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ORLANDO ATTRACTIONS
A News page for the Orlando’s areas other Minor Attractions and Resort properties
---- THE LATEST BUZZ ----
(1/2/2026) A New Animal Attraction Is Coming To Orlando Next Month
(11/18/2025) S&S Towers and Launch Coaster Planned to come to Mango's Tropical Cafe on I-Drive
(11/6/2025) Orlando’s New Blue Man Group Theater Now Has A Roof
(10/12/2025) Orlando's Icon Park Planning Large Expansion
(7/23/2025) Blue Man Group Construction Update
(7/12/2025) Orlando Tourist Corridor May Be In Talks With The Boring Company
Kennedy Space Center Review (2022)
You can find our review of the I-Drive 360 attractions (Orlando Eye, Madame Tussauds and SeaLife Aquarium here.
 Central Florida News - (1/2/2026) A brand new attraction is coming to Orlando in early 2026 for animal lovers. Now, a new attraction coming to Orlando Tourist-Sprawl isn’t anything new… it’s the lifeblood of the city after all, but this one will be a little unique… kinda borrowing an old-school concept from the likes of Gatorland by putting their entire promotion behind mankind’s curiosity of a single animal species… the Sloth.
Yep… Sloth World, “The World’s First Slotharium” will be coming to a location on International Drive in February 2026. According to their social media posts, “Guests will step directly into a rainforest-style habitat where sloths live freely among trees, vines, and natural climbing structures. With no cages or barriers, this experience is designed to help you observe sloths just as they would behave in the wild while learning about conservation and the importance of protecting their natural habitats.”
They claim that the attraction will have strict capacity limits as well, due to a “Conservation & Quietness First” policy, so they feel that tickets to visit might actually sell out a few months in advance. Hype or not, they’ve already opened an online store for merchandise and advanced ticket-sales through their website at… what else… slothworld.com.
The location listed is 6582 International Drive which puts them just a bit south from Universal’s Endless Summer Resort, however Google Maps is showing the wrong location if you put in that address, claiming it will be in the building with the giant spaceship and alien out front known as Bargain Planet. This is wrong however, as the actual location of 6582 International Drive is a couple of plazas south of these, and is a building that looks to have been home to one of those generic gift shops on the front half, and Murphy’s Pub on the back-half. Since Murphy’s is still open, I’m assuming Sloth World may be taking up the front where the gift shop was in the google maps street view image.
(7/12/2025) I’m not quite sure what to make of this, but the mainstream media began reporting that Elon Musk’s “The Boring Company” may be in talks to build an underground transit tunnel system, not unlike The Vegas Loop system that was first built to move people between the various sections of the massive Las Vegas Convention Center.
In particular there area mentions of possibly looking into building tunnels to run through the busy I-Drive corridor area, and in particular was a claim that The Boring Company may be in talks with Universal about creating a direct connection between their Epic Universal expansion campus and the original Universal Orlando campus area that is currently services by busses.
While the idea sounds interesting… building anything “underground” in Orlando has some serious challenges due to the high water table. Obviously the ground conditions in Orlando are going to be far different than the building conditions below the surface in Las Vegas, especially when you add in the exceptionally high amount of rainfall that falls on the area from near daily storms in the warmer half of the year. Dealing with this water and preventing it from seeping down into the tunnel system is likely going to result in some major design changes from how The Boring Company’s tunnels are installed in Las Vegas.
To my knowledge the only significant underground project in Florida that I ever heard of before was the Disney Utilidor corridors under The Magic Kingdom. Due to the water table issue, this was built with a bit of trickery as well… as the Utilidors were really built at what should have been the surface level of the park as it was under construction. As the crews were working to dig up and create the “Seven Seas Lagoon” in front of the park (yes, this is an artificial lake) that would eventually be connected to the nearby natural “Bay Lake”, all that dirt needed to go somewhere. To the dirt from the creation of the Seven Seas Lagoon was then deposited over the top of the Disney Utilidors network, and used to create the new level foundation of the Magic Kingdom theme park itself above it all.
