orlando

Disney Announces New Luxury Home Development

Will luxury home buyers want to live in Florida's Disney World? The Wall Street Journal reports that Walt Disney Company has made the move into luxury residential real estate with a Golden Oak, a new 980-acre development that will eventually include 450 homes and a 445-room Four Seasons hotel. The homes themselves will be priced between $1.5 million and $8 million.

Florida's real estate has remained sluggish and the top-end of the Orlando market is already stuffed with multi-million luxury homes. But according to the WSJ article Disney is bullish on the concept and sees room for its expansion into the luxury market. The brand has made a few interesting forays into pricey items already, with expensive restaurants and wine bars in its parks and a line of diamond jewelry and high-priced bridal gowns.

Tags: disney, florida real estate, orlando, walt disney, Walt Disney Co., Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney World

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Joey Fatone In Orlando, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

He's not quite as successful as Justin TImberlake but former 'N Sync member Joey Fatone has done pretty well for himself. The boy bander turned TV show host has listed his home in Orlando, Florida. The Real Estalker Mama has unearthed Fatone's lakefront home on Kilgore Road in a community known as "Millionaire's Row." Fatone is believed to have picked up this home in 2001 for $2.65 million and it was filmed by MTV Cribs shortly thereafter.

The gated 12,000 square foot home is on the Butler Chain of Lakes near Windermere. The home has six bedrooms and plenty of places to play including a large home theater room with stadium style seating, an office/study and a game room. The study shows plenty of bookshelves but alas no books, instead the shelves look to be given over to awards and directly opposite the couch there seems to be some sort of puppet theater display (a reference perhaps to the "No Strings Attached" album). The master wing includes a sitting room with butler's pantry a two-sided fireplace and a master bath suite with a sauna, steam room, shower and Jacuzzi tub. The master closet is, at 700 square feet, larger than some apartments, and includes three dressing islands.

Fatone also must like to eat and entertain. There is a large kitchen with a granite counters and island, dual refrigerators and built-in ovens. The formal living and dining rooms are large enough to host a gala event. But the real action takes place outside at the resort-style pool complete with grotto. This is the sort of sybaritic outdoor area reminds me of the type generally showcased on reality television shows where couples get to know each other in hot tubs. Near the pool there is a large summer kitchen with a bar. The property also includes a 10 car garage that is home to one of the KITT cars used on the 1980s series "Knight Rider ." The garage appears to have one of those rotating floor devices that allows the car to be turned to be driven out without any risky indoor maneuvers. This home is listed at $5.9 million a bit of an ambitious price in an area that has taken big real estate hits recently.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Gallery: Joey Fatone In Orlando

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Tags: celebrity real estate, CelebrityRealEstate, florida, joey fatone, JoeyFatone, orlando

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Orlando Artist Blows Glass, Minds

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Charlie Keila laughed at me. I had just commented on how hot his studio gets, and he couldn't contain the amusement of a man who deals with it every day. Artists who work in glass spend a lot of time around 1,900 degree ovens – it's just part of the job. When you look at the work produced, though, you can see why it's worth becoming acclimated to the sweltering conditions. Keila can only be described as a master.

Keila's studio sits at the corner of Orange and Pine in Orlando, FL – just across the street from Corona Cigar Co. – in the City Arts Factory. In fact, the artist was in large part responsible for the location. After having learned the glass art trade elsewhere, he returned to the town of his teenage years, bringing with him a commitment to arts and culture for which Orlando had been desperate.

This is the Orlando that's obscured by "The Mouse" ... but it exists. If you look past the theme parks and set your sights on downtown Orlando, you can find a vibrant culture that deserves far more recognition than it receives.

For years, Keila says, Orlando has effectively exported its talent. Artists and business professionals alike grow up in Orlando and take their talent elsewhere. The community is deprived of the talent it creates, resulting in a cultural and professional vacuum. This is exactly the problem that the glass-blower sought to solve when he decided to return.

Tags: art, art market, art studios, artist, ArtMarket, ArtStudios, artwork, florida, glass, glass art, GlassArt, glasses, glassware, local, orlando

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Get Paid $25,000 To Ride The Rides In Orlando

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

One side effect of this economy seems to be an increase in stunt jobs, temporary gigs for PR purposes. We've seen a global competition for a six-figure tourism adventure, a wine advocacy job, and now a chance to earn money by taking in the sights in Orlando, Florida,

The 67 Days of Smiles competition will give one lucky pair the chance to spend 67 days checking out the more than 100 attractions offered in Orlando. The winners of the contest will stay in a furnished two-bedroom condo in downtown Orlando for 67 days. They will receive $25,000 to cover living expenses back home. As they ride the rides, go golfing, take in the museums and more they will document it all with cell phones, a digital video camera and still camera on social media tools like blogs, Twitter and Facebook. To apply you need to create a one-minute or less video with your partner and complete a short application.

