Things To Do In SW Florida

Yes, it’s crazy hot outside. But yes, there are options to steaming and standing in line for a ride. Orlando has many indoor attractions to fill the overheated vacation and staycation time. Here are five combo packs that offer direct sunlight only whilst you are moving from the car to the gate.

Merlin minds

Icon Park offers several 1-2 attractions punches, but consider a stroll through Madame Tussauds Orlando then winding through Sea Life Orlando Aquarium. They’re both in the large building at the base of the Orlando Eye, so there would be no heat or rain to fret about in between stops. All three of those attractions are owned by Merlin Entertainments, so there are ticket bundles available.

Tussauds features wax-based replicas of famous folks ready for their close-ups and your selfies. A recent addition is a new version of Taylor Swift, one of 13 poses created for Tussauds outlets worldwide. Sea Life is home to creatures such as sharks, turtles, stingrays, jellyfish and seahorses, and the structural highlight is probably the Ocean Tunnel that gives dry landers an all-around look at underwater life. read more

Just months after emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, Spirit Airlines is taking more measures to contain costs by furloughing another 270 pilots and demoting 140 others, management  confirmed Monday.

“We are taking necessary steps to ensure we operate as efficiently as possible as part of our efforts to return to profitability,” the company said in a statement.

“Among these steps, we have made the difficult decision to furlough approximately 270 pilots, effective Nov. 1, 2025, to better align staffing with our flight schedule,” the airline added. “We recognize the weight of this decision and are committed to treating all affected team members with compassion and respect during this process.”

The Spirit contingent of the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents more than 3,000 of the airline’s pilots, said its master executive council is working on a “furlough mitigation memorandum” with the company “to reduce the scope of these furloughs and preserve pilot careers wherever possible.” read more

For Florida boaters, recent summers have meant more crowds and more crashes.

Peaking every year from May through July, boating traffic and accidents in the state surged after the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Tampa Bay Times analysis of data from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The April crash involving prominent St. Petersburg businessperson Jeff Knight cast a spotlight on boating safety in and beyond Tampa Bay when the vessel he was operating collided with the Clearwater Ferry, killing one and injuring several others.

As Florida’s boating population grows, so does its potential for safety issues, experts say. The state has more than a million registered vessels — about 7% more than in 2019 and roughly 10% of all boats in the U.S.

“I grew up here, on the waterways pretty much my whole life. It has exploded,” said Officer Scott Pierce, who has served with the St. Petersburg Police Department for 18 years — three of which have been spent on the agency’s Marine Unit. “Boat ownership has gone through the roof.” read more

School starts up again soon, and parents will trade fighting over video games and cell phones to fighting over schoolwork, video games and cell phones. It’s not an ideal world we have created for ourselves, but it does not have to be this way.

Finding a way to cut down on screen time is arguably a health intervention for young brains. The U.S. surgeon general last year called for social media platforms to include health warnings for children, and smartphone use has been found to intrude on sleep.

With three teenage boys in my home — well, one is 11, but he is furiously trying to keep up with his brothers — there are lessons I’ve learned in keeping their screen time down to a minimum. These tactics are not always successful, and it takes constant vigilance. But when I see one kid doing origami while waiting, or the other working on his art projects, and the other competing in not one, not two, but three different sports, it feels worth it. Exhausting, but also worth it.

Get to know your router

It’s not uncommon for people to get a router, set up the Wi-Fi and never look at it again. But parents should see the router as an untapped resource when it comes to limiting screen time. Newer routers have built-in features that allow the identification and labeling of individual devices that are logged in — even the ones that come from your internet provider. For example, Spectrum, which I have used in the past, offers the ability to examine each device, match it in the router settings to the device’s IP address, and turn the wireless connection off and on at will. read more

Downtown Kissimmee’s commercial real estate market is on fire. The city received three proposals from developers eager to transform a blighted Kmart and Big Lots site on W. Vine Street into a vibrant, urban neighborhood.

The three developers — Skyview Companies, Wendover Housing Partners and Capstrata/Hedrick Brothers — all proposed a mixed-use district on the 22-acre site with commercial uses fronting on Vine and a large pond on the north end of the site. The similarities end there. The two groups that shared their master plans with GrowthSpotter offered divergent views on how much density is feasible in today’s market, though all are high on the opportunity.

The Kmart redevelopment is just the latest in a series of promising efforts by city leaders to draw private investment in downtown Kissimmee. Most prominent has been the hot competition to bring a hotel to the urban center, which led the city to choose two developers building separate projects after years of market indifference. read more