Orlando Attractions Area News & Developments

[Universe_Explorer]

On 6/27/2019 at 6:38 PM, spenser1058 said:

True enough if they choose not to annex. I wonder if they’ll want to have to go back and forth between the City and OC?

My understanding is that the (political) purpose of the I Drive taxing district is that it discouraged further annexation of fruitful county property by the city - it can become part of the city (as in require Orlando Police/Fire vs County resources, etc, but the city can't collect the taxes from it - which defeats the purpose. Beyond that, I don't believe  the new Universal property would meet annexation standards regardless unless it's attached on more than one side to other city property.  I haven't looked that up

[spenser1058]

24 minutes ago, Universe_Explorer said:

My understanding is that the (political) purpose of the I Drive taxing district is that it discouraged further annexation of fruitful county property by the city - it can become part of the city (as in require Orlando Police/Fire vs County resources, etc, but the city can't collect the taxes from it - which defeats the purpose. Beyond that, I don't believe  the new Universal property would meet annexation standards regardless unless it's attached on more than one side to other city property.  I haven't looked that up

You’re correct that successful annexation with the city would require the unannexed portion touch the existing city limits in at least one spot, no matter how small.

As for the District, it’s a unique hybrid made up of three other units. The County actually controls the bulk of it (which I assume is in part because more of I-Drive is in the county than the city).

As to whether the dynamics could change, there’s probably nothing to stop them from doing so given the makeup of the thing.

You’ll note that it was created in 1992. At the time Linda Chapin was county chair (the change to county mayor came later) and she was all about detente with the city.

Later on, at one point OC Republican Mayor Rich Crotty and then new Orlando Democratic Mayor Buddy Dyer went to war over possible annexations (Rich even engineered a brief jail stay for Buddy to show who was boss - ironically, Buddy lost that battle but won the war, solidifying his place as the stud duck in the region).

Now, with Buddy and the current county mayor Jerry Demings both being on the blue team (and with Demings being the ultimate “no-drama” politician), this will probably work out however Universal wants it. It would seem easier to have it all in the city (deannexing the current property being highly unlikely) but OC may do whatever is required to minimize red tape.

We’ll just have to see how it goes.

https://www.internationaldriveorlando.com/about-us/

Edited June 29, 2019 by spenser1058

[aent]

bioreconstruct on Twitter, as always, has a lot of the newly completed and under construction things in the attractions area, but there are a lot of good ones this past weekend showing the progress on the third park, Icon Park's enhancements including its new hotel and construction of the new rides, and of course, the opening of Universal's new Dry N Tame hotel. I won't include too much, but here's the view guests will see of downtown from the first of the towers of the new hotel.

 

 

Credit: https://twitter.com/bioreconstruct

Edited July 1, 2019 by aent

[spenser1058]

Starting July 10, OC residents will have a way to access Walt Disney World from Reams Road without traversing restricted MK backstage areas.

Guests leaving the area after the fireworks and other congested times will also be able to exit to the north without fighting the narrow backstage roads.

The new four lane road, Floridian Place, will split from the existing Floridian Way just north of the Grand Floridian Resort and bisects the current MK Cast Parking area before intersecting with Reams Road.

This should reduce a huge bottleneck in the area as growth continues in the area.

https://wdwnt.com/2019/07/new-road-connecting-floridian-way-and-reams-road-opens-july-10th-at-walt-disney-world/

From WDW News Today

[codypet]

Design is underway to widen Reams Road and Ficquette.

[spenser1058]

Is Country Bear Jamboree still relevant for today’s WDW’s audiences? Discuss.

https://wdwnt.com/2019/07/opinion-why-the-country-bears-matter/

From WDW News Today 

(That of course leads to the second question: other than James Rouse and Ray Bradbury, who knew critics would ever suggest Disney guests were searching for highbrow entertainment? Richard Schickel would be beside himself...) 

 

[spenser1058]

Scott J stops in at Pizza Ponte for a sangria ice pop:

https://www.scottjosephorlando.com/reviews/67-pizza/4807-pop-in-at-pizza-ponte

 

[spenser1058]

The Gran Destino Tower at Disney Coronado Springs Resort is a go. Here’s some pics:

https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201907/6881/

From Theme Park Insider 

Notice also the homage to Salvador Dali, a friend of Walt’s in the ‘40’s.

[spenser1058]

H&M opens this week at Orlando Premium International Outlets:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-cfb-hm-opens-orlando-outlets-20190708-cafwdoiefje4hjriokl6oxw5h4-story.html

From the Sentinel 

JFW, will you be there? I know you are a slave to fashion!

Personally, I’m chilling until the Nordstrom Anniversary sale coming up.

[spenser1058]

Leaked photos of Universal’s Super Nintendo World:

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900078688/universal-studios-super-nintendo-world-theme-park-mario-kart-yoshi.amp

From Deseret News

[spenser1058]

Video. of Coronado Springs redo from the Miami Herald:

https://amp.miamiherald.com/living/travel/article232444442.html

[codypet]

14 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Leaked photos of Universal’s Super Nintendo World:

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900078688/universal-studios-super-nintendo-world-theme-park-mario-kart-yoshi.amp

From Deseret News

Cancelled Kid Zone? Is this going in the Kid Zone at USF or the new 3rd gate on SLR?

