You might be wondering what in the world an Omaka Rocka is. Well next year you’ll be able to find out when you head to SeaWorld’s water-themed sister park Aquatica. All of the Orlando theme parks are planning massive expansions to keep things new and exciting for returning and new guests, so we’ll have a lot to talk about next year!

While Universal Orlando Resort and the Walt Disney World Resort’s plans have overshadowed some of the other parks’ new attractions, that doesn’t mean DWTickets.com will leave it out of the picture. If you love water slides and enjoy a day in the sun at the beautiful Aquatica water park, you’ll be happy to know they will be expanding the park with a brand new slide called Omaka Rocka, meaning “rocky river.”

This new water slide will allow people of all ages to ride as long as they follow the rules—no height restrictions here! What you will find with Omaka Rocka is 2 slides with 3 funnels each. These funnels will feature 2-seater tubes that will send riders zooming through colorful fiberglass tubes. Some will be translucent and others will keep riders in the dark for an exciting experience! Even those who are waiting in line will be able to see Omaka Rocka riders zooming overhead in the colorful tubes.

“They’re going to slide up one side and get a sensation of near weightlessness. They’ll come down that side and back up the other. They’ll probably be going backwards, but most definitely going to be screaming,” Aquatice VP Rick Beddow told the Orlando Sentinel. “It’s going to be a taste of a half-pipe — near vertical thrills experienced only by skateboarders or snowboarders.”

The Omaka Rocka will share a tower with Whanau Way and be similar in ride style to both Whanau Way and the Tassie’s Twisters. This will be Aquatica’s first new attraction since it first opened two years ago. While the Omaka Rocka is scheduled to open in 2010 we don’t have a specific date yet. Considering it’s a bit chilly in Orlando right now, springtime seems perfect, and March is the rumored month of completion.

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This week the Disney world lost Roy E. Disney, the nephew of Walt Disney and the only son of Roy O. Disney. He was a shy man who mostly kept away from the public eye while he kept an iron grasp on the inner workings of the Walt Disney Company. Born into one of the most legendary families in the world, Roy grew up visiting the Disney studios and screening featurettes and cartoons before other people did. The animators would use him as a “test subject” to see if, as a young boy, he found the animations funny. At night, many newspapers that wrote about Disney’s passing mentioned how Walt would always tell him amazing bed time stories, never shying away from the creativity all of the Disneys seemed to have in their blood.

As an adult he oversaw many of the executive aspects of the Walt Disney Company and willingly put his shyness aside when he saw company ideals and beliefs at risk of being compromised. During the mid-to late 80’s, Roy didn’t hesitate to fire the head honchos of the time, namely Ron Miller, who was then replaced by Michael Eisner. Eisner would fall out of Roy’s good graces later on in his career after Roy felt Eisner was thinking only of money and sacrificing the quality of the Disney parks and product. See, despite being involved in the financial aspects of Disney, Roy was all about the creativity. He was much more like his Uncle Walt, who dealt with the creative aspects, than his father Roy, who was all about the business side.

“I really credit Roy Disney completely with the renaissance of Disney animation, beginning with ‘Little Mermaid’ and all the way through that great amazing series of classic Disney films,” said John Lasseter, chief creative officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios.

One could argue that without Roy, Disney animation would have never survived the 80’s. The so-called “Disney Renaissance,” which began with The Little Mermaid and ended with The Lion King, can be credited to Roy’s drive to keep with the ideals of his uncle. We’re sure the Disney theme parks will be honoring Roy, who bore a striking resemblance to his uncle, in some way. There is a statue of Walt at the Magic Kingdom and you can see other tributes to the man that started it all in Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Like his uncle, Roy Disney died due to cancer. He was 79 years old, and died the day after the anniversary of Walt Disney’s death, on December 16th, 2009. Roy E. Disney will be missed, but his contribution to the salvation of the animated feature will never be forgotten.

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Did you know December is officially Walt Disney month? Here at DWTickets.com we thought it would be neat to do a recap of the major Disney-related events that happened this month. Aside from commemorating Walt Disney’s birthday December 5th, December is usually the month where plenty of Disney events occur. This year marked the return to classic animation with The Princess and the Frog and Disney’s first black princess, Princess Tiana. This year also marked the 72nd anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with its release on Disney BluRay and DVD.

The Disney theme parks had their fair share of new events as well. Space Mountain finally re-opened, now being darker and scarier than ever. Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee has a limited run over at the Magic Kingdom to get everyone into the spirit of New Orleans jazz and The Princess and the Frog. Holiday decorations were everywhere to get people into the holiday spirit and the special event Disney fans wait for every year, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, recently wrapped up another successful party!

At Disney’s Hollywood Studios the Osborn Family Spectacle of Lights delighted millions of guests with its music and Christmas, Kwanzaa and Hanukkah-themed displays. Epcot featured their wonderful Candlelight Processional, where celebrities came to the parks to read The Christmas Story to guests from around the world all while a gospel choir sings in the background. It has been a great December for the Walt Disney Company and we know next year will only be better. More rides are getting refurbished to bring you great, updated experiences, and we know the Disney animation studios are hard at work on new features coming soon to a theatre near you. There’s Rapunzel, Winnie the Pooh, and Toy Story 3, not to mention plenty of rumors about Disney working on their own version of The Snow Queen! While 2009 has been tough for every one of us, Disney has pulled through and is preparing for a full recovery in 2010.

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What do the Disney theme parks and the hit television series LOST have in common? A lot more than you think! LOST is an ABC show, and ABC is owned by Disney, meaning that opens up a world of possibilities for hints of the mystery show to pop up all over the Walt Disney World Resort. With the release of Season 5 on DVD and Blu Ray this week and the upcoming final season starting February 2, 2010, we wanted to let LOST fans know you can still get your island fix at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Once you head over to the Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror’s gift shop, you might be surprised to find yourself looking at LOST merchandise like DVD’s, action figures, books, and t-shirts. We think that attraction is the perfect place for all of the LOST merchandise to be held, considering the mysterious and spooky nature The Twilight Zone television show was famous for. Any LOST fan with knowledge of the Rod Serling classic could quickly point out references to the sci-fi classic on the current mystery island show. The Blogster has purchased quite a few items at the Tower of Terror gift shop, including a t-shirt with the infamous numbers running across it. If you remember the Disney D23 Expo, there was an entire section devoted to memorabilia from the show there as well. It’s a pretty cool thing for a Disney and LOST fan to explore two things they love at a convention like that.

While you’ve seen the merchandise at the store, many fans have been wondering if LOST will ever come into play as an attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It’s certainly a rumor that has been around for quite some time, but unfortunately, one we don’t think will happen anytime soon. As much as the LOST fans at DWTickets.com would love an attraction for the show, we’ll just have to settle for DVD marathons for now. Don’t forget to tune in to the final season of LOST this February 2, 2010.

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