2026 - Blue Man Group at ICON Park - (11/6/2025) It’s been a long time coming, but the new Blue Man Group theater structure has now risen in place. There is still work to do, but it looks like the basic supports and overhead roof is now in place. A new opening date has not yet been posted on the official website, so this is nothing like before when they were actually selling advanced tickets. So if I had to guess, Blue Man Group Orlando will likely not be ready until at least late Spring or Summer 2026 most likely.
(7/23/2025) Attractions Magazine has posted an update from the Blue Man Group regarding the status of their new Orlando theater project. According to the basic gist of the update from BMG, the theater experienced several construction delays, including a permitting issue that caused the complete cease of all activity at the site this summer. The issues are apparently cleared up now and “On-site activity is now set to resume next week.”
(6/15/2025) For those wondering, construction on the announced Blue Man Group theater venue behind the Orlando Eye wheel is not only far behind schedule, but all work appears to have stopped completely based on photos posted by Bioreconstruct on social media. As previously reported, the show was originally selling tickets for a planned early April opening. After announcing the delay to this, early ticket sales were pushed back to late May… which time has also passed as we enter a second delay window and are now faced with what appears to be zero progress at all on the site now.
Currently the official BMG website only says that the show is now “Drumming Soon” and they are currently no longer selling tickets at all at this point, which is for the best until they get things moving again. Anyone know more about what is going on?
(4/7/2025) For those curious about the state of things for the new Blue Man Group theater at Icon Park behind the Orlando Eye wheel... a reader sent in these photos taken over the weekend. As you can see... there isn't much to see at all, despite the fact that they were shooting to have it up and running by now. I don't see any true vertical progress on putting up a new theater structure at all... so this project could be delayed for quite a bit.
(4/3/2025) As I was really starting to wonder, the Blue Man Group have officially delayed the launch of their new show in Orlando. The new show venue was actually supposed to open to the first shows today in a new theater at Icon Park behind the Orlando Eye wheel. As Screamscape previously mentioned, construction seemed to be very far behind at the location, so now that the day is here, they are simply confirming a “delay” to the opening of the new show because of this, with no estimated new completion date to share at this time.
That said, the official Blue Man Group website is now selling tickets once again, with the new earliest date you can buy them being on May 29, 2025, so this does give us a better idea of their latest construction projections. Of course, they were also selling tickets for April 3rd for quite some time as well, so take that for what you will.
(2/3/2025) While we have no new pictures from the site, I’m told that an excavator is now on the site for the future Blue Man Group theater in Orlando, along with various stacks of construction materials on site. Given that the venue is expected to open on April 3rd, I’m guessing that it will be housed inside a “Sprung style” fabric membrane pre-fab structure that can be put up in a few weeks, as opposed to a several months-long construction of a more hardened traditional theater venue. Meanwhile tickets are already on sale via the Blue Man Group website.
(1/11/2025) A reader stopped by Icon Park this week to try and capture a few photos of the Blue Man Group theater… only to find that not really much of anything has been completed at this time. Keep in mind that this is despite the fact that the show is supposed to be ready to open in late March 2025.
If the cleared site shown in the photos is indeed the correct location of the future Blue Man Group theater, then “clearing” is about all they’ve done so far on the site, located between two of the massive supports for The Orlando Eye observation wheel.
(1/4/2025) According to the official Blue Man Group website, the new Orlando show is set to open on April 3, 2025. So I guess the real question is, how are things progressing on the construction of the new 500+ seat custom made theater space in Orlando’s ICON Park? As I recall from the press release, the new theater was supposed to be built in the back of ICON park, just off their rear entrance on Universal Blvd, so I’m just curious to see how things are progressing if anyone has pictures to share.
(6/30/2024) Various news reports claim that the Blue Man Group are making plans to return to Orlando. Previously the entertaining musical production performed in a theater at Universal Orlando from 2007 to 2020, and when the theme park resort shut down for the pandemic, the Blue Man Group show never returned.
According to the reports, the Blue Man Group are planning to return, but they will be setting up in a new venue at Orlando’s ICON Park on International Drive, with performances expected to start by the end of this year. I’m not exactly sure where in ICON Park the BMG will return, only that the announcement says a new 500-seat theater for them is coming to ICON Park. The theater is still said to be in the planning stage at this point, so I’m a bit unsure as to how they will get it open by the end of the year. So keep your eyes open when visiting ICON Park for this newest addition.