[spenser1058]

19 minutes ago, codypet said:

Cancelled Kid Zone? Is this going in the Kid Zone at USF or the new 3rd gate on SLR?

I don’t think we know yet - this is just looking at lands, I think, without attaching to a particular park.

[aent]

52 minutes ago, codypet said:

Cancelled Kid Zone? Is this going in the Kid Zone at USF or the new 3rd gate on SLR?

The south property. Kid Zone was the backup location in case the project had trouble getting off the ground (initially concerned about the lawsuit on the property) but we seem well beyond that point, so the south property is pretty much a sure thing

[spenser1058]

MK updates - scroll down for latest TRON and Sleepy Hollow - Fantasyland walkway construction pics.

Cory also brings up an interesting question - once TRON goes 102 in 2021 or 2022, will it be time to rethink Space Mountain, WDW’s granddaddy coaster (1975)?

https://www.micechat.com/230481-dateline-disney-world-tron-coaster-rising/

From Mice Chat

[jrs2]

On 7/4/2019 at 9:14 AM, spenser1058 said:

Starting July 10, OC residents will have a way to access Walt Disney World from Reams Road without traversing restricted MK backstage areas.

Guests leaving the area after the fireworks and other congested times will also be able to exit to the north without fighting the narrow backstage roads.

The new four lane road, Floridian Place, will split from the existing Floridian Way just north of the Grand Floridian Resort and bisects the current MK Cast Parking area before intersecting with Reams Road.

This should reduce a huge bottleneck in the area as growth continues in the area.

https://wdwnt.com/2019/07/new-road-connecting-floridian-way-and-reams-road-opens-july-10th-at-walt-disney-world/

From WDW News Today

I was at or near this road by mistake 3-4 weeks back after leaving...another resort...I don't want to draw attention to myself if THEY are reading this...and was confused at all the new alignments and old intersections which looked different.

[spenser1058]

1 minute ago, jrs2 said:

I was at or near this road by mistake 3-4 weeks back after leaving...another resort...I don't want to draw attention to myself if THEY are reading this...and was confused at all the new alignments and old intersections which looked different.

It definitely is becoming a different look at several spots across property. By 2021 we’ll think we’ve been awakened in Tokyo Disneyland or something..

[jrs2]

12 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

It definitely is becoming a different look at several spots across property. By 2021 we’ll think we’ve been awakened in Tokyo Disneyland or something..

Disney spends money...Comcast digs deeper in their wallets as a result...and vice versa...   love it!

[WAJAS]

Nintendo is going on the south property. That leaked photo shows what it would have looked if it replaced Kidzone. We are currently the only park (don’t know about Beijing) that will have all 3 rides: Mario Kart, Yoshi, and Donkey Kong.

It basically is still the same layout with a bit of expansion everywhere because of the additional available space.

For those who care, Universal Studios Hollywood and Singapore is getting just Mario Kart, and Japan is getting Mario Kart and Yoshi.

[Pete C]

23 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

MK updates - scroll down for latest TRON and Sleepy Hollow - Fantasyland walkway construction pics.

Cory also brings up an interesting question - once TRON goes 102 in 2021 or 2022, will it be time to rethink Space Mountain, WDW’s granddaddy coaster (1975)?

https://www.micechat.com/230481-dateline-disney-world-tron-coaster-rising/

From Mice Chat

You prob already know this, but Space Mountain was supposed to be completely re-tracked back in 2009 when it went down for its last big refurb, but that got the axe due to the recession. I have been thinking that once TRON opens, Disney will have no excuse not to close Space Mountain and do a proper full ride system replacement. If they do, I would want either a straight track replacement of our existing 2- track layout with modern track and trains with audio, or swap out the entire interior with the exact ride Disneyland has (even though it wouldn't utilize all the space). I'd be good with either of those.

Edited July 11, 2019 by Pete C

[spenser1058]

In an interesting twist, Disney announced today that WDW’s Rise of the Resistance, SW:GE’s “E”-ticket attraction will be opening December 5, a month ahead of Disneyland’s version:

https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201907/6886/

From Theme Park Insider

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jrs2]

On 7/10/2019 at 11:59 PM, WAJAS98 said:

Nintendo is going on the south property. That leaked photo shows what it would have looked if it replaced Kidzone. We are currently the only park (don’t know about Beijing) that will have all 3 rides: Mario Kart, Yoshi, and Donkey Kong.

It basically is still the same layout with a bit of expansion everywhere because of the additional available space.

For those who care, Universal Studios Hollywood and Singapore is getting just Mario Kart, and Japan is getting Mario Kart and Yoshi.

this is excellent.  It continues the trend and commitment to USF to keep it their premier property and way ahead of their other properties.  This operation at the rate it's going will be immense within five years.

[spenser1058]

More on the expansion of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in east Tampa:

https://www.tampabay.com/business/seminole-tribe-continues-to-evolve-with-tampa-casino-expansion-20190711/

An interesting fun fact: the facility is now the most successful individual casino based on operating profits.

Fron the St. Pete Times

Edited July 14, 2019 by spenser1058

[aent]

Jeez I wish the state would legalize some competition for them. Seriously among the worst casino I've ever been to

[jgardnerucf]

Sheesh, ya musta lost some Lol.  How about you go to that gem in Ft. Pierce then.