The biggest Star Wars fan event of all time is coming to Orlando. Star Wars Celebration V will be held at the Orange County Convention Center from Aug. 12 to 15, 2010. This year’s event will commemorate the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, and the ongoing, weekly adventures [...]

If you’re looking for a fun night out without the kids, a new adult dinner show has opened up just off International Drive. Treasure Tavern features a unique combination of dancing and exotic acts with an overtone of comedy and adult fun surrounding a great three-course meal. The show is themed around Gretta Von Keagel, [...]

Titanic the Experience, the 20,000 square foot exhibit on International Drive is adding a food element to their traditional tour. A dinner show will be held each Friday and Saturday night. The show will be branded as The Titanic Dinner Event and will include a minimum of 10 actors throughout each evening. The experience will [...]

The Summer 2010 issue is now available. Subscribers should receive their copy and the issue should be available at Barnes & Noble, Borders and Books-A-Million book stores nationwide within the next few weeks. Here are some of the stories you’ll read in the latest issue: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter This most anticipated new [...]

Five Buffalo Wild Wings sports restaurants/bars in Central Florida have entered into a partnership with California-based Be Media to offer 3D viewing for its customers. The new program will start with at least 25 live World Cup games beginning with the opening match between South Africa and Mexico, June 11. The 3D viewing is a [...]

The owners of the long-running, popular Pirate’s Dinner Adventure are branching out to bring Orlando what they feel has been lacking, an attraction that isn’t focused on the kids. Construction has started on a new 240-seat theater for Treasure Tavern, a dining experience for adults. When it opens in late June, the show will feature [...]

Coco Key Water Resort, a hotel and water park in one, opened today in Orlando. This is the 10th Coco Key Water Park and the first located in the southern part of the U.S. The resort is located on International Drive near Sand Lake Road, on the site of International Drive’s first hotel. The hotel [...]

An International Drive hot spot in past years, the Friday’s Front Row Sports Bar near Sand Lake Road recently closed down. But if you’re a fan of the restaurant, or just a fan of good deals on used restaurant equipment, you have a chance to own a piece of the restaurant. Penny Worley Auctioneers is [...]

More than 25 sword swallowers will be performing shows at more than a dozen Ripley Believe It or Not! Odditoriums worldwide in four countries at 2:27 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27, in celebration of the Fourth Annual World Sword Swallowers Day. More than 100 feet of solid steel is set to go down the hatch [...]

By Kevin Yee Welcome to Insider Top Tips. This column proposes to amalgamate some of the best “insider” tips for visiting Orlando and its world-famous attractions. Think of it as “tips from a local.” I’m a local now, of course, though like most Floridians, I was a transplant from somewhere else (in my case, from [...]

CoCo Key Water Resorts are adding Orlando to their portfolio of water resorts and hotels. Set to open in March at 7400 International Drive (near the convention center) [Editor's Note: It's actually not that close to the Convention Center. It's closer to Sand Lake Road.], the 58,000 square-foot canopy covered water park will be the [...]

The Orlando Business Journal is reporting that a new comedy club and restaurant is coming to the Pointe Orlando shopping center next year. From orlando.bizjournals.com: The new Improv Comedy Club and Dinner Theater, slated to open in spring 2010 on the second story of the lifestyle center, will feature 400 seats and resurrects a concept [...]

Concluding our series of posts surrounding the 2009 Spooky Empire “Ultimate Horror Weekend” is an overall summary video of the events that took place on Oct. 9. Seen here are celebrity meet-and-greets, including director John Landis (Animal House, The Blues Brothers), actors Shannen Doherty (Beverly Hills 90210, Charmed), Tippi Hedren (The Birds), Jason Mewes (Clerks, Mallrats), [...]

As part of the Spooky Empire “Ultimate Horror Weekend” 2009, hundreds of zombies and other ghoulish creatures walked up and down International Drive on October 9. The zombie walk and opening ceremonies were put on by the Deadite Empire. Special guests at the event included John Landis, director of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video, and [...]

As part of Spooky Empire’s “Ultimate Horror Weekend” 2009 in Orlando, two impressive reenactments of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” took place in the parking lot of Friday’s Front Row on International Drive. Enjoy the full first performance here: The above show was performed by the Rich Weirdoes and Cheryl Sington’s Dance Warehouse. Sington is one of [...]

Zombies invaded Orlando today – International Drive to be exact. Today’s Zombie Walk and Thriller Dance kicked off Spooky Empire’s “Ultimate Horror Weekend.” The event runs through Sunday, Oct. 11 at the Wyndam Orlando Resort. The zombie walk and opening ceremonies were put on by the Deadite Empire. If you missed the walk, don’t worry. [...]

Fans of horror films and the paranormal are in for a treat this week in Orlando. Two events are bringing a “who’s who” of actors and other personalities to meet. First, Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango, stars of the SyFy Channel series, “Ghost Hunters,” will be at Halloween Horror Nights to experience the event and sign [...]

The Summer 2009 issue of Orlando Attractions Magazine is now available for preview and pre-order. It’s our first quarterly issue and the first of our new and improved editions featuring nearly 20% more pages, thicker paper, more high-quality photography, and more articles than ever before. Feature articles in this issue include: • COVER STORY: Hitch a [...]

Last week, we attended the grand opening of the new Banshoo Sushi bar at the Rosen Centre hotel on International Drive and were treated to a sampling of the sushi and sashimi that are now regularly available there. The Rosen Centre hotel is located across from the Orange County Convention Center on the southern end [...]

(This was cross-posted on the Distant Creations blog) Prior to moving to Orlando, I had a to-do list of thrilling activities that I wanted to try some day. It included skydiving, learning to fly an airplane, and zip lining through an exotic forest (amongst others). Having now lived in Orlando for several years, I’ve found [...]