Orlando Attractions Area News & Developments

[Metro10]

Will anybody miss the giant Mickey Hand with Wand and EPCOT sign once it is removed from Spaceship Earth?

[JRS1]

Will anybody miss the giant Mickey Hand with Wand and EPCOT sign once it is removed from Spaceship Earth?

no.

what a joke. that thing cheapened Disney so much it made me want to vomit.

glad that it's coming down--- can't happen soon enough. I wonder what the extent of the Spaceship Earth overhaul is going to be. last chance to ride it is this weekend.

[JRS1]

And I can't get down there! Last chance to ride one of the only remaining original Disney style rides, instead of three dimension advertising for upcoming DVD releases!

I'm thinking of riding it and snapping pix along the way to memorialize the ride. don't have a video, though.

[JRS1]

Waldorf-Hilton: there are now 2 tower cranes for EACH bldg.-- (4 total cranes); plus two others on site and a drill thing...

pix to come.

[Pieson]

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories.../02/story3.html

Plans are in the works by the Great Wheel Corp to bring a 400 foot tall giant wheel to Orlando by late 2009. The wheel will hold 960 guests at once in enclosed air conditioned pods and take 30 minutes to complete a single rotation. The location is said to be on a piece of land connected to the convention center by a bridge over the Beachline Expressway, which puts it near SeaWorld as well if it

[sunshine]

The only giant wheel built in a hurraicne area.

[Whipp]

The only giant wheel built in a hurraicne area.

that could explain why its significantly shorter than all the other exisiting and planned wheels around the world...by at least 200 ft.

[Metro10]

what a waste! What would be worth looking at when your up there? Florida is flat and boring. Downtown will be to far away to admire it.

[WeNeed2Progress]

I guess their idea to this placement is that on oneside, because of the flatness of the area, you'll be directly east of The Magic Kingdom and you can view those fireworks, SeaWorld to the southeast, Universal to the north, and I-4 and the 528 immediately beneath you practically, so no new "highrise" developments can encroach the view. Eh... I guess it's not THAT bad of placement. They have some seriously RAUNCHY motels in the immediate vicinity though, including a gross plaza. There is however a newer building with a Middle Eastern Restaurant that looks inviting, but hidden.

[Metro]

OBJ Peabody expansion article

[That Crazy Guy]

Peabody, Hilton, Aquatica, and the Wheel all going up a few blocks from one another. The Lake Buena Vista projects seem to finally be taking off as well.

Edited July 11, 2007 by That Crazy Guy

[JRS1]

OBJ Peabody expansion article

I can't get the link to work... what did the article say?

[JRS1]

Here's what it said:

foundation permit applied for by SCA Design Group of WP to the OC (needed for 1.2M sq. ft. or greater); should receive it within the next 60-90 days; building permit to follow; GC to be selected once bids are received in August; Hardin will not be bidding on it; they think it will cost around $210M

details:

The expansion calls for the Peabody to add:

*A 32-story, 750-room guest tower

*140,000 square feet of event space

*An eight-story, 2,200-space parking garage

*A rock and waterscape lagoon-style pool and grotto

they said that it won't coast as much as anticipated earlier, quoting a drop in construction costs. this is big news indeed. this could be the Year of the Hotel in Orlando.

http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/orlando/s...09/daily13.html

Edited July 11, 2007 by JRS1

[JRS1]

'Grand' plans for North I-Drive hinge on overpass

Hagco Corp. seeks approval for $200M-plus, mixed-use towers.

Orlando Business Journal Blurb

SUMMARY:

I'm unable to read the entire article because I don't subscribe to OBJ but it mentions that a new I-4 overpass near International Drive would be partially funded by Hagco Corp., who is planning on constructing a $200 million dual-tower condo hotel in the area. Anybody with more info on this?

anybody know if the Douglas Grand project at Grand National and oakridge has applied for permits yet? that article said they were preparing to.

[i_cre8]

anybody know if the Douglas Grand project at Grand National and oakridge has applied for permits yet? that article said they were preparing to.

Below are links to the permitting statuses of the parcels of land there:

DG Parcel 1

DG Parcel 2

DG Parcel 3

DG Parcel 4

[JRS1]

More information, including renderings, about Disney's announcement yesterday of their "Western-end village" and the Four Seasons resort:

From the Orlando Sentinel

just trying to make the link current, with the news of the Peabody and all. They plan to break ground in 2007 according to the article.

