Skyplex vote comes up Tuesday
The Orange County Commission will vote Tuesday afternoon on whether to approve the Skyplex development.
The commission’s vote comes after months of public discussion and intense lobbying against the project by Universal Orlando.
The biggest feature of the proposed complex at International Drive and Sand Lake Road is a 500-foot-tall roller coaster. The entire project has FAA approval for 700 feet.
Universal has opposed Skyplex, saying the height makes it incompatible with the neighborhood. Universal has a 200-foot height limit under Orlando regulations. Recently a Universal-backed group that also includes some local residents sent out mailers around Orange County urging residents to contact county commissioners and express opposition.
Universal Orlando lies across Interstate 4 from the proposed project. Its Wet ’n’ Wild water park property, which Universal plans to redevelop, is on International Drive about a mile away.
Orange County staff said the project should go through, but the county’s planning and zoning board recommended rejecting it with a 4-3 vote last month. Attendees at October’s meeting included the city of Orlando’s planning director, who recommended holding off until a committee he sits on that is crafting an International Drive vision completes its work. Grandin was sent to the meeting by Orlando’s administration after Universal asked if anyone from the city would make an appearance.
Orlando does not plan to send a representative to Tuesday’s meeting.
The relationship between Universal and Orange County, meanwhile, is complicated. Universal named the county as a defendant in a lawsuit it filed this year over drainage onto its Wet ’n’ Wild property. And Universal has complained that it was left out of a county-led visioning process for part of International Drive — one that has not yet addressed regulating heights.
Frostival comes to International Drive
The Orlando Eye and I-Drive 360, an entertainment complex on International Drive, are offering a new seasonal event called Frostival.
From Tuesday through Christmas Day, four capsules on the 400-foot observation wheel will be decorated and themed for the holidays, including The Night before Christmas, Gingerbread House, Winter Wonderland and Candy Canes.
Packages to ride the holiday capsules start at $30, which includes priority boarding and holiday music playing on the 20-minute flight.
Additionally, the wheel is offering select trips with Santa Claus as well.
Packages for those rides start at $35, which includes priority boarding, photo opportunities, a holiday cookie and a holiday story reading. Festivities continue outside the observation wheel as IDrive 360 is fully decorated for the season with a 20-foot Christmas tree, purple wreaths, snow machines and an outdoor ice-skating rink.
Disney tech workers file EEOC complaints
About two dozen Walt Disney World tech workers who were laid off and replaced with foreigners on H-1B visas are filing complaints with the federal government.
The Equal Employment Op- portunity Commission complaints are a precursor to a federal lawsuit, said Sara Blackwell, a Sarasota attorney representing the former employees.
Disney let go about 250 tech workers last year, hiring about 120 back into other positions. Other positions were filled by an outsourcing company that brought in foreigners on the visas.
Blackwell said she will likely file a class-action suit although there could be individual ones too. The clients are alleging discrimination because of nationality, as well as race and age. Also, because some workers had to train their replacements, Blackwell said lawsuits will also likely allege a hostile work environment.
A Disney representative said that it has created additional jobs for U.S. workers and that its external support firms must follow U.S. employment laws.