Things To Do In SW Florida

The Wheel at ICON Park is The Orlando Eye once again after the 400-foot-tall Ferris wheel sold Monday to Merlin Entertainments, the British group that owns Legoland.

The sale puts the wheel on Orlando’s International Drive back in the hands of the company that first operated it from 2015 to 2018. It also unites it with two other Merlin properties at ICON Park, Madame Tussauds Orlando and Sea Life Aquarium Orlando.

Merlin and ICON Park did not reveal the sale price.

“Today’s acquisition of the [Orlando Eye] in the vitally important tourist hub of Orlando demonstrates our gateway strategy in action,” said Merlin CEO Scott O’Neill, referring to the company’s “mega-clusters” of attractions around the world, including the similar London Eye in England.

The Eye is now the fifth Merlin attraction in Florida. Others are Legoland Florida and the adjacent Peppa Pig Theme Park in Polk County.

Chris Jaskiewicz, president and CEO of ICON Park on International Drive, said he was “proud that Merlin recognized the global appeal of this attraction, and of ICON Park as a destination, in selecting us as the site to expand their popular brands in Central Florida.” read more

NEW YORK (AP) — Trump Media & Technology Group, whose flagship product is social networking site Truth Social, will begin trading on the Nasdaq stock market on Tuesday.

Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded shell company, approved a deal to merge with the Trump’s media business in a Friday vote.

Shares of Digital World have been volatile. On Friday the stock slumped 13.7% after the merger was approved. On Monday, it soared 35.2% to $49.95.

Former President Donald Trump is set to own most of the combined company — or nearly 79 million shares, with a value of nearly $4 billion.

Trump won’t be able to cash out his stake in the Palm Beach, Florida-based company immediately, unless the company’s board makes changes to a “lock-up” provision that prevents company insiders from selling newly issued shares for six months.

The former president was in New York Monday attending a hearing on his criminal hush money case. Elsewhere, a New York appeals court reduced to $175 million what he must post in cash or a bond while appealing a $454 million civil fraud ruling.. read more

DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER:  My family and I recently rented a house through Vrbo for a vacation stay in Hawaii. When we entered the home, we were immediately hit with a strong smell of mold. Upon further inspection, we noted and took pictures of black mold located on the smoke detector, the pictures hanging on the walls, the shower stall and the windowsills.

One of the members of my party is a 17-year-old who has severe asthma. She has been hospitalized in the past on several occasions for this and continues to be under the direct care of a respiratory specialist. So, I immediately contacted the homeowner, who was very kind and suggested that we get in touch with Vrbo for assistance. The homeowner offered to cancel the reservation if we did not feel comfortable staying there.

I contacted Vrbo, and a representative assured me that we were covered by its “Book With Confidence Guarantee.” Vrbo sent us an email authorizing us to spend $15,138 for a new place, which was double what we originally paid. The new place was $21,014, but we had no choice, since there was an extremely limited inventory available on Oahu for seven people at the last minute. A representative assured me that Vrbo would cover the entire amount. read more

By HALELUYA HADERO and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO (Associated Press)

NEW YORK (AP) — If content creators and corporate executives made TikTok videos about the platform’s possible U.S. demise, disco diva Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” could supply the soundtrack.

Sure, businesses that built strategies around TikTok and promote products there would prefer not to seek eyeballs on another app. Smaller firms and solo entrepreneurs are bound to feel more pain in the event of a breakup. But if the popular video-sharing service remains under Chinese ownership and Congress bans it, many companies would learn to get along.

A lot of “What ifs” still surround a bill the U.S. House passed this month that would mandate TikTok′s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell its stake in the platform within six months or face a nationwide ban. It’s unclear when the Senate will take up the legislation or if it will approve a ban when it does.

Big brands that have relied on TikTok to reach younger consumers do not appear to be panicking as they wait to see what happens in Washington. But they also have started planning. Some are retooling promotional campaigns that were originally intended just for TikTok. Many are testing alternatives and prioritizing work with influencers who have sizable followings on multiple social media platforms. read more

By MARY CLARE JALONICK (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The young voices in the messages left for North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis were laughing, but the words were ominous.

“OK, listen, if you ban TikTok I will find you and shoot you,” one said, giggling and talking over other young voices in the background. “I’ll shoot you and find you and cut you into pieces.” Another threatened to kill Tillis, and then take their own life.

Tillis’s office says it has received around 1,000 calls about TikTok since the House passed legislation this month that would ban the popular app if its China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake. TikTok has been urging its users — many of whom are young — to call their representatives, even providing an easy link to the phone numbers. “The government will take away the community that you and millions of other Americans love,” read one pop-up message from the company when users opened the app.

Tillis, who supports the House bill, reported the call to the police. “What I hated about that was it demonstrates the enormous influence social media platforms have on young people,” he said in an interview. read more