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Tags: florida, orlando, stunt jobs, StuntJobs, tourism

Grande Lakes Resort Offers Adventure Course

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

The Grande Lakes Orlando Florida resort, which includes both a Ritz-Carlton and a Marriott hotel, as a new offering to tempt adventurers of all ages. The Grande Lakes Orlando Adventure Course is a large multi-level structure consisting of poles, cables, and platforms laced with 25 traversing and climbing elements. The course is suitable for adults and children over the age of 10. Adventurers can choose their level of challenge climbing from 15 to 55 feet in the air and navigating through a course with 600-foot zip lines and a 40-foot giant swing. Packages vary in price from open sessions with up to 30 guests which cost $60 per adult to private adventures in which up to eight people can enjoy the course with one-on-one coaching for $850 for two hours.

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Tags: adventure course, AdventureCourse, cool summer, CoolSummer, florida, grande lakes, GrandeLakes, orlando

Where to Smoke in Orlando: Corona Cigar Co.

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cigars

I'd heard about Corona Cigar Co. from several people before I took my trip down to Orlando, FL. A few weeks ago, a visitor to New York from Florida overheard me discussing my then upcoming trip and interjected with some great advice, "Check out Corona." There are three locations; I chose the spot in downtown Orlando (no, not the same thing as Downtown Disney).

The description I was given back home in New York was enough to get me interested, but it failed to capture the enormity of the experience. The South Orange Ave. location offers countless cigars from nearly every manufacturer you could imagine. I took advantage of the lower cigar tax relative to home to pick up an Avo Campanero at what felt like a discount and headed for the large in-store lounge. Sponsored by Diamond Crown, it seats more than 60 people without forcing them to bump elbows. There's also outside seating at both four-top tables and wooden rocking chairs.

Every table has a six-page cocktail menu, so there's a pretty good chance you'll find the right concoction to pair with your preferred cigar. Of course, the fact that the bartender is nothing short of stunning improves both the drink and the smoke.

Tags: cigar, cigar shop, cigars, CigarShop, cuban, cuban cigar, cuban cigars, cuban rum, CubanCigar, CubanCigars, CubanRum, disney, disney world, DisneyWorld, florida, orlando, rum, smoke, smoker, smokers, smoking, tobacco, tobacco use, TobaccoUse, whiskey

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Orlando Opera Seeks To Avoid Being The Latest Opera Casualty

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

As I mentioned last month, opera companies across the U.S. are facing hard times. The latest is the Orlando Opera in Orlando, Florida which is facing a huge deficit caused by the recession. The company has launched a $500,000 fundraising campaign and that outcome of that campaign may determine the future health of the organization.

The company has enough money to produce Suor Angelica and Cavalleria Rusticana, a double bill planned for April 3-7. The Orlando Sentinel reports that if the organization can't raise $500,000 by the end of May it may have to find other means of survival including partnering with another arts group or shifting focus to opera training. The decision could also have an impact on the Orlando Philharmonic, which plays for the opera's full-scale productions and the plans for Orlando's performing-arts center. Orlando Opera's 2009-2010 season promises a trio of audience favorites: La Bohème, Carmen and La Traviata.

At stake here is not just opera but the message that having an opera company represents, that a city is culturally rich and cosmopolitan. It is also about keeping opera alive as an art form across the U.S. As the recession bites into people's personal budgets supporting the arts can seem almost frivolous but this is a time when arts groups are fighting for their survival.

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Tags: arts, culture, music, opera, orlando, orlando florida, OrlandoFlorida

Florida Gets An Icebar

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Orlando, Florida might the the last place you'd expect to find an Icebar but if you need a place to be the heat you can step into the Icebar Orlando where the temperature is a chilly 27 degrees. You need to make a reservation but for $35 you can put on a warming cape and gloves and enjoy vodka in a glass made of ice while sitting in a room where the chairs, bar and even the fireplace are made of ice and the drinks are served by tanned ladies in snowsuits and fur hats. Because of the chill visits are limited to 45 minutes and the staff has a 30-minute in, 15-minute out rotation.

It takes a lot to keep this place cool. The International Herald Tribune reports that the projected average monthly electric bill is $3,500 but the bar has LED lighting, which uses less electricity than traditional lighting.

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Tags: drinks, florida, icebar, orlando

From Hotel To Condo To Hotel Again For One Florida Building

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

An interesting story out of Orlando that might make you think twice about picking up a lower-priced condo as an investment property. The Lexington, a condo tower that was formerly a downtown hotel, is now becoming a hotel again. Those who bought condos at The Lexington are being offered a flat fee of $88,000 to be bought out. This fee is, in most cases, less than half of what the owners paid.

The buildins is home to 227 condos which will now all be part of a Crowne Plaza hotel. For the 30 people still owning condos they are facing a difficult choice: they can either accept the flat fee or pay $4,700 in upgrades for their unit and then rent it out. Owners who sign up for the rental program will get half of the $122 per night room rate. Some owners are understandably upset about the situation, especially those who bought in hoping that their property would be a good investment.

