Orlando Attractions Area News & Developments

[codypet]

5 hours ago, shardoon said:

Wawa is not going near the Twin Peaks............. the site is already fenced off and going in the steak n shake shopping center further up Apopka Vineland. 

In the old Eckerd spot?

[aent]

Universal announced the names and opening dates of the new hotels on the Wet n Wild site, which is setting them on a trend of opening 1 a year:

Dockside in 2020

Surfside in 2019

Aventura in 2018

Cabana Bay Towers expansion in 2017

Sapphire Falls in 2016

Cabana Bay in 2014

Very impressive, and likely to continue as many believe the south site should be under construction soon and a hotel there could open by 2021. Water district/mass grading permits were also issued for the south site recently, along  with some movement on the Volcano  Bay expansion pad.

[shardoon]

7 hours ago, codypet said:

In the old Eckerd spot?

No. It's eating up part of the parking lot bordering Apopka vineland.

[jrs2]

LMAO.   For those who named The Orlando Eye "The Orlando Eye Sore", boy do I have some photos I'm gonna post soon that'll knock your and their Aunt Connie's socks off...

[jrs2]

BOOM!!!  Behold the 450' NIMBY suppository.

Edited April 6, 2018 by jrs2

[HankStrong]

First and foremost: YAY!!!  That looks so fun.

Second: I was in that part of the world (535 SR/CR) today around lunchtime, yuck that is awful, and saw that the WaWa is definitely not where I thought it was going.  They are building something there, though.  It's interesting to see how well done the exit to TP is, but it is still too small to fill the road needs.  That's crazy.  That place seems like it just opened.

[WAJAS]

On 4/6/2018 at 12:13 PM, jrs2 said:

BOOM!!!  Behold the 450' NIMBY suppository.

I didn't mind The Orlando Eye, but this just looks straight obnoxious.  There is a classy way to light these things, and this is not that.

Edited April 8, 2018 by WAJAS98

[aent]

18 minutes ago, WAJAS98 said:

I didn't mind The Orlando Eye, but this just looks straight obnoxious.  There is a classy way to light these things, and this is not that.

I also feel disappointed they didn't put the building and this against the new road, but point one row of parking there, they had a good walking environment on all the new stuff up until this.

[jrs2]

18 hours ago, aent said:

I also feel disappointed they didn't put the building and this against the new road, but point one row of parking there, they had a good walking environment on all the new stuff up until this.

I don’t get why there is a row or two of parking between it and the new road, when they have the parking deck nearby.  Maybe it and other surface parking is a concession to Charlie’s Steakhouse by they protested this project.

To their defense, they do plan to replace McFadden’s with a hotel, and they plan to replace a chunk of the parking to the east of The Eye with either a hotel or apartment building or both.

Edited April 8, 2018 by jrs2

[jrs2]

I think maybe they should consider doing a light show on Starflyer like at the top of every hour or every 30min to make it an event worth watching that draws people and their cameras in, kinda like they do with La Tour with the thousands of stobe lights.  They would also have to agree on a static lighting scheme that's conservative that's lit all the time so you can see it at night.  I would do an amber like La Tour has; make it look classy.

I think of Nathan from South Park when I hear the word classy:  "Cla-ssi!"  -smack-. "Oh, hay-ole no!"

[spenser1058]

Photos of 15-story Coronado Springs Resort tower from WDW News Today:

https://wdwnt.com/2018/04/photo-report-coronado-springs-ramps-up-expansion/

 

[spenser1058]

This is the reverse of what usually happens: Wyndham is splitting its timeshare division from the rest of the company, giving Orlando an opportunity to snag a corporate HQ even as the rest of the company remains in NJ.

OC Commission meets today to discuss incentives.

Orlando area may get Wyndham Worldwide headquarters, 200 jobs
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/brinkmann-on-business/os-bz-wyndham-hotel-headquarters-20180410-story.html

From the Sentinel

[I am Reality]

Article in the Orlando Weekly about revised plans for Beyond the Ultimate -

There will be 2 "extended" portions of I-4 that will be double-decker.  There is apparently a land shortage through the attractions areas.  Interesting choice, considering (1) most other cities (some of which are much, much more expensive) don't require double-decking and (2) we have "partners" in the tourism industry that should be contributing land to the project and will directly benefit from it.

Proves my assumption -  they have selected the most expensive and time-consuming way possible to expand I-4 (for example, raising the whole highway to "smooth" it out).

Total boondoggle.

 

[cwetteland]

Wondering, why the original I-4 Ultimate is able to add the 4 express lanes without more land or double-decking through the middle of downtown; and yet, there isn't enough land in the attractions area to do the same.  

[codypet]

24 minutes ago, cwetteland said:

Wondering, why the original I-4 Ultimate is able to add the 4 express lanes without more land or double-decking through the middle of downtown; and yet, there isn't enough land in the attractions area to do the same.  

The acquired a ton of land through downtown and into Winter Park and they're double-decking through Ivanhoe.

[IAmFloridaBorn]

There is more than enough land to add two lanes tolled or not in both directions from Sand Lake On pass  Champions Gate. Someone is bluffing in Tallahassee.

[AndyPok1]

So, here's the article, not sure why you didn't include it.  https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/04/10/everything-we-know-about-florida-dots-23-billion-plan-to-fix-traffic-in-the-tourist

Here's the image in particular:

However, I can't find that image anywhere on FDOTs website.  The only reference to it I can find is in the, "Concepts Under Development & Evaluation" from 2014 entitled, "SR 535 Alternative 7C Elevated GULs", but the download link is broken.

But because I'm someone to actually do quasi journalism rather than whip people into a frenzy...

