Theme Park Rangers Radar: Epcot’s new garden, SeaWorld’s latest manatee, more holidays

Many of the construction walls of Epcot have been removed, so now Theme Park Rangers Radar detects new crooks and crannies to explore. There’s also a new manatee at SeaWorld Orlando, and that news taught us something about the ears of sea cows that went right into the fun fact folder.

Plus there’s more special holiday cheer to enjoy. Radar is a weekly roundup of theme park news and nuggets. It appears at OrlandoSentinel.com on Wednesdays.

Around the World Celebration

Walt Disney World has opened up Epcot’s World Celebration Gardens, and the chatter has centered on the “Walt the Dreamer” statue, the increased amount of greenery and the use of old-school logos in multiple ways from the sidewalk up.

And there will be more to see, said Scott Mallwitz, executive creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering. But there are hidden improvements, he said, that visitors are unlikely to spy with their own eyes.

The area sloping down from the new Walt Disney statue forms a bowl, a formation not that common in Florida. Remember that the “ground level” of Magic Kingdom is really the second floor of the park’s structure above the utilidor system, built that way more than 50 years ago because of issues with stability and groundwater management.

“We have a lot more different technologies involved” in 2023, Mallwitz said.

“For me, this slight change in grade was really important to stimulate kind of a sense of discovery and exploration,” This has been done in other parks, he said, such as Disney’s Hollywood Studios for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and at Disney’s Animal Kingdom for Pandora, the World of Avatar.

It needed to happen at Epcot to provide a “wayfinding piece” from the crosswalk that connects with the Land Pavilion, he said.

“You’re going to see over heads of the crowds that are in the middle, so you know your destination, so you don’t have the anxiety of not knowing where to go,” Mallwitz said.

In that bowl are garden areas, including a cascading planter as its centerpiece plus a triangular planter that points toward World Showcase. Those eventually will help bring “the center of gravity” of festival programming toward the front of the park, he said.

“Those will be activated in future state for festivals, much like the banks of the lagoons are,” he said. “You’re going to see a line of that as you move forward.”

Meanwhile, on the west side, an “atmospheric entertainment” garden will allow shows to be mounted quickly, Mallwitz said. Equipment, including lighting, is hidden within the structures

“So, no more cabling, no more planning at the last minute,” he said. “The premise here is that all the infrastructure is here for them to do whatever we want to do, including live broadcasts.”

The ear has it

SeaWorld Orlando recently took in a manatee removed from Miami Seaquarium. Her name is Clarity, but what’s unclear is her age. Using a variety of factors, including the knowledge that she had been at the Miami attraction since 2009, SeaWorld officials estimate she’s in her late teens or early 20s.

“Once they do get to the adult age, their growth cycle slows down a little bit, so it’s difficult to kind of really nail it down,” said Dr. Joe Gaspard, vice president of zoological operations at SeaWorld.

There is a scientific way to determine a manatee’s age, but it can’t be used until after death.

“Unfortunately, we can age them, but it’s postmortem with their ear bone.” Gaspard said. Carcasses can be sent to a state lab in St. Petersburg for a necropsy, and it can figure out the age.

“We’re seeing that age become younger and younger as we work through this process,” Gaspard said. “It just highlights that these animals continue to need progressive amounts of help.”

The age is hidden in the ear bone?

“It calcifies very much like a tree,” he said. “So, the rings on the tree? It’s very similar in that manner.”

Holiday overlay

Here is a sampling of a few International Drive-area attractions that change up or enhance their regular programming with holiday-oriented additions.

• Museum of Illusions Orlando at Icon Park has added holiday lights to its 3D neon room, a seasonal backdrop to the Ames Room (the one where sizes of people are distorted) and other seasonal overlays.

• Pirates Dinner Adventure has shifted to a version of its show that features Santa Claus. (Sister attractions Teatro Martini and Country Nights Live are also in holiday mode.)

• The Outta Control Magic Comedy Holiday Dinner Show is now available at WonderWorks Orlando. Among the trickery: A candy cane rope illusion.

• Dezerland Park has installed a synthetic ice rink near the front entrance of the entertainment center. It’s a year-round addition.

Disney: Ashley Eckstein achieves Candlelight Processional dream

Weekend outlook

• Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex’s Holidays in Space event begins Friday and includes “Starflake’s Holiday Voyage,” a projection mapping show on the Gateway building, a new Rocket Tree Trail and other festivities. (Daily through Dec. 30)

• Epcot International Festival of Holidays continues nightly, including Candlelight Processional with narrators Brendan Fraser (Wednesday and Thursday), Eva Longoria (Friday and Saturday), Joey McIntyre (Sunday and Monday) and Sterling K. Brown (Dec. 19-20).

• SeaWorld Orlando’s Christmas Celebration continues nightly. The park will have a daily menorah lighting through Friday.

• Universal Orlando’s holiday parade at Universal Studios and “Grinchmas” activities at Islands of Adventure continue daily.

• Legoland Florida’s holiday festivities resume Saturday and Sunday, then take a break before going to a daily schedule Dec. 22-31.

• The final two days of Gatorland’s Holiday Ho-ho-ho-down are Saturday and Sunday.

• Orlando Science Center is throwing a two-day Paleontology Party with guest speakers and dinosaur-related activities on Saturday and Sunday. The museum’s “Dino in Lights” presentation continues daily.

• Gaylord Palms’ “ICE” exhibit, based on “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” continues daily. (There’s currently a BOGO offer on the website.) The Kissimmee resort also offers indoor ice tubing, snowball building, a light show in the atrium and “Cirque: Spirit of Christmas.”

• Santa Workshop Experience at Icon Park is open daily through Dec. 24 (Reservations available).

• Island H2O Water Park’s Holiday Nights lights display is open Friday through Sunday.

• The film for Saturday’s Beach Nights at Aquatica Orlando is “The Polar Express.”

What’s on your radar? Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com.