I’m proud to say that The Disney Blog is up for an Orbbie for best Theme Park blog over at the Orlando Sentinel. I’d certainly appreciate it if you head on over the place your vote on the blog’s behalf.

Remember, Vote daily! Thank you!

This week yet another sexual assault incident at a Water Park, this time Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon, was covered by the local press. It may seem like there have been dozens of reports this year, but it’s really just a handful. That’s not to downplay the severity of any incident, but it shouldn’t be taken as a trend.

As it turns out, where you really have to be careful is crossing the roads. The Orlando-Kissimmee has been rated the worst for pedestrian safety. An average of 2.8 annual pedestrian deaths per 100,000 was cited. With 48 million tourists visiting the area each year, the numbers really start to add up.

At one time Las Vegas was known for its terrible pedestrian safety record. Particularly in the popular area of Las Vegas Blvd, aka The Strip. Then the region got serious about the safety of its customers, aka revenue stream. It made streets more pedestrian friendly and where traffic was very heavy, built pedestrian overpasses to totally remove people from the streets. It’s been a very successful strategy.

Maybe it’s time to look at this same solution here in Orlando.

Blooloop continues its series of movers and shakers at Walt Disney World, both past and present. This week, we meet Brad Rex who was Vice President of EPCOT from 2001-2007. Brad dishes a little inside ball on two major events of his reign, 9/11 and the 2002 blackout.

When we closed the park, our Cast Members, without being told, went out and lined the promenade. They knew what had happened, and the tough reality many Guests would soon face. As the Guests left, the Cast smiled and waved goodbye, to give our Guests one last positive memory of the day. When I saw this, I knew we had very special people working at Epcot, and I had much to learn from them.

It sounds like Rex still holds a special place in his heart for EPCOT and its cast members.

Portobello Restaurant at Downtown Disney Orlando is introducing a cute new promotion – Meatball Mondays. Visit Downtown Disney and see the new hit movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs then present your movie receipt to receive 50% off any item from the reigning meatball menu every Monday.

Menu

Appetizer

Roasted meatball, mushrooms, polenta, tomato sauce 8.95

Soup

Miniature meatballs, pasta, chicken broth 4.95

Pizza

Sliced meatballs, fresh mozzarella, tomato sauce 9.95

Pasta

Traditional Spaghetti with Meatballs 21.90
Child’s portion 5.95

Side order

Add a meatball to any item .99 ea

Every Monday

11:30 am – 11:00 pm

Portobello restaurant, located at the Downtown Disney® Pleasure Island, 1670 Lake Buena Vista, has recently completed a transformation into an eatery reminiscent of the Italian countryside. The revamped trattoria offers authentic regional fare and warm rustic décor with a reinvigorated wine list.

A little Meatball History from Portobello

Although the meatball origin is not easily ascertained, our food history does support the fact that the meatball was originally rare across the world and was enjoyed mostly by the rich. In Italy, meatballs have continuously grown in popularity and we thank the Italians for bringing their meatball recipes to America. Even though Italians did not initially serve meatballs with spaghetti, the American phenomenon of spaghetti and meatballs was nevertheless created and is now enjoyed globally with numerous recipes with a wide variety of options.

Portobello is open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and accepts all major credit cards. Portobello is owned and operated by Levy Restaurants.

The Orlando Sentinel has a look at how far Disney might go to support High Speed Rail in Central Florida. They question if Disney would be willing to give up it’s free Disney’s Magical Express service, the first step in WDW’s attempt to make each vacation an all-inclusive experience, for HSR. I think they’re talking apples and oranges.

Part of the value of Magical Express is that it gets guests to their destination relatively quickly and without the hassle of toting their luggage. Even if Disney could arrange a “free to WDW” option for HSR, when guests arrive at the airport, they don’t want to have to wait an hour or two for the next train to go 20 miles. They want to get to the magic right away. That’s why the bus system works so well.

You will more likely see Disney offer some sort of traveler support at the WDW rail station. Guests can travel to the station from where ever (likely the Tampa area first, later Miami when that line is added), drop off their luggage, and head right to the parks via Disney’s newly built out peoplemover system. When they get back to their hotel at night their luggage is already waiting for them in their room.

