[cwgator]

A 425 foot tall coaster in the mix? Well it's all in the planning stages.

Here is a rendering of a typical coaster that may become reality at this park should this come to be:



From the Orlando Sentinel:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-i-drive-thrill-park-otp-20101012,0,1945422.story

Developers want to build a new amusement park with towering thrill rides on an undeveloped piece land on the north end of International Drive.

The park could feature as many as 15 rides, according to a rendering provided to the city of Orlando as part of an application for zoning and land-use changes. The documents also include photos of extreme-design roller coasters, with interlocking loops and vertical, "top-hat" drops.

The tallest ride, according to the sketch, would be 425 feet tall — just shy of the 441-foot-tall SunTrust Center office tower in downtown Orlando. Developers of what's being called "Orlando Thrill Park" would need the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration for a structure of that height, the application states.

The park would be built on 77.7 acres owned by I-Drive Investors LLC. OTP Group LLC — a company that has ties to longtime Central Florida hospitality company Baker Leisure Group — is a partner in the development.

The property, at 5001 Vanguard St., is bordered on the north by Festival Bay Mall and on the south by the residential neighborhood of Tangelo Park. The proposed amusement park does not fall under approved uses for the property, which means land-use changes would have to be approved by the city.

The developers acknowledged Tuesday that the park could lead to an increase in traffic, noise and light pollution in the area but also noted that it could generate additional jobs as well.

"Although we are in the early stages of development, we will eventually generate several thousand jobs during construction and operations," Jorge Ortega, manager of I-Drive Investors, said in a written statement. "We are reaching out to the community to assure that we have taken all of their concerns into consideration."

There's also some interesting info and graphics on Screamscape:

http://www.screamscape.com/html/orlando.htm

The latest information about the Orlando Thrill Park claims that the site may feature 15 rides, with coasters that will feature interlocking loops and top-hats, but the biggest ride is said to stand 425 feet tall. I’ve also been sent a few graphics (see below) showing off the parks layout, the heights listed for specific ride areas, and photos showing off the kinds of rides they want to add. Included are rides like Top Thrill Dragster (filling the 425 ft category), an S&S 4th Dimension coaster, a pair of 312 ft tall S&S Towers, an Intamin ZacSpin coaster drawing and some unknown coaster designs.

This would be a nice addition to the park selection in Orlando. However, the area they are proposing to build is not that great in terms of traffic and residential aspects. 77 acres is a great size to start a park I suppose, but there would literally be nowhere to expand in consideration to this area's surroundings. Of course, who am I to say that they would want to expand, but parks generally tend to keep up with trends of expansion and competition. The renderings posted on Screamscape do show parking garages. Even with those, not much would be left for future expansion.

I highlighted in red where they are planning:



Notice the close proximity to Wet N Wild to the west and Universal Orlando in the upper left corner. The area to the south is the residential area of Tangelo Park.

[Jarsh]

Those neighbors are gonna raise ALL kinds of hell, lol!

[cwgator]

Update from the meeting held Thursday night:

http://www.wesh.com/money/25399525/detail.html

A new amusement park may be coming to the heart of Orlando.

The park hopes to bring rides so big, they may require the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration.

The plan led to a packed meeting Thursday night for the residents who could have the park in their back yards.

The residents of Tangelo Park raised concerns about noise and traffic that could come with the theme park. That could make for a tough sell for developers of the Orlando Thrill Park.

The majority of the residents who showed up for the community meeting weren't thrilled about a theme park full of roller coasters.

"We are going to be blocked in and blocked out," resident Clara Adams said.

Adams lives on Vanguard Street, which borders the 78-acre overgrown property that Baker Leisure Group would like to transform into a thrill-seeker's dream.

Roller coasters more than 400 feet tall would dwarf another attraction, Fun Spot, which is only one block away.

"We want to see this whole street and this whole community grow. We believe all boats rise," Fun Spot spokesman Mark Brisson said.

More competition may complement Fun Spot, but Tangelo Park residents said the area can't handle it.

Adams said the slideshow and presentation at the meeting proved her point.

"It made me more against it because they are not doing anything for the roads," Adams said.

But developers said all entrances and exits would be off International Drive, and tall walls around the property would cut down on the noise.

"We have to address it, but we are just in the planning stages right now. That's why we are here," developer Doug Rutledge said.

"We will mitigate the noise factor," Baker Leisure Group spokesman Steve Baker said. "I don't think that's going to be a problem."

Developers said it will take two years to build the park, which its developers said will employ more than 1,000 people.

But they have a long way to go. This was the first of several community meetings, and there will be a couple of public hearings, as well.

Meanwhile, the developers will conduct noise and traffic studies.

[carowinds4ever]

That's crazy, i was just at IOA on sunday (will post trip report this week). I was on itl-drive, and looking at those photos in that area, there was also alot of shopping centers right near there that are closed down over near the fun spot, on the north end of itl-drive.