[That Crazy Guy]

just trying to make the link current, with the news of the Peabody and all. They plan to break ground in 2007 according to the article.

And this was supposed to be cancelled. A surprise to say the least.

[JRS1]

And this was supposed to be cancelled. A surprise to say the least.

it is exciting.

Peabody is revitalized. Four Seasons has what seems to be a concrete plan with WDW; Contemporary is U/C; Waldorf Hilton has 6 cranes on site; Hilton OCCC is U/C; Westin Imagine is moving along; Rosen Plaza has it's expansion w/ retail slated; The Square is to break ground in the Fall; Prime will open Phase I in a month; Pointe Orlando's reno is continuing...

I think the influx of new hotels and retail on I-Drive will drive the convention market, help book more shows, which will influence other hotel brands to revisit their original plans. Not to mention the London Eye project for Westwood which may have a hotel component along with it. I won't even mention Blue Rose and the possibility of Ski Dubai attached to it... I'll wait a few months on that one.

all in all, there are great things happening in that corridor.

It's funny. Festival Bay looked like a crown jewel (for I-Drive, that is) before Belz sold to Prime. Now, it's going to look like yesterday's news when the Prime redo is done. THey also need to get those Grand Natl. and Oakridge projects and overpass going as well.

what happened to Citymark... I'm afraid to ask.

[bic]

PeabodyOrlandoExpansion.com

[bulldogger]

And don't forget Ron Jon's Surf Park (which is taking forever)

[JRS1]

PeabodyOrlandoExpansion.com

I guess they haven't updated the rendering. maybe it will be the same basic design but only 4 stories taller instead of 14. the other info seems updated though. never thought to check their website... 2009... we shall see.

10 minute walking distance... hmm. LVCC has the LV Hilton and Venetian as the two closest, except, that between the two of them, they may have more rooms available than their Orlando counterparts. I wonder if Shingle Creek is 10 minutes walk from N/S. Probably more like 20 min. Orange Co. should be giving super incentives right now for developers to go in there and build.

[bulldogger]

I guess they haven't updated the rendering. maybe it will be the same basic design but only 4 stories taller instead of 14. the other info seems updated though. never thought to check their website... 2009... we shall see.

10 minute walking distance... hmm. LVCC has the LV Hilton and Venetian as the two closest, except, that between the two of them, they may have more rooms available than their Orlando counterparts. I wonder if Shingle Creek is 10 minutes walk from N/S. Probably more like 20 min. Orange Co. should be giving super incentives right now for developers to go in there and build.

Or coordinate with the I-Drive circulator so that there are more buses running during higher volume conventions. Or the hotels could include tram service to and from the convention center just like the theme parks provide to their respective parking lots.

[orlandonative]

Just dreaming here, but a monorail service to all of the major hotels and Convention Center would pay dividends.

[JRS1]

^^^

I forgot... the OCCC garage near the 528 ramp has a charter bus sized shuttle bus that shuttles you to the OCCC.

an AGT could be the way to go--- maybe make it at grade at points and elevated at others. run it along Universal Blvd-- oh, almost forgot, what would Watson say about that?

why not do an I-Drive Lymmo? forget the cheap trolley that looks like a bath tub on wheel-barrel wheels. get a full blown bus-- recycle what we have, and get some super transit on that street-- just like in DT.

[i_cre8]

^^^

I forgot... the OCCC garage near the 528 ramp has a charter bus sized shuttle bus that shuttles you to the OCCC.

an AGT could be the way to go--- maybe make it at grade at points and elevated at others. run it along Universal Blvd-- oh, almost forgot, what would Watson say about that?

why not do an I-Drive Lymmo? forget the cheap trolley that looks like a bath tub on wheel-barrel wheels. get a full blown bus-- recycle what we have, and get some super transit on that street-- just like in DT.

Well, there were plans for one a few years ago (AGT/monorail), and it apparently is still on the table for sometime in the next 20 years. More info on the CFRail site. Easements are currently in place, and it's accounted for in the site renderings for CityMark. Of course, whether it will actually happen in the future is anyone's guess.

Edited July 12, 2007 by i_cre8