Things To Do In SW Florida

The Mars-bound twin spacecraft for NASA’s ESCAPADE mission were packed up in California to be shipped out to Florida this week ahead of what would be the first ever launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral.

ESCAPADE stands for Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers, and the mission’s purpose is to orbit Mars and observe plasma and magnetic fields around the planet to help understand what processes strip atoms from Mars’ magnetosphere and upper atmosphere. That could help explain why Mars’ atmosphere is so thin, and how it may have evolved over time.

The two small satellites, dubbed Blue and Gold, were built by Rocket Lab in California for NASA and the University of California Berkeley’s Space Science Laboratory. They will soon arrive to Kennedy Space Center where they will head to a cleanroom for post-transport inspections and tests. Eventually they will be encapsulated for launch on New Glenn from Blue Origin’s pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 36, something Blue Origin officials state will happen before the end of the year. read more

TALLAHASSEE — Florida saw increased tourism during the second quarter of 2024, while it continues trying to get the international market back to pre-pandemic levels.

With the totals driven by tourists from other parts of the U.S., Visit Florida on Thursday estimated the state had 34.2 million visitors during the April-through-June period, 1.64 percent more than during the same period in 2023.

For the first six months of 2024, the state had an estimated 74.8 million visitors, a 1.4 percent increase from the first half of 2023.

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office sent out a news release describing the new totals as the “greatest second-quarter tourism numbers in Florida history.”

Travelers from other parts of the U.S. accounted for 92 percent of Florida’s second-quarter visitors.

The estimate of 31.5 million domestic travelers was up 1.8 percent from the second quarter of 2023 and 8.7 percent higher than in 2019, the last full year before the COVID-19 pandemic slammed into the state.

After a huge drop in tourism early in the pandemic, Florida initially focused on attracting people from other parts of the U.S. before shifting attention to the international market. read more

It’s trite but true. It’s been a roller-coaster week for some Walt Disney World fans. They learned of promising expansion plans but later found that the addition of Magic Kingdom attractions translates into the subtraction of sentimental favorites.

Among the stash of worldwide Disney announcements made Saturday was the news that two “Cars” rides were being added to Magic Kingdom’s Frontierland area.

On Monday, Disney confirmed that the new rides will be built on Tom Sawyer Island replacing the longstanding fort and caves. The area also will lose the Liberty Belle boat, which currently rests on the Rivers of America that surround the island. The attractions have operated at Magic Kingdom since the early 1970s.

“So, people are completely forgetting all the good news, and now they’re just mad,” said Michele Atwood, owner of the Main Street Mouse website, who attended Disney’s weekend announcements during the D23 fan club event in Anaheim, California.

There are no rides on Tom Sawyer Island now. It’s a tree-lined rustic playground area. Its theme is based on Mark Twain characters, and visitors only access it via log rafts. Liberty Belle, a triple-decker paddle boat, loops around the island for views of Frontierland attractions and the nearby Haunted Mansion. read more