IAAPA picks Darden land for HQ
The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions plans to build its headquarters on seven acres near Darden Restaurants’ corporate headquarters.
A land-use change from 250 hotel rooms to more than 150,000 square feet of office space for the property north of Taft-Vineland Road and west of John Young Parkway still needs county approval.
The land is under contract and owned by Darden, IAAPA spokeswoman Colleen Mangone said in an email. “This process will take several months to complete,” she said.
IAAPA is receiving an Orange County incentive package to relocate from Alexandria, Va. IAAPA will receive $48,000 in payments over five years. The commission also approved a seven-year, 50 percent property-tax abatement worth about $65,000.
Fun Spot’s upcoming wooden coaster has been given a name. It will be known as the Mine Blower.
The thrill ride is scheduled to open at the Kissimmee location this summer. The name was set to be announced officially during a commercial in the second quarter of Sunday’s Super Bowl, officials say.
Fun Spot’s 30-second ad begins with Chief Operating Officer John Arie Jr. briefly reviewing the company’s 19-year history, then turning attention to the future.
“We’re proud to announce the Mine Blower,” he says. The commercial includes a computer simulation of the ride’s maneuvers. The coaster is currently under construction.
Fun Spot first revealed the coaster — sans name — in December. Plans call for it to be 2,256 feet long, go 48 mph and reach a height of 82 feet. The design calls for a 360-degree barrel roll — momentarily tossing riders upside-down — an unusual move for a roller coaster.
“It’s a one-of-a-kind in America,” Arie says in the commercial. Fun Spot has said that it’s spending $6 million on the Kissimmee project.
Posters for the ride show rocket-shaped dynamite (marked “Acme”) attached to the lead car of Mine Blower. There also will be a cartoon dog mascot named Nitro.
Late last year, Fun Spot added a virtual-reality option to its Freedom Flyer coaster at its location near International Drive in Orlando. It has a sister wooden coaster there known as White Lightning. The Walt Disney Co. will report quarterly earn- ings Tuesday.
One thing to watch will be how well the theme parks performed during the quarter, which includes the busy holiday period.
Orlando tourism in general rebounded later in 2016 after getting a difficult start.
In December, however, Orange County tourist development taxes dipped 3.5 percent compared with the prior year.
An online petition has been started asking Walt Disney World to keep the Donald Trump animatronic figure silent when it debuts at the Hall of Presidents.
“Donald Trump ran a presidential campaign on hateful speech, misogyny, racism and xenophobia,” says the online petition on change.org. “... We ask that Walt Disney World take a stand against divisive and hurtful rhetoric and have the backs of millions of Americans and people worldwide whose day would be ruined by the depiction of a speech by Donald Trump.”
More than 10,000 people have signed the petition, started by Matthew Rogers of Brooklyn, N.Y., on change.org.
Meanwhile, Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger skipped the first meeting for an Trump economic advisory council, of which he is a member.
The company said there was a conflict with a previously scheduled company board meeting.
Companies whose CEOs are on the council have been under pressure to distance themselves from Trump after his controversial executive order on immigration.