Things To Do In SW Florida

By Elizabeth Ayoola, NerdWallet

When you think about some of the biggest sales of the year, Cyber Monday probably makes the cut. Whether you’re getting ready to snag major deals on items you’ve been eyeing all year, or want to get holiday gifts for less, here’s what you need to know about the upcoming sales.

When is Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday is a major retail event that takes place on the Monday after Thanksgiving. In 2024, Cyber Monday is Dec. 2. The online shopping event can be traced to 2005 when the National Retail Federation gave the day an official name.

What is Cyber Monday?

In some ways, it’s a byproduct of Black Friday, which was once primarily a brick-and-mortar shopping event.

“Black Friday started out as one day. And then with the rise of the internet and online shopping, they’ve kind of realized, ‘Oh, we can capitalize on this. We can have an in-store day, and we can have an online day,’” says Samantha Gordon, a deals editor at Consumer Reports.

Cyber Monday trends over the years

Cyber Monday has grown in popularity over the years, so much so that it surpassed Black Friday sales in 2023. read more

The Legends Panel held during this year’s IAAPA Expo featured a trio of writers with attractions experience. Attendees heard from Bob Weis, former president of Walt Disney Imagineering; Margaret Kerrison, author of “Reimagined Worlds: Narrative Place-Making for People, Play and Purpose” and member of the team who created Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge for Disney parks; and Joe Pine, author of “The Experience Economy” and co-founder of Strategic Horizons.

The panel, moderated and organized by Bob Roberts of BRC Imagination Arts, covered several topics in the 90-minute session, including authenticity in attractions, the role of technology, what has (and hasn’t changed) in the business and their future works, including Weis’ novel “Ghost Dog,” which spins off his favorite attraction, the Haunted Mansion.

It was a blend of war stories and inspirational tales. Here are three topics about which the threesome shared thoughts and observations.

On what theme parks can learn from video games

KERRISON: “I grew up in the ’80s. I played a ton of Nintendo, and I tell the story how, as a kid, as a 7-year-old or 8-year-old, playing Oregon Trail and feeling like I have such power and agency to help guide my team to death or survival. As a kid, that’s very empowering. So, to think about immersive experiences that give that sense of power and agency and personalization and customization and giving it my perspective and my point of view of where I want to go, what I want to do, the things that the people that I want to meet and talk to … it just opens up a world of possibilities that gaming has given us for decades. So how we create, like, physical worlds – both digital and physical worlds – that can help to capture a lot of that excitement we feel when we explore these worlds and get lost in it. And how do we feel that sense of urgency?” read more

By DAVID KOENIG, AP Airlines Writer

DALLAS (AP) — Delta and United have become the most profitable U.S. airlines by targeting premium customers while also winning back a significant share of travelers on a tight budget.

That is squeezing smaller low-fare carriers like Spirit Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday. Some travel-industry experts think Spirit’s troubles indicate that travelers on a budget will be left with fewer choices and higher prices.

Other discount airlines are on much better financial footing than Spirit, but they too are lagging far behind the full-service airlines when it comes to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Most industry experts think Frontier Airlines and other so-called ultra-low-cost carriers will fill the vacuum if Spirit shrinks, and that there is still plenty of competition to prevent prices from spiking.

Spirit Airlines has lost more than $2.2 billion since the start of 2020. Frontier has not reported a full-year profit since 2019, although that slump might end this year. And Allegiant Air’s parent company is still profitable, but less so than before the pandemic. read more

DETROIT (AP) — Hyundai and Kia are recalling over 208,000 electric vehicles to fix a pesky problem that can cause loss of drive power, increasing the risk of a crash.

The recalls cover more than 145,000 Hyundai and Genesis vehicles including the 2022 through 2024 Ioniq 5, the 2023 through 2025 Ioniq 6, GV60 and GV70, and the 2023 and 2024 G80.

Also included are nearly 63,000 Kia EV 6 vehicles from 2022 through 2024.

The affiliated Korean automakers say in government documents that a transistor in a charging control unit can be damaged and stop charging the 12-volt battery.

Walt Disney World has confirmed the future location of its land based on “Monsters, Inc.,” and the ripple effect will send the Muppets packing to another location — and attraction — within Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park.

The Monsters land, featuring a suspended-vehicle roller coaster, will be added to the south side of the park, according to a Friday post on the official Disney Parks Blog, and this will displace MuppetVision 3D, the show that has been in place since 1991.

The Muppets’ displacement will move the characters to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, an indoor roller coaster that has featured rock band Aerosmith since the ride opened in 1999.  The revision will be the first Disney ride to feature the Muppets, Disney says.

“There’s sure to be laughter, screams and new tunes for this attraction for fans to enjoy throughout the adventure and plenty of Muppets-themed merchandise on Sunset Boulevard,” the blog post reads.

No closing schedule is given, although the post says there’s “still enough time” to see the Aerosmith version and MuppetVision 3D. read more