Orlando Attractions Area News & Developments

[billy]

has " the wheel " started yet??

[bulldogger]

Cool concept, but how many people are going to pay $35 a person to booze in an ice bar in Florida?

When it is 88 degrees on a summer night and you got sunburned the day before, you might pay $35 to cool off and get a drink at the same time.

[facilities man]

Glad they're putting the ice bar down by I-drive. It will be popular with the tourists. Regular folk are not going to pay $35.00 for the privilege to wait in line for an over priced drink, unless it's some corporate function, or someone else is picking up the tab. It will probably do good business, but it should be on I-drive.

[Magicfan95]

When it is 88 degrees on a summer night and you got sunburned the day before, you might pay $35 to cool off and get a drink at the same time.

Ya..it's called air conditioning.

This bar MAYBE lasts a year with these prices. They can't live off the summer months solely. Especially since spending by large businesses at conventions is down.

[bic]

Ya..it's called air conditioning.

This bar MAYBE lasts a year with these prices. They can't live off the summer months solely. Especially since spending by large businesses at conventions is down.

Yeah, I'm afraid I have to agree with you. The previous tenant of that space, GLO, went out of business before anybody realized there was a bar there...and I'm pretty sure they didn't charge $35 to get in. That's pretty steep, especially in a place where just every attraction in town already costs a good chunk of change. I don't see a lot of tourists getting back to I-Drive after their long day of dropping dollars at the parks and saying "let's get something to drink....but let's spend $35 a piece to freeze our butts off while doing it." And locals? forgettaboutit. This is a town of $1 drink specials and cover charges of no more than $5. Locals like myself might be curious to see the concept but will never end up ponying up the coin to do it. I feel like this, along with the Great Wheel, will need a steady stream of corporate events and private parties held there in order to survive.

Remember Epcot's Ice Station Cool? If you've never heard of it before, it was a Coca Cola-sponsored fountain beverage bar that had a polar theme to it, complete with a small space with frigid temperatures and ice shavings falling from the ceiling. Once inside, you would (and still can) sample different flavors of Coca Cola from all over the world. Anyway, this little exhibition was free AND inside a Disney park and it still failed.

What's so special about this Ice Bar? It's located in a stand-alone modern art deco building that was already the site of an unsuccessful bar. The very nature of the business lends itself to failure. It's a bar......but it costs a lot of money to get into. On top of that, once you're inside, there is a limit to how long you can stay in there because it is so cold. So the experience will be fun for a couple of drinks and then people will move on, creating a very transient customer base. Who wants to hang around in a bar when there's only a handful of other people in there with you. The business also stands to see very few repeat customers, which a bar really needs in order to maintain good business and develop its own identity. And on top of all that, it's far more expensive to maintain than an ordinary bar. Electricity bills have to be through the roof and I'm sure there's greater liability that comes with the extreme cold and ice.

It just doesn't sound like a smart business model to me. That's my 2 cents.

[surina777]

the "chill lounge" in ice bar has no cover apparently...so i'd be willing to go check that out just to see what they have done with it since it was glo...im willing to bet they bring down the $35 cover after that doesnt go over so well with the tourists...

[JRS1]

^^

up until recently, I thought "Glo" was one of those stores like there used to be at Citywalk where they sold flourescent jewelry and what not; didn't even know it was a bar until someone I know told me they went there...

these themed places need to be affiliated with specific hotels to increase the probability of success. take EFX at MGM. it's been replaced. even in Vegas there is no guarantee for success.

[Tim3167]

Ok, can somebody clear up my confusion on the new Peabody tower.

I know it was supposedly downsized from the original 42 story proposal, but the rendering on the sign on site seem to be the original renderings. I'm sorry if I missed it earlier in the thread...but is there a rendering anywhere of what they are actually building??!!

[JRS1]

Ok, can somebody clear up my confusion on the new Peabody tower.

I know it was supposedly downsized from the original 42 story proposal, but the rendering on the sign on site seem to be the original renderings. I'm sorry if I missed it earlier in the thread...but is there a rendering anywhere of what they are actually building??!!

no, my friend, there is no other rendering. I know for a fact b/c a buddy of mine at CVB gave me a copy of the Peabody prospectus or whatever that is where is shows you layouts of the expansion. except that I forgot it at their house. that's beside the point. anyway, the rendering on that was the same one from years ago.

the latest article referencing it did state that the tower is 35 stories, not 32 stories. so who knows. all I know is that the Peabody is 28 stories and it's pretty tall. imagine this thing when it goes up.

I think we all are much greater sticklers for detail than their media people.

Still, I would, if I was the Peabody people, build the 42 story bldg. but build out only what they would need now, or build out everything, but close off floors left for future expansion-- kind of like the FH South situation. not sure how much more $$$ that would cost.

Edited October 2, 2008 by JRS1

[Hisma]

the "chill lounge" in ice bar has no cover apparently...so i'd be willing to go check that out just to see what they have done with it since it was glo...im willing to bet they bring down the $35 cover after that doesnt go over so well with the tourists...

so no cover right now? awesome

i saw them talking about it on the news, when I heard about the $35 cover i was like "u have to be kidding". No way that place will last. Locals will not pay that much, and no way tourists alone can sustain that place.

