Things To Do In SW Florida

Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando have shared details about annual-passholder previews for a pair of coming attractions: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Magic Kingdom at DreamWorks Land at Universal Studios theme park.

Both have official opening dates in late June, but passholders will be able to get early looks at the projects.

Previews for Disney World passholders will happen on June 13, 14, 16, 17, 18 and 20, and the park is using a virtual queue for the event.  Park reservations are required in most instances for these previews.

Disney, via email, instructs passholders to make reservations for Magic Kingdom on the desired date to have a shot at the 7 a.m. virtual queue, accessed via the My Disney Experience app. Or, Disney says, they can make reservation for one of its other three theme parks on preview dates to join the 1 p.m. queue.

Passholders do not have to have entered any park to request the virtual queue, but if they have requested Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios or Disney’s Animal Kingdom parks, they must enter those parks before traveling over to Magic Kingdom. This is the way. read more

Cirque du Soleil is adding a behind-the-scenes tour for “Drawn to Life,” its production at Disney Springs. The new Page to Stage Signature Experience includes a ticket with premium seating to the show, a meet-and-greet with an artist, a gift bag, a souvenir popcorn bucket and more.

A guided post-show tour of the theater — including backstage and beneath the stage — is the cherry on top.

“We’re hoping for people to walk away feeling a sense of joy, feeling a sense of real connection to the show. It’s such a nice chance for us to be able to share the inside workings of our world with people because people are blown away by the show,” Justin Sullivan, artistic director, said after a preview of the experience.

Page to Stage nights launch May 24, and they’ll be available for the 8 p.m. show on Fridays and Saturdays. Without being too spoiler-y, here are seven takeaways from the experience preview.

Stage directions

The stage of the theater was revamped after “La Nouba” closed in late 2017. It now reflects the “Drawn to Life” storyline of an animator and his young daughter Julie, and the stage has permanent fixtures that are greatly enlarged elements found on Julie’s dad’s desk, including a pencil sharpener and container, eraser and lamp. read more

At least six Red Lobster restaurants in Central Florida were listed as “temporarily closed” on the Orlando-based seafood chain’s website Monday, the latest blow to a financially struggling company that reportedly is considering whether to declare bankruptcy.

The restaurants affected included three in Orlando at 3552 E. Colonial Drive, 7373 W. Colonial Drive and 8003 Golden Sky Lane; in Altamonte Springs at 340 State Road 436; in Sanford at 20 Towne Center Circle; and Kissimmee at 4010 W. Vine Street.

Other metro Orlando locations of the chain appeared to be open as usual, according to the website.

Other cities around the nation also were reporting similar closings. FOX 61 in Hartford, Conn., reported 80 locations in at least 27 states were on the list. Red Lobster has about 650 restaurants in all.

A spokesperson for the company could not be reached for comment.

Red Lobster has been struggling financially for years. The company’s main investor, Thai Union, cut ties to the chain earlier this year and said it would be looking for a buyer. read more

By late spring, homebuying season is in full swing. And right when all the good listings start popping up, so does summer wanderlust — especially if you were cooped up all winter.

House hunting can be exhausting, especially in today’s competitive market. So if you need a vacation, are you throwing away your shot at success?

Karen Wilder, a real estate agent with Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty in Charlestown, Rhode Island, doesn’t think so.

“Sometimes, it can be the best thing for your search for you to just take a little time off,” she says.

If you want to travel and house-hunt at the same time, you have to plan ahead and consider your short- and long-term goals. Here’s how to balance the homebuying process with a much-needed summer getaway.

Weigh your priorities

First, gut-check your travel plans against FOMO: the fear of missing out. In a hot market, home shoppers need to act fast when a great house gets listed. Maybe you have a truly can’t-miss trip — say, your bestie’s destination wedding or a major work conference. But if you have the option to schedule your travel later, it might be worth it to wait. read more

Harnessing the body’s own cells to fight disease, long a medical dream, is finally a reality.

Now comes the bill.

Last month, Stanford became the first hospital in the nation to use a new $515,000 cell therapy to treat a patient with advanced melanoma. A related approach, costing $420,000 to $475,000, is offering hope to patients with lethal blood cancers.

Meanwhile, cells fixed by gene therapy can slow, even stop, the progression of intractable diseases like sickle cell or beta thalassemia — for the extraordinary price of $2.1 million to $4.25 million each.

This is the future of medicine, experts agree. But the cost of this new class of medical treatment is raising alarm about availability and affordability, even as its potential grows. It’s time to re-imagine our payment models, they said.

“Cell and gene therapies have the possibility to transform thousands of lives but only if we ensure sustainable access to them for all patients,” said Sarah Emond, president of the influential Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, a Boston-based nonprofit that assesses the value of medicines. read more