Final Tear Down Of Holy Land Roadside Attraction - Downtown Orlando Memories & Church Street Station
Orlando Florida May 2023
Transcript
0:11
there's a bird circling over there
0:11
added me the woo here drinking a
0:15
non-piping hot and a non-caffeinated
0:19
beverage I will get a coffee a little
0:20
bit later we're starting off
0:21
a little H2O some water
0:27
as the recording of this it is May 22nd
0:27
2023 and I don't even know what I'm
0:29
gonna do today except power on with the
0:32
buddy of mine world of Micah who I'm
0:33
going to meet up with over on
0:34
International Drive
0:36
and then from there who knows or
0:39
whatever happens I'm inviting you to
0:41
join me
0:42
shall we
0:44
've been seeing a few Gators around here
0:45
lately I'm not seeing any at the moment
0:47
I thought there was one right over here
0:49
but I think it's just a stick
0:54
so I'm gonna go to my car
0:54
and then head over to iDrive
0:56
see where the day goes
0:59
sometimes I like having no game plan
1:00
whatsoever I like having no agenda and
1:03
just you know
1:05
see where the day goes that's what
1:07
today's going to be always a little bit
1:09
of a backup and a bottleneck right here
1:11
at the 535 interchange going eastbound
1:14
AI for but it's moving at least it's
1:16
moving but
1:18
I haven't got all the road work fixed
1:19
yet so
1:20
backed up all right I made it over to I
1:23
drive and believe it or not
1:25
world of mica is here too
1:27
look at this the new Mirror Maze see
1:29
threw this up
1:31
like I don't remember them doing
1:33
anything I think it used to be a
1:34
restaurant or something at one time
1:37
cool Ripley's got two places now
1:38
Ripley's has taken over
1:49
a little sculpture over here that Micah
1:49
was reminding me if you touched it it
1:51
would you would get pregnant if you
1:52
touched it they've removed that
1:54
maybe it was a true story and they have
1:57
just decided to put this Gator here
1:58
instead so if I touch that Gator will I
2:01
have a little little uh
2:02
like Junior like a little Junior
2:09
don't touch it oh my God I don't want to
2:09
touch that right I don't know what's
2:10
gonna happen there it is the infamous
2:12
International Drive sinkhole in 1992
2:15
finally the construction please believe
2:16
it or not on earth a mighty Roar of
2:19
defiance opened the Earth open and
2:21
literally tried to swallow up the new
2:23
arrival on I drive this is the sinkhole
2:26
there's like a metal lion or a tiger or
2:28
a bear over there obay is a tribute to
2:32
the architect's vision of the builders
2:33
Valiant efforts of this incredible
2:35
inedible edifice still stands a matter
2:39
of speaking here on International Drive
2:41
and the building is kind of neat because
2:43
it's like kind of
2:44
sideways I'm guessing this the homage
2:48
the 1992 sinkhole you know what I've
2:50
never noticed this before there are a
2:52
lot of sinkholes in Florida and I just I
2:54
just saw another one I didn't know about
2:56
now I know Micah stopped by when they
2:57
were tearing it down I kind of did the
2:59
progress of them building it partially
3:01
planning on tearing it down but I think
3:03
Micah showed out here the day they were
3:04
kind of yanking it down
3:06
not this this is still open even though
3:08
it's not open at the moment and so is
3:10
the the wheel
3:12
but the
3:14
drop tower that was over there probably
3:17
since even the last time you were here
3:18
it's probably completely gone it was
3:20
weird I watched them put up the first
3:22
like pole yeah on it I was watching them
3:24
put like a lot of the stuff when I was
3:25
on the wheel the last time I ever rode
3:27
that and then the last time I was here
3:29
they were actually removing it yeah I
3:30
saw both sides of the progress have you
3:32
seen it now that it's completely gone I
3:34
haven't should go over there check it
3:35
out
3:37
all right you definitely have leveled it
3:38
you right here I still have the
3:41
slingshot slingshot's still there but
3:42
the Drop Tower
3:44
completely gone now history someone told
3:45
me the slingshot's gonna stay the
3:47
slingshot I think is staying I think
3:48
that's still active well not at the
3:50