[mgsports]

That's the are for more Nights Clubs.

[bic]

Cleaning up north I-Drive's congestion, crime in Orlando

Orlando Sentinel Article

[Theflytyr]

Cleaning up north I-Drive's congestion, crime in Orlando

Orlando Sentinel Article

They need to napalm everything from Sand Lake Rd up to Bass Pro and start over!

[sunshine]

think Vegas style monorail from Milleania down to sea world and Orlando eye with a crossover to universal studio.

[bulldogger]

think Vegas style monorail from Milleania down to sea world and Orlando eye with a crossover to universal studio.

have a monorail pass through the eye - threading the needle if you will - that would be wicked cool

[JRS1]

^^

the folly in Orlando metro is the lakes, which make a tighter grid difficult or impossible to do, like in places like Chicago, where you have a major street every mile, the next level down every 1/2 mile, and then several blocks of feeder streets and alleys in between those.

I think the problem in Orlando is that there aren't enough streets, i.e., cut-through streets. the bridge from Major to Grand National is a must. So is the one near Premium to connect it to Palm Parkway. Same story in town as well... there's a few other areas where a cut-through would be paramount.

but again the geography impedes this... we've lucky we got the 408 and 417 over the lakes that they pass over, as well as other similar situations around the tri-county area.

[mrh3]

^^

the folly in Orlando metro is the lakes, which make a tighter grid difficult or impossible to do, like in places like Chicago, where you have a major street every mile, the next level down every 1/2 mile, and then several blocks of feeder streets and alleys in between those.

I'm not sure I am with you on the lakes thing JRS. San Francisco built a grid over hills and New York razed its hills, but the topography was incorporated into the lay out. If Orlando had been designed 100 years ago like Chicago, New York or San Francisco the lakes would have been incorporated into the grid.

[bic]

I'm not sure I am with you on the lakes thing JRS. San Francisco built a grid over hills and New York razed its hills, but the topography was incorporated into the lay out. If Orlando had been designed 100 years ago like Chicago, New York or San Francisco the lakes would have been incorporated into the grid.

The lakes are most certainly an issue in Orlando. It's far easier and cheaper to build a road in a straight line over a hill than it is to build a road straight across a lake. Not to mention that a lot of our lakes are on the small side and it doesn't make a lot of sense to go out of the way and build a bridge across something the size of say Lake Eola. Flattening hills was common among many of our cities back in the day for several reasons. A couple of which were:

1) before the advent of the automobile and while subways/street cars were still in its infancy most people had to walk to get where they were going so hills, like tall buildings without elevators, were annoying.

2) in cities like Boston, New York, and San Francisco, reclaiming land from the surrounding bodies of water was a popular way to increase the amount of available real estate within the city's core. But in order to reclaim land, one must replace all of that water with something solid, and the first places people would look to get land from were those annoying hills and nearby mountains. Flattening them made a lot of sense at the time, though just like creating a man-made island or filling in a lake, such a project would be much harder to undertake these days because of environmental concerns.

But you're right mrh3, if Orlando had established itself as a large city more than 100 years ago, it's possible that a grid system may have been implemented here as well. We also might not have as many lakes around, as I'd imagine some of the smaller ones (like Eola) might have been filled in.

[surina777]

so no cover right now? awesome

i saw them talking about it on the news, when I heard about the $35 cover i was like "u have to be kidding". No way that place will last. Locals will not pay that much, and no way tourists alone can sustain that place.

only in the "chill lounge" which is the actual bar ... the other part is the $35 for the ice bar area where u freeze ur hiney off for 30 min or however long you are allowed in there then u have to leave or you will get frost bite

[JRS1]

I got off the exit to EPCOT this weekend and BOO-YAH! there was a huge building U/C up ahead over the trees. Not Waldorf... It was two other towers at the Bonnet Creek development-- each over 16 stories tall. perhaps it's the actual Wyndham hotel at the timeshare resort?

Edited November 4, 2008 by JRS1

[JRS1]

Orlando Premium Outlets opened their Phase II last THursday night. I think they've got 150 stores now. It's nice, bright, and has touch screen marquis with a layout of the place.

[scottggilbertREALTOR]

Good on the positive - but on the negative, the Sentinel reported the purchase and expansion plans are off for the Dixie Stampede property - anyone want a dinner theater?

[JRS1]

Good on the positive - but on the negative, the Sentinel reported the purchase and expansion plans are off for the Dixie Stampede property - anyone want a dinner theater?

good. if they expand, it should be into the back parking area like this past expansion. that will force patrons to use the parking deck more. why ever expand across the street? makes no sense. they've got plenty of room for another wing the size of the one they just built.

[JRS1]

Peabody--

elevator core is a few stories tall now.

[facilities man]

Good news.. I can't believe the Peabody expansion is finally underway.