Things To Do In SW Florida

A haunted house will have an all-female lineup of monsters at this year’s Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines will feature familiar names from very old school films in unusual alliances.

Universal will have Countess Marya (aka Dracula’s daughter), the She-Wolf of London, the Bride of Frankenstein, undead Egyptian princess Anck-Su-Namun and Saskia Van Helsing in the house.

The house, which Universal announced Thursday, features the countess seeking revenge for her father’s death — at the hands of Abraham Van Helsing — and teaming up with She-Wolf and the princess. Meanwhile, Saskia Van Helsing, daughter of Abraham, is helped by the Bride of Frankenstein. A Universal graphic shows the monsters armed with knives, axes, claws and scowls.

The characters are inspired by 1936’s “Dracula’s Daughter” film, “She-Wolf of London” (1946) and the 1932 version of “The Mummy.”

Universal: New ‘unlimited’ Florida-resident ticket allows entry through mid-December read more

Gaylord Palms will slide into new territory for this year’s “Ice” attraction. For the first time, the elaborate ice-sculpting attraction will be based on “Elf,” the 2003 film starring Will Ferrell.

“You’ll really follow Buddy’s journey from the North Pole to New York City,” said Niko Nickolaou, senior director of special events and creative for Gaylord Hotels.

Buddy is a human, played by Ferrell, raised as an elf. The Gaylord event, which runs between Nov. 15 and Jan. 4 at the Kissimmee resort, will play with proportions in some areas as seen in the film.

“You walk in, and you see this oversized Buddy as he’s the L in ‘Elf,’ and that’s a great photo op,” Nickolaou said. That design harkens back to the movie poster. Soon thereafter, in “Ice” is the classroom scene.

“There’s the ice desks, there’s Papa Elf teaching, there’s Buddy,” Nickolaou said. “That’s the first moment that is super-connective. And you’re like, ‘Wow, I’m about to experience something special.’” read more

One of the nation’s largest owners and developers of for-profit affordable housing has a 67-acre site in the ChampionsGate-Reunion area of Osceola County under contract for a combination senior and family housing development.

Minneapolis-based Dominium is eyeing the site on Goodman Road, just north of Bella Citta Boulevard and the proposed Sinclair Road extension that will link the two resort communities, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.

Dominium is seeking a land use and zoning change from Osceola County to go from Low Density Residential to High Density Residential, which would allow up to 25 dwelling units per acre. As with all Dominium communities, 100% of the units will be affordable to low-income residents earning no more than 60% of the area median income, or AMI. The total number of units is still to be determined, but it’s expected to be several hundred.

The resort area that’s just a few miles from the Disney theme parks is one of the region’s strongest apartment markets, but has little affordable housing. Disney and its development partner, the Michaels Organization, are planning to build 1,410 units of attainable workforce housing just over the county line in Horizon West. Those units would target renters earning at least 80% of the AMI. read more