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September 1, 2015

Ep 43 – Kubersky’s Art Night At The Cat Cafe

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Seth Kubersky stops by to talk about his new Universal Orlando guidebook. The local art scene, the future of 192, casinos, and California theme parks are all discussed. Plus what type of shoes Seth loves to wear to theme parks and his favorite district in town to go out for a night on the town. During the Punch List we talk about all the new hotel rooms announced for the area (over 2,000 in the past week alone!), our private conversation with the Maglev company, the future of museums in St Pete and Central Florida’s new cat café that’s about to open. News from Tampa, Daytona, Port Canaveral, Skyplex, iSquare, and SeaWorld is also included.

Show Notes

Hosts

Recording Dates: Main Event- Aug 26, 2015 | Punch List- Aug 31, 2015

Punch List Intro

Main Event Intro

Closing Song

Punch List

UOR announces 400 more rooms in two new towers.
Rosen announces 1,200-1,500 more rooms, spread across three OCCC area hotels (Shingle Creek, Centre and Plaza)
New 365 room hotel announced for Universal Blvd (beside the Imagine Westin, across OCCC)
Bike lanes, bus lanes discussed at I-Drive meeting
New details on the SLR/I-Drive pedestrian bridge
- 436 Double Decker Proposal (Ken was a little off, it was proposed in 1986)
New renderings of Skyplex released
Maglev chat- Groundbreaking by end of year, Phase 1 is OIA to I-Drive, Phase 2 I-Drive Circulator
iSquare announces first retail tenant…a Subway
Falcon’s to start licensing Turtle Trek for attractions world-wide
Brevard Zoo plans an aquarium
The Florida Aquarium partners with Florida Museum of Photographic Arts on new exhibit
New $75 million western and native American art museum planned for St Pete
Escapology announces a new room
A Cat Café planned for Clermont (near 192/27 interchange)
Daytona Lagoon sold to United Parks, $2 Million upgrade planned

The Main Event

Events

Magical Dining Month– Now through Sept 30

M.C. Escher at Dali Museum now through Jan 3

The 4^th Annual Great Irish Hooley – Sept 4-7 @ Raglan Road

O-Town Mac Down for GKTW – Sept 12

The Pineapple Ball – Oct 17

Next Week on OTR – Tim Grassey of WDW Theme Parks and E-Ticket Report

August 4, 2015

Ep 39 – John Frost Talks Orlando

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John Frost of The Disney Blog stops by to talk Disney, Marvel and the future of Orlando’s theme parks. Living wage initiatives, SeaWorld, Gatorland and, yes, even casinos are all brought up in the conversation. During The Punch List Lissa and Ken get into it over parking at Disney World. Mr Brian weighs in on the new interactive shots bar coming to downtown Orlando and asks ‘are food trucks still a trend?’ LGBTQ rights in Osceola County are discussed ahead of an important vote there. Old Town announces a redo. Plus we recommend some upcoming events around the region.

Show Notes

Hosts

Ken
Lissa
Brian
Special Guest- John Frost of The Disney Blog

Song One (Punch List)

Song Two (Main Event)

Song Three (Closing)

Recording- The Main Event July 30, 2015 | The Punch List Aug 3, 2015

The Punch List

OCSC unveils new stadium. 25,500 capacity, fan plaza next door, canopy covering every seat, $155 Million fully privately funded.

New renderings and details for iSquare megamall.

Skyscraper changes ride manufacture: S&S out, Intamin in.

Old Town gets $10 Million in improvements.

Osceola County looks to add sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression to protection from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations.

Orlando celebrates being a Paper Town and proves they didn’t read John Green Day’s book (now a movie!)

Lissa was correct. Some scenes were filmed in Orlando.

Busch Gardens shuts down because of the rain

Gatorland hatches 19 Nile Crocodiles. First time in 2 years.

World’s 5^th largest cruise ship – Norwegian Epic – to sail from Cape Canaveral in November 2016

Swan & Dolphin gets into the food truck game

WDW gets new Director, Parks Arrival Experience, Program Management and Park Support. Valeria Bunting was the GM of Port Orleans and has worked previously at both MK and DAK.

DTD maps now list it as ‘Transforming into Disney Springs’ and districts are using new names finally. Save PI pointed out The Tunnels are being worked on.

Figment comic Series 2 heads to Epcot

The Main Event

The Disney Blog

Summary of rumors for SW at DHS in 2016

400 acres near the OCCC being sold

Disney and More article referencing possible SWO buyout

Caesars Magical Empire

Titanic Orlando experience

Fun Spot

Florida Resident Deals at Gatorland

This Week Around Orlando

Main Street Restaurant Week $5 – $30 prix fixe meals at 49 local restaurants

Mango’s hosting job fair August 7, 8

Taste of the Nation is Aug 8. GO!!

