Orlando Attractions Area News & Developments

[codypet]

They better put something there.  I don't like the idea of Dowdy Pavilion just rotting.  Bring me back my bowling alley!

[spenser1058]

5 minutes ago, codypet said:

They better put something there.  I don't like the idea of Dowdy Pavilion just rotting.  Bring me back my bowling alley!

Several cool bowling alleys are all gone now not to mention whatever odd thing they're doing with Colonial Lanes:

• The Bowliseum (Ivanhoe Village)

• Orlando Bowl (where Steel House is now)

• Parkwood Lanes (W. Colonial Dr.)

• Medallion Lanes (Orlando Ave. in Maitland)

• Fairvilla Lanes (N.OBT)

Not sure if WP Lanes (Fairbanks Ave.), Sky Bowl (S. OBT) and WG Lanes (Dillard St.) are still open, plus the Aloma Bowl that was slated to be an Orchard Hardware.

 

 

[codypet]

Are you talking about this Winter Park Bowl?  If so, its been an empty field since 2016 and I believe they just started building something in its place recently.  Whatever they're building is butted up against the tint place next door severing access to their western facing garage doors.

Sky Bowl is still open.  I drove by it last week, and I just bowled at WG about 6 months ago.  Dowdy was my home court bowling alley in high school (living in Dr. Phillips growing up).  I moved to Colonialtown right about when Dowdy was closed. 

Aloma Bowl East is now a church after the bowling alley decided to move into the old Walmart and renamed itself Boardwalk Bowl.  With Orchard Closing, I think regular Aloma Bowl is safe.

 

[jrs2]

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

Several cool bowling alleys are all gone now not to mention whatever odd thing they're doing with Colonial Lanes:

• The Bowliseum (Ivanhoe Village)

• Orlando Bowl (where Steel House is now)

• Parkwood Lanes (W. Colonial Dr.)

• Medallion Lanes (Orlando Ave. in Maitland)

• Fairvilla Lanes (N.OBT)

Not sure if WP Lanes (Fairbanks Ave.), Sky Bowl (S. OBT) and WG Lanes (Dillard St.) are still open, plus the Aloma Bowl that was slated to be an Orchard Hardware.

 

 

back around 2005 I went to the lanes off of I think Douglass Rd in Altamonte.  That place had the same interior finishings it had back in the '60's.  it was cool, though.

[jrs2]

5 hours ago, jrs2 said:

wow.  There's a new place/arcade coming to the Hollywood Garage:  Mooyah Burgers.  Great, right?  Well, they are taking the space that was supposed to go to Hogan's, and Hogan's is staying put.  Uh oh...

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/10/24/mooyah-burgers-fries-and-shakes-coming-to-i-drives-hollywood-plaza

here's the link from before.

[jrs2]

Hey, check this out about Margaritaville water park.  Notice the author...

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/11/19/margaritaville-just-confirmed-its-building-one-of-the-most-technolgically-advanced-water-parks-ever-in-kissimmee?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=articleblog&utm_campaign=rightrail&utm_content=TabbedPopularity

[JFW657]

The newest Disney World hotel — the new 349-room The Cove Hotel at Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort — officially broke ground Nov. 27.

Tishman real estate and Metlife Investment Management, the owners of the Swan and Dolphin hotels on Disney property, in September announced an agreement with Disney to build the new tower on the current site of the Swan hotel's tennis courts. The new hotel will carry the Marriott Autograph Collection flag, which is a brand that lets hoteliers be a bit more flexible with their design.
 
Demolition of the tennis courts began today. Construction will likely begin early next year. Once complete, the new hotel will create up to 250 new jobs. The new hotel will work seamlessly with the sister properties across the street.

Here's more on what the planned hotel will feature: 

Meeting rooms with rooftop terrace: More than 21,000 square feet of meeting space on three floors, including the top floor which will offer views of Disney’s nightly Epcot and Hollywood Studios theme park fireworks 

Guest rooms: 198 traditional rooms and 151 suites offering private executive meeting spaces equipped with state-of-the-art technology 

Restaurant: 75-seat eatery with a 50-seat lounge and bar area and additional function space 

Fitness center: Full-service health club with private changing rooms 

Outdoor space: Landscaped 16,800-square-foot elevated deck with a fire pit and 90-foot-long pool 

Guests attending group events or meetings, as well as the typical leisure guests, are the target audience. 

