Orlando Attractions Area News & Developments

[RedStar25]

its no uglier than anything at wetNwild.

of course, i've always though wNw was an eyesore anyway.

Hey Now..... I was a deep water Lifeguard at WET N WILD and I happen to love the place.... you better watch it...mr... er... miss...errr umm...

[sunshine]

I-Drive's Mercado to be leveled

The Square, an upscale retail-restaurant complex, is expected to open on the same site in fall 2008.

Christopher Boyd {sodEmoji.|} Sentinel Staff Writer

June 28, 2007

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/or...0,5263556.story

[VistaLakes01]

I-Drive's Mercado to be leveled

The Square, an upscale retail-restaurant complex, is expected to open on the same site in fall 2008.

Christopher Boyd {sodEmoji.|} Sentinel Staff Writer

June 28, 2007

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/or...0,5263556.story

Didn't Pointe Orlando start out as something similar? This sounds like an awesome project, I'm always a little bit leery about retail projects on I-Drive........

[UPSDAN]

Looks like Orlando is getting a Giant Wheel. 400ft tall across the Beachline from the Convention Center. Should be similar to the Eye of London.

http://www.greatwheel.com/

[JRS1]

Looks like Orlando is getting a Giant Wheel. 400ft tall across the Beachline from the Convention Center. Should be similar to the Eye of London.

http://www.greatwheel.com/

120m

there's one in China that's over 200m. insane.

[sunshine]

Why Idrive and not downtown?

[bobbarker]

Why Idrive and not downtown?

I would venture to guess because I-Drive is the tourist district and a gigantic Ferris Wheel would be a sort of an attraction for tourists.

[mrh3]

Why Idrive and not downtown?

They want the tourism dollar. Besides, where would you construct something like that Downtown?

[sunshine]

Paramore.

We need an icon in downtown, suntrust is getting old. A space needle type of building in downtown will be good.

Maybe by building this wheel on I-drive, the tourist will finally discover that there is a downtown in Orlando and they did not step foot in orlando at all.

[Tim3167]

Yeah, I can see that...a giant Ferris Wheel in Parramore.......good thought.....

[JRS1]

that's so funny. London's Eye is on the River Thames with those tour boats and historic bldgs. older than the US surrounding it. Ours would be in Parramore. I love the contrasting styles at play here.

good ideas, though. 400 feet up would give an excellent view of DT and the park areas.

is this a go? what else do we know about this?

[VistaLakes01]

that's so funny. London's Eye is on the River Thames with those tour boats and historic bldgs. older than the US surrounding it. Ours would be in Parramore. I love the contrasting styles at play here.

good ideas, though. 400 feet up would give an excellent view of DT and the park areas.

is this a go? what else do we know about this?

This kind of brings up a topic....what ideas does anyone have for some sort of icon downtown, besides a space needle or ferris wheel, can anyone think of anything????

[sunshine]

It can be a fountain, a clock tower, an archway, a gate, a statue, a supertall, a huge museum, a park, a beautiful and extraordinary building.

I would like something like the Sydney Opera House to be our icon. Hopefully our new PAC can do that.

[Florida]

Perhaps located far enough from downtown to allow for a Nice skyline view (photo) from a distance. I've long been a fan of China's concept. Do you all think the Orlando location will also have the mix of retail and shops?

[bic]

Don't forget we already have the SeaWorld SkyTower which serves as a 400-foot tall observation deck and you honestly can't see that much from up there. Can somebody dig up pictures from the SkyTower?

By the way, a 400-foot tall ferris wheel should do a good job of minimizing the height of the buildings in the area. The Peabody and Omni certainly won't appear as tall as they do now.

[Dale]

This is Orlando, where they dare not build a ferris wheel as tall as, say, 442 feet.

[codypet]

This kind of brings up a topic....what ideas does anyone have for some sort of icon downtown, besides a space needle or ferris wheel, can anyone think of anything????

I thought the Conroy Bridge was Iconic especially when I saw it featured when UCF was going to Hawaii and they showed like a quick shot of each city involved in their respective bowls. They showed the Conroy Bridge. Its really nice beacuse at the right angle you can see the skyline right over the bridge. Unfortunately I went through JAX coming back from GA and they have a similar bridge over 95.

[JRS1]

This kind of brings up a topic....what ideas does anyone have for some sort of icon downtown, besides a space needle or ferris wheel, can anyone think of anything????

well, Conroy has the Orlando sign and lamps on the four posts. maybe something along those lines.

I-4 in Lake Mary has that footbridge for the trail; so does 436 & Aloma (not as pretty); LMB has 3 skywalks now U/C or done.

is the 408/Lake Underhill bridge beaut. project scrapped now?

I can think of a lot of things for a downtown icon. I think the thing that would make sense would be a space needle since the buildings aren't so tall as to have an observatory within them. or maybe a hybrid bldg. if feasible $$$.

[bulldogger]

I'm pretty sure it's already built and celebrating it's 50th anniversary this year. Another clue... it's in the middle of Lake Eola. The icon is already under your noses.

If you don't like that, then go back and think what everyone around the world will ALWAYS think about when they say Orlando... Spaceship Earth and Cinderella's Castle. You can try to fight it, but Disney will always have more money to spend on branding than Orlando or the CVB. We have to be grateful in some ways that both theme parks here are owned and operated by 2 huge media companies - ABC and NBC... now if we could just get CBS/News Corp to buy up Sea World / Busch Gardens from AB.

