun House 2025 year-end extravaganza where we wear the hats and blow our hooters about the very best in retro pop culture, toys and games and all the fun stuff! I’m your host Neil Dandy and in this episode we’re going to look ahead at WHAT’S HOT ON THE HORIZON FOR 2026 in the worlds of theme parks, movies, pinball and my personal picks for the 2026 TOTY AWARDS (Toy of the Year). BUT FIRST! I have to show you these amazing DANDY FUN HOUSE T-Shirts before time runs out! Perfect for swaddling the baby new year, They have a front and a back so you don’t get cold and we even cut 4 holes in them! One to crawl your body into, one to stick your head out of and two to poke your arms through! Find them in the Dandy Fun Shop at the Dandy Fun House website at dandyfunhouse.com before the Dandy Ball Drops! Alrighty, hold on tighty and let’s get right into what’s hot on the horizon for 2026 starting with… THEME PARKS! And up first is going to be UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, HOLLYWOOD (which isn’t actually in Hollywood, it’s in Studio City kind of like the LA Angels baseball team is actually in Anaheim and how they call the Embassy Suites here in Murfreesboro, Tennessee “Nashville South” which we absolutely are not. But anyway that’s a rabbit hole rant for another day.) Anyway, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS in the greater Los Angeles, California area is breaking ground on a new roller coaster where each individual car experiences its very own 360 degrees of rotation. The coaster is called FAST AND FURIOUS HOLLYWOOD DRIFT themed after the Fast and Furious movies obviously. This one is expected to peel out in 2026! And Legoland California is busy building the Lego Galaxy space-themed land including an indoor roller coaster. Over at Kings Island in Ohio they’re opening what they are calling a new “dark ride” in 2026 called “PHANTOM THEATER: Opening Nightmare.” It’s in the location that has most recently held an attraction called Boo Blasters but is apparently the site of a previous attraction also called PHANTOM THEATER and this is apparently the return of that attraction with some various upgrades. I went to the Kings Island website to get more information and there’s just a teaser video showing two girls walking into Boo Blasters and ending up in the Phantom Theater which appears to be a very loose sendup on the Phantom of the Opera. The cartoon phantom character they show in the teaser graphic is obviously based on the classic Lon Chaney silent film character, and visitors ride inside cars that resemble opera boxes. So… yeah. Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (my neck of the woods kinda sorta) will be undertaking a $50 million expansion and also opening the world’s first ever hybrid indoor family coaster and whitewater river raft ride called the “Night Flight Expedition.” Then under at Sea World, Orlando Florida they’re diving into a new dark ride called SEAQuest: Legends of the Deep. If you don’t know what a dark ride is, it basically means it’s indoors and you get moved from scene to scene. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s actually dark. Anyway, this new dark ride at Sea World Orlando will be what they are calling a suspended dark ride. The only information about this ride currently is that the rider will “discover dazzling ecosystems, legendary sea life, and breathtaking stories of resilience and wonder.” NEW MOBILITY DEVICE POLICY AT SEA WORLD! And speaking of Sea World, they have a controversial new policy which has been making the news lately that has just rolled out regarding mobility devices for the disabled. It appears that rollator walkers with seats are no longer permitted. The official updated policy from the Sea World website is as follows: “For the safety of our guests and employees, rollator walkers with seats on them are not permitted at SeaWorld Orlando. Alternative personal transportation options, including standard wheelchairs and Electric Convenience Vehicles (ECVs), are available. Walkers without a seat are permitted.” I’m guessing that more than a few guests were using their rollators like wheelchairs and it was causing some sort of safety concern in...
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