Things To Do In SW Florida

Coming to Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom will be home to a villains-themed land with two major attractions, shopping and dining. “It’s going to be a fearless new vision for what a Disney experience can be,’ said Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Experiences. (Walt Disney Co.)

Coming to Walt Disney World: Animal Kingdom will be home to a Tropical Americas land that includes an ‘Encanto’ attractions and a ride tied to ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.’ (Walt Disney Co.)

Coming to Walt Disney World: Animal Kingdom will be home to a Tropical Americas land that includes an ‘Encanto’ attractions and a ride tied to ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.’ (Walt Disney Co.)

Coming to Walt Disney World: Animal Kingdom will be home to a Tropical Americas land that includes an ‘Encanto’ ride-through attraction featuring Antonio, who can communicate with animals, and other members of the Madrigal family and the Casita. (Walt Disney Co.) read more

Magic Kingdom was the most popular theme park in the world again in 2023, according to a global attendance report released Thursday.

But total gains North America were modest, with two Walt Disney World parks, both Universal Orlando parks and SeaWorld Orlando all having declines from their 2022 figures.

The TEA / AECOM Theme Park and Museum Index froze their rankings for the past three annual reports due to the COVID pandemic and its related closures. But it shared attendance numbers during that period.

“In essence, our 2019 list was a control set that we followed during the recovery period. This year is the right time to return to our normal process of ranking,” wrote Francisco Refuerzo, senior analyst with AECOM Economics.

In 2023, Magic Kingdom had 17.72 million visitors in 2023, an increase of 3.4%. Disneyland of Anaheim California was a close second with 17.25 million, an increase of 2.2%.

Epcot ranked eighth worldwide with 11.98 million guests, an increase of 19.8%. Disney’s Hollywood Studios was 10th with 10.3 million visitors, a decrease of 5.5%. read more

By Chanelle Bessette | NerdWallet

I’ve worked as a personal finance writer for seven years, and I’ve picked up some best practices along the way. These lessons come from conversations I’ve had with expert sources, countless hours spent giving star ratings to dozens of banking products and the experiences that readers have shared with me over email.

Here are five lessons that I’d like to share with you from my work as a consumer banking writer.

1. The best bank accounts have high interest rates, no fees and creative perks

The two things that I always recommend when shopping for a new bank account are to look for high interest rates and no monthly or minimum balance fees, since those benefits help you earn the most you can on your money.

Beyond those features, I’ve been really impressed by some of the creative new offerings that banks have been giving to consumers. They include round-up savings programs and overdraft buffers (more on that later). Other features have become a bit more common, like two-day early direct deposit, ATM fee reimbursements, cash back on debit card spending and “buckets,” which are subaccounts within your main savings account that you can create for different savings goals. If you’re shopping for a new account, be sure to look into these added benefits. read more