You are not logged in | | Sign Up

Posts Tagged 'Orlando'

Harry Potter & the Theme Park of Relentless Profiteering

Harry Potter & the Theme Park of Relentless Profiteering All right, I'll admit it, I'm a huge Harry Potter fan. And I couldn't be more tickled that the oh-so popular wizard boy is getting his own theme park down in Orlando. Some enterprising Potter fans have unearthed the patents for some of the names of the restaurants, rides, and shops inside The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The park will most likely be aimed at youngsters, but with Academy Award winner Stuart Craig on staff -- he's designed all the sets for film series so far -- it might be a cool place to check out. Though Universal Studios is determined to keep much of the plans secret before the opening in 2010, industrious Potterphiles have cracked some of mysteries behind the scenes. The most intriguing find: The large ride under construction at the back of the Florida theme park will be called Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Universal Studios describes the ride as a state-of-the-art attraction that will “bring the magic, characters and stories of Harry Potter to life.” Two other existing rides will be re-themed to fit into the Wizarding World:

READ MORE

Theme Park Junkie Contest Raises Publicity Stunt Stakes

imageCalling it: three times = trend. That would be the ploy of running a contest in search of some lucky SOB who'll get to partake in a super-fun gig in exchange for a good chunk of change and a larger hunk of publicity for the contest sponsor. Ben Southall is reporting for work as of July 1, after beating out 35,000 applicants to score the sweet gig in Hamilton Island, Australia, where he gets paid six figures to snorkel and blog about it for the remainder of 2009. Over in Sonoma County, CA, the Murphy Goode winery is wrapping up their search for the "Murphy-Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent. The winner in this case will get paid $10,000 a month to drink wine, scout picnic locations, and of course, blog all about it to all the jealous armchair travelers. Applications are due June 19. Adding to the fray, Orlando is launching a contest to find a couple (a new twist!) who can take 67 days (why 67? I don't know) to ride every ride in the half-dozen theme parks in the Orlando area, including Disney World, Sea World, and Universal Studios.

READ MORE
City: New York
  • The Orchard The Orchard
    162 Orchard St.
    BYOB with no corkage fees every Sunday…
  • Café Loup Café Loup
    105 W. 13th St.
    $28 prix-fixe dinner.
  • Cabrito Cabrito
    50 Carmine St.
    $8 for a taco and beer after 10pm.
  • Otte Otte
    121 Greenwich Ave.
    Spend $200 dollars, get a $20 Otte Gift…
  • Clinton Street Baking Company Clinton Street Baking Company
    4 Clinton Street
    Half-off bottles of wine on Tuesdays. …
  • Corner Bistro Corner Bistro
    331 W. 4th St.
    Go for the burgers, stay for the booty.…
  • Underbar Underbar
    201 Park Ave. S.
    Even the name even implies you’ll…
  • Hotel Gansevoort Hotel Gansevoort
    18 Ninth Ave.
    Now that summer’s here, the flesh…
  • Corner Bistro Corner Bistro
    331 W. 4th St.
    Go for the burgers, stay for the booty.…
  • Felix Felix
    340 W. Broadway
    Your best bet for a little Sunday afternoon…