Orlando Attractions Area News & Developments

[JFW657]

The overhead crosswalk proposal for I-Drive and Sand Lake Rd is back in play again.

New design, new renderings....

 

This design is called "The Drone". 

https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2023/06/13/florida-idrive-sand-lake-pedestrian-bridge-traffic.html

 

[Uncommon]

"That governmental process could take at least until the end of this year to finalize before the county then can enter a design phase (possibly 12-16 months) and then construction (at least a year later), requiring a phased approach to minimize traffic issues on the popular tourist corridor."

Why does everything take so damn long to build in Orlando? In Miami, this thing would've already broken ground. In NY, it would've been approved and be completed by year's end. This city is so frustrating in how it drags its feet on literally everything.

[codypet]

2 hours ago, Uncommon said:

"That governmental process could take at least until the end of this year to finalize before the county then can enter a design phase (possibly 12-16 months) and then construction (at least a year later), requiring a phased approach to minimize traffic issues on the popular tourist corridor."

Why does everything take so damn long to build in Orlando? In Miami, this thing would've already broken ground. In NY, it would've been approved and be completed by year's end. This city is so frustrating in how it drags its feet on literally everything.

The Counties in particular are mind numbingly slow in getting things built.  FDOT is much faster granted they have the funding.  And they absolutely need the funding.   No funding, don't even think about starting a project.  

[shardoon]

With the amount of transients seen of late in the DP area including families that panhandle, I can see this bridge being a magnet. 

[jack]

13 hours ago, Uncommon said:

"That governmental process could take at least until the end of this year to finalize before the county then can enter a design phase (possibly 12-16 months) and then construction (at least a year later), requiring a phased approach to minimize traffic issues on the popular tourist corridor."

Why does everything take so damn long to build in Orlando? In Miami, this thing would've already broken ground. In NY, it would've been approved and be completed by year's end. This city is so frustrating in how it drags its feet on literally everything.

I have done work in Miami. It takes a long time by Florida standards to get things approved. 

I have never worked in NYC, but the planning process takes years because of all the community by in needed. 

[jrs2]

 

[prahaboheme]

Certainly an upgrade from the KidsZone but not really the shot in the arm needed at the Studios park.

[jrs2]

12 hours ago, prahaboheme said:

Certainly an upgrade from the KidsZone but not really the shot in the arm needed at the Studios park.

I have mixed feelings. I feel like Uni squandered an excellent IP in Shrek... 

[prahaboheme]

A “Dreamworks” land seems too broad — it would be like having a “Disney” land at Uni.

[F-L-A]

10 hours ago, prahaboheme said:

A “Dreamworks” land seems too broad — it would be like having a “Disney” land at Uni.

You mean a "Disney" land at Disney? That's pretty much what Fantasyland used to be, before they started branching out from animation and shoving their IPs basically everywhere else in the parks. I don't think it's that bad, so long as they focus on a select few things DreamWorks is genuinely known for and not the latest flavor of the week. Personally I would've rather seen this all-encompassing DreamWorks concept on a larger scale in Epic Universe, instead of dedicating an entire land (that park's largest) to How to Train Your Dragon.

Edited July 24, 2023 by F-L-A

[jrs2]

10 hours ago, F-L-A said:

You mean a "Disney" land at Disney? That's pretty much what Fantasyland used to be, before they started branching out from animation and shoving their IPs basically everywhere else in the parks. I don't think it's that bad, so long as they focus on a select few things DreamWorks is genuinely known for and not the latest flavor of the week. Personally I would've rather seen this all-encompassing DreamWorks concept on a larger scale in Epic Universe, instead of dedicating an entire land (that park's largest) to How to Train Your Dragon.

I think Epic will open with just 4 lands, but can be expanded to 6 lands, so, who knows...

But the "Disney" land aka Fantasyland...I never thought about that before...

Train Your Dragon- I never liked that, but, people have told me that was a very popular series or movie...maybe they plan sequels and are trying to get ahead of it...

