Orlando Attractions Area News & Developments

[jrs2]

 

[ragerunner]

On 3/21/2023 at 1:15 PM, codypet said:

First of all as an annual passholder for BG and SW who is deathly afraid of heights,  F that ride.  And yes I know as a fan of both Sheikra and especially Iron Gwazi  the irony of that statement.  

RE: Sea World Hotel.  I noticed the Renaissance branding was taken off the hotel.  Is that the first hotel?  I believe its on Sea World Property.  Sea World uses that hotel's parking lot as overflow right now. 

Not sure about the Renaissance.

We have the first riders testing Pipeline. Hopefully it soft opens by early May. I am curious to see how the surf element works.

 

[jrs2]

23 minutes ago, ragerunner said:

Not sure about the Renaissance.

We have the first riders testing Pipeline. Hopefully it soft opens by early May. I am curious to see how the surf element works.

 

that is fantastic! never riding that (but I do appreciate the engineering).

their spokesperson said last year their business plan was to open up a major ride every year (in an interview regarding Epic Universe, etc., and staying competitive).  Is there a plan for the next ride yet?  

[jrs2]

On 3/21/2023 at 1:15 PM, codypet said:

First of all as an annual passholder for BG and SW who is deathly afraid of heights,  F that ride.  And yes I know as a fan of both Sheikra and especially Iron Gwazi  the irony of that statement.  

RE: Sea World Hotel.  I noticed the Renaissance branding was taken off the hotel.  Is that the first hotel?  I believe its on Sea World Property.  Sea World uses that hotel's parking lot as overflow right now. 

https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/mcosr-renaissance-orlando-at-seaworld/overview/

[codypet]

15 hours ago, jrs2 said:

https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/mcosr-renaissance-orlando-at-seaworld/overview/

Interesting.  Its still on the website, but you can see in that Pipeline video the branding taken down.

[jrs2]

2 hours ago, codypet said:

Interesting.  Its still on the website, but you can see in that Pipeline video the branding taken down.

maybe they're doing a remodel...haven't been there or on Sea Harbor in years...but I know they expanded the convention space...

[jrs2]

The Sea World ride expansion is exciting to me for many reasons.  The first one is that now they will have an inventory of 5 major coasters.  Two of them bookend the park on the western edge (near the water show stadium) with parking behind there, while another two bookend the eastern edge near the retention pond/ I-Drive, and the other one is snuggled in the interior of the park in the northern central portion (sorry, no map).  It gives you a sense of place.   They also added Howl O Scream, which saw expansions from year one to year two.  The Sesame Street Land is very immersive and I believe has at least 6+ individual rides there.  And of course they have the Atlantis ride and several other attractions/rides, and shows with disgruntled Orcas.

Why am I writing this?  B/C it keeps Universal honest (as if Disney didn't already do that).  HHN is a worldwide event.  But I think SeaWorld can elevate HOS quicker than they can in Tampa because of the proximity to Universal.  Aquatica vs Volcano Bay as well.  Each keeps the other honest.

The result?  more things keep getting built and improved upon.

I've got a buddy that is part of a Roller Coaster Club where they all converge on different theme parks around the country to ride their coasters; SeaWorld was part of this rotation even before IceBreaker opened (when Mako was new).  Now there will be five coasters and hopefully many more.  I would build a parking deck and reclaim some of that adjacent parking to increase the footprint of the park.  Coasters seem to be a quick way to "improve" a park, visually, and practically.  

[codypet]

40 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

The Sea World ride expansion is exciting to me for many reasons.  The first one is that now they will have an inventory of 5 major coasters.  Two of them bookend the park on the western edge (near the water show stadium) with parking behind there, while another two bookend the eastern edge near the retention pond/ I-Drive, and the other one is snuggled in the interior of the park in the northern central portion (sorry, no map).  It gives you a sense of place.   They also added Howl O Scream, which saw expansions from year one to year two.  The Sesame Street Land is very immersive and I believe has at least 6+ individual rides there.  And of course they have the Atlantis ride and several other attractions/rides, and shows with disgruntled Orcas.

Why am I writing this?  B/C it keeps Universal honest (as if Disney didn't already do that).  HHN is a worldwide event.  But I think SeaWorld can elevate HOS quicker than they can in Tampa because of the proximity to Universal.  Aquatica vs Volcano Bay as well.  Each keeps the other honest.

The result?  more things keep getting built and improved upon.

