Things To Do In SW Florida

AI-powered platforms like ChatGPT and Google Gemini offer new ways to plan your 2026 financial goals. But how can you leverage them without compromising your privacy?

With a NerdWallet survey finding that more than 2 in 5 Americans (43%) say they’ve used AI for aspects of their personal financial planning, that’s an increasingly relevant question.

Here’s how to get the most out of AI tools.

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  NASA’s Artemis II moonshot highlights 2026’s busy launch plans on Space Coast

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  It’s a date: When Orlando theme parks wrap up holiday celebrations

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  Stocks slip on Wall Street as 2025 winds down

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  Brightline seeks to raise $100 million as analysts warn of possible default

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  Epic Universe debut dominates, but Disney, others add to active 2025

Experiment with prompts

Help the chatbot help you. Give it some background about your current situation so it can offer customized advice, suggests Sierra Adare-Tasiwoopa api, an instructional technologist at Nevada State University. read more

Santa Claus may have gone into hibernation this week, but holiday cheer extends through the end of the year and beyond at many theme parks and attractions. Here’s a last call holiday list with a few major 2026 end dates, too. They are arranged chronologically for your clip-and-save convenience (Kids, ask your nana or maybe Mrs. Claus).

• Candlelight Processional and the rest of the Epcot International Festival of the Holidays conclude Dec. 30. The final celebrity narrator of the year is Sheryl Lee Ralph (“Abbott Elementary”), who appears Monday and Tuesday evenings. (Santa Goofy remains at Odyssey through Dec. 30, too). More info: disneyworld.com/candlelight

• Holidays at Legoland Florida end Dec. 31. Elements include a gigantic Lego Christmas tree, Lego Holiday minifigure crew and other entertainment. More info: legoland.com/florida

• Universal Orlando’s holiday celebration concludes Jan. 4. That includes the holiday parade in the streets of Universal Studios, Grinchmas activities at Islands of Adventure, and the Hogwarts projection show in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley. More info: universalorlando.com/holidays read more

By DAMIAN J. TROISE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks slipped in quiet trading on Wall Street Monday to kick off another holiday-shortened week.

The losses have little impact on the broader annual gains for major indexes as they close out their final days of the year. There are two trading days left before the year ends. Markets in the U.S. will be closed Thursday for New Year’s Day.

The S&P 500 fell 24.20 points, or 0.3%, to 6,905.74. The benchmark index is still up more than 17% for the year and it remains on track for its eighth monthly gain in a row.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 249.04 points, or 0.5%, to 48,461.93. The Nasdaq composite fell 118.75 points, or 0.5%, to 23,474.35.

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NASA’s Artemis II moonshot highlights 2026’s busy launch plans on Space Coast

Struggling to set 2026 financial goals? Get an AI assist

It’s a date: When Orlando theme parks wrap up holiday celebrations

Brightline seeks to raise $100 million as analysts warn of possible default read more

Financially troubled Brightline, the high speed railroad between South Florida and Orlando, is pursuing ways to raise $100 million for operations as analysts hoist red flags about the company’s financial straits.

Revenues and ridership are showing improvement, according to Brightline’s monthly financial report for November, and an Orlando Sentinel special report Sunday showed its notoriously high “trespasser death rate” has fallen. But the financial results are still not good enough to keep pace with the company’s burdensome cash needs to cover debts and day-to-day operations, according to ratings agencies that have downgraded the company’s bonds during the year.

“We think that switching riders from alternate modes, automotive in particular, is more challenging than originally forecast,” S&P Global Ratings said in its most recent note on Brightline’s financial state this month. “Fares that have been drastically discounted to encourage new riders have proven particularly sticky, and we believe that [the rail line’s] projected growth in ticket revenue into 2026 is unlikely to materialize.” read more