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

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 9th 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

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 10th 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!

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Ep 33 – May’s Big Rewind with Epcod, Elvenage and Sir Owen Disney

After a whirlwind month of announcements and news we gather some theme parks fan to break it all down. Sir Owen Disney, Epcod and Elvenage join Jake, Richie and Ken to discuss their takes on all of this past month’s news. The future of SeaWorld, the chances of Skyplex actually ever happening and the role of Value Resorts at the modern Walt Disney Role all come up. Hot takes on the latest news, reviews of Tomorrowland, gambling’s impact on Florida, and a lot more in the news round-up episode.

 

Show Info

Hosts
Special Guests
Recording Date
  • May 30, 2015
Music

 

Show Notes

News Round-Up from May
I-Drive and Surrounding Area-
Disney-
SEAS –
UOR-

 

Additional Notes

Wisconsin Dells- Noah’s Ark Water Park (with non-tube rides)

Ken’s M&M Star Wars treats

Camden Park

Darien Lake

Little Amerricka in Wisconsin

Epcod’s Tomorrowland rampage One | Two | Three | Four | Five

OTR’s tweet regarding Volcano Bay stucco work

Mr Brian in Orlando’s sad trip to I-Drive 360 (Broken exhibits at SEALife One | Views from The Orlando Eye One, Two)

Ken Recommends- Tin Roof at I-Drive 360

Florida Citrus Tower

Jack Recommends- #OrlandoEye on Instagram

#AskSeaWorld’s utter failure on Twitter

Sir Owen Disney Recommends- Christmas at SeaWorld

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Ep 32 – Rich News of Sharks, Snakes and Giant Apes

Today we play catch up on all the recent news. Richie stops by and surprises everyone by showing excitement over theme park news. Jay talks about Thursday’s BGT announcement and Jake joins the call right before everyone hangs up. Las Vegas, Atlanta, New York and Miami are all mentioned…oh yeah, and Orlando.

Show Info

Hosts
Recording Date
  • May 24, 2015
Music

 

Show Notes

SEAS

Jay’s pics of the AP line

BGT 2016 Project

Dragonfire Grill

SeaWorld’s new coaster

 

Universal

Skull Island: Reign of Kong

Nintendo & Universal

Ken’s shameless plug to his Marvel summary article

UUOP Top 5 Worst Attractions podcast

 

WDW

Tomorrowland’s box office results

Pandora (Avatarland) at DAK visible from surrounding roads now

 

I-Drive and Surrounding Tourism

Mr Brian in Orlando’s sad trip to I-Drive 360 (Broken exhibits at SEALife One | Views from The Orlando Eye One, Two)

Orlando Eye shuts down and NO ONE was aboard at the time

Megamall now two buildings

Miami Wilds megamall

Water park proposed south of Tampa Bay

Ken- “I wouldn’t be surprised to see a megamall project being a partnership with Universal.”

Spectro Radio

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Ep 30 – Summer 2015 Outlook with Banks Lee

On today’s show Banks Lee joins us to discuss the Summer 2015 Outlook. We discuss Legoland, I-Drive 360 and Uncle Lou’s odd Ebay listings. Before Banks joins us Kyle and Ken cover the Punch List with a conversation about area apartments, timeshares and reality shows staring Jackie Siegel.

Show Info

Music
Hosts
Recording Dates
  • Punch List – 4-23-2015
  • Interview – 4-25-2015

 

Show Notes

 Punch List

Apartments mentioned on today’s show

 

I-Drive

 

Other local tourism news

Main Event

Interview with Banks Lee

5 Takeaways from the interview

  1. Even Banks is getting tired of waiting for Universal to announce Kong
  2. Banks likes how SeaWorld responded to the coaster rumors and believes Universal could learn from it
  3. SeaWorld can become more than a sea life attraction if they build the next coaster properly
  4. Gator Spot at Fun Spot might be the breakout attraction this summer
  5. Locals are going to I-Drive, now the attractions there need to respond with annual passes for locals
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5 Questions in 5 Minutes with Denise of MouseSteps.com

We recently were able to grab a few minutes with Denise of Mouse Steps. She gave us some insights into where she sees Orlando evolving and what the future of Disney World will be. If you’re unfamiliar Mouse Steps is a one stop shop for all things Disney related. From movie reviews to walking trails at the World Mouse Steps is the perfect site. They also feature the very latest in Disney World news; including ride closures and restaurant reviews.

OTR- What should the theme be for Universal Orlando’s next resort?

D@MS- I would personally like to see character themed suites for a full resort, like the higher end Minion Suites. For anyone who hasn’t seen them, there is one room that is elegant, and then a very nicely themed bedroom for kids (or kids at heart).

OTR- What do you see as being the likely next big construction project coming to Magic Kingdom? 

D@MS- I would be surprised to see any big construction coming to the Magic Kingdom anytime soon. Between Downtown Disney (Disney Springs), Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park and hopefully a makeover at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, I think Disney has a pretty full plate. I would rather see Epcot get a few new countries or attractions. The Magic Kingdom just went through several years of changing Fantasyland, so I just don’t see anything big happening now.

OTR- What will Future World be in 15 years?

D@MS- I don’t expect Future World to change that much in 15 years. It would be nice to have a makeover for Universe of Energy, and to have Wonders of Life open all year round with attractions. The Imagination pavilion could use a massive overhaul too.

OTR- What is the next step for Central Florida’s sports tourism industry

D@MS- I would like to see a major league baseball team for Orlando.

OTR- Short and sweet! I like that. And one last question here.What is one non-touristy thing that everyone who visits Orlando should see or do?

D@MS- We have a lot of semi-touristy things to do here. Lakeridge Winery in Clermont would be one. There are a ton of restaurants and some things to do in the Winter Park area. Kings Bowl on I-Drive is fun and has great food. There is always something to do here, in or out of the theme parks.

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