Florida Kids and Family Expo – August 29-30

The 21^st Annual Harvest Grape Stomp is Aug 15 at Lake Ridge Winery

He Says, She Says. A Disney talking podcast. Follow along on Twitter @DisneyTalking

Next week we have BriMan from Orlando United joining us to talk HHN 25. OU Radio had Robert Niles on last week.

July 28, 2015

Ep 38 – Living the Florida Life with Dani of This Florida Life/Bay Lake Society

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Dani of This Florida Life joins us today for our Main Event. She gives an industry insider perspective on the hospitality bubble and what it means for the future of Orlando. Plus she talks Bay Lake Society and much more. Richie stops by for The Punch List where we cover the recent rape at Downtown Disney, the new peer-reviewed study on captive killer whales, Ripley’s expansion plans to Africa, and recent construction announcements around Orlando.

Macau casino giant Galaxy Entertainment is buying 5% in SBM to diversify into other markets, Macau performance under expectations. Galaxy Ent shares are down 46% due to Macau’s performance. Hong Kong hotel occupancy rates down for the 9^th straight month. China’s economy is off. Japan’s shrank last quarter, “a soft patch.” Does all of this point to a bubble in Orlando? Dani weighs in during the Main Event.

Show Notes

Hosts

Ken

Lissa

Special Guest – Dani of This Florida Life

Song One (Punch List intro)
Song Two (Main Event intro and outro)
Song Three (Closing)

Recording Dates: Punch List- July 26, 2015 | The Main Event- July 21, 2015

The Punch List

Ken Recommends- Resort Loop episode with Len Testa

Rape at HOB

Carjacking near DTD

HKDL’s Golden Mickeys show had its final performance this past weekend. How long till MK gets a show like this? Earvengers talked about this a few weeks ago.

Fantasmic testing reserved seats, rows and sections.

Comcast revenue skyrockets.

Iconic Daytona Speedway sign is removed

Orlando ranks 10^th for fastest growing hotel market 4.5% growth in Orlando.

Davidson County, Tenn., which includes the Nashville metropolitan area, with 6.7 percent growth. Hillsborough County came in second overall with 6.12 percent growth. Employment in Orange County, FL reached 49,724 in 2014, up from 47,583 recorded for the previous year.

New peer reviewed study on Killer Whales released in the Journal of Mammalogy by the Oxford University Press. It found no difference in life expectancy between SEAS whales and wild populations. And found wild calf survival rates of Southern Resident killer whales to be significantly less that SEAS (79.9% vs 96.6%).

New apartments announced for the SWO area. Part of the Marriott Grande Pines Golf Club redo. $40 Million, 282 units

Orange County proposes mixed use development on 28 acres beside Aquatica.

$7.2 Billion in real estate sales across Orlando in the last 12 months.

Joshua Wallack may help pay for SLR/I-Drive ped bridge

Orlando HQ’d Ripley’s returns to Africa for the first time since 1933 when Robert Ripley visited. New 12 city traveling show stops by shopping malls in South Africa.

Last week we talked about the Tripadvisor Top 25 Theme Parks. E-Ticket Report did an excellent rundown of all 25 parks and gave insights into the American parks on the list.

The Main Event

Bay Lake Society

Ken Recommends- Dani’s Trader Sam’s article on Touring Plans

Dani Recommends- The Boathouse

Mango’s Orlando

iSquare Orlando

Dani Recommends- When visiting Orlando take a ride on SunRail on the day you visit Florida Mall

Dani Recommends- Park Ave in Winter Park

Dani Recommends- Downtown Sanford

Dani Recommends- Wekiva Island

Closing Remarks

Next week I’ll joining a new podcast. He Says, She Says. A Disney talking podcast. Follow along on Twitter @DisneyTalking

Speaking of podcasts check out The Park Blogger had a great show with Lite’em and Hyde this past week. WDW Today did an excellent job with their offsite episode last week, I give them a thumbs up for that but wish they had focused more on I-Drive, Park Ave and maybe even some places like downtown Sanford.

Happy birthday to space flight at Cape Canaveral. 65 years ago this past week.

Next week we’ll have John Frost of The Disney Blog joining us!

July 14, 2015

Ep 36 – Coloring A Whole New Mall

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Today Mark of Orlando Mall Guide stops by to talk about the new Crayola Experience attraction and the new Dining Pavilion at the Florida Mall. He also gives his thoughts on Artegon, the new I-Drive megamall and Disney Springs. During the Punch List Richie, Ken and Jake talk about religious freedom in the workplace, the future of camping at Disney World and the general public’s lack of interest in space travel.