[shardoon]

2 hours ago, jrs2 said:

I think Epic will open with just 4 lands, but can be expanded to 6 lands, so, who knows...

But the "Disney" land aka Fantasyland...I never thought about that before...

Train Your Dragon- I never liked that, but, people have told me that was a very popular series or movie...maybe they plan sequels and are trying to get ahead of it...

It was a very good movie and did quite well....... however, from what I understand, the How To Train Your dragon trilogy is complete. There are plans for a live action reboot in 2025..... maybe they are banking with that. Hopefully Universal is not stupid with their live actions like Disney of late if they want to limit controversy and maximize profit......... which is what any publicly traded company should be doing in my opinion.  

[jrs2]

2 hours ago, shardoon said:

It was a very good movie and did quite well....... however, from what I understand, the How To Train Your dragon trilogy is complete. There are plans for a live action reboot in 2025..... maybe they are banking with that. Hopefully Universal is not stupid with their live actions like Disney of late if they want to limit controversy and maximize profit......... which is what any publicly traded company should be doing in my opinion.  

I thought Disney was too far removed for Avatar Land when it opened...but...they released a sequel this past year...so, the land is "current".  But apparently Dragon has a TV series as well, with the latest having aired a couple of months ago.  So that's good for staying current.

I'm surprised Disney let Tron Legacy get flushed in the toilet.  It was a decent yet dark sequel to Tron, but they just let it go...a movie and a video game...

[jrs2]

This is a well made video. i goes into transportation as well.  It almost feels like Universal themselves made it, but I don't think so.  It also talks about a park in Frisco, TX geared towards younger crowds:

 

[codypet]

So word on the grapevine is the Simpsons license contract expires in 2028.  By then the Simpsons Ride will be 20 years old, BTTF the ride lived 16 years.  They should be plans to replace it starting now.  Curious what will replace it.   Perhaps we'll be taken Back to the Future

[shardoon]

19 minutes ago, codypet said:

So word on the grapevine is the Simpsons license contract expires in 2028.  By then the Simpsons Ride will be 20 years old, BTTF the ride lived 16 years.  They should be plans to replace it starting now.  Curious what will replace it.   Perhaps we'll be taken Back to the Future

It's an antiquated ride system. Nobody does immobile motion simulator ride anymore. That who section of the park can be closed off, demolished, and developed I to an entire new neighborhood theme from scratch. It will potentially give people a reason to go back to the original park once epic is open. 

[codypet]

4 hours ago, shardoon said:

It's an antiquated ride system. Nobody does immobile motion simulator ride anymore. That who section of the park can be closed off, demolished, and developed I to an entire new neighborhood theme from scratch. It will potentially give people a reason to go back to the original park once epic is open. 

Including Men In Black?

[jrs2]

5 hours ago, codypet said:

So word on the grapevine is the Simpsons license contract expires in 2028.  By then the Simpsons Ride will be 20 years old, BTTF the ride lived 16 years.  They should be plans to replace it starting now.  Curious what will replace it.   Perhaps we'll be taken Back to the Future

Back to the Future was an epic ride that made Star tours look like child's play.  Unfortunately, the series was a trilogy that ended in 1989.  Between it and T2, those two attractions were cutting edge...for a minute...and the IP of T2 and original filming just for the attraction was epic.  Disney's closest counterpart to that was Captain EO with MJ.

So, now, I don't know how they could recapture that newness with new IP in the same manner; maybe they can't.  Maybe that's why they are riding the coat-tails of Harry Potter...

[aent]

13 hours ago, codypet said:

So word on the grapevine is the Simpsons license contract expires in 2028.  By then the Simpsons Ride will be 20 years old, BTTF the ride lived 16 years.  They should be plans to replace it starting now.  Curious what will replace it.   Perhaps we'll be taken Back to the Future

Jeez, sure makes me feel old!

