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13 hours ago, jrs2 said:

yeah.  I've also wondered.  For instance, why is the Hollywood Plaza Garage still not open?  They could've been collecting money from parking all this time.  It doesn't hurt them that the Hulkster store isn't there yet b/c that's a wash as it's currently on one of their other properties.

When they got their approval from Orange Co a few years back Chuck was there in support.  Their attorneys were smug about their big victory against Universal.  Except that it was only on paper.  Since then, Starflyer has gone up, Aventura has been built, and the two WetnWild Universal hotels have either been u/c or had sitework ongoing just up the street.

I wish them well, but they were on that inaugural Emirates flight to Dubai for a reason:  investors.  Even Arabic oil tycoons with deep pockets analyze investment opportunities as being good or risky.

He's really hard to figure out. Everything he's ever done has been plagued with massive delays, but that garage appears to be substantially complete and he needs the parking for his neighboring Mangos, and its close enough that even a high interest loan to get it to completion should pay just to start collecting revenue on it, unless he's building it financing-free. I know that rooftop restaurant tenant going out of business right before it was supposed to be turned over to them and him collecting rent set them back quite a bit. I have followed him on Facebook and he just posted an update where they were finishing painting inside the elevator rooms and building out the rooftop restaurant again for a new tenant, including some structural modifications, so maybe he finally has it leased again and can get that thing opened?

Skyplex wasn't even next on the list of projects, next is supposedly a revamp to the front of Mangos removing the parking lot, adding some outdoor event space and a more "hotel style" entry to allow easier/better bus/limo/taxi/ridesharing operations so Mangos can support "many more people" combined with the added parking garage. He also did just get a bunch of patents within the last month or so for more Skywords.

With everything proposed, we should see another world's tallest attraction starting construction in 2019, and probably another one in 2020, but who knows if it will be Skyplex. I'm hoping its not the slingshot ride as don't we already have like 2 of those in the area? but that probably will be one of them

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13 hours ago, aent said:

So Magical Midway/Orlando Sling Shot appears to be the same company as Starflyer, I wonder if the plan is to just move their attractions to Icon Orlando and sell off/do something else with the other land....

I would like that. A refresh if sorts and sell that land to Universal

I'm not sure what it is but on Saturday is the traffic on Central Florida Parkway and International Drive around SeaWorld is very thick due to SeaWorld and Aquatica being super crowded

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19 hours ago, IAmFloridaBorn said:

I would like that. A refresh if sorts and sell that land to Universal

I am curious if Universal is interested. So far, they haven't picked up anything not either touching their existing property or Universal Blvd. I thought there was a pretty good chance they picked up Artegon and the parcel to the south of it but was obviously wrong on that. I just can't imagine what they would even want to do with this piece without acquiring a lot more.

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On ‎9‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 11:36 PM, aent said:

He's really hard to figure out. Everything he's ever done has been plagued with massive delays, but that garage appears to be substantially complete and he needs the parking for his neighboring Mangos, and its close enough that even a high interest loan to get it to completion should pay just to start collecting revenue on it, unless he's building it financing-free. I know that rooftop restaurant tenant going out of business right before it was supposed to be turned over to them and him collecting rent set them back quite a bit. I have followed him on Facebook and he just posted an update where they were finishing painting inside the elevator rooms and building out the rooftop restaurant again for a new tenant, including some structural modifications, so maybe he finally has it leased again and can get that thing opened?

Skyplex wasn't even next on the list of projects, next is supposedly a revamp to the front of Mangos removing the parking lot, adding some outdoor event space and a more "hotel style" entry to allow easier/better bus/limo/taxi/ridesharing operations so Mangos can support "many more people" combined with the added parking garage. He also did just get a bunch of patents within the last month or so for more Skywords.

With everything proposed, we should see another world's tallest attraction starting construction in 2019, and probably another one in 2020, but who knows if it will be Skyplex. I'm hoping its not the slingshot ride as don't we already have like 2 of those in the area? but that probably will be one of them

that's a great idea for Mangos.  Get rid of the surface parking.  Put outdoor tables ala Ocean Drive.  Use the garage as the exclusive parking for there.  Unicorp is supposed to build a parking deck for the Chuy's side of I-drive.  I bet they'll do that around the time or before they start tower construction on Wyndham.  I hope those towers are tall.  They need to be.

