Orlando Attractions Area News & Developments

[dcluley98]

4 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Spessard Holland was a former governor and US senator (and close friends with JFK, unlike Dan Quayle.) While a bit of a rogue, he also worked for civil rights (for example, attempting to pass legislation prohibiting poll taxes in the country.) I think that name is a keeper (although I suspect few people actually know the full name.)

Not saying Spessard isn't worth honoring, I know who he was and he is worth honoring. I am just saying that the official name is worse than a "mouthful". 

[WAJAS]

Isn't a portion of SR 50 through downtown cosigned MLK Jr. Parkway?

[HankStrong]

First, where is Barack Obama St?  I wasn't aware we had one.

Second, how can we get a Lynda Carter Lane?

[codypet]

The old Mission Road east of Kirkman which will eventually be connected to Pine Hills Road in the future is named "President Barack Obama Pkwy" which is odd to me because every other president street is just the last name.  Washington, Jefferson etc.

[klstorey]

O-Town West is a huge deal. I see this hurting I-Drive and becoming a major player in local retail. Even more so than I-Drive 360.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[jrs2]

On 2/2/2018 at 8:37 AM, codypet said:

The old Mission Road east of Kirkman which will eventually be connected to Pine Hills Road in the future is named "President Barack Obama Pkwy" which is odd to me because every other president street is just the last name.  Washington, Jefferson etc.

Well, it makes perfect sense because “Obama” is such a common name compared to “Washington” and “Jefferson.”

On 2/1/2018 at 9:31 PM, JFW657 said:

I'm not sure if they've changed it by now or not, but up until a relatively few years ago, W. Hwy 50 in Ocoee was named "W.B. ''Bill'' McGee Highway". 

Wasn’t Mr. McGhee the reporter that kept harassing Dr. David Banner, like, everywhere he went?

[spenser1058]

Our own Ken Storey at Orlando Weekly reports the Broadway-style theatre on Main St at the Magic Kingdom may be out, with the money used for a Tomorrowland upgrade instead. I vote yes.

https://m.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/02/05/that-giant-theater-coming-to-magic-kingdom-might-not-be-happening-after-all

[JFW657]

Where on Main St was it supposed to go?

I thought that section of the park had been built out from the beginning.

We're they going to demo some stuff?

[spenser1058]

5 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

Where on Main St was it supposed to go?

I thought that section of the park had been built out from the beginning.

We're they going to demo some stuff?

Apparently at The TP2 parking area behind Town Square Cafe.

[HankStrong]

1

[spenser1058]

Universal's backstage areas moving next door to Martin on Sand Lake Rd to free up space for another theme park by US/IOA?

Universal Orlando’s new building plan makes room for expansion
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/brinkmann-on-business/os-bz-universal-orlando-theme-park-expansion-20180205-story.html

From the Sentinel

[bqknight]

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

Universal's backstage areas moving next door to Martin on Sand Lake Rd to free up space for another theme park by US/IOA?

Universal Orlando’s new building plan makes room for expansion
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/brinkmann-on-business/os-bz-universal-orlando-theme-park-expansion-20180205-story.html

From the Sentinel

Ehhh - they don't really have enough room for a 3rd gate with what they have backstage now. They're actively building in the existing backstage too, so I think they just anticipate further growth.

[WAJAS]

They preparing the backstage areas for the south property by Lockheed.  Most of it will be duplicates of what's already on the main property.  I'd also expect it to be used for construction over there.

[codypet]

You know I thought that land on the NW corner of SLR and JYP was undevelopable wetlands and floodplain for Shingle Creek.  Never thought anything could fit there.  Btw on the NE corner, I believe there's a planned SLR/TPK interchange.

[shardoon]

Town hall scheduled for Feb 21st 6pm at rosen JCC regarding Otown West. Same NIMBY character that tried to torpedo the pollercoaster is trying to do the same for this. He also failed in stopping approval for Rialto phase 2. He consistently complains potential increased traffic, which he ignores all the road improvements on the books for SLR west end, I4 beyond Kirkman, the eventual DCP I4 interchange and the DCP extension to Apopka Vineland. One of his main objections to the skyscraper was the view it will cause for people in orangetree and bay hill neighborhoods, while clearly demonstrating a lack of basic geometry knowledge on line of sight.

[WAJAS]

I mean I don't like it either.  Seems like just more suburban sprawl to me.

[shardoon]

52 minutes ago, WAJAS98 said:

I mean I don't like it either.  Seems like just more suburban sprawl to me.

Not from some of the concepts I have seen..... although extremely preliminary and will change.  The point I was making is that the joker making noise against it would be against it even if you were building a duplicate of the Bellagio/Venetian/RockefellarCenter/yougetmypoint on this land. He is against any new development in SW Orange county.   

[codypet]

2 hours ago, shardoon said:

Town hall scheduled for Feb 21st 6pm at rosen JCC regarding Otown West. Same NIMBY character that tried to torpedo the pollercoaster is trying to do the same for this. He also failed in stopping approval for Rialto phase 2. He consistently complains potential increased traffic, which he ignores all the road improvements on the books for SLR west end, I4 beyond Kirkman, the eventual DCP I4 interchange and the DCP extension to Apopka Vineland. One of his main objections to the skyscraper was the view it will cause for people in orangetree and bay hill neighborhoods, while clearly demonstrating a lack of basic geometry knowledge on line of sight.