I used to live off kirkman rd (which is where universal is) back in 1999-2001, the traffic sucked but the noise wasn't bad you couldn't even hear the fireworks other than seeing them. It was pretty well confined to inside the park.

[cwgator]

Residents of the Tangelo Park Community got to check out plans for the park. On the plans they have a Vekoma Stingray (pic below), an Intamin Zacspin, a Zamperla Motocoaster, an Inverted Accelerator Coaster, a Mega Splash, Revolution, a 312' Drop Tower and more. Someone on another board pointed out that it looks like a Vekoma Inverted (SLC) is there as well...hmmm.

One thing to ponder is the Inverted Accelerator Coaster...a 400'+ tall inverted version of Top Thrill Dragster? Interesting.




From Wesh.com:

http://www.wesh.com/themeparks/25754195/detail.html

Residents Check Out Plans For Orlando Thrill Park
Developers Promise Wall, Canal To Keep Noise Down



ORLANDO, Fla. -- A thrill park spanning more than 70 acres is in the works for Central Florida.

Developers of the planned Orlando Thrill Park shared their message with local residents on Wednesday.

The residents got a chance to look at details plans for the proposed park, which would be built across the street from their homes.

Developers said they want the amusement area to go up in Orange County's Tangelo Park neighborhood.



Some roller coasters at the park are planned to be more than 400 feet high.

Developers promised a wall and a canal to keep the noise down for neighbors.

The land is approved for apartments and retail space, but developers believe the planned park just one block from the Fun Spot Amusement Park is a better use for the land.

Here's a slideshow with some closeups of the above map: http://www.wftv.com/slideshow/news/25759223/detail.html



From the Orlando Sentinel:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-orlando-thrill-park-tangelo-20101111,0,2485888.story

Residents of Tangelo Park expressed both excitement and fear this week as they gathered to hear more about a thrill-ride park proposed for a swath of land next door to their neighborhood.

Developers of Orlando Thrill Park say their plan to build more than a dozen thrill rides ranging in height up to 425 feet would be good for Tangelo Park, bringing jobs and other economic benefits to the north end of International Drive.

But not all residents were convinced during an open house Wednesday evening in Festival Bay mall, next door to the park site. They cited concerns about the traffic, crime and noise likely to accompany such an amusement park.

"It's not fair to us," said Dorothy Anthony, who has lived in Tangelo Park since the 1960s. "We are older now. We don't have the money to run. … I'm praying to God, please Jesus, let them go someplace else."

Other residents said they favor the project and are pleased the developers are making an effort to get feedback from the neighborhood.

"I live in Tangelo, but I'm for it," said George Bobbio, who thinks the project will result in more police protection and improvements to the area. "I believe that this is kind of the nudge that my community needs to bring new jobs to the area."

Land-use and zoning applications filed with the city of Orlando are currently on hold as the developers conduct required noise and transportation studies. I-Drive Investors LLC, in partnership with OTP Group LLC, needs the city to approve both a land-use change and a zoning change before proceeding with the amusement park.

According to the developers, the closest ride would be located about 630 feet from the nearest home — about the length of two football fields.

Developers told residents Wednesday that the property currently has government approvals for the development of 1,873 residential units plus retail shops, and so a 20-story apartment complex could be built immediately. But they said such a use of the property would generate even more traffic and place added stress on nearby schools.

"It's not like if this project goes away that the property's not going to be developed," said Chuck Bell, director of development for Orlando Thrill Park. "It will be developed in other ways."

Bell said Orlando Thrill Park was pleased with Wednesday's turnout and noted that the scheduled series of meetings will allow his company to address neighborhood concerns, to "get input and to craft a plan to make it more suitable." He talked with residents about possible beautification efforts, contributing to a neighborhood scholarship fund, and preliminary results of the noise studies.

Gwendolyn Clinton, secretary of the Tangelo Park Civic Association, grew up in the neighborhood and has seen the area deal with such change before. She favors the project.

"It's an opportunity for economic development for our community," Clinton said. "I'm excited about the project."

[cwgator]

Sorry for the double post, but the previous one was so large.

None of the rides from Freestyle Music Park will not be used in the Orlando Thrill Park.

http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/11/14/1809723/freestyle-rides-to-stay-put.html

Tourism Talk | Freestyle rides to stay put


The former president of Freestyle Music Park says he will not be using any of the rides from the closed attraction in a new amusement park he’s planning in Orlando.

Steven Baker resigned as president, along with most of the Freestyle board of directors, after creditors foreclosed on the park in August. The Orlando Sentinel reported in October that Baker Leisure Group, of which Baker is president and chief executive, was involved in a new project referred to as “Orlando Thrill Park.” Baker told The Sun News in a Nov. 4 interview that he is involved personally in the Orlando project, although his company is not.

