Orlando Attractions Area News & Developments

[AmIReal]

I'm not much of a park watcher, but I found this LAT article to be very good. Anyone who likes all things Disney should read it although it is about Disneyland (except for the diss of Disneyworld).

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/herocomplex/la-et-ms-rolly-crump-20180907-story.html#

 

Edited September 10, 2018 by AmIReal

[jrs2]

Can someone look for the article on the new Element Hotel at I-Drive 360?  it's a thumbnail on the title page discussing the 300+ room tower being built at Dolphin/Swan.  It showed a diagram of where the hotel would go.  I know it's where McFadden's was, but it shows the affected land as that land plus a narrow strip going east to west bordering the north wall of the parking garage.  I'm not sure if that means it will be connected to it or if it means that the back access drive to the plaza will be closed permanently or both.  thanks.

[spenser1058]

The long-rumored new Tishman resort adjoining the Swan and Dolphin:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories/new-hotel-confirmed-for-walt-disney-world-swan-and-dolphin-resort/amp/

From WDW Info

[spenser1058]

Photos of the new Harry Potter roller coaster coming in 2019 to UOR:

http://attractionsmagazine.com/photo-update-harry-potter-roller-coaster-receives-first-theming/

From Attractions Magazine

[dcluley98]

I've seen the plans for this and there is a lot of theming and it is more than just the ride itself. Can't really say anything about it though. Hahaha. 

[jrs2]

11 hours ago, dcluley98 said:

I've seen the plans for this and there is a lot of theming and it is more than just the ride itself. Can't really say anything about it though. Hahaha. 

it's as if you were cackling at the end of your post.  I'm still laughing...  transfer some of that inside knowledge brilliance to Dan Mullen so he can salvage our season, will ya?

15 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

The long-rumored new Tishman resort adjoining the Swan and Dolphin:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories/new-hotel-confirmed-for-walt-disney-world-swan-and-dolphin-resort/amp/

From WDW Info

wow, that's a pretty serious project.  rooftop pool, 14 stories, etc...

[spenser1058]

Think Universal's catching up with Disney? For now it ain't close. Disney's worldwide parks clicked the turnstiles 150 million times last year, a number three times higher than Universal...

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/09/11/will-anyone-ever-beat-disney-in-the-theme-park-business/amp/

From the OC Register

Edited September 12, 2018 by spenser1058

[aent]

2 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

Think Universal's catching up with Disney? For now it ain't close. Disney's worldwide parks clicked the turnstiles 150 million times last year, a number three times higher than Universal...

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/09/11/will-anyone-ever-beat-disney-in-the-theme-park-business/amp/

From the OC Register

That article does say Universal is catching up with Disney... just that it has a long way to go. Universal just about doubled its park increase over the past decade while Disney had a 30% increase over the same time period. Universal's working hard on it though, the 3rd Orlando park can't open soon enough, which I expect to have the highest attendance of their 3 after a year or 2 after opening.

[spenser1058]

I agree and Uni's doing about as well as anyone could. I'm just amazed how often I see folks on the internet talking about how HP made Universal just blow past Disney. It never happened and Disney's about to send its own fleet into hyperspace next year that will make it even harder to catch up.

The real news seems to be that Uni's aggressive moves have been hardest on the Sea World/Busch parks.

Just as Ford hit a home run with the original Taurus and the Mustang is smoking Camaro and the F-150 is as strong as ever, GM has still been the big kahuna through all of it (even with a bankruptcy.)

[HankStrong]

When that Star Wars stuff opens it might be a huge factor in this race.

[spenser1058]

What we in Orlando can be grateful to Uni for is reawakening interest in the local market. In the interregnum between GE and Comcast ownership, the major players had decided that Orlando would be the cash cow and growth would be international.

With Harry Potter, all that changed. As Uni ramped up, WDW had to respond. Lo and behold, we saw growth in Orlando attractions that wasn't supposed to happen. It's been stunning to see and has several years to run.

[IAmFloridaBorn]

Universal Orlando does not want to be DIsney. However , getting a slice of the pie or two or three is good enough for them to make the decision to keep growing .

Nintendo will be a huge draw just as much as Star Wars and with Ninendos BadAzz new age attractions.

 

I hope International Drive is ready to compete.

[sunshine]

Universal seems to be more "urban minded" when it comes to design until the recent expansion of the hotels. Even so, it is way better than Disney for not building isolated island of resorts. Hopefully there are new urban element in the new park that can rival Disney Spring. This will greatly enhance I-drive.

A monorail connecting the new with the old parks would be awesome.

[shardoon]

40 minutes ago, sunshine said:

Universal seems to be more "urban minded" when it comes to design until the recent expansion of the hotels. Even so, it is way better than Disney for not building isolated island of resorts. Hopefully there are new urban element in the new park that can rival Disney Spring. This will greatly enhance I-drive.