moment but on busy evenings it's kind of
3:53
bizarre being here because I was here
3:56
when they were putting it up you said
3:57
you saw the first one when you were up
3:58
there and they were putting the big
4:00
pylon in the ground yeah I think I did
4:03
quite a few videos where I was just
4:04
roaming around I drive and was kind of
4:05
seeing the progress of this and now it's
4:07
gone for good reason it's not here
4:09
anymore so it's history in fact I think
4:11
it was like more kind of over here
4:13
wasn't it yeah I think it was here
4:15
they've actually closed it wasn't even
4:16
here so I'm pointing there it really was
4:19
here where these picnic tables were yeah
4:21
in like this area Okay so they pulled
4:23
the little pylons out and then they re
4:25
repaved it and re-put the brick down
4:28
yeah it was right here
4:30
first I was thinking it was behind that
4:31
fence but really it was it was right
4:33
here
4:34
I think it went along the side of this
4:36
so yeah there's just not even a trace of
4:38
it left
4:39
oh you didn't even see some survey
4:40
markers here where they've yeah
4:43
had those there to put the sidewalk in
4:44
or they're gonna do something else
4:46
I don't even know if that's running
4:49
it did close for a while on New Year's
4:51
Eve people got stuck up there for like
4:53
two or three hours
4:55
okay
5:05
this is kind of an interesting building
5:05
I went in there with it well I guess it
5:06
had been open a couple months but it's
5:08
basically a big parking garage with on
5:09
I-4 is one of the largest Disney banners
5:13
around all digital and it makes you
5:15
think also here comes to the Lynx bus
5:17
but it makes you assume that the entire
5:19
thing is a Disney Store but really it's
5:21
just a teeny tiny store on the bottom
5:23
level over here in the corner the rest
5:25
of it's just a parking garage all right
5:27
we decided to go over here to the former
5:30
Holy Land place got some news that they
5:33
were tearing down the amphitheater today
5:35
and I was here three weeks ago and I
5:37
thought it was gonna be the last time I
5:38
would check this out I thought it was
5:40
going to be gone by the time I got back
5:42
it's not gone but they at the moment are
5:45
tearing it out as we're standing here so
5:48
we're going to get a view of them
5:49
tearing this thing down
5:55
could not pass up the opportunity to see
5:55
this thing get pulled us honestly
6:14
yeah it definitely has been the end of
6:16
an era for this Roadside Attraction
6:19
but this is definitely the end of the
6:21
end of the end of the era
6:26
all scrap metal there they're tearing
6:26
out the scraps
6:28
see what's inside of there now
7:22
yeah staircase in there man like the
7:22
backstage staircase yeah
7:33
I mean driving down I-4 this has been a
7:33
this has been something you everyone has
7:34
seen for years
8:19
oh wow even on the back side of that
8:19
building they're tearing a lot down we
8:21
should walk around the other side too
9:18
there will be a hospital coming here
9:18
soon very soon in ER
9:22
just ripping it all out all the
9:24
inner workings
9:36
I like watching like a dinosaur
9:36
yeah
9:38
like watching a dinosaur going after
9:50
it's like a whole room it just gutted
9:50
out of there yeah look at the air
9:52
conditioning unit
10:09
I'm really glad I was here like three
10:09
weeks ago and showed all the stuff that
10:11
was there because now it's just all
10:12
Rubble
10:13
that's where the tail fin from Jonah and
10:15
the whale Moses of the Ten Commandments
10:19
I think Zacchaeus Was up in a tree back
10:21
in there Noah's Ark was over in that
10:23
corner
10:51
yeah we would have come out here a
10:51
couple days from now this is this would
10:52
be history I mean it's already gone but
10:54
there's even some last remains of the
10:56
Christmas lights on that palm tree right
10:58
there
11:03
some of the themes themings fake rocks
11:03
made out of concrete or maybe yeah
11:06
probably concrete styrofoam
11:21
weird to me because so many times I just
11:21
stood right here and looked down at all
11:23
the items that were in there
11:29
to do something enough it just kind of
11:29
gets etched in your head and then you
