Things To Do In SW Florida

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is offering a reduced admission rate for some Central Florida residents for a limited time. The attraction’s Mercury Offer is a $19 one-day admission ($14 for ages 3-11) on specific dates.

Residents of Orange and Osceola counties get this deal Sept. 9-15, then residents of Seminole and Volusia counties get the $19 rate Sept. 16-22.  A one-day admission ticket normally costs $75 ($65 for ages 3-11).

Mercury Offer tickets must be purchased at the attraction’s will call and information areas or at kiosks at the entrance. Proof of residency — a driver’s license or utility bill — is required to land the special rate. A limit of six admissions can be obtained per transaction.

Salute to Brevard, an annual discounted ticket deal for residents of Brevard County, will be available again in October, the attraction said.

The visitor complex, located in Brevard County, features Space Shuttle Atlantis on display, the Shuttle Launch Experience attraction, astronaut training simulators, the Heroes & Legends presentation with the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, Spaceport KSC virtual experiences, Rocket Garden, IMAX theater, “All Systems Are Go” stage show, an assortment of space-flown vessels and relics, a bus tour and more. read more

Tickets for next year’s productions of  “Drawn to Life,” the Cirque du Soleil show based at Disney Springs, are now on sale.  The company also is expanding its schedule of behind-the-scenes tours called Page to Stage Signature Experience.

Performances are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays in 2025. There will be matinee shows at 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Sundays. “Drawn to Life” debuted in late 2021 after Cirque’s 19-year run of “La Nouba” at the theater, located in the shopping complex’s West Side neighborhood.

The show features Disney characters and stories in a Cirque du Soleil fashion and centers around an animator and his young daughter, Julie.

Cirque du Soleil, Disney revamp ‘Drawn to Life’ finale

Ticket costs vary by date and seat, ranging between $75 and $162.

The Page to Stage tour will be available five days a week starting Oct. 2. It has been offered three days a week since its introduction this spring. The experience includes premium seating, a backstage tour, an artist meet-and-greet, plus a snack and beverage.  The posted price for 2025 is $258. read more

DETROIT (AP) — Another death has been linked to dangerous Takata air bag inflators by U.S. regulators, the 28th in the United States.

The driver was killed in 2018 in Alabama in a Honda vehicle, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said, but gave no further details. It says the death underscores the need for people to replace recalled air bag inflators.

Takata used ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate air bags in a crash. But the chemical can deteriorate over time due to high heat and humidity and explode with too much force. That can blow apart a metal canister and send shrapnel into the passenger compartment. More than 400 people in the U.S. have been hurt.

Worldwide at least 36 people have been killed by Takata inflators in Malaysia, Australia and the U.S.

Honda said in a statement that the Alabama death occurred in Etowah County and involved a 2004 Honda Civic. It involved a high speed crash which complicated efforts to definitively determine the cause of death. read more

NASA’s second mobile launcher needed for future missions in the Artemis program is already years late and millions over budget, and NASA’s Office of the Inspector General warns it could get even worse.

In an audit released last week, the OIG said the mobile launcher 2 (ML-2), which was originally awarded a $383 million contract in 2019 for delivery by 2023 but only began construction at Kennedy Space Center last August, could continue to see ballooning costs and delays so that once delivered it will cost taxpayers more than $2.7 billion and not be ready until 2029.

“Despite progress since our last report, NASA has struggled to develop a reliable cost and schedule estimate for the ML-2 project and incentivize significant improvement in contractor performance,” reads the OIG report. “Given the importance of ML-2 for future Artemis missions, it is critical that NASA effectively manage the project to control cost increases and avoid further schedule delays.”

The first Artemis launch took place in 2022 on the existing mobile launcher (ML-1), but ML-2 is needed to support a larger version of the Space Launch System rocket that will be used beginning with the Artemis IV mission. read more

For nearly a year, residents at Lake Runnymeade Mobile Home Park in St. Cloud have turned on their faucets only to get discolored water with the aroma of rotten eggs. But often, nothing at all comes out.

The problem has gotten so bad that some residents take buckets of slimy green liquid from the park’s unchlorinated pool to flush toilets. The flow of water is sporadic, they say, but they can go as many as 13 hours a day without it.

“It was H-E-double hockey sticks,” said Angela Silas, a Lake Runnymeade resident of nearly 13 years, using a euphemism for “hell.” “I had to go out and get water bottles just so we could wash our hands … the kids couldn’t take showers until 10:30 at night.”

Runnymeade residents say park management tells them the water pump isn’t working consistently due to electrical issues that frequently trip the breaker. They have contacted local and state officials looking for a fix, but they say it’s been to no avail, although the state is now monitoring water quality in the park and insists it is safe to drink. Many residents say they want to leave as they face increasing rents and calls to management go unanswered — but they’re stuck as they can’t find anything affordable. read more