The Orange County Regional History Center has upcoming programming that revolves around the famous people who lived here and the former theme parks.
Downtown Orlando Museum has chosen an eclectic trio to shine a spotlight on “History Alive: Famous Floridians,” set on Saturday. Imagine writer Zola Neil Hurston, astronaut John Young, and calm painter/TV personality Bob Ross at dinner.
Of course, that doesn’t happen. However, during a day’s activities at the History Center, he tested zero gravity skills using NASA boxes that mimic astronaut training, working with Oil Pastel to create a Ross-inspired landscape, and was able to create a vintage look. Write poems on a typewriter.
Of the threesome, Ross is the only Florida native from Daytona Beach. Hurston and Young moved to Eatonville and Orlando as young children, respectively.
They all went far, but the young man literally went far the far, walking the moon in 1972 as part of the crew of the Apollo 16. He was also the first commander of the Space Shuttle Program, which first flew in 1981. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Part of the Harlem Renaissance movement of the 1920s and 1930s, Hurston was a prolific satirist and writer known for his novel Their Eyes Seen God and other works. She died in Fort Pierce in 1960, where she was buried.
Ross passed away in Orlando in 1995. He was buried at Woodland Memorial Park in Gotha.
On March 7th, the History Center will host “Lunch & Learning: A Charming, Abolished Circus World Theme Park.”
Curry Turner, the museum’s education curator, leads a session that reflects on the attractions in Polk County, which closed in 1986.
This attraction has had multiple owners over the years, including Mattel, Irvinfeld and Harcourt Brace Giovanovic. HBJ has transformed the park into a boardwalk and baseball. It was closed shortly after it was purchased by Busch Entertainment Corp in 1990.
For more information, visit historycenter.org.
Island H2O reopens
On March 7th, Kissimmee Island H2O Water Park will resume its season on March 7th, but a Pass Holder Preview Party will take place on March 6th.
The attraction is to add the Island Nights Adult Party to the event lineup starting March 29th. In the evening, after normal opening hours, there will be less crowds of water slides and other attractions among the DJs, foam parties and all adult crowds.
More information: IslandH2owaterpark.com.
Zoo brewing
Brewing around the zoo will return to the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens on April 12th.
A fundraiser for Sanford Attraction, the event features over 35 craft beers as well as a selection of wine and seltzers while walking around the zoo.
General admission tickets are $50. Early admission tickets for $99 will give owners an hour head start. Food can also be purchased.
It is an opportunity for people over the age of 21. For more information, visit centralfloridazoo.org.
I’m flying again
Return to the sky after months of absence: Pteranodon Flyers attraction on Universal Adventure Island.
It returned without fanfare, but it seems it stopped service in the first half of 2024.
Hidden in Camp Jurassic in the park’s Jurassic Park, the ride is a calm, gliding, hanging, aerial tour with a two-seat winged rigging. Universal tags it as “child-friendly.” He debuted at IOA in 1999 and is suffering from low capacity/long queues.
One change brought early life as visitors must be accompanied by 36-55 inches taller to those over 56 inches tall. Despite this, this week’s wait was over 75 minutes.
It changes quickly
Universal Studios’ Hollywood Theme Park has announced that March 10 will be the last day to experience its fast and fierce charm. The California version has been the finale of a studio tour of the park since 2015. Universal says it will soon announce new tour attractions.
The park combined the construction updates and announcements for the Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift Roller Coaster, which was announced in 2023 and is set to open in 2026.
At Universal Studios in Florida, Fast & Furious – Superharged Rolls will be turned on as a standalone motion simulator attraction. It opened in a space where a disaster occurred in 2018! Charm and “The leather leather leather of Beetlejuice Rock and Roll Cemetery was once standing.
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