Bloggers immediately began to speculate that the Orlando park might use some of Freestyle’s rides. Baker said that’s not the case. The thrill park has already made a master plan and Freestyle rides are not a part of it, he said.


“None of the rides at Freestyle park are in our plan that we submitted, none of them. Nothing from Freestyle is part of this,” Baker said.

Coasters at the park include water ride Soak’d and mine train ride Iron Horse. The largest coaster is The Time Machine, formerly a Led Zeppelin-themed ride under Freestyle’s predecessor, Hard Rock Park. One other coaster called Round About remains subject to a lawsuit by automaker BMW, which says the cars on the ride too closely resemble the BMW Mini and seeks an injunction to prevent future use.

“They blog, and they talk with absolutely no information at all. They make it up.”

The park is in foreclosure, making it impossible to go in and take the rides, Baker said. The thrill park in Orlando is in early planning stages, Baker said. That park is planned for the southwestern Orlando area near Universal Studios Florida and would require zoning changes to the area.

The foreclosure suit against Freestyle is slowly making its way through Horry County courts. The mortgage holder, FPI US LLC, named 22 of the park’s other creditors as co-defendants and all must be notified and given time to respond. before the suit proceeds.

The longer the rides sit, the more they will be damaged by salt and weather, Dennis Speigel, an industry consultant not affiliated with Freestyle, said in an August interview. Speigel appraised the rides for Hard Rock Park in 2008 when the attraction first encountered financial difficulty. He valued the rides at $25 to $30 million at the time, but that figure continues to decreaseas they are worn by exposure, he said.

The Baker Leisure Group, founded in 1988, had done projects in North and South America, Europe and Asia, including work with big names such as Coca-Cola and FIFA, organizer of the World Cup, prior to its work with Freestyle.

Baker says he is no longer involved in any of Freestyle’s operations. His company has no plans to do work in Myrtle Beach, he said. but would welcome future opportunities in the area.

[cwgator]

Well...The current site is a no-go....

http://mobile.orlandosentinel.com/wap/news/text.jsp?sid=292&nid=45998479&cid=17142&scid=-1&ith=0&title=Orlando+Sentinel+Top+Stories

Orlando thrill-ride park rejected by city planning board over noise concerns

A thrill-ride park proposed for the north end of International Drive was rejected this afternoon by an Orlando planning board because of concerns that screams and other noise from more than a dozen roller coasters and other attractions would harm a nearby residential neighborhood.

The city of Orlando's Municipal Planning Board voted to deny the zoning and land-use changes requested by developers of the proposed Orlando Thrill Park. The decision followed an hour-and-a-half presentation by the developers and a series of public comments in which residents of the Tangelo Park neighborhood were generally critical of the project, though the neighborhood's civic association unanimously supported it.

"I have concerns. … Are these people going to be living with some level of sound that I, sitting here, don't really understand? … I just wonder what we're getting into," said Stuart Buchanan, a planning board member.

Buchanan, who lives downtown, said he has firsthand experience dealing with noise from nearby businesses. Other board members suggested that the thrill-ride park is probably a good project in the wrong location.

The volunteer members of the Municipal Planning Board advise the City Council on a variety of zoning and land-development issues. The developers have five days in which to consider an appeal of the board's decision. Ultimately, any appeal would wind up going to the City Council.

The developers wouldn't comment after the meeting; a spokesman said they would "regroup."

The board of the Tangelo Park Civic Association said during the meeting's public-comment period that it unanimously supported the park, but many of the individual residents who spoke were opposed to the project.

"Too many times it's all about business, and it's all abou the bottom line, and in general people are left out," Jana Henry, one of the residents, said after the board's denial. "… I do not believe that's what happened here."

Regina Bridges, whose sons attend Tangelo Park's elementary school, had told the board during the meeting that she is concerned about the park's effect on the children's education.

"It's going to be a distraction," Bridges said. "Think about the noise. Think about the screaming, the roaring of it."

The city's planning staff had recommended that the Municipal Planning Board approve the thrill-ride park — but with restrictions to protect residents living in the nearby Tangelo Park neighborhood.

The staff also recommended that the board not approve the developers' request for a "major attractio overlay," which would grant them leniency with sound-level requirements, until they can prove the attraction is drawing the required minimum annual attendance of 750,000 people. Universal Orlando, whose two theme parks feature several large roller coasters, has a major-attraction overlay.

The developers had pressed the planning board Tuesday to grant them the major-attraction overlay today, along with their requested zoning and land-use changes.

The thrill-ride park was proposed for a 78-acre site between the Tangelo Park neighborhood and Festival Bay Mall in southwest Orlando. The city's planning staff recommended that the park's roller coasters and other thrill rides be restricted to the property's northern half, which is near the mall but farthest from the homes in Tangelo Park. The portion of the site closest to the 60-year-old neighborhood could contain only lower-impact development, such as parking structures.

