Flamingo Crossing Retail Center

[danlb_2000]

CP housing? Not a chance. They pay $1.00 out of $10.00 to them and the CP works to pay their rent.
How many rooms are there any to be? Just 10,400 or is that just phase one? Any idea with the permits ??

Not sure which "rooms" you are talking about, but the CP housing will have a total of 2614 units between the two projects.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Not sure which "rooms" you are talking about, but the CP housing will have a total of 2614 units between the two projects.

Yes. Sorry I didn’t clarify. I was trying to figure out how many college program kids can be housed in the complex and if there were more to be built.

 

[danlb_2000]

Yes. Sorry I didn’t clarify. I was trying to figure out how many college program kids can be housed in the complex and if there were more to be built.

Ah, I see where 10,400 came from, that is the number of beds in the complex.

 

[marni1971]

As you know, i used to live in Florida in the early 1980s. Nice place with lots of space and miles of flat, open landscape.
Quite a change from the Northeast where i came from.

Fast forward several years.
I will always remember the absolute shock i felt when i visited the Orlando area in 2000 after being away for so many years.
The ride alone from the airport was a real eye opener for me.
SO MUCH had been built up in the 11 years or so i had been elsewhere....it was mind blowing.
Condos as far as the eye can see....gigantic ( and i mean gigantic ) sized retail stores.
I-Drive was a sprawling, congested mess even more overdeveloped then i ever remembered it to be.

It was a real wake up visit.

When i come down periodically these days, i still marvel at the continuing (over)development of certain areas and watch as yet more and more flat land gets covered in housing.
I understand the demand, but man.....
There has to be some kind of restraint at some point or it is going to become just as suburban as the cities most people are fleeing from.

Florida in 1981 was a very different place then what it is today in 2020.

-

We generally drive from MCO west along the 417 each year. Even in the last ten years, each year when we first do the drive more and more has been built. The individual developments begin to merge into one single sprawl.

I first drove this section of the road just after it opened. It really was like the middle of nowhere in 1993. Not anymore.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Ah, I see where 10,400 came from, that is the number of beds in the complex.

Hopefully nothing beyond that for the full and part time cast members sake.

 

[Figments Friend]

We generally drive from MCO west along the 417 each year. Even in the last ten years, each year when we first do the drive more and more has been built. The individual developments begin to merge into one single sprawl.

I first drove this section of the road just after it opened. It really was like the middle of nowhere in 1993. Not anymore.

1993....
You should have seen it in 1981 when I first made the trek from MCO.
'In the middle of nowhere' would still apply, but back then it was more like a 'desolate otherworldly alternative universe'.
And I miss that, in a way.

It's difficult to describe now as things have changed SO much.
Florida back then was a completely different place with it's own quaint identity.
I miss the 'vintage Florida' from the days of yore.

-

 

[disney4life2008]

1993....
You should have seen it in 1981 when I first made the trek from MCO.
'In the middle of nowhere' would still apply, but back then it was more like a 'desolate otherworldly alternative universe'.
And I miss that, in a way.

It's difficult to describe now as things have changed SO much.
Florida back then was a completely different place with it's own quaint identity.
I miss the 'vintage Florida' from the days of yore.

-

Even I4 in the few miles prior to Disney (excluding the lake Buena Vista exit, used to be empty at least up through last year. In the last few months, resort style apartments, retail and dining have sprung up.

 

[marni1971]

1993....
You should have seen it in 1981 when I first made the trek from MCO..

-

1981 we made the trek from Jacksonville. Stayed at the Sheraton Twin Towers, overlooking what would become Universal Orlando. Scrubland as far as the eye could see.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I've lived here a little over a decade, and I remember when I first moved here, I used to love driving on Avalon road, which runs north-south to the west of WDW property. Back then, it was a rural road with nothing on it, and it was weird to think that just a few miles east was Walt Disney World. Similarly, toll road 429 offered a similar experience. Today, the road is largely developed with sprawling neighborhoods, though large amounts of open landscapes can still be seen on 429.

