Here's your weekly look at what's happening across America's most visited destination, from theme park expansion to the return of Visit Orlando's Magical Dining.
Universal’s Epic Universe Will Further Strengthen Our Destination
Huge news this week from Universal Orlando, which announced a new theme park, Universal’s Epic Universe, to be built south of Sand Lake Road and east of Universal Boulevard. Epic Universe, expected to create 14,000 jobs, will be Orlando’s eighth theme park (in addition to multiple waterparks) and first since Universal’s Islands of Adventure opened in 1999. This exciting development just goes to reinforce our position as Theme Park Capital of the World®, adding yet another reason for visitors to choose Orlando for their next vacation experience. With an entertainment center, hotels, shops, restaurants and more, the positive economic impact for local residents and businesses will be epic, too, and that’s great news for our entire community.
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Business Insights Luncheon & Economic Forum Aug. 22
Do not miss Visit Orlando’s annual Business Insights Luncheon & Economic Forum Aug. 22 at Loews Sapphire Falls Resort. We’ll help you prepare for budget season with key takeaways on economic and travel trends, then dive into “creating moments that matter” with keynote speaker Dan Heath, a New York Times bestselling author, social entrepreneur and one of the world’s 50 most influential management thinkers. Learn more and sign up here.
TripAdvisor: Orlando Boasts World’s Top 4 Theme Parks
Once again, our destination stole the show in TripAdvisor’s annual ranking of travelers’ top amusement parks across the globe. Orlando's parks at Universal and Disney took home the first four spots, while SeaWorld Orlando came in at No. 10. TripAdvisor bases its results on quantity and quality of reviews, as well as members’ ratings.
Anticipation Builds for Visit Orlando’s Magical Dining
Visit Orlando’s highly anticipated Magical Dining® returns for its 14th year Aug. 23-Sept. 30. Our publicity team has been working hard to spread the news about the wide variety of $35, three-courses meals at Magical Dining’s 120-plus participating restaurants throughout our destination. The Orlando Sentinel even declared it “the most wonderful time of the year.” I couldn’t agree more!
Book your reservations today and see for yourself.
OTHER NEWS FROM VISIT ORLANDO
» We recently partnered with TV show “Food Quest” to showcase some of our destination’s most “Instagrammable” dishes and over-the-top desserts. The show will air on the Food Network and Travel Channel in late fall.
» As part of our Brazilian shopping campaign, 25 top social media influencers visited Orlando June 30-July 7 to experience our destination’s retail stores and share their experiences with millions of followers.
» Our meetings & conventions team conducted one of its annual sales missions last month in Minneapolis, partnering with several of our member companies to build key client relationships and generate future in-house and citywide business.