I've got a buddy that is part of a Roller Coaster Club where they all converge on different theme parks around the country to ride their coasters; SeaWorld was part of this rotation even before IceBreaker opened (when Mako was new).  Now there will be five coasters and hopefully many more.  I would build a parking deck and reclaim some of that adjacent parking to increase the footprint of the park.  Coasters seem to be a quick way to "improve" a park, visually, and practically.  

So Empire of the Penguin closed after Covid and now the whole Antarctica section of Sea World dead ends at the Penguin Exhibit.  The exhibit itself is also closed and you can only view the underwater window to see the penguins.  Rumor is a family coaster is being built there.  (I don't know if we talked about that yet).  Wild Arctic I suspect will be the next revamped ride after the penguin coaster opens.  (I expect with a new motion simulator ride). 

Sesame Street land is hands down the best themed and most immersive kids land I've personally experienced.  You feel like you're in Sesame St.  The building orientations aren't TV show correct (that's a set that's U shaped optimized for camera panning), but they are correctly oriented as in they're in a row Subway station,  laundromat, Hooper's, carriage house, 123 Sesame St, Big Bird's nest.  That's all correct.  I only care because I'm a stickler for details like that.)  Story time with Big Bird is similar to what BG has with Elmo, and that Sesame St parade is great.  Abby's flying flower ride is being revamped right now, but all the other kids rides are excellent.  Little Codypet very much loves it.

Edited March 24, 2023 by codypet

[jrs2]

On 3/24/2023 at 2:14 PM, codypet said:

So Empire of the Penguin closed after Covid and now the whole Antarctica section of Sea World dead ends at the Penguin Exhibit.  The exhibit itself is also closed and you can only view the underwater window to see the penguins.  Rumor is a family coaster is being built there.  (I don't know if we talked about that yet).  Wild Arctic I suspect will be the next revamped ride after the penguin coaster opens.  (I expect with a new motion simulator ride). 

Sesame Street land is hands down the best themed and most immersive kids land I've personally experienced.  You feel like you're in Sesame St.  The building orientations aren't TV show correct (that's a set that's U shaped optimized for camera panning), but they are correctly oriented as in they're in a row Subway station,  laundromat, Hooper's, carriage house, 123 Sesame St, Big Bird's nest.  That's all correct.  I only care because I'm a stickler for details like that.)  Story time with Big Bird is similar to what BG has with Elmo, and that Sesame St parade is great.  Abby's flying flower ride is being revamped right now, but all the other kids rides are excellent.  Little Codypet very much loves it.

that's really cool about Sesame Street Land.  It shows that Sea World does have the know how to build an immersive TV-themed land.  I didn't realize that BG has the Sesame Street stuff too...

[codypet]

@jrs2While much older than the Sea World land, Elmo's safari of fun works really with with the Busch Garden's safari theming.  Its very good, just older.  With how well executed Sea World's is, it's good, just not as good as Sea World.

Park Details

[jrs2]

https://fanexpohq.com/megaconorlando/

time to yet yer geek on, Orlando!

these guys literally take up 1M sq ft of expo space (part of it is back of house, though.  And they take up a bunch of meeting rooms, and the Chapin (usually).  They use up a lot of space.  If Megacon could be every day, I would get a Segway and scoot my a55 all over the place like a silly little freak and just disappear and blend in...

The Apostle John Kreese is going to be there.  Works for me!

[jrs2]

https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2023/03/21/florida-orange-county-convention-center-project.html

some excerpts:

The unscientific poll, which ended in February, shows that 56.7% of respondents think it is time for the county to restart expansion talks, while 43.3% disagree.

 

A 200,000-square-foot, column-free, multipurpose venue with associated supporting lobby, concourses, docks, restrooms and service corridors added to the eastern side of the North/South facility

The western side of the North/South building would get a grand concourse upgrade to include 60,000 square feet of meeting room space, a flexible 80,000-square-foot ballroom, restrooms and service corridors.

Revenue collected from the tourist development tax in 2022 reached $336 million and reserves are projected to reach $300 million this spring — both milestones

[FLClarkKent]

Some new developments on the Reedy Creek front. 

https://www.wftv.com/news/local/power-play-disney-handicapped-new-reedy-creek-board-before-handing-over-control/P5XHTWXIZZCCXFYXTOFKKQMLXY/

[jrs2]

https://wdwnt.com/2023/04/universal-files-patent-for-potential-epic-universe-carousel/

[jrs2]

Conrad Evermore contruction update:

https://www.enr.com/articles/55990-building-orlando-resort-pcl-gets-creative-to-beat-supply-chain-snags

 

[dcluley98]

 

[aent]

1 hour ago, dcluley98 said:

 

I am so confused on WHY. There's one way in, one way out from both sides of the circle. They even are building a section of bridge that seems to have no plan of a road, ever. Why? This should just be a normal flyover.