11:30
see it like this and it's like wow
11:38
so when this place is open all the
11:38
actors played the biblical character
11:40
we're all scattered through the
11:42
courtyard the front entrance was right
12:01
still is that building that has not been
12:01
touched yet but soon then there's this
12:04
little kind of
12:05
castle looking building that hasn't been
12:09
touched but as we show the other way
12:12
over there that is the main Amphitheater
12:14
it's being torn down and I know I've
12:17
covered this kind of from I want to say
12:19
it's Inception but I was here what seven
12:21
years ago when it was open I went a few
12:23
years ago when they opened for the two
12:24
days after uh the two events of 2020 and
12:27
21 and I from what I heard they opened
12:29
it for tax reasons
12:31
they said they could they could keep
12:33
their status then they closed down for a
12:35
while shut down many many times I walked
12:37
up the side of this road
12:39
it filmed down in there and then a few
12:41
weeks ago I did an update this will be
12:43
my last one because at the end of this
12:45
month
12:46
I will be going out of town for a while
12:49
a pretty good amount of time and by the
12:51
time I get back this will all be be
12:53
leveled and possibly had started
12:55
construction on the hospital so this
12:57
will be my last look three weeks ago I
13:00
said it's probably my last time because
13:01
I thought it was going to be gone I was
13:03
wrong still here but I wanted to wanted
13:05
to show it I'm glad I stopped by
13:07
got those cumulonimbus building up there
13:11
not the only meteorologist word I know
13:20
I think hurricane season officially
13:20
begins in like five days for Florida
13:22
something like that yeah it's coming up
13:23
soon I saw a billboard going to Tampa
13:25
yesterday and on the side of the road a
13:28
meteorologist has a countdown clock on a
13:30
billboard letting you know when
13:32
hurricane season starts
13:39
yay summer
13:39
this might be the last relic of anything
13:42
that says holy land oh man
13:44
Holy Land
13:57
look at that
13:57
he's gonna get a photo there just a half
13:59
yeah that's it
14:02
there it is now made it downtown over to
14:05
a parking garage parked in the structure
14:07
structure
14:09
right over here by
14:11
the Orlando fire station one you can see
14:13
it out here out the window here
14:23
I walked over to Church Street now
14:23
it looks like the train station here has
14:26
seen better days
14:33
now when I think of this little area I
14:33
think of a lot of things Patricia used
14:34
to be a bustling beehive of activity
14:37
back in the 90s that was way before
14:41
I think this is called 55 South fun fact
14:45
I actually looked at an apartment here
14:46
once many many years ago well there
14:48
wasn't even that many years before I
14:49
moved to Hollywood I looked at the
14:51
department here and I said you know what
14:53
I think I moved back to LA I always
14:55
think I always like think you could
14:56
either move to New York moving to
14:58
downtown Orlando picked L.A the last
15:00
time I was out there
15:06
but every time I see this I always think
15:06
of the Miami Connection the film Miami
15:08
Connection did a detailed filming
15:10
location of that
15:11
classic
15:13
cheesy martial arts
15:26
great martial arts movie starring YK Kim
15:26
down here
15:28
they had a lot of the scenes that took
15:30
place all through here it still says
15:32
Church Street up top there I guess it
15:34
still is called Church Street Station
15:35
even though really nothing ever
15:36
happening out here the bumby block
15:40
dated 1886.
15:47
oh you know what the old Neon
15:47
is for Church Street is still up there
15:49
too
15:50
so you can see the old neon signage
15:53
is still on the little overpass
16:09
a bygone era you know back in the 90s
16:09
you would pick up pamphlets around town
16:10
and it would say
16:12
Universal Orlando well Universal Studios
16:15
Florida is what it was called the and
16:16
then Disney and Church Street Station
16:18
was like one of the big three though oh
16:21
yeah not anymore now it's like not even
16:23
in the top hundred
16:25
not even the top 174.