2027 - Icon Park Expansion - (10/12/2025) Icon Park is planning to expand, according to a post by the Orlando Business Journal. Plans call for adding an additional 100,000 sqft of space along the Universal Blvd side of the property that is currently used as a rear parking lot. A third of this site is already planned for a new digital interactive “Arte Museum” attraction space set to open in 2027, along with other supporting food and retail locations when ready. The site at the backside of the parking structure, and based on the artwork, the plans may also include an expansion of the parking structure as well. The expansion location will also be right next to the future Blue Man Group theater space as well on the rear-side of the Wheel.
There are currently four “Arte Museum” locations in South Korea (Busan, Gangneung, Yeosu and Jeju) as well as locations in New York City, Las Vegas and Dubai.
???? - S&S Rides at Mango’s Tropical Cafe - (11/18/2025) Orlando fans… would you believe that some new thrill rides are coming to I-Drive? According to a surprise announcement from IAAPA from S&S Worldwide, it looks like a project that will feature a new launched coaster as well as a pair of classic S&S three-legged tower ride are coming to Orlando’s I-Drive outside Mango’s Tropical Cafe. Unfortunately no details or timeline were given…just an impressive set of visuals.
It is worth mentioning that while this is not a revival of the former PolarCoaster concept, this will essentially be targeting the same high traffic intersection of I-Drive and Sand Lake Road, just on opposite side of both roads from where the PolarCoaster was looking to appear. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Mango’s was also involved with the PolarCoaster vapor-ware project as well which was first announced back in 2014. Let us hope that this new project is able to move forward more quickly.
2030 - Brightline Expansion to Convention Center and Beyond -
(5/2/2025) Some good news for those hoping to find new and better transportation options from the Orlando airport to the city’s tourist corridor. It has been confirmed that $6 million needed to complete a required study on the proposed “Sunshine Corridor”, that would allow rail access to run from the airport to International Drive and eventually over to Disney Springs has been approved. The study will take up to 2 years to complete, but is required to get any government funding to create a link between Brightline at the airport and Orlando’s SunRail network.
(9/22/2023) Good news, the Brightline high speed rail serve from Orlando’s MCO airport to Miami finally went into service today! Follow this link to see a video story from MCO shows off the launch of the first train and the journey from Orlando to Miami on the new trains. The trains look great and with Orlando now connected by high speed rail to all of southern Florida, with stops close to all the other major airports along the way (PBI, FLL, and of course MIA) I can’t help but think that this will be a gamechanger for easy travel throughout the region.
(5/25/2023) For those wondering, Brightline is now selling tickets to ride the new high speed train service from Miami to the Orlando airport station starting on Sept. 1, 2023. Smart tickets are priced at $79 per passenger, and Premium seats for $149 each way. As I said, tickets are being sold for dates starting in September, but there is always a chance some earlier dates may become available as they get closer to starting-up their service schedule if the process between now and then goes smoothly. The full trip between the two end stations will only take about 3.5 hours.
(1/8/2023) In a follow up to Universal’s plans to join the rail expansion plans that will lead from the Brightline connection to the Orlando Airport to a new station at the Orange County Convention Center (that will also be able to service Universal’s Epic Universe expansion), we’ve got a couple of new images to share, as provided by Universal Orlando.
This includes a piece of artwork showing off what the proposed Convention Center station area could look like, which is expected to be ready by 2030. Of more interest is a map showing the route the rail would take, connecting to the new Brightline station that will soon open at the new Terminal C at MCO. I had been sort of thinking that it would simply go back up and follow along 528 to the West down to the convention center (as the Brightline heads to the East along 528) but instead the route shows the expansion moving south of MCO’s runways and then connecting up with an existing railroad right-of-way that exists down there, connecting around where the existing line crosses over Boggy Creek. It will follow the existing rail-path as it turns north just west of S. Orange Ave until it meets a new Sunrail Transfer Station. From there riders will move west along a new path that runs along W. Taft Vineland Rd until it intersects with 528 at the John Young exit area for a brief run before turning off at the Universal Blvd exit for the final run into the Convention Center Station.
