Rides get slicker this year

WHALES dance, pirates pillage and a giant funnel sucks down humans. It can mean only one thing: Summer at the theme parks is upon us.

On Saturday, the theatrically inclined killer whale show “Believe� premieres at SeaWorld in San Diego, while Knott’s Soak City water park in Buena Park reopens for the summer with a 6-story Pacific Spin inner-tube ride.

Later this summer, Disneyland will update its Pirates of the Caribbean ride, just as Legoland rolls out its own Pirate Shores area. And less than two weeks ago, Magic Mountain launched Tatsu, a roller coaster that suspends riders with harnesses to simulate Superman-style flight.

As it turns out, the timing of the new and updated attractions couldn’t be better. Along with the traditional summer rush, soaring gas prices are keeping many Southern Californians close to home for vacation, and for those with children, the region’s myriad theme parks may prove particularly attractive.

“Anything bad for travel in the rest of the country is great for theme parks in Southern California,� says themeparkinsider.com editor Robert Niles. “Here, the parks are less and less dependent on [foreign and out-of-state] tour groups, but at the same time, that puts more pressure on parks to keep offering something new.�

For Disneyland, that means riding the popularity of the “Pirates of the Caribbean� film franchise. Since March, Disneyland’s venerable swashbuckling-themed ride has been undergoing a face-lift -- literally and figuratively -- and when it reopens June 26 (two weeks before the opening of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest� on July 7), it will boast the likenesses of Capt. Jack Sparrow and his nemesis, Capt. Barbossa.

“The movie characters were born out of the attraction, but now that so many people know them, we wanted to bring them back to their birthplace and make them part of the original crew of pirates,� says Kathy Rogers, a senior show producer at Walt Disney Imagineering.

Barbossa, for example, captains the Wicked Wench in the bombardment scene as she assails the stone fortress. The scene also boasts a new digitized audio track and special effects that let riders “not just watch the battle but also be a part of it in the sense that you can now feel the cannon balls as they blast overhead,� Rogers says.

In addition, music from the movie will be integrated into the soundtrack, and Sparrow and Barbossa will have their own dialogue, which Rogers cryptically says may or may not be voiced by Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush.

Though the changes to the 32-year-old ride may rankle some traditionalists, Rogers is quick to note that out of 120 animatronic characters, only four were changed.

“All of us [who worked on the ride] have reverence for such a great classic attraction, and our intent was to strengthen the attraction, not to change it.�

At SeaWorld, the challenge was to create a show, “Believe,� in a newly renovated stadium that includes a 3-story whale fluke and a series of four movable 10-by-20-foot LCD screens that play images from cameras set underwater, just above the water and overhead.

“Believe� is SeaWorld’s first new killer whale show in eight years, and, according to SeaWorld Entertainment Vice President Doug Minerd, it has a story line meant to emphasize the close relationship between the whales and their trainers.

“While we have come an awfully long way with the animals, we have never found a way to articulate the magic between the animals and the trainers,� says Minerd, who was also a creative producer for “Believe.� “Instead of just another great show that was more of a sporting event, we wanted to tell a story that was more theatrical.�

To that end, the show’s signature song, “Believe,� was written by stage composer John Stothers, and the score was written by Christopher Ward, a film music arranger and composer.

“The animals are even choreographed to the music, like in film or ballet, which has not been done before,� Minerd adds.

And if the kids -- like the trainers -- want to establish their own personal connection with the whales, Minerd notes that the renovated stadium still maintains a “splash zone� for those brave enough to sit in the first few rows.

If being doused by a 3-ton killer whale isn’t enough to cool you down, Knott’s Soak City water park is introducing its Pacific Spin ride, which officials describe as “like going down the drain.�

Sitting in a clover-shaped four-person inner tube, riders start at the top of a 132-foot-long tunnel that drops them 75 feet into a 6-story funnel that pitches them back and forth through 5,500 gallons of water.

Water is also the theme at Legoland California’s Pirate Shores, slated to open June 21. The go-to attraction will be its Splash Battle ride, which equips each passenger with a water cannon meant to shoot equally armed spectators as they navigate through pirate-infested waters.

The new expansion includes an obligatory log ride, Treasure Falls. For younger guests, there are pop-up water jets, fountains and squirt cannons at Swabbies Deck, while the Soak-N-Sail play structure has more than 60 interactive gadgets pumping and spraying water.

“Legoland has some really innovative attractions that are unlike the typical passive theme park ride,� Niles says.

“Attractions like Fun Town Fire Academy involve the whole family working and playing together, and Legoland’s new Pirate Shores expansion definitely continues that concept.