In the first episode of 2015 Kyle and Ken are joined by Jay of Orlando Tourist Blog. The guys cover all the news they’ve missed over the past month including Artegon’s Christmas Eve death, Gwazi’s closing, the coaster rumors at SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa, Universal Orlando’s non-stop construction, restaurants at Disney Springs and more before sharing their thoughts on pay at Walt Disney World compared to that of Bob Iger’s.
This time of year is always a good time to look back at where we’ve come from. Today OTR does just that with Sam Gennawey sharing details on the history of Universal Orlando.
On today’s SideChat Sam Gennawey talks about the history of Universal Studios Florida that he included in his new book and why Islands of Adventure looks the way it does. Kyle asks about Michael Eisner’s impact on Universal Studios while Ken keeps sharing memories of his childhood. After the parks are covered the three turn to CityWalk vs Downtown Disney where Sam’s expectations of Disney Springs might surprise. Urban design is brought up some more and they talk about the amazing new parking garage at Disney Springs.
Today’s SideChat is pulled from the larger conversation taped on Dec 16. Check out the rest of the conversation in Ep 20 – Gennaweys Takeaway.
On today’s special episode Kyle and Ken are joined by theme park historian and urban planner Sam Gennawey. He talks about his latest book. Then the guys geek out some chatting about urban planning at Disney World and around Central Florida. Sam tells some interesting stories that he uncovered while researching his books and gives his opinion on some local urban design topics including Celebration, Downtown Orlando’s renaissance and what he thinks it will take to make Downtown Disney a true success. Ken keeps bringing up the fact that Disney World lacks any true non-bus, comprehensive transit system. Sam talks about how Universal took as much market share as they did and where he thinks the parks will go from here. The Punch List is shortened this week but still includes Ken and Kyle discussing Meg Crofton’s retirement announcement, WestGate’s new steak house plus the SunRail announcement to run a late night train.
On today’s show Ken, Kyle and Richie discuss the future of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Frozen Summer Fun, former dance party success stories and Pixar. The guys close out the podcast with a discussion on the future of ESPN Wide World of Sports.
The crew is recording when the first pictures of cranes from Animal Kingdom’s Avatar hit the internet, today we have the recording of their initial reactions to the pictures and what they expect from this project.
