Filled with ideas for remodeling, renovating, design and outdoor living, the Orlando Home Show will be at the Orange County Convention Center (Hall North B in the Center’s North/South complex) from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. next Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The show will feature TV celebrities, exhibits [...]

With one of the most important elections for our nation on the horizon, Gap and singer/songwriter Matt White are inviting Orlando shoppers to voice their passions by customizing a free Gap “Vote For__” T-shirt tomorrow (Labor Day) from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. while supplies last. Whether it’s Walt Disney World, Universal Studios or SeaWorld, [...]

As an annual passholder, I was invited by Universal to take part in a focus group yesterday. I can’t tell you what we discussed, but I can tell you it wasn’t anything really exciting. After the survey was over, I took a stroll around the park to take these pictures. Our focus group took place [...]

I headed to SeaWorld last night to experience SeaWorld AfterDark before it goes away this year. (It ends next Monday, Sept. 1.) Here are some of the interesting things I saw. As you enter the park you’ll see this sign advertising their new Quick Queue service. For $29.95, you can have a one-time front of [...]

I know this is a few days old, but here a short photo update from Epcot last Friday. The first place we headed was to the new StormStruck exhibit. Who knew we’d be in a real storm just a few days later. Although so far, all Tropical Storm Fay has done to Orlando is bring [...]

On Saturday I attended the 2008 Pokémon World Championships at the Hilton hotel near Downtown Disney. Although I’m not into Pokemon myself, I brought along my 9-year-old son, who is a big pokemon fan. The day started with the opening ceremony where they showed a short video and talked about the 400-plus trading card game [...]

The 2008 Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championships as well as the first-ever Pokémon Video Game Showdown will take place this weekend at the Hilton near Downtown Disney. The Pokémon Video Game Showdown will feature 64 of the most talented players from the U.S. and Japan competing in two different age divisions. U.S. qualifiers were [...]

We had a chance to attend the Hot Import Nights show this past Saturday night at the Orange County Convention Center. There were plenty of cars, booth babes and loud music. Hot Import Nights is the country’s largest touring automotive lifestyle event and one of the leading influencers in the sport compact car market. In [...]

Photos by carandmodel.com Orlando will get to experience the glamorous lifestyle of real-life speed racers at the country’s largest and most unique touring automotive lifestyle event series, Boost Mobile Hot Import Nights (HIN), from 5 p.m. to midnight this Saturday at the Orange County Convention Center HIN Orlando will mark the seventh stop on HIN [...]

From universalorlando.com: Bring your Nintendo DS to Universal Studios Florida starting July 11th 2008 and be one the first to try out The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Video Game Demo, based on the upcoming theatrical movie release on August 1st. Guest can visit the DS download station, conveniently located at The Arcade – [...]

I had a chance to spend most of the day at Universal Studios yesterday with some friends. Here are some of the new and interesting things I saw … The Fossil store in CityWalk recently received a redo. It’s now open for business. Bart and Lisa Simpson were just outside the park when we arrived [...]

Disney has provided us with concept art for some of the updates to Downtown Disney previously reported on: Hanes Custom T-Shirt Store “La Dolbe” Restaurant Tuscan Country Trattoria (formerly Portobello Yacht Club) Tuscan Country Trattoria Interior (formerly Portobello Yacht Club) New Marketplace Stage New Marketplace Stage (Reverse Angle) Updated Fulton’s Crab House exterior Photo of [...]

We spoke with Downtown Disney vice president Kevin Lansberry today in front of Pleasure Island to clarify and confirm details released in last night’s release from The Walt Disney Co. regarding the closing of all six Pleasure Island clubs and updates to Downtown Disney. Lansberry confirmed that all six Pleasure Island clubs will be closing [...]

Walt Disney World Resort today unveiled a new vision for Downtown Disney, with new shopping, dining and other experiences including a completely re-imagined Pleasure Island. Also planned are numerous enhancements to popular Downtown Disney locations, as well as additional theming and storytelling by Imagineers. To make way for the new offerings, all of the clubs [...]

Gotham City residents gather. The Ninja Babes From Space. MegaCon 2008, the mega-comic book and anime convention was this past weekend at the Orange County Convention Center. We were there to capture all of the excitement, well, not all of it because there’s so much going on. The main focus of the convention is the [...]

The new edition of Orlando Business Journal features a story on the cover about Disney’s testing of the Nintendo DS as a guide to the Magic Kingdom. (Which was first reported here on our blog on Jan. 10) Quoted in the article is our own Ricky Brigante. Thanks to reporter Dan Ping for contacting us. [...]

The annual FX International Show started out many years ago as just the FX Toy Show. When I first started going, it was held at the Orange County Convention Center and was a large event with a few celebrities. As the years went on, the show dwindled in size, had less celebrities and moved to [...]

We’ve just added a new location in Orlando to buy the magazine. Thanks to the B. Dalton book store at Pointe Orlando. We’re continuing to look for more locations, so please let us know if you’re a store owner or manager, or if there’s a particular store you’d like us to look into. The magazine [...]

Matt previously posted about the Kid Stuff exhibit at the Orange County Regional History Center. I’ve added a brief video tour of the exhibit, showing some of the more fun toys displayed within: Low-Quality Streaming: High-Quality Downloads: iPod-friendly 640×360 Version | 540p HD Version It’s a really fun exhibit that not only allows you to get [...]

Tomorrow is the grand opening of Kid Stuff: Great Toys From our Childhood at the Orange County Regional History Center in downtown Orlando. From Hot Wheels to Slinky, from Barbie to G.I. Joe, from Nerf to Mr. Potato Head (and the not so popular Mr. Carrot Head and Mr. Eggplant Head), you can revisit all [...]