 

.

Edited November 28, 2018 by JFW657

[uncreativeusername]

19 hours ago, JFW657 said:

The newest Disney World hotel — the new 349-room The Cove hotel at Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort — officially broke ground Nov. 27.

Tishman real estate and Metlife Investment Management, the owners of the Swan and Dolphin hotels on Disney property, in September announced an agreement with Disney to build the new tower on the current site of the Swan hotel's tennis courts. The new hotel will carry the Marriott Autograph Collection flag, which is a brand that lets hoteliers be a bit more flexible with their design.
 
Demolition of the tennis courts began today. Construction will likely begin early next year. Once complete, the new hotel will create up to 250 new jobs. The new hotel will work seamlessly with the sister properties across the street.

Here's more on what the planned hotel will feature: 

Meeting rooms with rooftop terrace: More than 21,000 square feet of meeting space on three floors, including the top floor which will offer views of Disney’s nightly Epcot and Hollywood Studios theme park fireworks 

Guest rooms: 198 traditional rooms and 151 suites offering private executive meeting spaces equipped with state-of-the-art technology 

Restaurant: 75-seat eatery with a 50-seat lounge and bar area and additional function space 

Fitness center: Full-service health club with private changing rooms 

Outdoor space: Landscaped 16,800-square-foot elevated deck with a fire pit and 90-foot-long pool 

Guests attending group events or meetings, as well as the typical leisure guests, are the target audience. 

I took my earliest tennis lessons on those courts in the early 90s  :,( - albeit most of them were already blown up when they built the mini-golf course.  Good looking project, nonetheless.  

[spenser1058]

The latest on the Tron closings at the Magic Kingdom from our very own Ken Storey for Orlando Weekly:

https://m.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/12/03/mystery-still-surrounds-two-magic-kingdom-ride-closures

[aent]

The Artegon issues were cleared up with the city - Artegon is not in violation as long as no vehicles for the car museum are stored outside at all (which was never the intention), and it is on track to open December 15th for the first phase of his project, the Orlando Auto Museum. This also is apparently a hands on museum, which I think is a bit unique and exciting to me. The other attractions are supposed to follow next year.

[klstorey]

More attention needs to be paid to Margaritaville. It's opening in a few short weeks. The water will open a couple of months later. I don't think many realize how much innovation and unique design is going into this water park.  

Altogether, Margaritaville will add new business to 192 like nothing we've seen in probably decades.  Yet, so few are talking about the project. 

To a lesser degree, but the same is true for Port Canaveral. A new aquarium, new dining, huge new terminals and yet I hear next to no one talking about Port Canaveral.  It seems odd to me. 

[spenser1058]

1 hour ago, klstorey said:

More attention needs to be paid to Margaritaville. It's opening in a few short weeks. The water will open a couple of months later. I don't think many realize how much innovation and unique design is going into this water park.  

Altogether, Margaritaville will add new business to 192 like nothing we've seen in probably decades.  Yet, so few are talking about the project. 

To a lesser degree, but the same is true for Port Canaveral. A new aquarium, new dining, huge new terminals and yet I hear next to no one talking about Port Canaveral.  It seems odd to me. 

US 192 has always been my least favorite segment of the attractions area. It features the worst of 1960’s sprawl design and I was thankful when the Epcot entrance off I4 meant I could forget it permanently. Efforts to improve it over the years have mostly struck me as lipstick on a pig but perhaps this time is different. 

As to Port Canaveral, we’ve posted a good bit about it in the Volusia/Brevard thread. It’s hard to get our UP’ers stoked about it, though, unless they get a tall building or a stop on the Brightline or something.

Ironically, those who constantly bemoan Orlando’s supposed inability to be a “real city” (in their narrow definition) fail to acknowledge just how important a viable port is to a successful region.