16:35
this has been around for a long time
16:35
I have a fascination with like antique
16:39
clocks this clock is not correct
16:42
the clock up there is not correct the
16:43
correct time if you even wanted to get a
16:45
photo
16:46
right there on the chair
16:49
you couldn't because it's all fenced off
16:51
my friend Scott you can and I about gosh
16:53
seven eight years ago all right I just
16:55
remember when I almost moved back to 55
16:57
West which is right here it wasn't when
16:59
I moved to Hollywood it was right before
17:00
I moved to Celebration I was trying to
17:01
decide where I wanted to live and I went
17:04
and looked at an apartment there but
17:05
then opted for celebration I think I
17:06
made the right choice also I got I got
17:08
my coffee for the for the day CFS coffee
17:11
right here at Church Street
17:14
on Church Street Station I've always
17:16
wanted to see windshield wiper or
17:18
windshield washers
17:25
well you think they're almost done or
17:25
they're heading up they're probably
17:26
almost done because this site getting
17:27
stormy out
17:29
that makes sense yeah that makes sense I
17:33
don't know if I've ever seen windshield
17:34
wipers in person before
17:36
New York I know getting a New York Vibe
17:39
too yes with every buildings like that
17:46
oh yeah the old Crest building Mike it
17:46
was pointing out yeah next to the uh I
17:48
believe it's the Walgreens you never
17:50
know what to call it a five and dime or
17:52
a five and ten oh there's windshield
17:53
wipers up top there too
17:56
5 10 and 25. take a look at this
18:00
yeah oh it's like a guy with a beard
18:05
right there that's pretty neat right
18:08
through the middle of his torso
18:21
love these old buildings down here
18:21
more of the crest building
18:23
yeah I've never oh they're painting oh
18:26
okay they're not windshield wipers
18:27
they're painters it's the same kind of
18:29
platform though
18:31
same kind of platform new mural alert
18:40
now Micah and I love Ernest Saves
18:40
Christmas so we're going to talk about
18:42
her interstate's Christmas once again
18:45
this is the corner where Jim Varney
18:47
pulls up in the taxi right here but in
18:51
the movie this was extended there was
18:54
either a fire it was demolished it was
18:55
bulldozed this building came out a
18:57
little farther but that mural over there
19:00
is brand new take a look over there
19:02
unbelievably real
19:04
that that mural got the walk sign here I
19:07
got 13 more seconds to cross over South
19:09
Orange
19:19
I got some bad news
19:19
across the way they've replaced the
19:21
sidewalk because they used to have this
19:24
pattern over there that you could see in
19:26
the scene from earnest
19:29
God
19:42
you got a water slide got the sun rail
19:42
you got the Lake Eola swans you got an
19:44
ice cream cone you got a canoe well the
19:48
oh there's a MCO Orlando International
19:51
there's the tower
19:53
there's a golf ball there there's a
19:55
basketball I'm not sure what this is
19:57
what is this supposed to be in the
19:58
middle
19:59
you got the rocket from Kennedy Space
20:01
Center but what is this
20:03
it's a roller coaster yeah what coaster
20:06
would that be I don't know it looks like
20:08
is there any coaster in Orlando that
20:09
looks like that no it looks like the
20:11
incredi coaster almost
20:12
but incredi kosher has two people side
20:14
by side and that's and that's an Anaheim
20:16
look at that oh VR VR that's right yeah
20:20
the Walt Disney theater up there oh yeah
20:23
there it is that's the convention center
20:24
Yeah you mentioned that
20:27
nice
20:28
no soccer
20:31
I like all the tile work here you can
20:32
still see on the ground from like where
20:34
the yeah former establishment was
20:36
through here
20:43
yeah there was a couple of them yeah
20:43
there was probably a storefront here you
20:45
entered in from this way there's
20:46
probably another one here and maybe
20:48
another one there there might have been
20:49
three
20:50
all right I'm gonna give it a little
20:52
little shout out to Spore and Ryan the
20:55
ducks come in waves
20:57
ducks come in waves now around this back
21:00
parking lot used to be where bands would
21:01
load in for the social still call the
21:04
Social before that it was Sapphire
21:06
Supper Club and before that it was
21:09
downtown Jazz and Blues Club
21:12
Micah had a band that played here I had
21:14
a band that played here I went to
21:15
probably a hundred concerts here in the
21:18
day your sticker up on there no I was
21:20
just see if I knew anybody
21:23
those are newer
21:28
