It is shaping up to be an exciting year for theme parks from coast to coast. We found 10 new theme park rides, lands and entertainment offerings you won’t want to miss this year.
This list includes the prerequisite roller coasters and kiddie rides, along with some surprising additions — such as Orlando’s first new theme park in 25 years. It doesn’t even mention any of the new attractions coming to Disney World in 2025.
Related: TPG’s 5 top family vacation destinations for 2025
Here is everything new you can ride, sing along to or “ooh and ahh” at this year.
40th-anniversary celebration — Dollywood
Dollywood has changed a great deal since its 1986 grand opening. The Pigeon Forge, Tennesee, theme park has always offered live shows and attractions inspired by Dolly Parton’s mission to provide a place where families could have fun together.
Related: An inside look at Dollywood’s newest resort, Heartsong Lodge & Resort
To mark the park’s 40th season, Dollywood is introducing even more opportunities for families to have fun and make memories:
- The County Fair area of the park, where you’ll find kid-friendly rides and carnival games, is getting a refresh.
- A new show that combines fan-favorite music from the park’s 40 seasons will debut Memorial Day weekend.
- A new drone show will debut during Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Summer Celebration.
- A new opening ceremony will welcome guests at the beginning of each day.
- A new storytime, character meet-and-greets and rotation of favorite shows from throughout the years is coming to the Imagination Playhouse.
- “Heartsong: The Movie” will be remastered and moved to Dreamsong Theater as part of The Dolly Parton Experience, which opened in 2024.
Dollywood will open for its 40th season March 15.
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New spring festival — Silver Dollar City
Silver Dollar City is also celebrating a milestone anniversary this year. For the Branson, Missouri, park’s 65th season, Silver Dollar City is debuting a new spring festival and an all-new drone and fireworks show, among other experiences.
The Spring Exposition festival will run from April 10 through May 12. It will feature demonstrations by master gardeners, dance-along performances by Kinfolk Bluegrass Band, a colorful “parasol sky” display, seasonal eats and performances by the new Ragtime Piano Showman, the All That percussion dancers from “America’s Got Talent” and rotating bands playing traditional Cajun, Dixieland and polka music.
During the festival, Silver Dollar City will also debut the expansion of the Plaza area of the park, transforming it into a hub for fun and entertainment throughout the year.
From June 7 through Aug. 3, Silver Dollar City will hold its annual Summer Celebration. This year’s event will include a new “Wild West Comedy Stunt Show,” Silver Dollar Circus and a drone and fireworks spectacular.
Universal Epic Universe — Universal Orlando Resort
Universal is opening much more than just a new ride or land this year — it’s opening an entire theme park.
Universal Epic Universe will have five themed “worlds” with attractions, characters and experiences based on popular movie and game franchises. Guests will enter Epic Universe through Celestial Park, an astronomy-themed area with peaceful gardens and thrilling attractions (like Stardust Racers, a dual-launch coaster that can reach speeds of up to 62 mph).
Celestial Park will serve as a hub to the other four lands, with portals that lead guests to each. The other lands include The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic, Dark Universe (a land themed to Universal Classic Monsters), Super Nintendo World and How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk.
Related: Universal Epic Universe announces 2025 opening date
Along with the park, Universal is opening three new hotels. Universal Stella Nova Resort will open Jan. 21, and Universal Terra Luna Resort will open soon after on March 25. These both fall into Universal’s Prime Value lodging category, with starting prices at around $150 per night.
The park’s flagship hotel, Universal Helios Grand Hotel, will open with the park May 22. Helios Grand will be inside the park with a private entrance to Epic Universe and out-of-this-world views from the hotel’s rooftop bar. Several of the guest rooms will also overlook the park. Rates for Universal Helios Grand Hotel start at $293 per night for a standard room.
Universal Epic Universe opens May 22.
Wild Oasis — Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Jungle-themed fun will come “roaring” into Busch Gardens this year with the park’s new Wild Oasis addition. The Wild Oasis realm will be inside the Jungala area of Busch Gardens and will feature a drop tower ride with state-of-the-art digital and sound effects, an interactive water play area, a climbing playground and an animal habitat.
Wild Oasis will open in the spring of 2025.
The Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf’s Revenge — Busch Gardens Williamsburg
He’ll huff, and he’ll puff and he’ll blow you down 2,500 feet of track at speeds of up to 40 mph. The Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf’s Revenge is Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s all-new family-friendly, inverted roller coaster. (You only need to be 42 inches tall to ride.)
According to the coaster’s legend, a wolf terrified a Bavarian village decades ago. Now, 40 years later, the Festival of the Silent Bells honors the town’s fateful past. But, the town may not be as safe as you think, as the wolf returns to seek his revenge. With a train car designed to look like the Big Bad Wolf himself, this coaster will send you careening through the park’s Bavarian-themed Oktoberfest land.
The Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf’s Revenge is scheduled to open sometime in 2025.
Sea Life Florida — Legoland Florida Resort
With a theme park, a water park and three hotel options, Legoland Florida is already a brick-tastic destination for preschoolers and their families. This year, the Central Florida theme park is adding an aquarium that will offer even more family-friendly fun.
Related: First look: We tried out the brand-new Peppa Pig Theme Park in Florida
Sea Life Florida will have more than 25 exhibits, including an interactive touch pool, several Florida-specific marine species and a tank designed to resemble an underwater theme park.
Sea Life Florida is scheduled to open sometime in 2025.
Lego Duplo Peppa Pig Playground — Legoland New York Resort
Open since 2021, Legoland New York is the newest addition to the Legoland theme park lineup. Like all Legoland locations, the Goshen, New York, park is geared toward kids. This year, the park is opening a Lego Duplo Peppa Pig Playground for the youngest Lego fans.
This 13,000-square-foot playground features play areas inspired by the show, including Peppa’s house and treehouse, Daddy Pig’s red car and Grandpa Pig’s boat. The play area will also have a puppet theater and Duplo blocks where kids can bring their own Peppa-inspired creations to life.
Lego Duplo Peppa Pig Playground is scheduled to open in the spring of 2025.
Arctic flying theater — SeaWorld Orlando
SeaWorld Orlando offers a mix of attractions and marine life exhibits that make it both fun and educational. The park’s newest attraction, an Arctic flying theater, will be no different. The immersive flight theater will showcase the Arctic’s icy landscapes, frozen waters and the animals who call them home.
Guests will feel like they’ve actually left sunny Florida and entered the tundra as they get an up-close look at beluga whales, walruses, orcas and more. The attraction will have an approachable 39-inch height requirement, making it accessible to kids and their families.
The Arctic flying theater is scheduled to open in the spring of 2025.
Rescue Jr — SeaWorld San Antonio
Other than marine creatures, you’ll find a lot of kids at SeaWorld San Antonio — and those kids need spaces to run, jump and otherwise expend their theme park-fueled energy. Enter SeaWorld’s newest attraction: Rescue Jr.
This kid-friendly area will feature rides and play spaces, including the Beach Rescue Racer family coaster, the Seabird Swing, the Ocean Quest Express interactive train ride and the Sea Splash water play area. Each rescue-themed attraction will teach kids about animal conservation while they slide, swing and splash.
Rescue Jr. is scheduled to open in the spring of 2025.
Jewels of the Sea: The Jellyfish Experience — SeaWorld San Diego
Originally scheduled to open in 2024, Jewels of the Sea: The Jellyfish Experience will be an interactive and educational attraction in the Ocean’s Explore area of SeaWorld San Diego. The exhibit will have three themed galleries designed to make guests feel as if they are immersed in a jellyfish’s mystical underwater world.
Jewels of the Sea: The Jellyfish Experience will have some of the tallest jellyfish cylinders in the world, including an 18-foot-tall jellyfish habitat and a 10-foot-tall “living arch” of jellyfish that guests can walk under. For an additional fee, you can upgrade your jellyfish experience to include a behind-the-scenes tour.
Jewels of the Sea: The Jellyfish Experience is scheduled to open in the spring of 2025.
Bottom line
From anniversary celebrations to thrill rides to a groundbreaking new theme park, there’s something for everyone coming to U.S. theme parks this year. Maybe you visit theme parks for sky-high, super-fast coasters; maybe you prefer to keep your feet firmly planted on solid ground to enjoy food, music and ambience. Either way, you have a whole list of reasons to visit a theme park this year.
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