[cwgator]

http://www.coaster-net.com/news/1387-orlando-thrill-park-hits-roadblock/

Zoning adjustments denied by municipal planning board
April 26, 2011 - Coasterholic14
Orlando, FL - In an overall impeding move, the Orlando municipal planning board voted 9-0, with two board members preferring not to vote, to reject Orlando Thrill Park’s proposed zoning adjustments.

Orlando Thrill Park was planning to create an amusement park based almost solely off of thrill rides to contrast Orlando’s other primarily family-based theme parks. The park would span 78 acres on International Street in Orlando.

Anticipated attractions consist of fourteen aggressive thrill rides and roller coasters with the thrill rides would be some of the most extreme seen throughout the world. While some of the roller coasters are standard at most amusement parks, Orlando Thrill Park would include some never before attempted concepts in roller coasters from such notable amusement ride companies as Intamin, Chance-Morgan, and Vekoma.

One of the main reasons for denying the park’s zoning attempts is the effect of roaring roller coasters on the neighborhood adjacent to the projected site. The residents of Tangelo Park, the community most susceptible to amusement park’s din, were hypercritical of the park’s plans.

In February, Orlando Thrill Park developers stated that they expected the sound to be no more than 70 decibels, which is roughly the sound level of surrounding traffic. 650 foot noise-buffering walls were suggested by the developers, although studies showed that higher noise levels could occur in a nearby car park.

Orlando’s city planners had recommended that the proposed $240 million amusement park be built, but only with the noise barricades in place. Nevertheless, Tangelo Park residents clearly were not impressed with this solution and chose to disagree with the city planners.

Ultimately, the municipal planning board sympathized with the residents, who had attempted exhibit their beautiful 60 year old community. The noise affecting property value and overall quality of life was the main concern, as well as how to handle any noise disputes that should arise if the park were built.

In the meeting, other possible solutions were suggested. Some residents asked for contractual agreements in aiding the neighborhood’s sound issues, while other expressed support for the project…on another piece of land.
With 5 days to appeal the planning board’s decision, a spokesman for the developers has claimed that they plan to “regroup.” At any rate, the appeal will inevitably end up with the city council. Their review of Orlando Thrill Park’s appeal is planned for May 23rd.

[billcollins531]

Man that looks like a sweet park, but I totally understand the residents concerns. Imagine if there was a subdivision right beside Carowinds - you'd have to listen to the Hurler fall apart all day.

[will44]

dang i whish it would have came them rides look insane hopefuly they can come some where near us but not to close to carowinds ( flordia or goergria or lower S.C

[cwgator]

So much for this coming into reality...

Orlando Thrill Park- Property owner drops pursuit of thrill-ride park at north end of International Drive

The developer who wanted to put a thrill-ride amusement park on land near a residential neighborhood off North International Drive has abandoned the project.

I-Drive Investors LLC said Monday it has dropped its bid to put a group of roller coasters and other rides on 78 acres between the Festival Bay shopping mall and the Tangelo Park neighborhood, citing the cost and difficulty of appealing a city planning board's April rejection of land-use changes needed to build the park.

Instead, the developer has reached a deal with the city to pursue land-use changes for the parcel that, if approved, would allow commercial development of the site but expressly prohibit a thrill-ride park. The parcel is currently zoned primarily for residential use.

The city's Municipal Planning Board said it rejected the earlier zoning changes because it was concerned about the effect noise from the attraction might have on the homes nearby.

Neil Frazee, a representative of the property's owner, said his client realized he "probably couldn't get it approved on that piece of property with the opposition" from some of the nearby residents.

"We just didn't think going through the legal process was a good expenditure of funds," Frazee said. "There's no guarantee at the end of the day what you're going to come out with."

For residents opposed to the project, it was welcome news.

"Anything but the thrill park," said Ella Gilreath, a resident of Tangelo Park who worried that noise from the park would have disrupted classes at Tangelo Park Elementary School. "I'm thrilled," she said Monday during an Orlando City Council meeting at which the deal between the developer and city was approved.

Frazee said the plan to build a thrill-ride park on the land near Tangelo Park "no longer exists." The developer is looking for a new project to fill the void, though as of Monday an alternative plan does not exist.

The property was approved previously for a project called Acqua Sol, a 936-unit residential complex. But it appears unlikely the developer would revert to that project.

"In this economy, I'm not sure there's any market down there for residential; otherwise, it probably would have been developed by now," Frazee said.

As for the thrill-ride park, there's a possibility the concept could pop up elsewhere, with a different land partner. The creative group that developed the concept for the landowner, OTP Group LLC, could not be reached for comment Monday.

[Picklesthedrummer]

Maybe try to build this theme park in another city. Houston needs a theme park badly after Astroworld closed down