Park announces new King Kong ride

Park announces new King Kong ride

ORLANDO, Fla.

King Kong first appeared on screens in New York City in 1933, but next summer, he’ll be in Florida, headlining a new thrill ride at Universal Orlando.

“Skull Island: Reign of Kong” will open in the summer of 2016 at Islands of Adventure.

Universal executives announced recently that guests participating in the “intense adventure” will board expedition trucks and forge through jungles, temple ruins and past prehistoric beasts before they come face to face with the oversized ape.

It will be one of Universal’s longest rides and will have a 34-inch height requirement. The attraction will be partially indoors and partially outdoors and will involve flaming cauldrons and caves.

The new attraction will be nestled in between Toon Lagoon and Jurassic Park.

Geography quiz

Q. Chisinau is the capital of which country?

A. Moldova. The city is in the center of Moldova, which is bordered by Romania and Ukraine.

NC tourists spent record $21.3B in ’14

RALEIGH, N.C.

Nearly 50 million people who visited North Carolina spent a record amount of money in the state last year.

A statement released last week by Gov. Pat McCrory says tourists spent $21.3 billion in 2014. That is a 5.4 percent increase over 2013.

McCrory says tourists helped support more than 204,000 jobs and 40,000 businesses. He says the 3.3 percent growth in tourism jobs is the largest increase in 14 years.

State tax receipts as a result of visitor spending grew 3.9 percent to more than $1 billion.

According to McCrory, North Carolina is the sixth-most-visited state in the nation.

Tourism impact climbs in Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky.

Tourism’s economic impact is up in Kentucky, and Gov. Steve Beshear says last year’s total was more than $13 billion.

That’s an increase of 4.4 percent from 2013. The Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet says it’s the first time the tourism impact figure has been more than $13 billion.

Beshear says the economic impact increase by more than $2.2 billion and 13,000 jobs during the last five years.

The annual survey showed that tourism supported almost 180,000 jobs in Kentucky last year, up more than 4,200 jobs from the previous year. That resulted in more than $2.9 billion in wages for Kentucky workers.

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