I’m all about keeping Central Florida as the premier theme park vacation destination in the world. So I think it’s a terrific idea if LEGO wants to build one of their themeparks here. That’s the rumor that was just posted on Screamscape.

The not-so-great part of that rumor was that they were looking at the old Cypress Gardens as the possible location. As good as that location may seem with the historic gardens and water-skiing attraction plus a water park already in operation, the distance and back roads access cancels all that out. Even as a pretty decent amusement park Cypress Gardens was never able to attract the tourist market and there is no reason to think that even a Disney operated park could. So Blackstone, no matter what your surveys say, just say no.

That said, there are a number of very decent locations that are much more central to the established tourist cooridors. Yes, they will cost more, which will mean more debt to start (always a risky proposition), but lots of customers and some debt is better than little debt and no customers. Plus the current economic market might find sellers who are interested in more creative deals right now.

For instance, in Kissimmee, there is a plot of land just past the Old Town attraction on Hwy-192 that’s already zoned for a theme park. There are 100 acres of developable land and easy access from Hwy192 at the top and I-4 at the bottom of the property. The current owner wants a huge price because he wants to include the non-developable acres in the price, however, he might be willing to negotiate more today.

One more thing to ask. Just build it before my kid is too old to play with LEGOs. Thanks!

At Disneyland everything its Nightastic! Well, almost everything. The much anticipated new Fantasmic! Dragon is still being worked on. But the new Tinkerbell float for the Electrical Parade at Walt Disney’s Adventure Park (I’m hearing that’s one possible new name for DCA) looks good and the new Fireworks show ‘Magical’ is drawing big crowds.

One of the things I’m enjoying most is having Disneyland entertainment cast alumn and Broadway musical star Eden Espinosa performing the vocals for the fireworks spectacular. If you feel the same here are two  interviews with the vocalist – D23 and LaughingPlace.com (video).

Update: The OC Register adds an interview with Eden as well.

International West, a planned series of tourist districts in Garden Grove, has finally had its first tenant approved. A new 600 room hotel and 6 acre water park has just been approved by the city council. Of course, with this economy, don’t believe anything until the first guest splashes down the water slide. But it’s a start.

Since Garden Grove abuts Anaheim, International West has the potential to add a night or two to the average Disneyland stay. It still needs some sort of mass transit system besides bussing people up and down Harbor Blvd, but if they can figure that out, it has potential. Disneyland might even want to look at one of those zones for that long rumored third park (the Strawberry field is just too small).

Three years is a long time to wait for International West to finally begin to pay off, but Gardenwalk took even longer and hey, it’s open, even if some tenants are struggling.

Here’s your first look at an on-ride video from the front row point of view of the new Manta roller coaster at SeaWorld Orlando. Alas, it’s not the whole experience, but it’s exciting.

If you can’t wait til May 22nd for the official first day of operations, there’s a rumor it will open for limited hours beginning May 5th. Happy Cinco De Mayo. I’ll keep you posted here or on twitter (@thedisneyblog)

The OC Register has a look at some of the controversy surrounding the Mag-Lev Bullet Train being planned for a route between Orange County, CA and Clark County, NV. Of course, everyone is calling it the Disneyland to Sin City Express.

Though the proposed train would pass through a Nevada town in which prostitution is legal, the train would not necessarily take passengers from the gates of Disneyland directly to brothels outside Las Vegas.

The hub would be within the city of Las Vegas, according to the proposal. Prostitution is actually not legal within that city.

The hub in Anaheim would still require additional transportation to reach the Resort Zone.

To me this is one of those no-brainer ideas. It makes perfect sense to connect the two largest west coast tourist cities. That said, there are plenty of other routes ready for a bullet train that make as much sense. So this is why politicians get the big bucks.

What do you think? Should tourism get the bucks or should the project go to a region capable of supporting multiple industries first?

I’m such a dunce. This morning I wrote that Downtown Disney Orlando update and left off the best part. FoxxFur has posted a retrospective look at Walt Disney World’s Village, listing the initial shops and vendors of Disney’s outdoor shopping mall through to the ones that occupy Downtown Disney Marketplace today.

That quiet little village has changed and morphed quite a bit into the monster you see today. What would you like to see next?

Occupying the spot usually known as “Christmas Tree Point” in Town Square at Disneyland, is a new photo opportunity Disney’s calling “Celebration Point”. The festive Mickey Balloon and invitation sculpture offers guests a new place to take photos and mark their special occasions while celebrating at Disneyland.

Pretty cool. I hope we get one here in Orlando (or even four, one for each park).

The marquee.

The American Idol Experience Attraction is currently in cast member previews at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and no photos are allowed. That means it’s very difficult to get pictures of the theater and set design. I hear the design looks just like the real thing from the popular TV version of American Idol.

But over the last few weeks, I have been able to walk around and get some great shots that give you a great idea of what you’re going to experience when you do get to see the show.

Up above you see the Marquee for the attraction. It features a giant screen that will be used to broadcast the shows when the theater fills up. It will probably do that frequently as the theater capacity is not that big for a show of this magnitude.

(more of the tour below the cut)

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