On ‎9‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 12:19 AM, aent said:

So Magical Midway/Orlando Sling Shot appears to be the same company as Starflyer, I wonder if the plan is to just move their attractions to Icon Orlando and sell off/do something else with the other land....

is the SlingShot it's own company or do you mean the owner is Magical Midway ala the entire attraction with arcade, go karts, etc?

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4 hours ago, jrs2 said:

is the SlingShot it's own company or do you mean the owner is Magical Midway ala the entire attraction with arcade, go karts, etc?

A separate entity was created for Starflyer but it appears the same group of people own the Magical Midway attractions as Starflyer, including the existing Slingshot, drop tower, arcade, go karts, etc, basically everything that is proposed for I-Drive 360... so either they're duplicating it or moving it. The existing Magical Midway slingshot already claims its world's tallest on their website. If I had to guess, the Magical Midway attractions worth moving will get moved to 360 and we're gonna hear about something to replace MM... I can't imagine it makes sense to operate them both.

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2 minutes ago, aent said:

A separate entity was created for Starflyer but it appears the same group of people own the Magical Midway attractions as Starflyer, including the existing Slingshot, drop tower, arcade, go karts, etc, basically everything that is proposed for I-Drive 360... so either they're duplicating it or moving it. The existing Magical Midway slingshot already claims its world's tallest on their website. If I had to guess, the Magical Midway attractions worth moving will get moved to 360 and we're gonna hear about something to replace MM... I can't imagine it makes sense to operate them both.

They're gonna bring back the Arby's that occupied that space in the 90's.

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1 hour ago, aent said:

A separate entity was created for Starflyer but it appears the same group of people own the Magical Midway attractions as Starflyer, including the existing Slingshot, drop tower, arcade, go karts, etc, basically everything that is proposed for I-Drive 360... so either they're duplicating it or moving it. The existing Magical Midway slingshot already claims its world's tallest on their website. If I had to guess, the Magical Midway attractions worth moving will get moved to 360 and we're gonna hear about something to replace MM... I can't imagine it makes sense to operate them both.

you don't mean that they move the actual attractions as they are, right?  The drop tower is short- I assume they would build a supertall one and much larger capacity.  But is there a proposal for a Slingshot ride at I-Drive 360 and a go-cart track?  Also, the only world's tallest rides that I've know about in these parks are the two swing rides at Fun Spot I-Drive and 192.  I didn't think the Slingshot ride was that tall.  Daytona just built a new one that's just as tall it seems at Screamers Park next to the Boardwalk.  

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2 hours ago, jrs2 said:

you don't mean that they move the actual attractions as they are, right?  The drop tower is short- I assume they would build a supertall one and much larger capacity.  But is there a proposal for a Slingshot ride at I-Drive 360 and a go-cart track?  Also, the only world's tallest rides that I've know about in these parks are the two swing rides at Fun Spot I-Drive and 192.  I didn't think the Slingshot ride was that tall.  Daytona just built a new one that's just as tall it seems at Screamers Park next to the Boardwalk.  

I fear it might be moving the actual attractions, but this is just a guess on my part I could be entirely wrong and have no sources other then the same company appears to have proposed the same exact rides they already have a mile up the road. The proposal is for a Slingshot ride at I-Drive 360, a drop tower, a zip line, and other small ground attractions to make 360 into a "mini theme park". All a guess on my part though. Isn't that tower just bolted together? Not difficult to move. hopefullyI'm wrong

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20 hours ago, aent said:

I fear it might be moving the actual attractions, but this is just a guess on my part I could be entirely wrong and have no sources other then the same company appears to have proposed the same exact rides they already have a mile up the road. The proposal is for a Slingshot ride at I-Drive 360, a drop tower, a zip line, and other small ground attractions to make 360 into a "mini theme park". All a guess on my part though. Isn't that tower just bolted together? Not difficult to move. hopefullyI'm wrong

I don't think they'll do that...maybe build taller more epic versions of them perhaps.

