We try catching up on the latest news with this episode. News includes a billion dollar upgrade coming to Royal Caribbean, the significance to the new name at Gary Goddard Design, a mystery around a deleted article on The Dis, and the big changes coming to Lowry Park Zoo.
Kill Resort Fees Founder Lauren Wolfe calls in to talk about the new parking fees at WDW, why Disney likely won’t be adding a resort fee, and her work on bringing light to these hidden fees.
Recording Date– March 16, 2018, in Studio B at WPRK Winter Park, FL
It’s a SeaWorld heavy show when Scott Swenson, former Director of Creative Services at Busch Gardens Tampa, stops by the studio to discuss his more than 20 years with the company. The first hour is filled with insider stories for the past twenty years at Busch Gardens Tampa including never before shared details on the beginning of Howl-O-Scream, the background to that well known photo of the Howl-O-Scream and Halloween Horror Nights teams joining together, plus a ton of stories from the early days of Rhino Rally and Akbar’s Adventure Tours. Hour Two is focused on the current company with Swenson’s reactions to the huge leadership shake-up currently happening at SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment.
Recording Date: Friday, March 2, 2018, in WPRK’s Studio B in Winter Park, Florida
We give trip reports from opening night at Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens Tampa including a food review of the cricket tacos. We also talk about SeaWorld Orlando’s Halloween offerings including a Sesame Place themed character breakfast. There’s also a few fun rants along the way.
Grab your favorite sample of a Busch beer, find some shade, and enjoy this history filled episode of #OTRonFM. Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez joins the guys to discuss his new Images of America book all about Busch Gardens Tampa. We start with the earliest days of gardens that sprung up beside the brewery and work our way through history to the coaster mecca it is today. We discuss Dwarf Village, the giant pandas, the monorail, and more in this wild episode of #OTRonFM
On today’s show Griffin of Epcod joins Ken, Jay, Jake and Richie to discuss all the WDW related announcements from D23. Booze in Magic Kingdom, Super Heroes in Epcot, live actors in Rivers of Light, and Slinky Dog vs Barnstormer are discussed. Then Richie and Ken go at each other when Richie calls Star Wars Land the ‘Potter Swatter’ we’ve been talking about.
During the Punch List Lissa and Ken discuss the new Jimmy Buffet town being built on 192, another list that Orlando is #1 on, lots of good food, and the horrific crime that recently took place on a Carnival Cruise ship. Cruising to Cuba, a set of new twin 75 story tall towers in Tampa and bicycle ride that makes you work to escape it are also brought up.
Daytona Rising 85% complete. $400 Million, 101,000 seat grandstand, 40 escalators. 4.5 months to go. Construction began July 8, 2013. Jan 30-31 Rolex 24 will be first event in the finish facility.
Carnival announces plans for cruises to Cuba. Fathom brand (a social impact focused cruise brand) 710 passenger ship. Would be the first U.S. based cruise ship operator to sail to Cuba. Plans call for every other week beginning in May 2016.
