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| We began our Saturday at Forbidden Kingdom Music Festival where we ran into this group of damsels. We also spent a few hours at Broken Strings Brewery and closed out the night with DJ Miguel Migs (USA) at Iron Cow. Busy day and night and you can find all the pics on sister website Orlando Entertainment News HERE. |
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| Did you know there's a free dance party every Friday and Saturday night at the secret John Lennon Room & Terrace atop Hard Rock Live. We went to check it out last night and found DJ Lex (USA) in the booth. All the pics from last night are posted on sister website Orlando Entertainment News HERE. |
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| This is the parking garage that used to stand at the corner of Hughey Avenue and Church Street, directly across Church Street from then Amway Center, now Kia Center. We posted that photo in 2016 and indicated it would soon be demolished for a new festival marketplace the Orlando Magic planned to build on that space. |
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| Indeed, by 2017 the garage had been demolished and the Orlando PD headquarters building behind it would soon be demolished too as they relocated to a brand new building on OBT, With both buildings gone, they could finally begin constructing that festival marketplace. |
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| Let's zoom ahead 10 more years to 2026 and check out construction progress. The development is now called Westcourt. |
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| We peered over the fence. Are there shops? Are there apartments? Is there a hotel? Is there a music venue? No-No-No-No! There is nothing here after more than 10 years. It's been announced something is going to get built here beginning this fall but we've heard that before over the past decade more than once. Church Street downtown is a mess and the mess begins here. More to come. |
And just like that, April is coming to a conclusion:
THU 23APR OLIV BAR DJ Mer Made (USA)
FRI 24APR CELINE DJ Dr. Bresh (USA)
FRI 24APR PALM TREE CLUB DJ Malone Morez (C/USA)
FRI 24APR VANGUARD DJ Svdden Death (USA)
FRI 24APR ALFIE'S HIFI DJ Justin Davis (USA)
SAT 25APR CENTRAL FL FAIR Forbidden Kingdom Day 1 SOLD OUT
SAT 25APR BROKEN STRINGS DJ Genesis (USA)
SAT 25APR IRON COW DJ Miguel Migs (USA)
SAT 25APR SESSIONS DJ Vampa (USA)
SAT 25APR TACO KAT DJ Hulian (USA)
SAT 25APR VANGUARD DJ duo Zeds Dead (CDN)
SAT 25APR ALFIE'S HIFI DJ Brian Burnside (USA)
SUN 26APR CENTRAL FL FAIR Forbidden Kingdom Day 2 SOLD OUT
SUN 26APR GRAPE & GRAIN DJ Brian Burnside 3pm+
SUN 26APR ELIXIR BAR DJ duo X Club (AUS/GB)
SUN 26APR ALFIE'S HIFI DJ Bles-sed (USA)
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| We published this photo and article back in April, 2009 which is 17 years ago! |
Atlantic Dance is very much like the proverbial box of chocolates because you never know what you're going to get. During an early evening visit this past Friday night (around 11pm) I counted around 100 patrons in there. The dance floor was mostly empty although it did pick up before I departed for The Groove. One of the DJ's who works there told me that one night this past week there was only about 10 customers in there yet the night prior there was over 300! Since the club is not advertised, it's all about how many party people are staying at the adjacent Swan and Dolphin Hotels and to a lesser extent, at Disney's Boardwalk Hotel. Conventioneers generally want to "party" after the meetings are over with and with close to no other options on Disney property, Atlantic Dance can get pretty crowded. For those who have never been, it's a beautiful Art Deco facility playing a Video Dance format of mostly Top 40 and Hip Hop.