[dcluley98]

It is direct lanes for Universal entrance and express bus route for Universal. (Public Private Partnership which contained concessions for Universal for their direct route/bus shuttle system between parks). 

Cody can probably explain it a bit better. 

Also, unsure about the no-use section. I assume since they had to build the ramp anyway, they just finished the circle for future-proofing it or for perhaps emergency vehicle access. 

[codypet]

I don't know if you guys remember I found the cross sections from the permit and it alluded to this.  Why a floating roundabout?  No idea.  I wish I was a fly on the wall for those discussions.  I think the empty sections, I assume they're planning on continuing going southbound or westbound for the train station or more resort connectivity?  But if that's the case, that shouldn't be bridge, but MSE walls on the south side.

[shardoon]

There must be a reason for it. No co.pany spends extra money if they don't need to. What is the plan for express bus lanes north of sand lake road. Aren't they still gonna hit all the lights like I drive?

[jrs2]

3 hours ago, dcluley98 said:

 

Can you give me a N/S/E/W on that view?  I presume that is SLR & Kirkman, right?  I'm lost...

 

[aent]

8 hours ago, codypet said:

I don't know if you guys remember I found the cross sections from the permit and it alluded to this.  Why a floating roundabout?  No idea.  I wish I was a fly on the wall for those discussions.  I think the empty sections, I assume they're planning on continuing going southbound or westbound for the train station or more resort connectivity?  But if that's the case, that shouldn't be bridge, but MSE walls on the south side.

It has a full intersection below, except for the left turn movement that this "roundabout" provides. The left side of the "roundabout" is carrying buses with 2 way traffic. The other 3/4 of it only allows a left movement. They literally could have made the 1/4 of it with the buses have another lane that is separated by a curb or wall and done the same thing, for probably less then half the money. I don't know what they were thinking, but its wrong to call this a roundabout in any way.

[codypet]

11 hours ago, aent said:

It has a full intersection below, except for the left turn movement that this "roundabout" provides. The left side of the "roundabout" is carrying buses with 2 way traffic. The other 3/4 of it only allows a left movement. They literally could have made the 1/4 of it with the buses have another lane that is separated by a curb or wall and done the same thing, for probably less then half the money. I don't know what they were thinking, but its wrong to call this a roundabout in any way.

Unless there's a plan in the future to add other legs.  Which is what I was assuming because of the gored out areas.  It might not be a roundabout in its initial configuration, but it may be in the future and the two way bus lane would have to go away.   I can't see why you'd do this over a traditional flyover unless they're intending to eventually build out the other legs.  Its such an MSE wall and bridge expense when they could have just done something similar to Reedy Creek at Hollywood Studios/Wide World of Sports.

[jrs2]

https://buschgardens.com/tampa/rides/?tags=Roller+Coaster

With a pass (I think they have a combo pass) between Busch Gardens and Sea World you've got a combined 14 or so major coasters.  Cedar Point has maybe 9...but...they have Millennium Force.

[codypet]

I was at Sea World today and I wanted to get some shots of Sesame St. Land.  Now Season 46 of Sesame St. which was just before baby Codypet was born saw the set pieces on the actual show revert to something a bit more like the 80s and 90s version of the show (vs the grittier 70s version, or the more cartoons 00s, and 10s version).  The Sea World theming obviously following that version of the set very much makes the area feel very immersive.  For the Hoopers Store photo, you can make out the carriage house next to it and 123 Sesame St on the right.  The windows are tv screens where Elmo will appear.  To the left of the steps on 123, is Oscar's can, and he'll yell at you from inside the can if you knock on it.   On the right of 123 is Big Birds nest and that's where story time.with Big Bird is held.  Across the street from the buildings is Cookie Monsters food truck along with a number of other "food trucks" (they're quick serve concessions disguised as food trucks) and all the rides.  It would almost be as if Sesame St is a row of buildings across from a park with food trucks and rides.  Something that would be plausible on the show too as if where the cameras are is the park.

 

I also got shots of the Pipeline however the sign over the ride didn't say Pipeline.  It was High something.  I forget, but I remember thinking, that's not what they said the ride was gonna be called.