Orlando Sentinel: Travel
- Laid-off Disney worker has high hopes for future | Commentary
Saturday - 10/24/2020 - 06:00 AMA guest columnist was one of 28,000 employees laid off at Walt Disney World, but she says a focus on core values will lead to better days -- for herself and the Walt Disney Co.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - SeaWorld offers behind-the-scenes looks at animal-care areas
Thursday - 10/22/2020 - 04:46 AMSeaWorld Orlando introduces limited-run, limited-capacity experiences to demonstrate animal-care facilities.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Disney: Epcot arts fest set for January start
Wednesday - 10/21/2020 - 10:24 AMWalt Disney World says its 2021 Epcot International Festival of the Arts will kick off Jan. 8
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Orlando airport leaders will review their lobbying rules following Sentinel report
Wednesday - 10/21/2020 - 03:59 PMThe aviation authority’s lobbying rules require lobbyists to report their contacts with board members within one week. The lobbyist did not disclose her calls until nearly three months later — after the Sentinel began requesting records related to Ballard Partners' work at the airport.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Orlando airport to leave the fate of its top legal job up in the air
Tuesday - 10/20/2020 - 05:35 AMThe airport has for years filled its top legal job by contracting with outside lawyers –—who also represent other clients and who have been substantial political fundraisers for everyone from the governor of Florida to the mayor of Orlando.More | Talk | Read It Later | Share
- OSHA fines drilling company after worker is electrocuted on Kirkman Road expansion last year
Tuesday - 10/20/2020 - 02:11 PMOn Aug. 15, 2019, the unidentified man used a drilling machine to collect soil samples when the drill struck a 12,000-volt underground power line, according to OSHA.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Halloween Horror Nights: ‘Bill & Ted’ cast set for virtual reunion, fundraiser
Monday - 10/19/2020 - 04:41 PMCast and crew from “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure” show, a staple of Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, will be reunited for fund-raiser.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Universal salutes ‘Mr. Mardi Gras,’ Kern Studios with window
Thursday - 10/15/2020 - 09:06 AMBlaine Kern (a.k.a. Mr. Mardi Gras), Kern Studios have been given window honors at Universal Studios Florida theme park.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Universal’s affordable housing pledge is small step in the right direction | Editorial
Wednesday - 10/14/2020 - 05:30 AMUniversal's announcement that will proceed with plans to donate land for affordable housing was a welcome development. Kudos to the company, but let's not get carried away over the $9.5 million plot of land.More | Talk | Read It Later | Share
- Fun Spot America cited 3 times by Orange County for visitors who aren’t wearing masks
Wednesday - 10/14/2020 - 04:52 PMFun Spot America has been cited three times by Orange County’s coronavirus strike team for not enforcing the requirement that visitors wear masks.
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- Recent Halloween Horror Nights highlights take spotlight on new website
Friday - 10/23/2020 - 09:38 AMThe new Virtual Frights website presents highlights from recent editions of Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, and it plans to expand to more years and events.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Keeping it clean: Orlando hotels ramp up sanitation hoping to lure travelers during pandemic
Thursday - 10/22/2020 - 10:09 AMWestgate Lakes Resort in Orlando gives a behind-the-scenes look at the increased sanitation measures hotels have added in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - 1,600 people to be laid off from Orlando-based Hilton Grand Vacations timeshare company
Wednesday - 10/21/2020 - 02:25 PMAfter more than six months on unpaid furloughs, 1,600 employees are being permanently laid off from Orlando-based Hilton Grand Vacations, one of the country’s largest timeshare companies.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Florida regulators to seek more details about injuries suffered on theme park rides
Wednesday - 10/21/2020 - 08:37 PMSome lawmakers say there needs to be more oversight in Florida's system that allows theme parks to self-report visitors' injuries.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - #OSNow PODCAST: Early voting, Disney workers lose education perks, historic Sanford home on market (Ep. 520)
Tuesday - 10/20/2020 - 12:14 PMDaily Orlando Sentinel Now podcast: Early voting, Disney workers lose education perks, historic Sanford home on market.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - As some Disney workers lose their jobs, their free college education vanishes, too
Monday - 10/19/2020 - 05:32 AM“Should we have hope? Should we hang on?" said one Disney employee who worries how she will finish paying for her education once she loses her job.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Disney Cruise Line delays Disney Wish to summer 2022, announces return to Hawaii
