Orlando Attractions Area News & Developments

[klstorey]

Fun Spot is back on Facebook hinting about their next big project. I'm assuming this is for a new Christmas event similar to UCF's.  

 

Will a 'Christmas Town' style event work for Fun Spot? 

Edited October 7, 2014 by klstorey

[jrs2]

^^

Fun Spot.  I thought they said they bought land opposite the park on Grand National last year and halted water park plan for the vacant land pictured in the Facebook page because they considered placing a water park there instead.  But, in the ZFB post, he said "COOL".  So, what's literally cool?  Water.  What's figuratively cool?  another couple of coasters.

[prahaboheme]

The rumors circulating on the theme park blogs over the past week is that major expansion and rebranding is coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios (I still call it MGM).  Rumors are for a 1.1 billion dollar makeover not unlike the one that occurred in Anaheim at California Adventure.  Disney is moving fast on permitting, and is apparently in a spending mood now that the new fiscal year has begun.

 

Some of the rumors:

• Disney's Hollywood Studios renamed to Disney's Hollywood Adventure
• Star Wars Land coming to the site of Echo Lake and the back lot area (Disney's answer to Harry Potter)
• Pixar Expansion, possibly bringing Radiator Springs ride from Carsland at DCA as well as expansion to Toy Story Mania and other attractions, Monsters coaster rumored
• Expansion of the Muppets franchise
• Additional overhauls to other attractions and a possible replacement of the Great Movie Ride (hopefully not, this is a classic but can use an update).
• Toll booth entrance removed from World Drive in order to open up future expansion of the park to the south.

Other Disney news:

• Frozen replacing Maelstrom at Epcot Norway Pavilion
• Avatar u/c at DAK
• Downtown Disney rebrand and upgrade to Disney Springs is well u/c
• Polynesian hotel renovation continues including the opening of Trader Sams bar (a cast member favorite locale at Disneyland)

After years of stagnation post-Eisner, it seems that things are finally moving again at WDW. 

[sunshine]

[sunshine]

What do u guys think of Artegon Orlando?

[jrs2]

^^

great shot.

 

^^

I've got to go there and see it (Artegon).  otherwise...

[tc01]

I'm not sure about Artegon working in Orlando, looks like something that will work up north. I'm thinking it will be like an upscale Flea Market.  I think people down here are use to shopping malls and outlets, not quite sure how it will succeed. 

[tm68]

Really like the idea of Artegon and hope it succeeds.  I think it captures the current trend of local, community-produced goods and services and hopefully stays true to its messaging.  And it offers an outlet for upstart merchants to offer their products to locals and tourists alike; something that currently doesn't exist in Orlando. 

 

If I was to challenge it, would say that it's location at that end of int'l drive might not be ideal.  Hopefully will become more of a destination.  And its size seems rather ambitious.

 

My desire is that it becomes an East End Market for tourists rather than a Flea World.  Fingers crossed.

Edited October 10, 2014 by tm68

[jrs2]

^^

Anybody been to East End on Corrine Drive?  I think its pretty much the same concept as Artegon but on a much smaller scale-but with a Napa theme.

[HankStrong]

^^

Anybody been to East End on Corrine Drive?  I think its pretty much the same concept as Artegon but on a much smaller scale-but with a Napa theme.

 

East End Market is pretty nice.  It's WAY smaller than I envisioned it.  Depending on the day, it can easily get overrun by hipsters.  However, most of the time it's just normal folks shopping.  The wife and I enjoy it.

 

The concept of several groups working together in one location is a great one.  It just seems really limited in scale.  There isn't much room to grow at this location either.  The concept of a farmer's market that is open more than 6-10am on a Saturday is also nice.  Some people have other obligations on those hours and can't visit.

 

I have no idea why tourists would visit such a place, other than as a novelty.  This sounds like a dumb concept in the tourist corridor.  HOWEVER, we could really use one or two of these places in town.

 

 

This list is tiny, but includes ones that I have personally been to:

 

Findlay Market in Cincinnati http://www.findlaymarket.org/

Essex Street Market in NYC http://www.essexstreetmarket.com/index.html

Chelsea Market in NYC http://chelseamarket.com/

Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market in Boston http://www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com/

[Alleri459]

Well it isn't too deep into the tourist corridor. When the Grand National Dr exit on I-4 opens (whenever that happens), it will almost be direct access from the highway. The space is a bit large and ambitious, but it seems like it is trying to be accessible to as many demographics as possible. Like tourists looking for something unique, it's in between the Oak Ridge and Dr. Phillips neighborhoods and the overall diverse South Orlando/ South Orange County market, Millenia shoppers, the ever growing Brazilian district. This could also have the potential of being very international as well. That being said, they need to advertise themselves more to the Orlando area in general to let locals know it isn't just another tourist trap on I-drive. Without the locals, that will be the inevitable outcome. People will come if it is worth it.

[prahaboheme]

Grand Central Market in downtown LA is a grown-up version of the East End Market:  http://www.grandcentralmarket.com/

[jrs2]

Trader Joes SLR:  this thing is coming along quickly.  drove by there yesterday.

