Legoland Set for Fall 2011 Opening

WINTER HAVEN - Florida’s Legoland, currently under construction, is set to open in the fall of 2011 at the setting of the historic Cypress Gardens park in Winter Haven, south of Lakeland.

LEGOLAND Florida will be a 145-acre family theme park geared specifically for children ages 2 to 12. There will be more than 50 interactive rides, shows and attractions including LEGO models. Read more

Funky Cool Florida Grandad Duds

SARASOTA – On St Armands check out the leisure togs at Taffy’s menswear. Always something dashing going down on the Circle.

Sarasota’s Hob Nob, Classic Florida Drive-In

SARASOTA – Just north of downtown Sarasota on Route 301 is the Hob Nob, an outdoor burger drive-in that opened in 1957. It’s a local landmark. Read more

Tampa Mall Hopping at WestShore, International Plaza

TAMPA – The malls WestShore and International Plaza are about a mile apart, and together make for a great afternoon of shopping in Tampa. On the St. Petersburg side of downtown Tampa, so close to Clearwater at St. Petersburg and right off the Interstate 275. Read more

Southwest Introduces Florida Plane

Southwest has introduced an all Florida plane. See a video of the ship at Florida One. More info about the plane:

Date unveiled: April 23, 2010
Process time: 8 days
Number of People: 32 over 3 shifts
Paint colors: 16
Total gallons: Approximately 46
Premask (stencil outline): 15 boxes or approximately 150 different pieces to create the logo

See more at Southwest.com.

Disney Brings Back 1970s Octagonal Tree Houses

LAKE BUENA VISTA - If customers want it, then bring it back.

That’s the story of the Walt Disney World’s treehouse cabins, which opened in 1975, and were demolished in 2002. They were simple structures, up one story in the trees, and memorable for guests. Read more

Space Shuttle Blasts April 5

CAPE CANAVERAL – Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to begin a 13-day flight to the International Space Station with a launch at 6:21 a.m. EDT on April 5 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Discovery’s launch date for the STS-131 mission was announced Friday at the conclusion of a flight readiness review at Kennedy. During the meeting, senior NASA and contractor managers assessed the risks associated with the mission and determined the shuttle’s equipment, support systems and procedures are ready. Read more

Save Silver Spring Movement Grows

OCALA – Citizens of this Florida town, home to Silver Springs, are banding together to help support the historic attraction.

The park is deteriorating, and locals feel that the management is letting it run down. Monkeys. Glass-bottom boats. Ross Allen milking rattlesnakes. Great old memories.

Sign up for their Facebook page at Save Silver Springs Now. The Facebook group talks about the issues, and what you can do.

Florida Classic: The Fountain in Orlando

ORLANDO – In our periodic search for classics of Florida design and excitement, the Fountain in Lake Eola is among the best loved. While it is out of commission, Disney and the city of Orlando are going to bring it back, reports Orlando’s TV 6.

“Fixing the fountain has proven to be a little more complicated than we thought,” Mayor Dyer said to TV 6 this week.

Jane Jacobs, the greatest writer of America’s cities, extolled the virtues of the fountain in the 1973 book The Exploding Metropolis. She cited in an essay in the book that is an example of how cities can use fountains to make their downtowns more people friendly. Writes Jacobs:

Even more spectacular is the fountain at Orlando.The idea for it occurred to several local business leaders who went to Washington, D.C. convention. They were staying at the Shoreham Hotel and were much impressed by the Shoreham’s fifty-foot illuminated spouts of water. Why not have one for Orlando. Read more

American Standards at The Colony’s Royal Room Cabaret

PALM BEACH – It’s one of the few places in the nation completely devoted to popular standards, namely The Royal Room at The Colony.

From January to April, the shows bring old school American popular standards singers to Palm Beach, in what has come to be a winter companion to Feinstein’s at the Loews Regency in New York. With a hip edge, it harkens back to the Sinatra era, but is much more satisfying than any slavish and trite tribute show because it is a totally modern and fresh interpretation of the genre. It’s also intimate, giving fans the opportunity to hear these vocalists in a setting where they do best. Read more

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