ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - If this is a golden age for theme parks, then nowhere are new thrills more abundant than in Orlando where theme parks have been in an arms race.
This year's crop of new lands and rides opening at Florida parks include Toy Story Land at Disney and a new "Fast & Furious" attraction at Universal.
Orlando gets a third of North America's theme park attendance. A record 72 million visitors came to Orlando in 2017. First quarter parks revenue at Disney grew 13 percent and at Universal, 14 percent.
Even Orlando-based SeaWorld, which had been bleeding visitors since the release of the 2013 documentary "Blackfish," reported an almost 15 percent attendance jump in the first quarter of 2018, helped in part by a pivot away from orca shows.