yeah I mean these stickers get changed
21:28
out all the time yeah
21:30
yeah you load in right in here I did it
21:32
probably a dozen times it might die I
21:34
think you do know someone over here
21:35
right there can I find yeah what I
21:38
placed one I did a little sticker slap
21:40
on the sticker Pole look at that about
21:42
20 years after the fact when I played
21:44
here I finally put a sticker on the pole
21:46
yeah you belong on here man you paid
21:48
your dues I probably played a dozen
21:51
shows in there went to probably at least
21:52
100 concerts this is around the back
21:54
door this is not the back side of water
21:55
it's the back side of the social oh this
21:58
is pretty cool they put up a plaque
22:00
for me right here the woo
22:03
the woo oh wait no it says that says the
22:05
words right there actually I finally
22:07
found a big chair that we consider
22:10
station with a spinster
22:12
it's called Wall Street right next to
22:15
the Tiki Lounge
22:16
this Wall Street has nothing to do with
22:18
trading stocks no at all at all things
22:20
might be traded here they're not stocks
22:29
a Tiki Lounge yeah we walked in there
22:29
one time did we oh we did yeah the door
22:32
was open I just wedged my tripod right
22:34
down in here
22:36
that's right I remember we did go in
22:37
there it's a nice little hand carving
22:53
Wall Street
22:53
came down here A bunch of times
22:58
my friends uh the super villains
22:58
Scott and Dom the super villains used to
23:00
play a lot of shows with those guys back
23:01
in the day my band with their band they
23:03
play down here all the time
23:05
where did the super villains are still
23:06
around probably
23:09
sort of Courtyard over here is pretty
23:11
interesting there's like some sculptures
23:12
of Gators and a gator wrestler this is
23:15
based on a real photograph
23:17
of a guy you know exactly like this
23:20
Craig T usler
23:24
I didn't realize till I went inside the
23:26
History Center it's attached to this a
23:28
year or so ago to realize that this was
23:30
a real person
23:31
is it really yeah Craig T Osler he's got
23:34
this crazy look on his face inside the
23:36
History Center face if you're gonna do
23:39
that yeah they have the photo inside
23:41
there pretty good pretty good uh
23:44
pretty good History Center right now
23:45
they're having a music in Mayhem thing
23:47
in there which I went to a few months
23:49
ago pretty good we have walked up to the
23:51
amphitheater at Lake Eola Walt Disney
23:53
donated and this is dedicated back in
23:55
89.
23:57
and this is the the amphitheater right
24:00
over here now the seats are only used
24:02
for purposes for special events and they
24:04
kind of have them roped off and whatnot
24:06
but yeah this is the Walt Disney
24:07
Amphitheater here at Lake Eola and you
24:09
see the fountain in the distance over
24:10
there four months after NGM open four
24:13
months after oh that's right
24:15
October good call yeah and it looks like
24:17
the storm clouds are kind of rolling in
24:19
if you follow the sidewalk around
24:22
past these this flower garden there is a
24:25
full sculpture of a woman laying here in
24:28
the grass so if you look at it from the
24:29
front angle I'm looking at the foot now
24:31
from around the other angle the front
24:33
angle you can see a woman laying here
24:34
amongst the the greenish grass berm it's
24:38
a it's a woman made out of half of a
24:40
berm she's like kind of wedged in the
24:42
the hill here next to Lake Eola in
24:45
downtown Orlando this case has been here
24:47
for a very very long time great
24:48
photographic spot City beautiful that's
24:52
the nickname
24:55
for Orlando
25:04
is this a cross or a t there
25:04
don't even think about
25:16
also no loitering
25:16
all right we're back at the parking
25:17
garage and get back in the car and see
25:19
what else we can find go do
25:21
I told you it's gonna be a random day
25:22
there's really no point to any of us but
25:23
we're just doing it
25:25
textbook Central Florida fashion it is
25:28
now raining 3 38 P.M
25:31
Courthouse over there too see it off in
25:33
the distance
25:40
now check out this mural here
25:40
pretty close to Mills a block off Mills
25:42
got some uh break dancing going on
25:51
I made it over to the Milk District
25:51
because TG Lee and milk and a lot of the
25:54
companies that make milk are in this
25:56
area Earl funk I know that guy he did
25:58
that mural Earl Funk made the tattoo
26:00
artist he made the R2D2
26:03
that's made from a milk carton like a
26:05
lunchbox milk carton right there
26:12