Digging into the recommended alternative, its because at certain points through the tourist areas, it will be 15 lanes wide. (4 Toll, 6 General Use, 4 Collector/Distributor to fix traffic issues between 535/536, 1 HSR).  That's a lot of land for areas that are decently built up.

If elevating parts of it is what needs to be done to add C/D ramps in the busiest of areas.  That's not a boondoggle.  That's smart traffic engineering.  We were *lucky* that there was enough land for them to be able to add the C/D roads between Kaley and Michigan.  And honestly with the way the build out is going downtown, it almost looks like the far left lane of Garland is going be very close to being underneath I-4, and Garland/Hughey by-and-large are C/D roads through the CBD.

This is a non-story.

[spenser1058]

Glad to have AndyPok back and feistier than ever! (I missed your posts for a couple of weeks there :-)

[klstorey]

Thanks for the discussion regarding my article! 

Here is the powerpoint regarding value engineering the Beyond the Ultimate. According to this, the viaduct system saves $27.1 million over ROW purchases (slide 34). The difference between here and downtown is in downtown most the widening is on top of other roads, very few private parcels seem purchased in downtown. 

The image in question above is from this powerpoint (Slide 19). It also goes into some of the funding regarding the BtU project. 

[I am Reality]

9 minutes ago, AndyPok1 said:

So, here's the article, not sure why you didn't include it.  https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/04/10/everything-we-know-about-florida-dots-23-billion-plan-to-fix-traffic-in-the-tourist

Here's the image in particular:

However, I can't find that image anywhere on FDOTs website.  The only reference to it I can find is in the, "Concepts Under Development & Evaluation" from 2014 entitled, "SR 535 Alternative 7C Elevated GULs", but the download link is broken.

But because I'm someone to actually do quasi journalism rather than whip people into a frenzy...

Digging into the recommended alternative, its because at certain points through the tourist areas, it will be 15 lanes wide. (4 Toll, 6 General Use, 4 Collector/Distributor to fix traffic issues between 535/536, 1 HSR).  That's a lot of land for areas that are decently built up.

If elevating parts of it is what needs to be done to add C/D ramps in the busiest of areas.  That's not a boondoggle.  That's smart traffic engineering.  We were *lucky* that there was enough land for them to be able to add the C/D roads between Kaley and Michigan.  And honestly with the way the build out is going downtown, it almost looks like the far left lane of Garland is going be very close to being underneath I-4, and Garland/Hughey by-and-large are C/D roads through the CBD.

This is a non-story.

I didn't provide the link because I don't know how.  

And if you think I was trying to start a "frenzy", you are mistaken.  Who the hell would get whipped up into a frenzy over this story?  I was making an observation.  As far as I know, the whole project is being privately financed (although I can be wrong; I'd have to look it up).  They can do what they want with their own money.  Doesn't bother me one little bit. Doesn't mean it makes any sense to me.

No frenzy here. 

And despite what you say...other, more expensive cities STILL don't require double-decking.  I'm glad you find it so necessary. 

2 minutes ago, klstorey said:

Thanks for the discussion regarding my article! 

Here is the powerpoint regarding value engineering the Beyond the Ultimate. According to this, the viaduct system saves $27.1 million over ROW purchases (slide 34). The difference between here and downtown is in downtown most the widening is on top of other roads, very few private parcels seem purchased in downtown. 

The image in question above is from this powerpoint (Slide 19). It also goes into some of the funding regarding the BtU project. 

Excellent article!  I didn't realize you are on here.

[AndyPok1]

13 minutes ago, klstorey said:

Thanks for the discussion regarding my article! 

Here is the powerpoint regarding value engineering the Beyond the Ultimate. According to this, the viaduct system saves $27.1 million over ROW purchases (slide 34). The difference between here and downtown is in downtown most the widening is on top of other roads, very few private parcels seem purchased in downtown. 

The image in question above is from this powerpoint (Slide 19). It also goes into some of the funding regarding the BtU project. 

Concur what other people said.  Thanks for bringing it to attention.  Somehow I completely missed the viaduct when reading through it over a year ago!

[HankStrong]

Thanks Andy and KL for that.

 

Boondoggle... oh my!  I'm going to take a wild guess who said that.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[I am Reality]

7 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

Thanks Andy and KL for that.

 

Boondoggle... oh my!  I'm going to take a wild guess who said that.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

You people are oddly defensive over criticism of a double-decker highway.  How weird.  I wasn't passing judgment on anyone on this website, their mothers, perfect Orlando, the governor, Roseanne Barr, The Rock,  Mark Zuckerberg, or anyone else.  

No need to be so damn defensive. 

Building a double-decker highway seems like a poor choice to me.  It's overkill.  I base that opinion on common sense and what other cities are doing. Is that alright with you guys?  Granted, I didn't pull the freaking emgineering renderings or look-up Slide #34 of the Beyond the Ultimate PowerPoint presentation.  

I didn't realize it was such a sensitive issue.

Everyone can carry on now.  Get back to blindly agreeing with other.  "Yes yes yes!!!! We NEED a double-decker highway!!!! What a glorious idea!!!!" the group chants in unison. 

 

[dcluley98]

I was also going to add that they are doing it to keep the Rail ROW in the middle for future HSR planning.  This makes a lot more sense and will save money in the long-run when future needs have the ROW already available and planned. Calling this a boondoggle is very shortsighted, IMO. 

 

Edited April 11, 2018 by dcluley98

[HankStrong]

I hope I live long enough to see the HSR actually happen.  I mean I *plan* on living for a substantial length of time, but I'm just hoping I see it.