Project Near Festival Bay Put on Hold
ORLANDO (Orlando Sentinel) -- An amusement park and nightclub complex planned near Festival Bay mall on International Drive has been put on hold. Orlando architect and theme park designer C.T. Hsu said a South Carolina concessions company that planned to invest in the project changed its mind earlier this summer, throwing Hsu's project behind schedule. "It has a lot to do with the economy," he said. "So, they're putting it on the backburner." Other investors are still committed, but Hsu said it's unclear now when the amusement park will be finished. Developer Belz Enterprises announced the project in early 1998 and said at the time it would open in spring 2000. Belz's Web site now gives a grand opening date of April 3, 2003. Hsu wants to build an indoor amusement park and nightclub tentatively called the Factory Fun House and a 15-acre Festival Board-walk. Preliminary plans call for an indoor roller coaster and a 200-foot Ferris wheel. Belz, a Tennessee com-pany whose holdings include Orlando's Peabody Hotel and Belz Factory Outlet World, is building the mall in phases. Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, Vans Skatepark and a 20-screen Cinemark theater are open already and will be connected by the mall.
ORLANDO (Orlando Sentinel) -- An amusement park and nightclub complex planned near Festival Bay mall on International Drive has been put on hold. Orlando architect and theme park designer C.T. Hsu said a South Carolina concessions company that planned to invest in the project changed its mind earlier this summer, throwing Hsu's project behind schedule. "It has a lot to do with the economy," he said. "So, they're putting it on the backburner." Other investors are still committed, but Hsu said it's unclear now when the amusement park will be finished. Developer Belz Enterprises announced the project in early 1998 and said at the time it would open in spring 2000. Belz's Web site now gives a grand opening date of April 3, 2003. Hsu wants to build an indoor amusement park and nightclub tentatively called the Factory Fun House and a 15-acre Festival Board-walk. Preliminary plans call for an indoor roller coaster and a 200-foot Ferris wheel. Belz, a Tennessee com-pany whose holdings include Orlando's Peabody Hotel and Belz Factory Outlet World, is building the mall in phases. Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, Vans Skatepark and a 20-screen Cinemark theater are open already and will be connected by the mall.