spenser1058

Jimmy Hula's has opened downtown, sharing space with the Basement at 68 E Pine St. It's a "taco and beer joint," (sorry, sunshine, no word on burgers...) https://m.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/08/17/jimmy-hulas-has-officially-opened-their-new-downtown-orlando-location From Orlando Weekly

The AMC at CityWalk is switching to Cinemark and will be getting a big upgrade: https://m.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/08/17/universal-orlandos-cinemark-theater-is-getting-a-massive-remodel From Orlando Weekly Interesting bit of history: the AMC was originally a Loew's, who also operate UOR's hotels. It changed flags when the latter sold its theaters to AMC. In the theme park business, loyalty is fleeting.

Head on down to the Elections office on Kaley and vote today. You know you want to. *OC residents, of course. Or just check your local elections website for the nearest location. Of course, your mileage may vary.

Our very own klstorey makes the New York Times: In a Divided Era, One Thing Seems to Unite: Political Anger https://nyti.ms/2OIUU98?smid=nytcore-ios-share

EARLY VOTING BEGAN TODAY. GET OUT THERE AND VOTE!

Welcome to the Orlando forum - glad to have you witrh us!

So much for draining the swamp?

There used to be a really small 7-Eleven across from OPL at Central and Magnolia where the Stagger Inn is now. It was about half the size of the Summerlin sevvie. That was when most stores were corporate and nowadays they're all franchised so I have no clue if you could do that now. The fact that it only lasted a couple of years may tell us everything we need to know.

I disagree a little bit - there really doesn't seem to be much in the way of marketing going on. Getting folks out of their cars and onto transit takes a lot of education and reminders that we haven't seen. Of course, if you accept that the state's interest in SunRail was always more about CSX than moving people, it makes perfect sense. They're just waiting for the handoff in 2021. One other thing I thought of was that, when I lived in Atlanta and was first pondering a regular commute via MARTA rail, I spent several weekends wandering around just to get familiar with it rather than ending up late for work because I had no idea what I was doing. I wonder how much of that we're losing out on with SunRail due to a lack of weekend service.

The moral of the story is we could have had a walkable city with peoplemovers, monorails and even an airport (that's why OIA took 'til 1981 - they were waiting on Disney to no avail) but then Walt died from lung cancer thanks in large part to a four pack a day habit. So, if you love great urban environments, stop smoking!

Sad, but true.

We almost had one back in the '60's: it was called EPCOT.

Some confirmation from KPMG about how their new facility is increasing awareness about Orlando: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/consumer/os-bz-orlando-you-dont-know-half-campaign-20180816-story.html From the Sentinel

Is the state doing enough to make SunRail a success? The Sentinel thinks not: SunRail — so much at stake http://bit.ly/2KYycYh

Actually, I think the Wellness feature is to let the seniors walk up and down all those stairs. "That which does not kill us makes us stronger!" (Ponders being eligible for Social Security in two years...)