[ragerunner]

On 7/25/2023 at 7:52 AM, codypet said:

So word on the grapevine is the Simpsons license contract expires in 2028.  By then the Simpsons Ride will be 20 years old, BTTF the ride lived 16 years.  They should be plans to replace it starting now.  Curious what will replace it.   Perhaps we'll be taken Back to the Future

While things can change and will before that time line, the current 'solid' rumors for the Simpsons area and the backstage area behind it is a potential expansion of the Dreamworks land and a Pokemon land. If Universal Japan is any indication, Pokemon is coming to the Universal parks over the next 5 years or so. 

Studios will be their weakest park in Orlando by 2025. Festivals can only take a park so far and then you need real investment to take the next step. Ask Disney with EPCOT.

So for 2024 they are sticking a Band-Aid  on the park with a updated kids area, new parade and nighttime show and a rumored anime festival.

Edited July 31, 2023 by ragerunner

[jrs2]

25 minutes ago, ragerunner said:

While things can change and will before that time line, the current 'solid' rumors for the Simpsons area and the backstage area behind it is a potential expansion of the Dreamworks land and a Pokemon land. If Universal Japan is any indication, Pokemon is coming to the Universal parks over the next 5 years or so. 

Studios will be their weakest park in Orlando by 2025. Festivals can only take a park so far and then you need real investment to take the next step. Ask Disney with EPCOT.

So for 2024 they are sticking a Band-Aid  on the park with a updated kids area, new parade and nighttime show and a rumored anime festival.

Oh, fiddlesticks...there are like four HHN haunted houses back in there...

But...Pokemon is a very big deal...I forgot about Pokemon...  can you imagine if Universal partnered with Nintendo so that they could get a version of Pokemon that you could only purchase at Universal?  What, Pokemon Sapphire, etc...Think of the potential park integration possibilities...  Pikachu...

That's a potentially hardcore IP...

How cool is this?

Notice how there are ads for Miami Beach running in the video.  Gotta love it...

 

[FLheat]

1 hour ago, jrs2 said:

Oh, fiddlesticks...there are like four HHN haunted houses back in there...

But...Pokemon is a very big deal...I forgot about Pokemon...  can you imagine if Universal partnered with Nintendo so that they could get a version of Pokemon that you could only purchase at Universal?  What, Pokemon Sapphire, etc...Think of the potential park integration possibilities...  Pikachu...

That's a potentially hardcore IP...

How cool is this?

Notice how there are ads for Miami Beach running in the video.  Gotta love it...

 

I will be here in December along with Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. I'll check out the Pikachu Pizza Bun!

[ragerunner]

On 7/31/2023 at 1:45 PM, jrs2 said:

Oh, fiddlesticks...there are like four HHN haunted houses back in there...

But...Pokemon is a very big deal...I forgot about Pokemon...  can you imagine if Universal partnered with Nintendo so that they could get a version of Pokemon that you could only purchase at Universal?  What, Pokemon Sapphire, etc...Think of the potential park integration possibilities...  Pikachu...

That's a potentially hardcore IP...

How cool is this?

Notice how there are ads for Miami Beach running in the video.  Gotta love it...

The only HHN house that would be effected by this is the two moveable 'tent' houses. Those can easily be relocated in that back area to another parking lot. It will also help when additional storage/maintenance space can be moved for the resort to the new facilities at Epic.

[jrs2]

5 hours ago, ragerunner said:

The only HHN house that would be effected by this is the two moveable 'tent' houses. Those can easily be relocated in that back area to another parking lot. It will also help when additional storage/maintenance space can be moved for the resort to the new facilities at Epic.

Ah.   Yeah, those two tent or whatever houses have seen some good HHN action over the years...  What a great event that is...

Universal's got land.  They built that employee parking deck  (along Turkey Lake Rd.) several years back and expanded it but left all that surface parking still...

[F-L-A]

8 hours ago, ragerunner said:

The only HHN house that would be effected by this is the two moveable 'tent' houses. Those can easily be relocated in that back area to another parking lot. It will also help when additional storage/maintenance space can be moved for the resort to the new facilities at Epic.

If they really wanted to build out a land behind the Simpsons, the two parade buildings could also be in danger. Both of those are typically used for HHN. That said, I don't see this happening anytime soon.