A monorail connecting the new with the old parks would be awesome.

As with everything urban, its only when it becomes necessary. Give Universal the amount of land that Disney has, and we will see how urban minded they really are lol.  Just like how Disney springs has started to get an Urban feel...... purely because they ran out of land in the area. 

[spenser1058]

Florida's tallest triple-launch coaster goes to Busch in Tampa:

https://m.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/09/12/busch-gardens-announces-plans-for-tigris-floridas-tallest-launch-roller-coaster

Feom Orlando Weekly

[codypet]

As an annual pass holder for the last two years........woo hoo!  My wife said there's rumors that Gwazi may come back in some form as well.

Edited September 13, 2018 by codypet

[WAJAS]

54 minutes ago, codypet said:

As an annual pass holder for the last two years........woo hoo!  My wife said there's rumors that Gwazi may come back in some form as well.

Yeah they mentioned that something would be happening to Gwazi to open in 2020. Rumors have it that Rocky Mountain Construction will concert it to a hybrid, and it’ll reopen.

[spenser1058]

WDW News Today suggests the long-rumored Mary Poppins dark ride is out for the Epcot World Showcase UK area.

In its place will supposedly be a simple Poppins-themed spinner similar to Dumbo. That would be a bit of a letdown although Epcot doesn't currently have any such rides.

https://wdwnt.com/2018/09/rumor-mary-poppins-spinner-flat-ride-planned-for-epcots-united-kingdom-pavilion/

[spenser1058]

This is more than scary: WDW News Today is reporting the Disney Skyliner cars, which will be enclosed, won't be air-conditioned.

That might work in temperate areas but the swamps of central Florida are another matter entirely from May-October if we're lucky.

https://wdwnt.com/2018/09/disney-skyliner-gondolas-will-not-be-air-conditioned-but-will-feature-onboard-audio/

[jrs2]

13 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

This is more than scary: WDW News Today is reporting the Disney Skyliner cars, which will be enclosed, won't be air-conditioned.

That might work in temperate areas but the swamps of central Florida are another matter entirely from May-October if we're lucky.

https://wdwnt.com/2018/09/disney-skyliner-gondolas-will-not-be-air-conditioned-but-will-feature-onboard-audio/

Oh my God.  Are they insane?  I knew there was some sort of catch.  They look like smaller versions of the Orlando Eye gondolas, but with no A/C?  Big mistake, WDW, big mistake.  They will be like miniature greenhouses.

On ‎9‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 3:53 PM, spenser1058 said:

WDW News Today suggests the long-rumored Mary Poppins dark ride is out for the Epcot World Showcase UK area.

In its place will supposedly be a simple Poppins-themed spinner similar to Dumbo. That would be a bit of a letdown although Epcot doesn't currently have any such rides.

https://wdwnt.com/2018/09/rumor-mary-poppins-spinner-flat-ride-planned-for-epcots-united-kingdom-pavilion/

bad.  An ET sort of ride Poppins themed would've been cool

[klstorey]

A- Tom at WDWNT has great info on Epcot but hotels but other parts of WDW his track record is questionable. 

B- These same gondolas have worked in other areas just as hot as here with no issues due to a system to move air thru the cabins (look at the vents on the bottom of the gondolas.)

I'm concerned but wont write off the system until I can actually ride the system. 

[aent]

Also they'll receive cool air from the stations from my understanding, and the maximum ride length is about 5 minutes, similar to many un-air-conditioned rides throughout the parks. Doesn't seem like a huge deal.

[jrs2]

22 hours ago, klstorey said:

A- Tom at WDWNT has great info on Epcot but hotels but other parts of WDW his track record is questionable. 

B- These same gondolas have worked in other areas just as hot as here with no issues due to a system to move air thru the cabins (look at the vents on the bottom of the gondolas.)

I'm concerned but wont write off the system until I can actually ride the system. 

I ain’t buying it.  I’m sure at that height there will be a good breeze, but there still is humidity.   I’d like to know in which other areas those same gondolas have gone where it’s just as hot as in Orlando for as long as Orlando is hot during the year.

19 hours ago, aent said:

Also they'll receive cool air from the stations from my understanding, and the maximum ride length is about 5 minutes, similar to many un-air-conditioned rides throughout the parks. Doesn't seem like a huge deal.

No.  Imagine the Monorail breaking down with no AC.

[WAJAS]

5 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

I ain’t buying it.  I’m sure at that height there will be a good breeze, but there still is humidity.   I’d like to know in which other areas those same gondolas have gone where it’s just as hot as in Orlando for as long as Orlando is hot during the year.

Medellín, Columbia has an urban mass transit cable car system using similar technology.

[jrs2]

4 minutes ago, WAJAS98 said:

Medellín, Columbia has an urban mass transit cable car system using similar technology.

The high in Medellin today is/was 71 degrees Fahrenheit.  It was 95 today in Orlando.