Also, US-192 from World Drive to 27 used to be mostly undeveloped beyond Formosa Gardens Blvd, but today the entire road is developed with major retail centers, resorts, and chain restaurants.

 

[Tom Morrow]

1981 we made the trek from Jacksonville. Stayed at the Sheraton Twin Towers, overlooking what would become Universal Orlando. Scrubland as far as the eye could see.

I'm surprised this hotel was there before Universal. Why was it there?

 

[marni1971]

I'm surprised this hotel was there before Universal. Why was it there?

No idea. Its what became the Doubletree. I’ve got a photo somewhere I took out the window of what became UOR. Little did I know.

Just found a postcard online from when it was the Sheraton - bills itself as 15 minutes from WDW.

@Tom Morrow , coz I can:

 

[Josh Hendy]

Love the historic memories and photos.

One of the things that surprised me on my first ever trip to Orlando circa 1993 was seeing orange groves and grazing cattle along I-4 on the short drive from OCCC to WDW

Oddly, the orange groves and cattle are gone but both tracts are still mostly undeveloped (on the west and east sides of I-4, respectively).

 

[Tom Morrow]

Love the historic memories and photos.

One of the things that surprised me on my first ever trip to Orlando circa 1993 was seeing orange groves and grazing cattle along I-4 on the short drive from OCCC to WDW

Oddly, the orange groves and cattle are gone but both tracts are still mostly undeveloped (on the west and east sides of I-4, respectively).

From WDW to downtown Orlando, there is only one small section along I4 left that isn't developed or being developed.

 

[celluloid]

Yeah, the Sheraton was a big deal because of convention space. That was a hot ticket(still is of course with International Drive businesses) and even before Uni and Uni's expansion that it would be a good deal.

 

[marni1971]

Yeah, the Sheraton was a big deal because of convention space. That was a hot ticket(still is of course with International Drive businesses) and even before Uni and Uni's expansion that it would be a good deal.

I assume it was built close enough to I-4 for the traffic, it billed itself as close to I-Drive (as much as it was back then) but far enough away for the land to be cheap in the early 70s.

 

[celluloid]

I assume it was built close enough to I-4 for the traffic, it billed itself as close to I-Drive (as much as it was back then) but far enough away for the land to be cheap in the early 70s.

I knew someone who worked there as a manager for about 20 years. That convention hall was a big deal for its time, believe it or not. Haha. I stayed there once just about four years ago. It is still "nice" enough. But of course, location now is just a Universal convnience. Rooms very nice and the pool is large.
When companies would come to Orlando for international drive fun, Sea World and of course WDW visits it was common for coporate trips to stay there.

 

[marni1971]

I knew someone who worked there as a manager for about 20 years. That convention hall was a big deal for its time, believe it or not. Haha. I stayed there once just about four years ago. It is still "nice" enough. But of course, location now is just a Universal convnience. Rooms very nice and the pool is large.
When companies would come to Orlando for international drive fun, Sea World and of course WDW visits it was common for coporate trips to stay there.

I’d assume it was one of the first big, purpose built resort hotels with proper convention space in the area?

 

[celluloid]

I’d assume it was one of the first big, purpose built resort hotels with convention space in the area?

Yeah, at least in that direct area and what we would consider today that sort of thing.
They did finally build an elevated pedestrian bridge to Universal's property berm sidewalk. That crosswalk was/is an accident waiting to happen(as I am sure there have been quite a few) people still choose to walk it instead of taking the effort for the ramps.
Close enough to Sea World and Disney, but also downtown for meetings and fun times on Church Street.

 

[disneyC97]

My mom had an aunt and uncle in Altamonte Springs that we would stay with in the 70s and 80s. We would get excited when we saw the hotel plaza hotels because we knew that we were almost at Disney World. It was very different with very little to see in the drive from their neighborhood to Disney. The Sea World tower and the Florida Festival tents also stood out. We would tune into the Disney AM radio station as soon as we hit property (no large entry signs!) which just heightened the excitement. Definitely a different time.

 

[castlecake2.0]

Photos from today. Does anyone know of this area will be themed at all? Like with the colored street signs etc, or to reedy creek? None of the above?