Future expansion plans show that the line’s long term future plans will then move to I-4 and follow along the freeway down to a future South I-Drive station that sure looks like it could be placed somewhere very close to where the former Crossroads retail area was, right on Disney’s doorstep.
(1/7/2023) Universal Orlando is now involved with the plan to build a SunRail route from the Orlando Airport to the Orange County Convention Center. Universal has pledged to contribute 13 acres of land to be used to connect the route and build the Convention Center Station, as well as said they would support the operation and maintenance of this station. Of course this only makes sense, as the same station will also be able to service Universal’s new Epic Universe theme park now under construction right across the way from the convention center.
The plan will make it very easy for both residents and tourists alike to travel between the two areas, as well as being able to remove some unnecessary vehicle traffic from the congested highway between the airport and tourist corridor. For now they have named this new expansion as the “Sunshine Corridor”.
(9/24/22) Good news for the future of transit from the Orlando Airport to the main tourist corridor via rail. The OBJ has confirmed that SunRail has signed off on a plan to share the train corridor with Brightline that will take riders from the airport down to a stop near Universal’s new Epic Universe theme park (opening in 2025) and the Convention Center. In a huge win for this new rail transportation plans, the SunRail commission voted unanimously in favor to support the “Sunshine Corridor” project that will continue past the I-Drive area stops mentioned above and then on to another stop just outside the Walt Disney World resort. From here, long term plans are also in place from Brightline to eventually extend the line all the way to Tampa eventually that would complete the rail line’s run all the way from Miami. It was also mentioned that the united effort of support for the Sunshine Corridor, not just from the rail groups, but also all the local tourist attractions would only benefit the program’s efforts to secure Federal Funding for the expansion. So far the only group to turn their nose up at the plan was the Walt Disney Company who refused to allow a station to be built on their property if the line made stops anywhere other than the airports. On the other side of the coin, Universal Orlando has agreed to donate land for the proposed station that will be located near their Epic Universe theme park project.
(7/3/22) Walt Disney World repeats history playing the “train game” with Florida once again. How so? Earlier this week a Disney spokesperson came out to say that Walt Disney World is no longer supporting the proposed Brightline train project, and the once proposed station for the line at Disney Springs has been canceled. At the time that Disney agreed to work with Brightline on the project, the layout of the expansion line that would run from the Orlando Airport to Tampa was looking to run down the SR-417 tollway from the airport directly to Disney property before heading off towards Tampa.
So what changed? Well Brightline was always looking into various property options to move the line through Orlando to Tampa, and of course as Brightline will travel from the coast down SR-528 to get to the airport, it only makes sense to continue that alignment to try and continue the run down SR-528 to Orlando, which would also allow for an additional stop by the Orange County Convention Center in the heart of the tourist district.
On June 1st it was reported that a new Federal Grant was being given to Brightlight for exactly this purpose to help secure the funding needed to proceed with this alternate route the line would take before turning towards Disney. Not only would the new alignment allow for easier flow to and from the airport for more visitors to Orlando, but provide easy access from the Convention Center area, which is also just down the street from SeaWorld Orlando and virtually right next door to where Universal is building their newest theme park, Universal’s Epic Universe. And there-in lies the problem… because Disney is once again taking their ball and going home because they can’t play nice.
This new alignment not only better serves the needs of the area, but serves the community because the plan was also to have Sun Rail expand their service to make runs down this same track from the Convention Center to the Airport every 15 minutes, removing the need for thousands of vehicles per day to travel down SR-518 to the airport. With stops at the Convention Center and Disney Springs and then moving on to Tampa (which would remove more cars from I-4 coming from the Tampa area) the project seems like it should be a win-win for everyone.