[neon9]

Yeah, I can see that...a giant Ferris Wheel in Parramore.......good thought.....

I can see something like that, maybe with binoculars to see drug deals or what not, seems safer that what they did in San Fran during the 60's, with people riding through the hippy areas in buses.

I would say we need a big phallic symbol like the CN Tower or Space Needle. Or maybe the Gurkin in London....but it's already been done. Heck I was thinking something (kind of) practical like a monorail would be neat, but it's been done also.

How about we just get a working mass transit system from WP or so down to at least IDrive and the Airport.

[VistaLakes01]

I thought the Conroy Bridge was Iconic especially when I saw it featured when UCF was going to Hawaii and they showed like a quick shot of each city involved in their respective bowls. They showed the Conroy Bridge. Its really nice beacuse at the right angle you can see the skyline right over the bridge. Unfortunately I went through JAX coming back from GA and they have a similar bridge over 95.

Dang it! I was so proud of the Conroy Bridge! Now Jax has one? I guess it's something that's easy to replicate. I lived in Dayton, Ohio for a few years and they had a big beautiful museum (art, I think) on a hill overlooking downtown that was lit up at night, kind of like the Parthenon (sp?) in Greece. Also, Birmingham has that Vulcan statue overlooking the city that's pretty cool. The Eola fountain is actually the symbol of the city, maybe the fountain could be redone, like Chicago's Buckingham fountain, make it huge and change colors. It's just sad when the fountain is not on it looks like there's a big piece of fiberglass junk in the lake and it's not very attractive in the daylight, either.

[JRS1]

^^ for that matter re jax, they've got that old steel bridge that lights up blue at night-- I'd say that trumps about everything else in FLA save Dames Point Bridge, which is longer than Sunshine Skyway.

^^

as for fountains, not that many cities have one like that in their downtown--- it is more unique than common. Tampa, Miami, FTL, STP, JAX don't have one. Neither does ATL. Chicago has the Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park. So it is fairly unique.

[WeNeed2Progress]

I can see something like that, maybe with binoculars to see drug deals or what not, seems safer that what they did in San Fran during the 60's, with people riding through the hippy areas in buses.

I would say we need a big phallic symbol like the CN Tower or Space Needle. Or maybe the Gurkin in London....but it's already been done. Heck I was thinking something (kind of) practical like a monorail would be neat, but it's been done also.

How about we just get a working mass transit system from WP or so down to at least IDrive and the Airport.

If you go to the Great Wheel's site, they have a "Great Train" concept--- THAT would be uniquely iconic. As for the location of the O-Wheel, it's on the south side of the Beachline? Seriously, Westwood Blvd. is on the West end of I-Drive; not desirable, and the off-ramp and a small lot besides Aquatica is there... also not desirable. Putting it next so close (southside of 528) is free promo for SeaWorld, and not deserving. They played a role in "derailing" the high speed rail and distributed propaganda to the employees. If anything the O-Wheel should go between the Peabody and new Convention Center wing where the walkway oddly splits.

[neon9]

If you go to the Great Wheel's site, they have a "Great Train" concept--- THAT would be uniquely iconic. As for the location of the O-Wheel, it's on the south side of the Beachline? Seriously, Westwood Blvd. is on the West end of I-Drive; not desirable, and the off-ramp and a small lot besides Aquatica is there... also not desirable. Putting it next so close (southside of 528) is free promo for SeaWorld, and not deserving. They played a role in "derailing" the high speed rail and distributed propaganda to the employees. If anything the O-Wheel should go between the Peabody and new Convention Center wing where the walkway oddly splits.

If London can fit their great wheel there in the middle of downtown on the 'right bank' of the Thames, then I think we can find room for one downtown.

Like you said, what is there to see down on I-drive? Trees to the southeast, industrial to the east, and touristy junk to the north and west? Maybe you could see Disney....wow....

How about a (or some) Frank Gehry buildings here?

They showed the Simpsons episode with him the other day on Fox, I was inspired to upload my picture to Wikipedia...

Edited June 30, 2007 by neon9

[WeNeed2Progress]

If London can fit their great wheel there in the middle of downtown on the 'right bank' of the Thames, then I think we can find room for one downtown.

Like you said, what is there to see down on I-drive? Trees to the southeast, industrial to the east, and touristy junk to the north and west? Maybe you could see Disney....wow....

How about a (or some) Frank Gehry buildings here?

They showed the Simpsons episode with him the other day on Fox, I was inspired to upload my picture to Wikipedia...

Funny you should mention Gehry in Orlando as I was just reading an article from Metropolis Magazine about Gehry's new building in Chelsea--- it's fantastic. The article is on their site right now. Seriously, if Biloxi's Georgia O'Keefe museum can be Gehry, someone needs to love Orlando enough to invest in a renowned architect of our time.

As for the wheel, sadly, yes, seeing Disney is exactly what they'd want to see. Granted the wheel can also be used as convention space, a wedding pavillion, Bar/Bat Mitzot, etc.; putting it on I-Drive makes perfect sense unless Kuhn really invests in Church Street Station and makes it more convenient and tourist friendly--- but do we want that? Living down in the southside amongst all the tourist crap and driving with them constantly blaring my horn or veering around their sight-seeing driving... it's great to get away from them downtown. Also, let's face it... our downtown is rather underdeveloped. A 400' Ferris-Wheel would stand out like a sore thumb and reaffirm the idea that we are indeed a "Tourist Town" and nothing more.