Milk District oh speak of the devil
26:12
right here here it says Milk District
26:14
there's TG right in front of us
26:17
that milk is no milk will ever be our
26:20
milk
26:21
what about you side Birds rather have a
26:24
beer
26:26
that was a parking lot I was just saying
26:27
but I had to pull over to the next
26:29
parking lot
26:37
because this is where kick Brite buttons
26:37
are located I think like a little
26:38
vintage store I was hoping they'd be
26:40
here but I always choose days when
26:41
places aren't open it's kind of tucked
26:43
away over here though
26:46
I did a meet and greet years ago at the
26:48
artegon mall which is now desert land
26:51
and that was the booth they had the
26:52
booth there
26:53
kick right buttons had the Vintage booth
26:56
and they let me utilize their space for
26:58
a meet-up it's probably been gosh six
27:00
seven years ago maybe
27:02
and also when I gave the button giveaway
27:04
over a year ago that was quite an
27:07
undertaking thousands of buttons I had
27:09
to send out
27:11
they ended up making the buttons for me
27:17
that's what they do first that's what
27:18
they do
27:18
there's uh Maryland over there
27:21
I need to stop back by when they're open
27:22
though oh there's the Orlando Magic
27:24
mascot
27:26
yeah stuff the Magic Dragon
27:36
so it's interesting at first I thought
27:36
that they were on the main road here but
27:39
they're just kind of offset from the
27:40
road yeah
27:41
yeah why
27:53
all right these are their hours
27:53
and because as a recording of this it's
27:55
Monday they're not open today they'll be
27:58
open tomorrow
28:00
a lot of murals in Orlando these are
28:03
good kind of teaching about keeping the
28:05
earth clean only one plastic bottle said
28:09
eight billion people
28:11
true
28:13
pretty neat little vintage stores
28:14
through here too
28:19
a nice little area of the Milk District
28:19
sky looks pretty uh
28:21
pretty intense over there
28:46
we're actually going close to where Holy
28:46
Land demo is happening but imagine they
28:49
stopped the demolition during this
29:03
oh it's gonna be my last view of the
29:03
amphitheater next time I'll be back in
29:06
this side of town
29:15
we now approach back to where we kind of
29:15
started corner of Sand Lake and I drive
29:19
I now have rain on my camera drifting
29:22
down
29:23
they're almost like almost looks like a
29:25
Hidden Mickey on top of the former
29:26
world's largest McDonald's over there
29:28
now called The Epic McDonald's
29:31
also they were going to World build
29:33
World build the world's tallest roller
29:35
coaster on the other side of iDrive over
29:37
there where that Perkins is but that got
29:39
scrapped
30:14
the rain has now subsided it was like a
30:14
downpour
30:16
incredible downpour
30:24
bad weather came through Central Florida
30:24
rained quite a bit
30:25
we were driving on I-4 but
30:28
I think some of the worst weather missed
30:30
the little section that Mike and I were
30:32
walking through I'm back in celebration
30:34
now back home
30:37
feels good out here now it was a little
30:39
toasty earlier
30:40
but the rain has cooled things down and
30:43
it's not quite summery out so the
30:44
humidity usually after the rain it gets
30:47
very very warm but it's still still that
30:50
Springtime coolness late Springtime
30:53
coolness after the rains it's pretty
31:03
I walk down to the lakefront
31:03
it's been a nice day
31:23
I like days where just no real game plan
31:23
just being around friends today I got to
31:26
hang out with Micah
31:27
check his channel out at worldamaker
31:31
known him for a long time always a good
31:32
time kind of catching up with him
32:10
I'm at a stage of my life now where I
32:10
just like to stay busy all the time
32:13
kind of like this bird is staying busy
32:15
with
32:16
and his wings spared up
32:34
sometimes just doing
32:34
simple mundane things just seeing where
32:36
the day will lead you when you don't
32:37
have plans
32:40
it just kind of keeps your mind active
32:42
keeps your body moving forward
32:44
instead of just sitting around I don't
32:46
like sitting around
32:48
it's kind of what today was
32:50
and it worked out well because I was
32:52
able to go
32:53
see the last destruction of Holy Land
33:06
and that's gonna do it for today
33:06
ending in celebration just a casual day
33:09
nothing too vital nothing too important
33:12
nothing too stressful
33:14
nothing too out of the ordinarily crazy
33:19
you can even say nothing too topical
33:33
thanks for watching I appreciate it I'll
33:33
see you the next video the Vlog
33:35
is over