This actually sounds like my dad TBH.  When the eye was proposed, he was ticked off because they were told in the public meeting that the eye would not be visible from nearby houses (in his view they lied about that).   The miscommunication was the people at the Eye felt the nearby houses in question were Tangelo Park, not Phillips Landing.   That said this has been a debate going on for decades.  Literally decades.  The sound APV people have always been concerned about the attractions area working its way north.  There was a lot of opposition when the Winn Dixie and ABC were built, opposition about the Fenton extension because of the traffic it could bring.  I have to say I don't disagree, there has been a tendency in the past to overpromise and underdeliver with the residents suffering with the consequences.

[shardoon]

2 hours ago, codypet said:

This actually sounds like my dad TBH.  When the eye was proposed, he was ticked off because they were told in the public meeting that the eye would not be visible from nearby houses (in his view they lied about that).   The miscommunication was the people at the Eye felt the nearby houses in question were Tangelo Park, not Phillips Landing.   That said this has been a debate going on for decades.  Literally decades.  The sound APV people have always been concerned about the attractions area working its way north.  There was a lot of opposition when the Winn Dixie and ABC were built, opposition about the Fenton extension because of the traffic it could bring.  I have to say I don't disagree, there has been a tendency in the past to overpromise and underdeliver with the residents suffering with the consequences.

Not sure if you meant that the person I was talking about is actually your father or simply he has similar concerns. The person that I am talking about in question sent multiple flyers out to my house with horrific geometric representations of what the skyscraper will look like from any driveway in the DP area. Even in multiple hearings about the skyscraper, Orange Tree and Bay Hill were used as an examples of who will see the skyscraper, line of site common sense be damned, they portrayed the thing to be the second coming of Burj Khalifa. It was a shady tactic and it backfired on them. 

As far as the Eye and any future I Drive attraction, we as residents need to understand that when we bought and built into the DP area, the tourism sector was here well in advance  than most people.  Honestly, from a traffic perspective, the tourist areas are really no different from most other urban/suburban areas in Orlando. Your reference to Dr Phillips Landing, while valid for lakefront residents, is invalid for any other area in the neighborhood. However, anything build on I drive above 200 feet is clearly visible from those houses. Are we to stop urbanizing I Drive just because of the houses on the Big Sand Lake, who were not even there prior to the late 90's? I honestly have no problem with the changing view from my house. 

The NIMBY people in the DP area are doing a disservice to everyone else. To be against the Fenton extension due to traffic is not sound. I look forward to a future I4 interchange there. It will be much faster for residents to avoid LBV and IDrive/restaurantrow using the Fenton extention.  Anytime any dirt moves, traffic is an added calculation.  DP area is no different than any other area in the county. 

[codypet]

When I say it sounds like him I mean its not really him, that's how he feels.  He's on the "poor" side of Kilgore Road and he's lived there for the better part of 35 years and he's seen development after development come in with promises to mitigate this and that and it not amount to anything.  I know he's was particularly vocal in the early 00's because of stuff Bob Freeman had said, and more recently been disappointed that Teresa Jacobs hasn't held developer's feet to the fire like they used to.   He's more recently said he's been beaten down by the fact that old growth oaks were chopped down to put billboards up at Sand Lake Road, and he's no longer fighting anything because "you can yell and make your point all you want, but they're going to do what they want anyway".  I see his point, as I've dealt with that with the construction of Lake Como K-8.  Its just sad to see that.  I avoid driving to his house because traffic is so bad, and a lot of those things he worried about 20 years ago did come true and he did have some points.   I believe there was a better way to develop the area so it didn't end up with the problems it has.

[spenser1058]

As Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell points out, it's time to support SB658 and allow TDT funds to be used for other services that are impacted by tourists, especially transportation.

Other tourism-driven areas like Las Vegas have long done this and continue to thrive, so the local tourism cartel's arguments against broader use don't hold much water.

If you ever contact your local officials on such matters, this is definitely the time.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/os-hotel-taxes-orlando-florida-scott-maxwell-20180208-story.html

[spenser1058]

Well, our 7-star resort mogul seems to be following in the footsteps of the former Mingos entrepreneur in having a reluctance to follow the rules.

As Herman's Hermits once sang, "Second verse....same as the first."

One fine day we'll stop falling for these smooth operators who promise the world and deliver heartache.

It's also interesting to note a local tourism expert concurs with the opinion many of us had that the project never made sense for this site.

More iSquare trouble: Lender says funds were commingled
http://bit.ly/2BlYNgD

From the Sentinel 

[shardoon]

Call me unimpressed with OTown West renderings.  Looks like it is a residential version of Wyndham Bonnett Creek. 

https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2018/02/10/first-look-unicorp-shares-new-renderings-of-1b-o.html

[jrs2]

On 2/6/2018 at 10:51 AM, codypet said:

You know I thought that land on the NW corner of SLR and JYP was undevelopable wetlands and floodplain for Shingle Creek.  Never thought anything could fit there.  Btw on the NE corner, I believe there's a planned SLR/TPK interchange.

That would be great.  Within the past few years, they built a new interchange in St. Cloud and more recently in Clermont.  When is it planned for?

[codypet]

16 hours ago, jrs2 said:

That would be great.  Within the past few years, they built a new interchange in St. Cloud and more recently in Clermont.  When is it planned for?

Looks like 2022 based on this. SLR/TPK