A Spirited Perfect Ten

[HauntedMansionFLA]

So I will add to this description of the frenetic and congested atmosphere that was DTD last night. Behold.

View attachment 101977

View attachment 101978

The first image is from outside the Boathouse and Hangar area. There was a band playing there also last night. Actually, there were music acts everywhere you looked, but the Landing area was mayhem. I can only imagine what it will be like when STK, Morimoto's, the Hangar and the Edison are open.

The second photo is from the high line structure at the food truck park. Another congested spot.

I can't tell if completing thre rest of DS will transform the crowds into something better or worse.

Well , hopefully when everything is done it will be able to handle huge crowds and be a place for families to g at night besides the parks.

 

[GymLeaderPhil]

Team doom and gloom agrees. I don't see those higher end places absorbing all the people. They need much more for the average family.

I was there Thursday evening and experienced the same level of crowds.

Chapel Hats, Erin McKenna's Bakery/Babycakes, and the restaurants (Boathouse, Raglan, and Paradiso) were busy.

But once you turn the corner the small store fronts had absolutely very little traffic. The Joffreys Tea location was dead.

I'm not sure if it has to due with that side of the walkway having steps/stairs that do not encourage the flow of traffic, but it was odd.

 

[bhg469]

I was there Thursday evening and experienced the same level of crowds.

Chapel Hats, Erin McKenna's Bakery/Babycakes, and the restaurants (Boathouse, Raglan, and Paradiso) were busy.

But once you turn the corner the small store fronts had absolutely very little traffic. The Joffreys Tea location was dead.

I'm not sure if it has to due with that side of the walkway having steps/stairs that do not encourage the flow of traffic, but it was odd.

It's been a few moths for me but the walls were sort of a distraction. I'm sure traffic flow will increase tremendously once the paths are open but I see a lot of people in those shops too. Chapel hats especially, funny thing is I don't see people walking out with hats.

 

[JenniferS]

Snow I don't mind. It's the lake effect madness that I've grown up with that drives me crazy. We occasionally have bad storms, and rarely even a tornado will blow through but a blizzard that no one really expects, it's just unreal, and we are tough to crack. We aren't NYC or Boston that just has no way to deal with it either.

It sounds terrible but every bad hurricane I've ever heard of had lots of warning . Our last two major storms left every metrologist scratching their heads.

We flew from MCO into Buffalo, late evening 11/11. No problems.

A friend of mine had run a marathon in Las Vegas, and landed 3 or 4 days later, becoming an unwilling guest at one of the airport hotels for 8 days!

Proving once again, that no good comes from strenuous exercise.

 

[JenniferS]

Problem is I have a job, a great one that only allows me to go where my clients are. Currently we have a hold out and it's in tampa. It's currently the only city that we are trying to get. I was offered cleveland, aka buffalo with less snow, and houston, which intrigued me but we have family in fl and they would be a big perk of going down.

Lake effect must mean something totally different in Indiana though, because that huge body of water next to me causes a lot more trouble for us and syracuse than any other place in the country for snow and humidity if you can believe it. We often are more sticky in the summer than some times in florida so I can definitely acclimate. Not to mention we are tough people, very tough. 4 straight superbowwl losses makes you stronger and out most famous player was a murderer, well Baltimore knows about that part too...

Anyway for me, for now florida is the right move for us, weather only being a minor part of it. Its just based on people making decisions down there.

Go for it! Tens of thousands of Canadian Snowbirds can't be wrong.
Hoping to join their ranks sooner rather than later.

Bonus - spring training in Dunedin. Sign me up!

 

[aladdin2007]

I was there Thursday evening and experienced the same level of crowds.

Chapel Hats, Erin McKenna's Bakery/Babycakes, and the restaurants (Boathouse, Raglan, and Paradiso) were busy.

But once you turn the corner the small store fronts had absolutely very little traffic. The Joffreys Tea location was dead.

I'm not sure if it has to due with that side of the walkway having steps/stairs that do not encourage the flow of traffic, but it was odd.

I find the whole layout a bit weird. And its way too much concrete with no trees or shade. I guess for me its all a bit too industrial/urban in that part of it and prefer the other side myself.

 

[Nubs70]

Problem is I have a job, a great one that only allows me to go where my clients are. Currently we have a hold out and it's in tampa. It's currently the only city that we are trying to get. I was offered cleveland, aka buffalo with less snow, and houston, which intrigued me but we have family in fl and they would be a big perk of going down.

Lake effect must mean something totally different in Indiana though, because that huge body of water next to me causes a lot more trouble for us and syracuse than any other place in the country for snow and humidity if you can believe it. We often are more sticky in the summer than some times in florida so I can definitely acclimate. Not to mention we are tough people, very tough. 4 straight superbowwl losses makes you stronger and out most famous player was a murderer, well Baltimore knows about that part too...

Anyway for me, for now florida is the right move for us, weather only being a minor part of it. Its just based on people making decisions down there.

