Things To Do In SW Florida

After debuting the world’s largest cruise ship, it’s reasonable to think Royal Caribbean should pause for a moment of celebration.

The company did host a formal naming ceremony for its brand new Icon-class ship at Port Canaveral earlier in August, but that milestone doesn’t mean the cruise line has plans of slowing down anytime soon.

During a media sailing on Star of the Seas, Royal executives detailed plans for upcoming private destinations, a new class of ships and the design behind Perfect Day Mexico.

“We’re already deep into the design of a new class. We’re constantly looking at designing for the future,” said Michael Bayley, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International. “A whole group of us probably spend 50% of our work day designing for the future of Royal Caribbean, either destinations or ships. It’s fantastic, it’s a lot of fun.”

Pictures: A first look on board the world’s largest cruise ship

The planned openings of new private destinations are helping to transform Royal Caribbean from a traditional cruise line into a full-fledged vacation company, Bayley said. read more

By CEDAR ATTANASIO

For millennia humans have tried to scare wolves away from their livestock. Most of them didn’t have drones.

But a team of biologists working near the California-Oregon border do, and they’re using them to blast AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” movie clips and live human voices at the apex predators to shoo them away from cattle in an ongoing experiment.

“I am not putting up with this anymore!” actor Scarlett Johansson yells in one clip, from the 2019 film “ Marriage Story.”

“With what? I can’t talk to people?” co-star Adam Driver shouts back.

Gray wolves were hunted nearly to extinction throughout the U.S. West by the first half of the 20th century. Since their reintroduction in Idaho and at Yellowstone National Park in the mid-1990s, they’ve proliferated to the point that a population in the Northern Rockies has been removed from the endangered species list.

There are now hundreds of wolves in Washington and Oregon, dozens more in northern California, and thousands roaming near the Great Lakes. read more

An animatronic version of Walt Disney will be incorporated into the Carousel of Progress attraction at Magic Kingdom theme park, Imagineer Chris Beatty announced Saturday at the Destination D23 event at the Coronado Springs Resort.

An overlay for the Tron Lightcycle / Run ride was also revealed at the event.

The figure will be placed in a new scene that precedes the traditional through-the-decades rotating story of an American family.

Carousel of Progress was one of Disney’s ideas included in the New York World’s Fair of 1964. That event was also in the development of animatronics with Disney’s “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” show.

The Magic Kingdom addition comes on the heels of the introduction of a Walt Disney animatronic at Disneyland. The figure is now seen in “Walt Disney — A Magical Life,” which debuted in July.

First peek: The Beak and Barrel, Magic Kingdom’s pirate tavern

“The introduction of a new audio-animatronics figure of Walt Disney in Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress marks an exciting milestone in our shared mission to celebrate the story of the man behind the magic and inspire new generations with his innovations and vision for the future,” said Kirsten Komorosky, executive director of the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. read more

Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights is back in action. The 2025 edition of the after-hours fright fest remains intense and just may have gotten ickier.

Among the trends spotted on Friday, opening night, were a resurgence of puppetry, the returns of a lagoon show and chainsaw-driven walkaround characters, more in-house screen use than ever (mostly positive), plus splattering effects that we’ll continue to cope with by reassuring ourselves that was only water. It’s only make-believe. Repeat, repeat.

Thanks to an R.I.P. Tour provided by Universal Orlando, the Sentinel wandered through all 10 haunted house mazes on night one. Here are quick, not-too-spoilery impressions.

Dolls: Let’s Play Dead

What we saw: It’s the tried-and-true theme park scheme of being shrunken down to the size of deformed dolls. This is the handiwork of creative/twisted young girl who may grow up to be a make-up artist. Oh, hey, was that Woody? (There are also buttons for visitors to push for extra effects.)

Why we screamed: That one big baby, that one big baby head and that one baby with three heads. read more

By JOSH JACQUOT for Associated Press

Buying a new car has never been more financially daunting. A 2025 analysis from Edmunds found that a record 19.3% of consumers who financed a new vehicle in the second quarter of 2025 committed to a monthly payment of $1,000 or more. That’s nearly one in five buyers taking on what was once considered an extreme car payment — driven by high interest rates and rising vehicle prices.

While it might be tempting to stretch your budget for the car you want, locking yourself into a high-cost loan can be a painful mistake. Before you sign, here are five common car-buying missteps to avoid.

Buying a car you can’t (or shouldn’t) really afford

There’s a difference between being able to buy something and being able to afford it wisely. With an average new vehicle transaction price of approximately $49,000, many buyers are truly stretching their budgets. It’s not uncommon to see buyers opt for extended 72-month or 84-month financing terms.

That shiny SUV might seem within reach thanks to flexible financing, but the long-term hit to your financial health could be considerable. Buying within your means — ideally targeting a loan term of no more than 60 months and keeping your car-related expenses under 15%-20% of your monthly take-home pay — is smart shopping in an era of rising interest rates and ever-increasing car prices. read more