Park Rush

Josh temporarily withdraws his request to resign from the Park Rush podcast to discuss Magic Kingdom in Minecraft, a Toontown refurb, a Supercharged admission from Universal, Ubisoft's foray into theme parks, and more!

Tom battles through the ill-effects of his COVID booster shot to join Josh, himself revelling in the unlikely glory of a Sunday League football win, to discuss the return of British tourists to Florida; early uptake of Disney Genie+ and the company's wider financial results; a disappointing development for The London Resort; the release of Jurassic World Evolution 2; and more!

The Eternals have arrived at Avengers Campus, where the virtual queue system has disappeared from the Spider-Man ride. Elsewhere, there are changes to the mask rules at Disney World, an update on The London Resort, a closure at Drayton Manor, and much more besides on this week's episode of the Park Rush podcast.

Happy Halloween! To celebrate, we've delivered a day early this time. It's been a slow news week, so Josh is here to introduce our new upcoming YouTube series - which debuts on Thursday November 4th! As it's Halloween, let's then throw it back to our 2019 theme park film review of The Haunted Mansion. It's better than the film itself, honest.

We talk about a rough first week for Disney World's new Genie service and what needs to be done to improve it as the 50th anniversary rolls on, and then get into the end of Universal's Fear Factor Live and what kind of Harry Potter shenanigans might arrive in its place. There's also talk of a few new Disney+ releases that should entice theme park fans, a new Lego ride, and much more!

The second new theme park film review of the year comes thanks to Muppets Haunted Mansion, which has hit Disney+ just in time for Halloween. Do Kermit and company manage to do justice to the classic ride (and, more importantly, the misunderstood masterpiece that was the 2003 Eddie Murphy film of the same name), or would Statler and Waldorf be justified in condemning this film to the grave?

You might notice a slightly different sound to the audio quality this week - that's because we recorded on Skype to accommodate special guest Jon Self! Long-time friend of the show, Jon joins us for a packed line-up of news including Shrek 4D departing Universal Studios Florida, an extensive refurb for Revenge Of The Mummy, more 50th anniversary developments at Disney World, and more! Jon also gui...

We dig into the archive this week as technical gremlins robbed us off the real Episode 154, and bring you a classic from 2019: our theme park film review of Disney's The Country Bears.

Josh is a single rider this week as he takes you on an exhaustive tour of Drayton Manor after his recent trip, clueing you in on everything from the rides to the food.

On this week's show, we discuss the scrapping of boarding passes on Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios; the planned return of the Finding Nemo musical at Animal Kingdom; SeaWorld San Diego's upcoming Sesame Street land; the possibility of vaccine passports being required at theme parks; and we make fun of the naming scheme at Epcot's Space 220 restaurant. Apologies for the dicey audio on...

Tom reports back from his trip to Bath and has disappointing news when it comes to the city's theme park prospects. Elsewhere, there's anniversary celebrations on the way at Disneyland Paris; flooding at Epcot; rumours about Aerosmith's future aboard the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster; and much more!

There are more confusingly-named Disney ticketing initiatives to talk about this week, from Florida to California and potentially even Tokyo. Plus, Epcot's new Space 220 restaurant is almost here and so is Universal Studios Beijing! We discuss all that and much more, including - yes, really - Percy the Park Keeper, The Magic Key, and Kipper.

It's a busy week of news as we talk about our first look at the new Jurassic World ride at Universal Studios Beijing, rumours of a Legend of Zelda addition at Islands of Adventure, Ubisoft entering the theme park business, two upcoming theme park video games, and more! Plus there's some excellent ice cream discussion and a startling revelation about the lifespan of the Park Rush podcast itself.

Tom and Josh sink their teeth into the abundance of news about - and reaction to - Disney Genie and what it means for trips to Disney's US theme parks moving forward. Will it really mean less time queuing? Are the prices reasonable? Can you talk to it like Siri? And why does everything have to be named like a streaming service now?

From the Black Widow lawsuit to the introduction of Premier Access at Disneyland Paris, this week sees plenty of discussion about Disney's recent PR own goals and what they say about the trajectory of the company under former theme parks honcho Bob Chapek. We also talk about some exciting new rides opening at two of Germany's most popular theme parks, and much more. And once again, there are some...

It's back! After something like two years, our theme park film review series returns thanks to the release of Jungle Cruise. Spoilers ahoy as we dive deep into the story and give our thoughts on Disney's latest bid to bring one of their most famous attractions to the big screen (and the small one for most of us, it turns out). Apologies for the slightly 'off' audio with Tom's microphone, as we're...

There's a big fix of theme park movie shenanigans this week as Jungle Cruise has hit cinemas and Disney+, there's casting news for a remake of The Haunted Mansion, and a Scarlett Johansson lawsuit that threatens the future of a planned Tower Of Terror movie. Elsewhere, face masks are back at Disneyland and Disney World as COVID makes a comeback, Epcot's Imagineers really want us to like their Harm...

Tom and Josh give their immediate thoughts on Jungle Cruise while driving home from the cinema in this special bonus episode! We'll have a normal episode recorded pre-film on Monday, and a full Jungle Cruise spoilercast next week. Don't ever say we don't spoil you.

Behind The Attraction's finally debuted on Disney+, giving Tom and Josh plenty of delicious theme park trivia and history to get their teeth into after being starved of such programming since The Imagineering Story. There's also word of a neat looking Harry Potter Halloween experience coming to good old Blighty, the return of Disney cruises to Florida, more dessert chat, Space Jam excitement, and...

Tom's been pinged by the NHS COVID-19 app and is isolating, meaning that we are once again recording remotely and so our long-awaited studio return was tragically short-lived. On the 'plus side', we somehow manage to make a slow week of theme park news into an hour-plus podcast episode thanks to random wittering about coronavirus rules, Space Jam, sundaes, Emma Stone, and ticket prices.

Little did Tom and Josh know at the time of recording that heartbreak awaited them and England by time time this episode aired, but don't let that stop you enjoying a fine discussion on the week's biggest theme park headlines. Among the stories on the agenda are Disneyland Paris' new Premier Access ride ticketing system, Epcot's upcoming food festival, Harry Potter going VR, and much more!

The time is now! It's really here! We're back in the same recording space! After more than a year and almost 70 episodes, Park Rush is no longer a remote podcast, allowing us to gaze into each other's eyes as we talk about our time with Sea Of Thieves's Pirates Of The Caribbean expansion, upcoming changes to Mickey's PhilharMagic, and plenty of random non-theme park nonsense.

Tom and Josh had to cut short a planned voyage of the oceans this week after server woes killed any hope of talking about the exciting new Pirates Of The Caribbean expansion for Sea Of Thieves. Thankfully we have plenty else to talk about, including talk of a new Tower Of Terror film, Epcot's upcoming nighttime show, and much more!

CinemaBlend's Stephen Libbey has spent a few days at Avengers Campus and fills Tom in on everything guests need to know - from the marquee Spider-Man ride to the size of the cutlery at Pym Test Kitchen. We also talk about the character experiences, the food and merchandise, THAT Spidey audio-animatronic, and more! And yes, Park Rush is now officially a Monday podcast - hope the extra day's wait th...

An unprecedented two/three-part Park Rush podcast this week as technical gremlins conspired against us. We've got talk of Disney's new streaming series Behind The Attraction, Jurassic World Evolution 2 being announced, and much more!