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| A few pics from this past weekend's cruise on Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas cruise from Panama to Colombia. |
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| The cruise terminal is located about 20 minutes drive from downtown Cartagena. Lots of taxi drivers outside the terminal gates vying for your business. We had previously researched the Uber price of around $15 so when one of the drivers said $20, he quickly reduced it to $15 when confronted with the price offered by the competition. |
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| The old town area Centro Historico is walled as many cities of the 1500's were. This entry area is called the Puerta del Reloj or the Clock Gate. |
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| The Cartagena de Indias Cathedral was built between 1577 and 1612. |
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| Didn't have a lot of time to spend in Cartagena because of our early afternoon flight back to Miami. While there are a lot of colonial features in the city, there are also dozens of modern high rise condos lining the harbor and many of the beach fronts. |
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| Safely back in Orlando this evening after a 1-nt cruise from Colon, Panama to Cartegena, Colombia on cruise ship Serenade of the Seas. Party pics from the ship can be found on our sister website Orlando Entertainment News HERE. |
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| Quick trip to Panama City, Panama yesterday to be followed by a 1-nt cruise to Colombia. Posting several pictures below to give you an idea about this interesting city & country. |
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| After about a 3 hour flight from Miami, we caught sight of land as Panama finally arrived. As you likely know, the isthmus of Panama is the narrowest piece of land in the Americas which is why it was selected to be the location of the canal connecting the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean. Last water view on the Atlantic (Caribbean) side. |
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| And just a few minutes later, the Pacific Ocean (on the far right) arrived. Interesting fact: while the Atlantic Ocean is east of Panama and the Pacific Ocean is west of Panama, ships traveling through the Panama Canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific actually travel mostly eastbound because of the curvature of the isthmus! |
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| On final approach to PTY, a view of the Pacific entrance/exit of the Panama Canal and the Bridge of the Americas which carries the Pan American Highway over it. |
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| And a nice view of a very modern downtown Panama City before landing. |
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| Just one week away! Taking place on Saturday & Sunday of next weekend, Forbidden Kingdom Music Festival returns to Orlando for two days of mostly Dubstep and Heavy Bass. Additional information and waitlist ticket purchases HERE. |
For those not attending Breakaway Music Festival in Tampa this weekend, there's a nice assortment of events here in Orlando:
FRI 17APR BROKEN STRINGS DJ Circle K (USA)
FRI 17APR CELINE DJ Dirtmonkey (USA)
FRI 17APR SWIRLERY DJ Arcade Apocalypse (USA)
FRI 17APR ALFIE'S HIFI DJ Frankmatik (USA)
SAT 18APR LUNA BAR Discoteria: DJ Mighty Shari (USA)
SAT 18APR VANGUARD DJ Dombresky dba Disco Dom (F)
SAT 18APR ATTIC NIGHTCLUB Sorry For Party Rocking
SAT 18APR AXE TRAP Memento Mori: DJ Lavidicus (USA)
SAT 18APR ALFIE'S HIFI DJ Juan Sanchez (USA)
SAT 18APR 2207 E MICHIGAN House & Food Trucks 10am-4pm
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| Going back into the Blog archives to Saturday, April 2, 2011 or about 15 years ago. We were at Firestone Live to see an event headlined by DJ Baby Anne (USA). |
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| The club was absolutely packed! |
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| And a good time was had by all. |
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| As we were leaving Live! At The Pointe at Pointe Orlando this past Friday night, we encountered this familiar view as we headed towards the garage. On the left, that vacant spot says the Museum of Ice Cream is coming and on the right, the Funny Bone comedy club operates in there. |
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| The view was familiar because during the early 2000's, nightclubs Metropolis and Matrix operated in those two spots. |
Matrix was directly opposite and paid admission to one club typically got you into the other club and you could go back and forth. Matrix was the high-tech, high-energy electronic club with sophisticated light and sound systems. An oddly shaped dance floor, poorly located pillars and a DJ booth that was behind glass and removed from patrons limited its popularity as did the fading music genre. To me they played great Dance music like you'd hear on radio station 95.3Party. Disney couple Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake were known to socialize here.
Both clubs were shuttered by 2005.
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| Legendary DJ's such as DJ Superfly Jeff (USA), DJ X (USA) and DJ Jimmy Joslin (USA) were just three of the DJ's we saw playing yesterday. You can see the entire photo article on sister website Orlando Entertainment News HERE. |
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| A great mostly Tech House set last night from DJ J.Worra (USA) last night was the highlight of our visit to Live! At The Pointe. Check out all the clubs located there over on our sister website Orlando Entertainment News here. |
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| The interactive competition facility Level99 construction continues in Disney Springs West Side with no opening date yet announced. But what occurred to us when we were out there last week is that piece of "High Line" trestle needs to go. It completely blocks view of the facility from passersby. We predict the place is going to struggle to be successful as it is but to have that monstrosity out front blocking the entrance is going to make matters worse. No one knows or cares about the Disney Springs backstory as it's just another shopping mall. So remove the high line already and give Level99 a chance. |
Busy weekend ahead!
THU 09APR OLIV BAR DJ Braindusted (USA)
FRI 10APR VANGUARD DJ Noizu (USA)
FRI 10APR PALM TREE CLUB DJ J. Worra (USA)
FRI 10APR BROKEN STRINGS DJ Kraftykuts (GB)
FRI 10APR ALFIE'S HIFI DJ Brian Burnside (USA)
FRI 10APR CELINE DJ Super Future (USA)
SAT 11APR QREATE COFFEE House & Coffee 8am-2pm
SAT 11APR VANGUARD DJ duo Galantis (S)
SAT 11APR ALFIE'S HIFI DJ Romano Arcaini (D/USA)
SAT 11APR BROKEN STRINGS DJ SneakyPete (USA)
SAT 11APR ELIXIR BAR DJ Oscar G (USA)
SAT 11APR THE OTHER BAR DJ Jimmy Joslin (USA)
SUN 12APR IRON COW Tun Tun: DJ Antonia Rivano (RC/USA) 3pm-8pm
SUN 12APR ELIXIR BAR DJ duo LF System (GB)
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| The faux bushes that surrounded the front doors of Six Ravens are no longer there as work progresses towards their opening along Hill Street. We originally speculated that this would be a second location for Gideon's Bakehouse since their queue continues to stretch back to Mannequins and having a second spot could help alleviate that. But apparently no, Six Ravens will offer a different assortment of baked goods at this new location where Art of Shaving once operated. |
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| The awning overhangs have had some black trim added to them since our visit last month to give the place more of a gothic look. |