It’s all the more tragic given how badly Martin Andersen tried to tie Brevard and Orange together back in the early ‘60’s (he desperately wanted Space Coast subscribers to the Sentinel but TODAY killed that.) Once Disney was announced and NASA tanked post-Apollo, any hope of that was moot.

UCF fans should be grateful though. The burgeoning space industry was the excuse used to justify a state university that was never supposed to exist.

 

 

Edited December 4, 2018 by spenser1058

[sunshine]

It is in the middle of nowhere and the design is nothing urban. 

I would be more interested if

1. Magaritaville building an urban enclave.

2. It is right next to downtown

[IAmFloridaBorn]

Margaritaville is definitely in the wrong location for me to care. Anything past Osceola Parkway is dead to me.

[jrs2]

4 hours ago, klstorey said:

More attention needs to be paid to Margaritaville. It's opening in a few short weeks. The water will open a couple of months later. I don't think many realize how much innovation and unique design is going into this water park.  

Altogether, Margaritaville will add new business to 192 like nothing we've seen in probably decades.  Yet, so few are talking about the project. 

To a lesser degree, but the same is true for Port Canaveral. A new aquarium, new dining, huge new terminals and yet I hear next to no one talking about Port Canaveral.  It seems odd to me. 

I care. 

[JFW657]

6 hours ago, klstorey said:

More attention needs to be paid to Margaritaville. It's opening in a few short weeks. The water will open a couple of months later. I don't think many realize how much innovation and unique design is going into this water park.  

Altogether, Margaritaville will add new business to 192 like nothing we've seen in probably decades.  Yet, so few are talking about the project. 

To a lesser degree, but the same is true for Port Canaveral. A new aquarium, new dining, huge new terminals and yet I hear next to no one talking about Port Canaveral.  It seems odd to me. 

I enjoy viewing the Port Canaveral PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) streaming webcam...

https://www.portcanaveralwebcam.com

And if you download the annual fiscal year cruise arrival/departure schedule...

https://www.portcanaveral.com/Cruise/Cruise-Lines-Schedules

You will know when the ships are scheduled to depart so you can watch them. Pretty cool watching them back up and turn these 1,000 ft long ships around like pulling a car out of a grocery store parking space.

[aent]

5 hours ago, IAmFloridaBorn said:

Margaritaville is definitely in the wrong location for me to care. Anything past Osceola Parkway is dead to me.

This for me as well, I really wish it was located somewhere along I-Drive and added to the density and walkability of that corridor. If it took over Artegon and the parcel to the south, that would have been wonderful. Disney  is far out enough.

[JFW657]

Screenshot of what's currently docked at Port Canaveral today (12/5) from the PTZ webcam mounted on the roof of Fish Lips restaurant:

The Norwegian Epic.

Departing today at 4pm.

If you tune in at 4, you can watch it back away from the dock, turn around in the west basin, then slowly cruise past the camera.

These new class cruise ships are just incredibly huge. Floating high rise resorts.

[spenser1058]

Fish Lips? Oh my.

[jrs2]

JFW657, you just gave me a ship-gasm!

[JFW657]

2 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Fish Lips? Oh my.

I've been thinking about driving over there some afternoon when one of the really big ships like this one is scheduled to depart. Have lunch on the outdoor veranda and hang out to watch it.

Maybe check out some of the other sights.... 

[spenser1058]

It looks like it’s huge (or maybe I’m just used to JB’s Fish Camp being teeny.)

[JFW657]

It's a fair sized place I guess...

Never been there myself, but plan to go someday.

[jrs2]

^^

I've seen Quantum from RCI up close at the Port of Call slip and it was really cool.  very big.  Larger than the Freedom.  But now, the Freed om is old news because of the Oasis.  And, last I read, they are rotating the Oasis and the Harmony at PC.

PC is scheduled to be home port to Carnival's newest largest vessel which is u/c somewhere oversees.  That says a lot for a company based in Miami to do that.

[JFW657]

Keep in mind - 4pm this afternoon....

https://www.portcanaveralwebcam.com

Might be about 15 minutes or so after 4 by the time it actually sets sail...

Click on "Mic" at top of screen for audio.