Things To Do In SW Florida

Universal’s Epic Universe is a theme park years in the making. Its timeline is filled with rumors, roller coasters, dragons, pandemic and a swig of butterbeer. Here’s how it unfolded.

• 1998: Universal purchases 2,000 acres of property along Sand Lake Road from Lockheed Martin for possible expansion, but in 2003 it sold the land to an Atlanta developer. After a foreclosure, Comcast, the parent company of Universal, bought the property again in 2015.

• August 2019: Construction begins.

• Aug. 1, 2019: Universal Orlando confirms it will build Epic Universe on a site that’s visible from the Orange County Convention Center, where the news is announced. It will lead to 14,000 new employees with starting wages of $15 an hour, the company says.

• Oct. 24, 2019: Comcast officials say during a quarterly earnings call that Epic could open as soon as 2023.

• January 2020: Comcast executives casually confirm Super Nintendo World as part of Epic Universe.

• April 2020: Construction pauses as the COVID-19 pandemic and economic uncertainty ramp up. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings says senior Universal officials told him the project would be delayed for a year. In June, the company has about 2,000 layoffs, and in July it scales back Halloween activities for the year. Universal’s Sapphire Falls and Aventura hotels temporarily close Aug. 21. read more

Facts and figures from the ground up of Orlando’s newest theme park, Epic Universe.

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Live stage shows

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The distance, in miles (as the dragon flies), between the iconic lighthouse of Islands of Adventure and the entrance of Epic Universe

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Roller coasters

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Distance up, in feet, that riders go while upon Constellation Carousel creatures

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Talking portraits (plus the bust of Ulick Gamp) inside the queue for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry ride

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Water fountain shows in Celestial Park

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Price, in dollars, of a bieraubeurre crepe at Cafe L’air de la Sirene restaurant

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Passengers at any one time on the Dragon Racer’s Rally

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Gardens in Celestial Park

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The wingspan, in feet, of Toothless, the trainable dragon in ‘The Untrainable Dragon’ show

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Height, in feet, of the two Viking and dragon statues at the entry of Isle of Berk.

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Price, in dollars, of Pop-Up Bands, the wearable technology that helps visitors interact in Super Nintendo Land

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Top speed, in miles per hour, for Stardust Racers roller coaster (2 dueling rails, 1 inversion apiece) read more

A Panera Bread “fresh dough facility” in Orlando will close in July, resulting in all 114 employees losing their jobs.

The company’s facility on Parkline Boulevard will close on July 25, according to an email the company sent to Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and the Florida Department of Commerce. The email was sent under a federal law that requires employers to give 60 days notice about “plant closings and mass layoffs.”

The letter did not say why the facility was closing but said the closure is expected to be permanent.

The online Restaurant Business website reported in April, however, that Panera would be closing nine remaining “fresh dough facilities” as it changed the way it “produces its bread, long a core ingredient for Panera.” The company had previously announced closures of dough facilities in California, Kansas and North Carolina, resulting in hundreds of layoffs, it said.

Under its new plan, instead of mixing dough in its facilities and then shipping it to individual cafes to be baked into loaves each morning, Panera will use “third-party bakers” to make the dough using Panera recipes, the site reported. The dough will then be “par-baked and frozen to be finished in the cafes,” Restaurant Business said. read more

Two side-by-side big box retail stores are set as anchor locations within the Hills of Minneola’s planned town center, Minneola Marketplace.

With over 340,000 square feet of retail space combined, the two stores — northeast of the intersection of North Hancock Road and Citrus Grove Road, southwest of Minneola’s turnpike interchange — will command over 38 acres and parking spaces for over 1,400 cars, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.

The developer is not identifying the stores, but the site plan and building footprints are nearly identical to the side-by-side Walmart Supercenter and Sam’s Club announced last month in Davenport.

The 74-acre mixed-use Minneola Marketplace site will be developed by SunTerra Communities, based out of Oviedo.

“We’re pretty excited about it at this point,” SunTerra Principal Richard Jerman said. “We know getting through the process and approvals will be a challenge, because it’s not maybe what a lot of people visualized, but it’s the best thing for the residents of Minneola.” read more

f you want to invest in a money-market fund, I strongly recommend that you consider Vanguard.

First, I want you to know that I am not employed by Vanguard, and if you do invest in Vanguard’s money-market fund, I will receive no compensation.

As you know, the stock market is volatile, and many investors are now investing in conservative vehicles such as money-market funds because they want to minimize capital risk and remain liquid, while also earning a reasonable rate of return. Currently you can obtain a net return of over 4% if you select the right financial firm offering money-market funds.

As of the day I wrote this column (May 5), I have already made a significant investment in the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund (VMFXX), and I don’t lose any sleep over that investment. The seven-day SEC yield is 4.24%, taking into consideration a yearly expense ratio of 0.11%. Although the rate can change daily, that return has been consistent over the last month.

In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Jason Zweig, a well-respected journalist, indicated in the headline of his article, ”Your Money-Market Fund is Ripping You Off.” In the article, he pointed out, with examples, how well-respected financial firms are using many techniques to avoid paying their customers a competitive return. read more