2 hours ago, shardoon said:

I think bringing carnival rides will make the South end of I Drive cheesy. Having stand alone attraction such as a record breaking starflyer etc is one think........ but just having run of the mill rides moved from MM to this location is horrible IMHO

agreed.  I don't think they'll do that...  Charlie's Steakhouse already publicly ranted against Starflyer when it was proposed, but it turned out to be a nicely done attraction.  Imagine if Magical Midway was moved into their parking lot!  They'd go nutz

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35 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

I don't think they'll do that...maybe build taller more epic versions of them perhaps.

agreed.  I don't think they'll do that...  Charlie's Steakhouse already publicly ranted against Starflyer when it was proposed, but it turned out to be a nicely done attraction.  Imagine if Magical Midway was moved into their parking lot!  They'd go nutz

I'm not expecting their smaller rides/go karts to get moved. The slingshot is 390 feet. Daytona's is 360 ft and I can't find anything taller then 390 ft the existing one so there claim does seem to be true, which is about 10 ft shorter then the eye. The world's tallest drop tower is 415 ft from what I can tell, and the tower appears to be similar height to the slingshot when I drive by. I do think if I am right and its moved, it will also come with renovations/upgrades including new lighting system and possibly new paint. If Magical Midways buildings were upgraded to be like 360, it wouldn't be bad, the place just badly needs a renovation.

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16 minutes ago, aent said:

I'm not expecting their smaller rides/go karts to get moved. The slingshot is 390 feet. Daytona's is 360 ft and I can't find anything taller then 390 ft the existing one so there claim does seem to be true, which is about 10 ft shorter then the eye. The world's tallest drop tower is 415 ft from what I can tell, and the tower appears to be similar height to the slingshot when I drive by. I do think if I am right and its moved, it will also come with renovations/upgrades including new lighting system and possibly new paint. If Magical Midways buildings were upgraded to be like 360, it wouldn't be bad, the place just badly needs a renovation.

Oh, ok.  The ride catapults you to 390'; the structure itself is substantially shorter.  I know for a fact going over the US 92 bridge in Daytona that new Slingshot ride is not much taller than the Hilton; it's not the equivalent of a 30+ story building; not even close.  Yeah, b/c the one at Magical Midway is similar height to their Starflyer and their Starflyer isn't anywhere near 390' in height; it's swings go up to 230' height and the structure itself is probably another 50' taller.

Not to split hairs. 

If they moved the Slingshot as is to I-Drive 360 I'd be very disappointed b/c I'm not impressed by it's size.  A drop tower over 400' tall- now you're talkin'.  I think the Polarcoaster people want to incorporate that into their tower, don't they?  Not that it matters; that won't get built for a long time I don't think.  

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3 hours ago, jrs2 said:

Not to split hairs. 

 

Yeah, its a good point, and I wasn't thinking about that when thinking about  even though I kind of knew that in my mind, but I wouldn't get your hopes up for much taller then the existing one as its already supposedly the world's tallest.

 

As far as the Steakhouse, this is all proposed for the opposite end of the center. And I don't know if you've been down to the corner of the plaza where its proposed, but it seems to be a revolving door of restaurants with many slots closed all the time (plus the empty parcels fronting I-Drive where this is proposed). There's only a small amount of parking on that side and its reserved for employees, so for people to get there, they are literally walking by everything else so they desperately need something to attract people over there to get it leased.

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11 hours ago, aent said:

Yeah, its a good point, and I wasn't thinking about that when thinking about  even though I kind of knew that in my mind, but I wouldn't get your hopes up for much taller then the existing one as its already supposedly the world's tallest.

 

As far as the Steakhouse, this is all proposed for the opposite end of the center. And I don't know if you've been down to the corner of the plaza where its proposed, but it seems to be a revolving door of restaurants with many slots closed all the time (plus the empty parcels fronting I-Drive where this is proposed). There's only a small amount of parking on that side and its reserved for employees, so for people to get there, they are literally walking by everything else so they desperately need something to attract people over there to get it leased.

you mean the SW parcel that's currently grass, right?

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On 10/2/2018 at 9:29 PM, WAJAS98 said:

I found a video of what the Sandlake Rd interchange with I-4 is supposed to look like after Beyond the Ultimate.

 

What's happening south of the plaza on Turkey Lake? It looks like you can either access that directly from I-4 or heading Westbound on Sand Lake, avoiding the intersection?

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16 minutes ago, smileguy said:

What's happening south of the plaza on Turkey Lake? It looks like you can either access that directly from I-4 or heading Westbound on Sand Lake, avoiding the intersection?

Nice job noticing that! Looks like it’s meant to limit the amount of weaving between I-4 and Turkey Lake.

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