Things To Do In SW Florida

Disney’s lawyers argued in court Tuesday that the oversight district aligned with Gov. Ron DeSantis is failing to turn over emails and text messages that could be pertinent to the company’s legal dispute with the state.

The entertainment giant wants to see communications, including those on personal devices, between the governor’s office and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s board and employees.

“The district appears to have made no effort to search for, collect, or review documents from personal email accounts or mobile devices of district board members or employees,” Steve Brody, a lawyer representing Disney, told Orange Circuit Court Judge Margaret Schreiber.

Brody asked the judge to order the district to produce the records within seven days. She took the matter under advisement and will issue a ruling later.

Paul Huck, a lawyer for the tourism oversight district, disputed Disney’s claim. He said officials have reviewed nearly 300,000 documents. The additional information sought by Disney isn’t relevant to the core issue of the lawsuit, which centers on a development agreement limiting the new board’s authority, Huck also told the judge. read more

Three Central Florida restaurants shut down the week of Jan. 14-20, according to data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Volusia County

Cafe Heavenly at 115 Flagler Ave. in New Smyrna Beach shut down on Jan. 16. Inspectors found 10 violations, five of which were a high priority. Those violations included rodent activity, a missing vacuum breaker, a stop-sale due to spoiled food and ready-to-eat food not being consumed or sold within a seven-day time period.

A second inspection on Jan. 17 found three violations. Authorities issued a time extension for the missing vacuum breaker.

The restaurant has reopened, but a follow-up inspection is required.

Brevard County

Wendy’s at 10 W. Merritt Island Causeway in Merritt Island shut down on Jan. 16. Inspectors found four violations, including one high-priority violation for raw sewage overflowing in the kitchen.

A second inspection the same day found zero violations.

The restaurant has reopened.

Osceola County

Melina’s Cafe LLC at 1126 E. Donegan Ave. in Kissimmee initially shut down on Jan. 12 but received a time extension on Jan. 16. read more

SeaWorld Orlando is getting ready to celebrate the fifth birthday of its Sesame Street Land, an event that will include chances to meet Mr. Snuffleupagus and other characters.

Festivities begin Saturday and run through April 28. Activities also will include a new Sesame Street Birthday parade, storytime with Big Bird, themed crafts and, for an additional fee, the Birthday Breakfast Bash and a scavenger hunt.

Special character interactions will vary with the date. Snuffy kicks things off from Jan. 27 through Feb. 4. That will be followed by Murray (Feb. 10-11, 17-18), Baby Bear (Feb. 24-25 and March 2-3) and Honker and Dinger (March 9-10, 16-17). Other characters such as Elmo, Cookie and Abby Cadabby are also on hand.

SeaWorld also plans dance parties plus a sing-along of “Happy Birthday” on the 123 Stoop after storytime with Big Bird.

The Birthday Bash will be held on Saturdays (plus Sunday, Jan. 28) during the celebration. Admission to SeaWorld is required for the meal, which is served at 9 a.m. at the park’s Seafire Grill. Menu includes glazed ham, bacon, turkey sausage links, biscuits with gravy, scrambled eggs, French toast sticks, fruit, yogurt, cereal and more. “Sesame Street friends” will be in attendance, SeaWorld says. read more

Chef Yoko Tagaki and her crew from Ramen Tagaki celevbrate with the Ramen Rumble belt after winning the Ramen Rumble at Morimoto Asia in Disney Springs on Tuesday, January 23, 2024. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

The Morimoto Asia restaurant is pictued during the Ramen Rumble at Morimoto Asia in Disney Springs on Tuesday, January 23, 2024. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

Chef Takeshi Ikeuchi is pictured during the Ramen Rumble at Morimoto Asia in Disney Springs on Tuesday, January 23, 2024. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

Chef Lewis Lin is pictured during the Ramen Rumble at Morimoto Asia in Disney Springs on Tuesday, January 23, 2024. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

Chef Wendy Lopez is pictured during the Ramen Rumble at Morimoto Asia in Disney Springs on Tuesday, January 23, 2024. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

Chef Sonny Nguyen is pictured during the Ramen Rumble at Morimoto Asia in Disney Springs on Tuesday, January 23, 2024. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel) read more

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings has blessed a plan to cut tourist tax revenues for the Visit Orlando marketing agency in an 11th-hour memo, completing a consensus as county commissioners head into a decision-making session today.

With Demings’ direction clear in his Monday memo, the commissioners aren’t likely to clash much in the session.

They’re mostly on the same page.

The commissioners’ discussions Monday and on Jan. 16 were recorded and noticed to the public, as required by  law. Commissioner Emily Bonilla arranged the broadcast of Monday’s two-hour session on her Facebook page.

In their conference-room meetings, commissioners reached consensus on:

• Cutting Visit Orlando’s share of tourist-tax revenue from 30% to 25%. The trim will give the not-for-profit marketing organization about $88 million to spend in 2024, about $17.5 million less than last year, according to Comptroller Phil Diamond’s revenue projections.
• Asking the comptroller to audit Visit Orlando travel expenses, which tripled from $2.4 million in 2021 to $7.5 million in 2022, according to a spreadsheet of Visit Orlando’s tax returns from 2015 through 2022. Demings said in his memo to the board that an audit would be “prudent.”
• Requiring that Visit Orlando add a commissioner as a voting member to its executive board. Demings suggested the role should be filled by the commissioner representing the district with the highest total of hotel property values. That would be Commissioner Nicole Wilson, whose west Orange district includes Disney hotel properties.
• Providing tourist-tax funding for $400 million in proposed upgrades at Camping World Stadium, including rebuilding the upper deck terrace and adding a 100,000-square-foot fieldhouse to the Orlando-owned stadium campus.
• Reallocating money from Visit Orlando’s cut to the Application Review Committee (ARC), which considers capital funding requests for arts and cultural venues. ARC has previously contributed funding for construction of Harriett’s Orlando Ballet Centre Auditorium and the renovation of the Orlando Philharmonic Plaza Live venue.

The money for all the projects comes from overnight visitors who pay the Tourist Development Tax or TDT, a 6% county surcharge on the cost of a hotel room, a home-sharing rental like Airbnb and other short-term lodgings.

The revenues, which hit record levels in both 2022 and 2023, can swing wildly as 2020 showed.

Amid COVID-19, when travel was restricted and theme parks closed, revenues crashed to record lows. read more