Plus you get an instant income boost due to no state income tax.

 

[Figments Friend]

They did a fantastic job handling crowds for the 2013 Expo. I had absolutely no issues and the only thing I had to wait a long time for was the live action movies presentation. Even that, it was only an hour or two and I probably didn't need to wait that long.

This is encouraging for me to read.
I am attending my first D23 Expo next month and have been concerned about the crowds and panel lines.
I keep reading the horror stories from the 2011 Event, and the sporadic reviews of the 2013 Event.

Reading this made me feel a little better about what's to come.
Thanks.

 

[gmajew]

Those that like the Marvel Movies Ant-Man was very good. Exceeded my expectations. It was a great orgin story.

 

[bhg469]

Plus you get an instant income boost due to no state income tax.

And the property taxes are comical compared to our tiny home. Thanks NY!

 

[Phil12]

Snow I don't mind. It's the lake effect madness that I've grown up with that drives me crazy. We occasionally have bad storms, and rarely even a tornado will blow through but a blizzard that no one really expects, it's just unreal, and we are tough to crack. We aren't NYC or Boston that just has no way to deal with it either.

It sounds terrible but every bad hurricane I've ever heard of had lots of warning . Our last two major storms left every metrologist scratching their heads.

I agree with you 100%. Bad hurricanes in Florida are not common and you can prepare for them. You just have to make sure your house is not close to the water and has sufficient elevation and not located in a floodplain. Wind damage can be stopped (even with Cat. 5 storms) with appropriate building techniques and/or retrofits where necessary. Houses that meet the wind mitigation standards save on homeowners insurance costs and residents can be secure in sheltering in their homes rather than evacuating. The Tampa Bay area is great!

 

[bhg469]

Go for it! Tens of thousands of Canadian Snowbirds can't be wrong.
Hoping to join their ranks sooner rather than later.

Bonus - spring training in Dunedin. Sign me up!

Not one of mine yet but maybe someday. I do work directly for their AAA club.

I threaten the lives of the other coworkers here that try to take my spring training gig though.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

We flew from MCO into Buffalo, late evening 11/11. No problems.

A friend of mine had run a marathon in Las Vegas, and landed 3 or 4 days later, becoming an unwilling guest at one of the airport hotels for 8 days!

Proving once again, that no good comes from strenuous exercise.

The street that the airport is on was the literal dividing line between driving ban and no driving ban. If the airport were even two miles further south, they would have had four more feet of snow. Also, the crew there is very good at clearing snow from the runways; they literally train crews from other areas in how to deal with snow.

Thank you for the free shoes in the mall parking lots, as always!

 

[bhg469]

I agree with you 100%. Bad hurricanes in Florida are not common and you can prepare for them. You just have to make sure your house is not close to the water and has sufficient elevation and not located in a floodplain. Wind damage can be stopped (even with Cat. 5 storms) with appropriate building techniques and/or retrofits where necessary. Houses that meet the wind mitigation standards save on homeowners insurance costs and residents can be secure in sheltering in their homes rather than evacuating. The Tampa Bay area is great!

My wife is on zillow every night. Hopefully soon.

 

[bhg469]

The street that the airport is on was the literal dividing line between driving ban and no driving ban. Also, the crew there is very good at clearing snow from the runways; they literally train crews from other areas in how to deal with snow.

Thank you for the free shoes in the mall parking lots, as always!

That's the street I posted and live right off of. We got lucky but not very.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

That's the street I posted and live right off of. We got lucky but not very.

My house is a couple miles west of the northern end of the airport. We got about 2'-3', spread out pretty evenly over the course of the storm. We were lucky.

 

[JenniferS]

The street that the airport is on was the literal dividing line between driving ban and no driving ban. If the airport were even two miles further south, they would have had four more feet of snow. Also, the crew there is very good at clearing snow from the runways; they literally train crews from other areas in how to deal with snow.

Thank you for the free shoes in the mall parking lots, as always!

The shoes aren't from me. Unlike some others I might know, we actually go for 48 hours and claim everything we buy.
Actually headed that way next Sunday. Now to chose which Salvatore's .... Always Joe for Christmas, and lately Papa for summer.

 

[JenniferS]

My wife is on zillow every night. Hopefully soon.

My husband's wife is on Zillow every night too.
Too bad the CAD has absolutely tanked since we first started looking.

 

[TimeTrip]

Chain restaurants only. Bad pizza. Bad sports.

I would amend to mostly chain restaurants. There are a lot of places around that are great eating... You just need to figure out where they are
Oh and if you look hard enough there at good pizza places...
But generally yeah.. Mostly chain restaurants.

 

[TimeTrip]

, traffic as bad or worse than around major North American cities

Having worked out on long island for 4 years and having to travel off the island quite often.. Orlando traffic is comparatively a breeze.. Around NYC you hit walls of traffic all the time at all parts of the day. As long as you're avoiding i4 around rush hour Orlando is fine.. IMO.