[Ocityst]

iSquare megamall, hotel releases new renderings, inks spa manager

 

"It seems like things have been quiet in the last three months for the development team of the $300 million-$400 million iSquare Mall + Hotel development, but there's plenty happening behind the scenes.

Developer Abdul Mathin, chairman and CEO of Orlando-based international real estate firm The Blackmine Group, shared new images of the Las Vegas-style multilevel upscale mall and 27-story hotel he plans to break ground on next year in Orlando's International Drive tourist corridor. Mathin said the development team is working on construction documents and is targeting March to submit those plans to the city of Orlando for approval.

 

Additionally, the planned "seven-star," 729-room hotel has an agreement with United Kingdom luxury spa company Espa to manage and operate a 25,000-square-foot, on-property facility, Mathin said. Espa has two existing Florida in-hotel spas in Sunny Isles Beach and Miami's Mandarin Oriental resort, and just debuted a new one at The Joule hotel in Dallas, Orlando Business Journal sister papers reported.

 

The project will feature upscale, international retailers in the mall, along with the hotel, an indoor ice skating rink, a 100,000-square-foot convention center, a 500-seat live performance theater and a rooftop observation deck with rotating restaurant. It's expected to create 2,000 jobs and open in summer 2017."

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/blog/2014/11/isquare-megamall-hotel-releases-new-renderings.html

Edited November 10, 2014 by Ocityst

[jrs2]

^^

This guy still has tenants at his existing plaza at the future site.  Is he just going to not renew their existing commercial leases and force them into month to month leases once their existing leases expire?

 

It just doesn't seem economically feasible to kick rent paying tenants out of a plaza he already owns and makes money off of.  I wonder if this is a real project or a tactic to flip the property.

[HankStrong]

^{http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/on-the-town/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2014/11/11/i_drive_new_attraction.html}

 

Official announcement on Nov 18th on the Orlando Eye/Polarcoaster area.

[prahaboheme]

Any idea on what to expect?

[klstorey]

I drove the plaza today. A new Turkish restaurant is going in. Whatever it is the plaza itself looks to be at least partially staying.

Why doesn't any of the Mango's Orlando lease packages mention Skyplex? Or am I just missing it?

[HankStrong]

Any idea on what to expect?

 

You've got the Eye itself, the Wax Museum, the Polarcoaster, the Aquarium, the weird skeleton museum, and a bunch of new restaurants announced already.  The only thing I can think of is The Dungeons.  I've heard for like 5 years that they were trying to put something in Orlando.  Several times in the last few months I've heard people mention that it's still supposed to happen.  You can look at their site (http://www.thedungeons.com) but it doesn't talk expansion.  It seems like a dinner theater concept like Medieval Times, Sleuths, Capone's, or Pirates. 

 

A friend of mine insists there will be a bigger Lego tie-in, since it's all Merlin Entertainment.  I'm not sure exactly what he expects, but he has no connections and has pulled that idea out of his butt.  When it opens, you can buy mix/match tickets of some sort and hop on a bus down to LEGOLAND from this location.  I think that's enough of a tie-in, but he seems to be expecting something more.  Who knows?

[Ocityst]

Whatever the new attractions being announced is, I expect it to be tall. Going vertical seems to be whats hot right now on i-drive to make a big impact. 

[jrs2]

the great thing about this is that they stated that most of the surface parking in front of King's Bowl & the Sleuth's will be going bye bye in favor of patrons using the big garage.  that parking lot, BTW, is usually wall to wall packed at night.  hard to believe, but it is.

[Universe_Explorer]

I wouldn't get your hopes up about the Polercoaster - the height zoning for that area is 50 ft or something, and Mango's wasn't even able to get cleared to build a 115ft garage - The Golden Corale, of all places, has been blocking it.  Merlin fought the good fight for the Wheel and is more likely to pull something like that off, but I think this big reveal is going to be an indoor attraction

[jrs2]

that is just so screwed up.  for every positive thing that I see getting built or approved, then this stuff happens.  while Merlin got approved and is building the Orlando Eye at over 400', Vegas already opened an Eye of their own at over 500' tall.  ...out of nowhere...and Orange County is debating the Pollercoaster height?  Why?  there is no airport anywhere near there.

 

Unless the County and City are both crooked and expect under the table payouts for these approvals yet nobody is willing to play ball...

[Universe_Explorer]

that is just so screwed up.  for every positive thing that I see getting built or approved, then this stuff happens.  while Merlin got approved and is building the Orlando Eye at over 400', Vegas already opened an Eye of their own at over 500' tall.  ...out of nowhere...and Orange County is debating the Pollercoaster height?  Why?  there is no airport anywhere near there.

 

Unless the County and City are both crooked and expect under the table payouts for these approvals yet nobody is willing to play ball...

I don't think the county/city are against the height per se, but the area is zoned for certain heights so projects like these require variances in order to build.  Those variances are frequently granted (The wheel, the Peabody expansion, etc), but they can be contested by other property owners in the area who can claim it gives the new property an unfair advantage.  That is what's happenning to the Mango's garage+rooftop restaurant.  Since the Polercoaster would affect the same neighbors, I can't imagine they wouldn't fight that too.  This doesn' t mean it won't get built, but it does mean there's still a lot of issues to sort out.

[Ocityst]