Things To Do In SW Florida

A new attraction is about to take off at SeaWorld Orlando. Its Expedition Odyssey, a “flying theater” type of ride will transport visitors, virtually, from Florida to a much cooler clime – the Arctic.

We won’t see T-shirts that say this, but we could nickname it Soarin’ (and Submergin’) in the Arctic a la the popular Epcot ride. The big-screen footage comes from several weeks of outings to spy wildlife and wondrous landscapes.

The official opening of Expedition Odyssey is May 9, but passholder previews are underway now.

The real world

Take a second to realize what this is not. It’s not CGI. Those are real animals in a real frozen environment.

“We’re SeaWorld, and those animals are – even more so in the motion – the most important thing for us. We really wanted to create those moments and that connection with the animals.” said Conner Carr, corporate vice president of rides and engineering for United Parks & Resorts, SeaWorld’s parent company.

When the polar bear makes eye contact with riders or whales appear on cue from underneath an ice slab, it’s luck plus keen editing. read more

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. eased again this week, modest relief for prospective home shoppers during what’s traditionally the busiest time of the year for the housing market.

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The rate fell to 6.76% from 6.81% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 7.22%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also fell. The average rate dropped to 5.92% from 5.94% last week. It’s down from 6.47% a year ago, Freddie Mac said.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including global demand for U.S. Treasurys, the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions and bond market investors’ expectations for future inflation. read more

TALLAHASSEE — Saying they are responding to residents’ concerns about rising costs, the Florida Legislature on Wednesday signed off on proposed changes to condominium-safety laws passed after the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside that killed 98 people.

The measure (HB 913), approved unanimously by the House and Senate, is now headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has made changing the condo laws one of his top priorities of this year’s legislative session.

The laws, passed in 2022 and tweaked in 2023, included requiring “milestone inspections” of older buildings and “structural integrity reserve studies” to determine how much money should be saved for future major repairs.

Milestone inspections were supposed to be completed by the end of 2024 for certain older buildings that are three stories or higher. Some condo associations hit owners with large assessments in the race to comply with the deadline. Assessments are in addition to homeowners’ regular association fees. read more

By MATT O’BRIEN

Artificial intelligence “agents” are supposed to be more than chatbots. The tech industry has spent months pitching AI personal assistants that know what you want and can do real work on your behalf.

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So far, they’re not doing much.

Visa hopes to change that by giving them your credit card. Set a budget and some preferences and these AI agents — successors to ChatGPT and its chatbot peers — could find and buy you a sweater, weekly groceries or an airplane ticket.

“We think this could be really important,” said Jack Forestell, Visa’s chief product and strategy officer, in an interview. “Transformational, on the order of magnitude of the advent of e-commerce itself.” read more

By Eliza Haverstock, NerdWallet

After a five-year suspension that began in March 2020, the Trump administration is turning the student loan default collections machine back on. Millions of borrowers with defaulted loans are poised to face severe consequences starting on Monday, May 5.

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  Data: 2025 high school grads facing $40k in college student loans

“Resuming collections protects taxpayers from shouldering the cost of federal student loans that borrowers willingly undertook to finance their postsecondary education,” the Education Department said in a press release.

The far-reaching consequences of student loan default can hit a borrower all at once. The government can withhold portions of Social Security checks, take tax refunds and garnish paychecks. Credit scores plummet, making it difficult to buy a house, rent an apartment or get a job. Borrowers can’t get more student loans to go back to school or access loan relief options. Potential costs include court and collections fees. read more