As I’ve alluded to, Disney has done all this before. Lets jump back about 20 years and local residents will recall a little something called the Florida High Speed Rail project. In November of 2000 the resident of Florida voted to approve an amendment to the states constitution that asked for the government to proceed with the design and installation of a High Speed Rail system, with the initial leg designed to connect the Tampa and Orlando airports, running mostly down the I-4 corridor. To help ensure there were enough passengers along the line, the state asked Disney to get involved and allow a station to be built on Disney Property which would deliver countless tourists right from the airports onto Disney’s doorstep. Around 2002 everything fell apart because Disney refused to allow a station at Walt Disney World if the line stopped anywhere else between Disney and the Orlando Airport. Even then the government knew they needed to have an additional stop at the Convention Center, and Disney refused to play ball if that requirement stayed. As this essentially meant that the taxpayers of Florida (especially in the Orlando area) would be building a transportation system that would only benefit Disney and not the people, that was never going to stick, so in 2004 the Florida voters then removed the High Speed Rail amendment from the state constitution. The project was essentially dead.
There is still a “Brightline” to this story… because the new alignment now being established as the “Sunshine Corridor” still plans to move ahead. The plan will expand the run from the Orlando Airport to the Convention Center and then on to a second station “near Disney Springs, although not on Disney property.” for the next phase before proceeds on towards Tampa. The location of this new station near Disney has not been revealed, but I’ve got a hunch it may involve a new large piece of property that the state took control of right next to Disney that is currently being cleared out. I’m talking about the Crossroads retail property right at the end of Disney’s Hotel Plaza Blvd entrance. The site is being cleared out to allow for better off-ramp access from the I-4 freeway directly into this very road, and will leave a lot of empty undeveloped property in the aftermath that could easily accommodate a new rail station right just outside Disney’s doorstep. (Again, just speculation on my part, as I have no insight as to the actual alignment of how they plan to provide rail service down I-4 from the Convention Center to Tampa, but the purchase of this property by the State was not something that had been done the last time rail service through here was being considered.
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Kennedy Space Center Review (2022) -
(10/23/22) Back in June I was able to take a special visit to the Kennedy Space Center to take a preview peek inside their newest addition: Gateway: The Deep Space Launch Complex. I meant to post some information on this a little sooner, but then tried to time it out with the launch of the new Artemis rocket. If you’ve followed the progress of Artemis, you know it has suffered more than a few delays, but with a new launch window on the horizon, the timing is more than right to take a serious look inside the Kennedy Space Center once again in my latest article posted over at Blooloop, so please follow the link for that.
In additional to all the official media and release information the the Gateway attraction posted in the Blooloop piece, I’ve added a big assortment of personal photos I’ve taken myself showing off what I saw inside Gateway as well as a good look at other major attractions at the Kennedy Space Center. In all honestly, visiting the KSC was a fantastic experience, as I think my last visit there was about 30 years ago in the early ‘90s, and things have changed so much since then.
The old experience was highlighted by a bus tour out past the massive VAB building and if you were lucky, you might be allowed to get close to one of the launch pads and crawlers if they were not in use at the time. There wasn’t much to the main complex back in the day other than an assorted display of old rockets, but the experience now is more akin to the feeling you might have enjoyed when visiting Epcoit’s Future World back in the 90s. You know, back when the message was about a bright future ahead through technology advancements, and when everyone’s favorite ride there was Horizons.
The Kennedy Space Center of today now has that look at feel, with an assortment of large attraction buildings that combine displays of the actual hardware that went into space with interactive areas, theatrical re-creations of historical moments, an IMAX theater and even a couple of motion simulator rides. Plus you can see the acutal Space Shuttle Atlantis now on display… and I have to admit, it made me tear up a bit when I saw it.
Coming off a cruise, my family and I stopped in and really enjoyed the our experience there, from the larger than life attractions to the lunch we ate in the afternoon where even the food was quite tasty. (We also noted that it wasn’t as crazy overpriced as the food is at the nearby Orlando theme parks as well, which was nice.)
My family has a small bit of a connection here as well, as my wife’s grandfather was in the Air Force and was assigned the duty of flying the Apollo 13 astronauts to various locations around the world on a press tour upon their return to Earth. Meanwhile my oldest son is in college studying aerospace engineering and my other son just started college to become a professional pilot. So we left the Kennedy Space Center more than a little inspired, and definitely will make plan to return again on a future trip to try out the four different flight rides inside the new Gateway attraction.
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