Friday - 10/16/2020 - 09:50 AMDisney Cruise Line released its itineraries for spring 2022 including a planned return to Hawaii, and original plans to debut its newest vessel Disney Wish from Port Canaveral in January have now been pushed to summer.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Disney fires back at Elizabeth Warren’s letter blasting the company’s 28,000 layoffs
Thursday - 10/15/2020 - 10:30 AMWalt Disney Co. is fighting back after Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote a scathing open letter this week that slammed the company for reinstating pay for senior executives who had taken salary cuts during the coronavirus pandemic and other financial decisions benefiting shareholders before the company revealed massive layoffs.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Bikertoberfest rolls on amid COVID-19, but without the mud wrestling or big concerts
Wednesday - 10/14/2020 - 04:42 PMOrmond Beach is looking to cash in on bikers during this year’s festival, which in the past has drawn more than 100,000 visitors. Daytona Beach, the home for Biketoberfest since it began in the early 1990s, decided 2020 was not the year for it because of the coronavirus pandemic.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - With Disney+ in the spotlight, Disney revamps its business around streaming
Monday - 10/12/2020 - 11:32 PMUnder the new corporate structure, Disney’s media and entertainment units will be organized into content businesses that produce its movies, TV shows and sports in addition to an equally important and newly created group to distribute that content through traditional channels as well as its streaming services, such as Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.
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- Orlando airport travel rebounding gradually; Southwest to stop keeping middle seats open
Friday - 10/23/2020 - 05:30 AMOrlando International Airport passenger numbers are inching up in parallel with a gradual rebound in the nation's air travel from the collapse this spring with the onset of the pandemic.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Universal: How 2 Horror Nights houses got pandemic makeovers
Wednesday - 10/21/2020 - 05:06 AMTo keep its haunted houses a safe, but still spooky, experience this year, Universal Studios did some rethinking and redecorating.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Osceola County’s vacation rentals slowly rebounding, Experience Kissimmee leader says
Wednesday - 10/21/2020 - 11:33 AM“We have seen a steady increase in recovery. We’re still nowhere near where we would have been a year ago in terms of occupancy and economic impact,” a Kissimmee tourism leader said.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Florida’s first snow park sets opening date; tickets on sale
Tuesday - 10/20/2020 - 05:00 AMSnowcat Ridge in Dade City will feature a 60-foot tall, 400-foot long snow tubing hill with single, tandem and family-style snow tubing. A Magic Carpet lift will carry visitors back to the top.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Disney, Universal, Falcon’s executives claim spots on Theme Park Influencer list
Tuesday - 10/20/2020 - 11:17 AMSeveral Universal and Disney executives made the Blooloop Theme Park Influencer list for 2020. The website spotlights 50 people for creativity and expertise.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Disney World: Specialty license plate in works for Florida drivers
Monday - 10/19/2020 - 09:48 AMWalt Disney World is getting a specialty Florida license plate that will salute WDW's 50th anniversary and benefit Make-A-Wish.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Disney World: Rise of the Resistance hopefuls have mere seconds to catch the ride
Friday - 10/16/2020 - 05:00 AMIn Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance roulette, winners board one of Walt Disney World’s newest, most in-demand rides.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Legoland Florida re-introduces $99 annual pass, announces 2021 additions
Thursday - 10/15/2020 - 10:56 AMLegoland is introducing throwback pricing on annual passes as the theme park starts celebrating its 10th birthday early. The Play & Party Pass costs $99.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Prominent lobbyist didn’t disclose calls to Orlando airport board members, violating policy
Wednesday - 10/14/2020 - 11:07 AMThe lobbyist, Christina Daly Brodeur, said she did not know she was supposed to disclose the phone calls, which were on behalf of a duty-free contractor that wanted airport leaders to reduce its monthly payments to the airport amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
More | Talk | Read It Later | Share - Tourist brought AR-15 rifle, handgun to Disney World over worries about Orlando protests
Tuesday - 10/13/2020 - 11:58 AMA Florida man brought an AR-15 rifle and 9mm handgun to Disney World because he was worried about his family’s safety during the social justice protests in Central Florida, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
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