Frankly, what Disney World and the Orlando attractions area really needs is a cheap, affordable transportation system connecting it all together. This could be peoplemover, light rail, monorails, or fixed route buses. Doesn’t matter. But moving visitors from the hotels and from their homes to the parks without the car is the future of Central Florida.

After months of rumors and behind the scenes negotiations the Blackstone Private Equity group has completed a deal to purchase Busch Entertainment Corporation from AB-InBev. This move places the second largest Orlando attraction, Universal Orlando, which is 50% owned by Blackstone, under the same ownership as the regions third largest attraction, SeaWorld, and creates a new powerhouse for themeparks at the same time.

Jason Garcia of the Orlando Sentinel broke the story late this morning. It looks like Blackstone will keep Busch Entertainment Corp., which is headquartered in Orlando, together as an operating group, at least for now. Also it looks like all 10 parks were purchased from AB-InBev. InBev acquired the parks when it bought Anheuser-Busch.

So what’s the breakdown? First, I expect we’ll start to see all the last reminders of Anheuser-Busch’s ownership of SeaWorld and Busch Gardens properties disappear, eventually maybe even the Busch name. If Blackstone likes the ‘Worlds of Discovery’ brand, expect that to become more front and center in the branding. You might see a few shifts in management, but in reality BEC has been doing a great job, which is one reason AB-InBev was able to get 2.7 billion for them. Finally, I think this purchase brings Legoland Orlando closer to being, since Blackstone owns that brand via it’s Merlin division.

What I hope we don’t see is the typical private equity profit squeeze. Where ever last penny is optimized and every last labor hour marginalized to the point where the fun is left from the equation. Parks like SeaWorld and Busch Gardens need the fun, and they need constant refreshing to bring in the repeat business. Looking at Legoland, we see that Blackstone’s Merlin division gets it. Let’s hope they pass that message around.

What do you think? Was this a good deal for BEC and Blackstone? Will Shamu survive in the private equity world?

When the Obama administration announced there was $8 billion in the stimulus package for funding High Speed Rail projects, there was good reason to hope that Central Florida would be receive part of that funding. Now that hope has been given a shot in the arm by the addition of support from the regions 800 lb Gorilla – Walt Disney World.

Disney World was against the previous effort to bring high speed rail to the region because it included a stop near Universal Studios at the Orange County Convention Center; although the reason they gave today for their previous opposition was that they didn’t want a project that would detract, rather than complement, a commuter rail project. Now that there is a good chance the commuter rail project will be approved, Disney no longer opposes the convention center stop. That stop should also put Universal Studios and SeaWorld in the ‘yes’ column for High Speed Rail as well.

The second big sign that Disney World is on board is their willingness to give up to 50 acres of the Walt Disney World property to host a station for the resort area stop. There was no announcement as to where the station would be, but since the train will run down the middle of I-4 for most of the route, it’s likely Disney would want to donate a part of the property they own on the other side of Hwy-192 next to Celebration.

Now I have to wonder if WDW will light a fire under its committee that has been studying the concept of adding a PRT system to the resort. This would be similar to what Disney has called a ‘Peoplemover’ system in the past. I also think that a light rail system running from Disney’s Animal Kingdom to Downtown Disney would be a great addition.

More on the High Speed Rail project and what it means for Central Florida in the Orlando Sentinel.

Two breaking news items from Walt Disney World in the news this morning.

Early this morning there was a report of smoke on a monorail. Operation was stopped and the fire department called in. No fire or damage could be found. It looks like that monorail was sent back to the shop and the rest of the fleet returned to normal operations.

Smoke from a possible electrical short is not all that unusual on WDW’s aging monorail fleet. But neither is it common. Still, I don’t see this as a sign of concern.

The other story coming out of WDW this morning is quite a bit sadder. A 16 year old guest staying at the Port Orleans Riverside resort was found dead in his room this morning by a member of his family. Sheriff investigators are on the scene of this tragedy.

The thoughts of everyone at The Disney Blog go out to their family. No one wants this to happen, especially on vacation.