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Tags: condo, condominium, lexington, orlando

Ritz-Carlton Orlando Culinary Weekend

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Luxury Travel & Hotels

Cooking in July might not sound too appealing but cooking at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes is a rare treat. To attract guests in the summer months, this resort offers a unique culinary experience, the chance to meet and mingle with award-winning Chef Norman Van Aken, the chef behind Norman's, and enjoy a wine tasting, dinner, cooking class and more. The Gourmet Getaway includes overnight deluxe accommodations at The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes on Saturday, July 12, wine tasting with Chef Norman Van Aken, four-course wine dinner by Chef Clay Miller and Breakfast Buffet at The Vineyard Grill on Sunday morning followed by a cooking class by Chef Clay Miller. The price is $489 for two people, plus room/occupancy tax.

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Tags: culinary weekend, CulinaryWeekend, norman van aken, NormanVanAken, orlando, ritz-carlton

Mike Ditka, Hotelier

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Celebrity Shopping

One man making the most of his post football career is the Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka. Ditka, who launched a wine brand in 2006 and has Mike Ditka restaurants, is now opening two Mike Ditka Resorts in Orlando, Lighthouse Key Resort and Spa and Runaway Beach Club Resort.

Lighthouse Key Resort & Spa is a gated resort community with two-, three- and four-bedroom lakefront villas. The villas have stainless steel gourmet kitchens, private lanais, large master suites, separate dining and living rooms, in-home washers and dryers, and the latest in high definition, flat screen entertainment as well as a 42 inch television in each villa's great room. There is also a 4,600-square-foot European-style spa, a heated zero-depth entry freeform swimming pool, resort-style pool and hot tub, health and fitness center, 50-seat movie theater, billiards room, game room, meeting facilities, a grand clubhouse, deli and gift shop, business center, meeting space, poolside bar and high speed wireless Internet service throughout the resort.

Runaway Beach Club Resort will have one-, two- and three-bedroom villas and loft villas each with a gourmet kitchen and dining room, flat screen TVs and DVD players. The grounds include a heated "Key West" zero-entry family pool with water features for kids, a heated "South Beach" adult pool and tanning deck, a 24-hour professional fitness center, indoor basketball court, whirlpool spa, clubhouse/reception center, and complimentary shuttle service to the Walt Disney World theme parks.

Ditka will be in Orlando Feb. 27 to unveil the new resorts to the media.

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Tags: florida, mike ditka, MikeDitka, orlando, resort, vacation

Fuego By Sosa Cigars, A Cigar Bar For Disney

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cigars

You wouldn't peg Disney World as the place to find the latest hot cigar bar but Fuego by Sosa Cigars opened last month on Disney's Pleasure Island. Cigar Aficionado reports that the cigar bar has a cool bar that looks like a slab of melting ice and a full menu of alcoholic beverages. There is also outdoor seating, Custom wooden humidors offer a variety of cigars include the Fuente Fuente Opus X as well as the house brand Sosa cigars. Smoking is prohibited throughout much of Walt Disney World and is limited to designated smoking areas. The cigar bar is open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

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Tags: cigar bar, disney, disney world, DisneyWorld, expire-images:2008-7-13, florida, orlando, sosa cigars, walt disney

Rent A Ritz-Carlton Spa For A Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Spas

A spa day is always a treat but a spa day with friends is even better. The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Orlando, Grande Lakes has a truly luxurious offering that clocks in at just under $100,000. You can rent out the spa for a day for $99,999. The package includes personalized invitations for each guest, a spa concierge for each person, monogrammed robes and slippers, a full menu of treatments and classes, open bar and spa cuisine. It sounds like the ultimate indulgence for a very luxurious bridal party or perhaps a way to celebrate a birthday.

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Tags: florida, hotel package, HotelPackage, orlando, ritz-carlton, spa

The Blue Rose Condo Hotel

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Luxury Travel & Hotels

The Blue Rose Condominium Hotel Residence in Orlando, Florida is one of the largest condo-hotel projects in the Orlando area. It is a 1,300 unit condo hotel which consists of three towers, a theater, five theme restaurants and a spa. The Blue Rose is located on a private tropical lake and will have one, two, and three-bedroom residences, lofts, studios and penthouses starting from $350,000. All residences come furnished and can be put in a rental pool.

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Tags: condo, condo hotel, condominium, florida, orlando

Rosen Shingle Creek Resort Now Open

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

A new megaresort has opened in the Southeast. Rosen Shingle Creek is a 1,500-room resort located on Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida. The resort includes the 13,000-sq. ft. full-service Spa at Shingle Creek, the Shingle Creek Golf Club, four pools, sand volleyball, hiking and more. Dining options include a steakhouse, ice cream stand, Italian bistro, coffee shop and even a 24-hour mini-market. There are three Presidential Suites that are over 1,700 sq. ft. and 37 oversized Grande Suite Parlors that are over 1,300 sq. ft. Rates start at around $200 per night.

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Tags: florida, new hotels, orlando, rosen shingle creek