BIG Changes Coming To International Drive Orlando - Goodbye To Wyndham / Walking Tourist Strip 2025
International Drive Orlando Changes
Transcript
0:03
Welcome everyone. Adam the Woo here as a
0:03
recording of his TGIF. It is Friday,
0:06
March 21st,
0:08
2025. Where the heck is the year going?
0:11
They say the older you get, the faster
0:13
time goes. And I am here to say that is
0:15
a true statement. I turned 50 back in
0:18
August of last year. And that just seems
0:21
like yesterday, but it was half a year
0:23
ago. Just about a half a year ago.
0:25
Halloween haunt season will be here
0:27
before we know
0:28
it. Each year just rolling on, rolling
0:33
on.
0:34
Progress stops and waits for no man,
0:38
including myself. Behind me is the
0:41
Windham Hotel. It's being demolished, or
0:44
at least a portion of it being
0:45
demolished. I'm on International Drive.
0:46
Going to meet up with a buddy. We are
0:48
going to walk andor find other
0:51
transportations to get down
0:53
International Drive and do a little
0:55
update. Spring 2025 update on
0:58
International Drive. Things are
1:00
changing. As always, I'm inviting you to
1:02
join me. Shall you? All right, coffee
1:05
achieved. I went to the Starbucks next
1:07
to where the Windom. I'm kind of curious
1:09
if the Windom is completely closing or
1:12
if they're just tearing down like 2/3 of
1:15
it. Yeah. Little piping hot caffeinated
1:17
beverage to start the
1:23
day. Yeah, they've already torn a lot
1:23
down through here. You see the pool? Can
1:26
you see the pool? I don't know. We might
1:28
have to walk around the other side to
1:29
get to it. I think it wasn't. Micah's
1:31
here. Hey, got my new shirt on. Yeah,
1:34
you bought that. We were hanging out
1:35
yesterday and now we're hanging out
1:36
again today. That's it. It's a It's a
1:38
double double. What's the first thing
1:40
you think of when you think of the
1:42
Windom? Spooky Empire. Exactly. I was
1:44
talking about that in my video earlier.
1:46
I said the amount of talent and like
1:49
celebrities, you and I both have sat in
1:52
that room straight ahead. Yeah. And have
1:54
witnessed like history like the Blair
1:55
Witch project panel. Like that kind of
1:58
stuff was
2:04
LA. Last year was the last spooky here.
2:04
Spooky is still going to happen, but no
2:05
longer at this
2:07
venue. The first spooky I ever went to
2:09
here was in 2008.
2:12
So definitely a lot of memories of this
2:13
place and I always park in this parking
2:15
lot next to
2:17
Chewies. We kind of have a tradition of
2:20
eating it. Every time we're in this
2:21
area, we always eat that at Chewies.
2:23
Yeah.
2:25
So good. This is prime real estate. So I
2:27
can imagine they got a pretty penny for
2:28
this land. But I am curious. Is the Is
2:31
that part of it still going to be the
2:32
Windham? I don't know. We should walk
2:34
around the front. Yeah. Yeah. This is
2:36
what weirded me out when I drove in
2:38
here. I always drive in the side by
2:40
Ripley's which has this sign also. I
2:43
missed this. It's weird not seeing. So
2:45
it makes me think the whole place is
2:47
closing. Yeah, Cooper Hawk I think would
2:49
be the only thing that would go on
2:51
unless they relocate. By the way, hey
2:54
buddy. Hello.
2:56
I've eaten here many times. And I love
2:59
this place. It's connected to the
3:00
Windom.
3:02
Fun fact, in 2008, the first time I ever
3:04
went here, they had a Dawn of the Dead
3:05
reunion. And right here on the corner is
3:08
where I met the godfather of Gore,
3:11
Hersher Gordon Lewis, right there. Right
3:13
on that very corner. No way. 2008.
3:17
That's amazing. Yep. I met him just
3:18
walk. He was out there just walking in.
3:21
I've met I met Linda Blair right there.
3:23
I held the door open for her as she was
3:25
walking in. I met Alice Cooper. Remember
3:28
we saw Alice? Oh yeah, I remember Alice.
3:29
That was great. My buddy was a big fan
3:31
of He's totally like froze. I remember
3:34
that. This car has been hawking for a
3:36
good while. It was getting before I even
3:38
got my
3:48
coffee where I was standing right there.
3:48
I also met Chris Farley's brother from
3:51
Black Sheep, Mike Donley. Oh, yeah.
3:54
Doing the uh Animal House reunion. I
3:56
forget his name. He was in the Brady
3:57
sequel, too. Smoking area.
4:00
I kind of feel like it's still going to
4:02
be open, just this one portion of it,
4:04
but maybe not.
4:06
I met Christopher Lloyd.
4:09
You met a a Cavalcade of your celebrity
4:12
bucket list here, man. Absolutely. Uh
4:15
preacher from the Black Lagoon. I met
4:18
Rico from Preacher. That lights on. It's
4:22
trippy. See, it's trippy looking in
4:24
here. It is. It's like I wonder if
4:26
there's anything out there.
4:33
Really the the tell all will be if
4:33
they're going to keep any of this open
4:34
will be the rooms on this side because
4:37
they could keep it open if the rooms on
4:38
this side are not being torn down. But
4:40
if these are being torn down, this place
4:41
is done. Yeah, I've been in those rooms
4:44
on this
4:45
side. Promise and Travis stayed here one
4:48
night and Abby and I came to see them
4:50
and see the room. It was really cool. I
4:53
think she did like a whole video of what
4:55
it looks like in this. Oh yeah, dude.
4:56
This place is going away. Look at Look
4:58
at this over here. Gone. It's all gone.
4:59
Here's where the check-in would be.
5:01
Yeah, they're just going to bulldoze all
5:02
this.
5:04
You know, that's sad, man. I mean, how
5:07
many mornings have we stood out just
5:09
like this seen
5:14
people standing here?
5:47
We're going to cover a lot more of
5:47
iDrive, too, but this is just too wild
5:50
to pass up. Are the doors open? There's
5:53
one on the other side that was open. No,
5:55
that's locked. There was a door in the
6:18
there. Yeah. I never I never went to any
6:18
of the pool parties, but I know Petey,
6:20
he used to always be like, "You got to
6:22
go to the pool party. It's the stuff
6:23
where some of the stuff Petey told me
6:25
cannot be repeated." No, not in a vlog
6:28
at all. Shout out to Pety from Spooky.
6:35
But spooky is still going on. It's just
6:35
not going to be here
6:46
anymore. Man, this is wild. Look at
6:46
this. You can see
6:48
the Icon Orlando, Icon Park, Orlando Eye
6:52
over
6:54
there. Man, this is
6:58
just this is wild.
7:10
Unbelievable. They have just demolished
7:12
and torn all this down. Look at
7:19
that. You can faintly see the lettering
7:19
there. Just be quiet around here. They
7:22
didn't had the convention center. They
7:24
had other stuff, too. But I think that
7:25
was the the most people showed up for
7:27
that event every year. When Corey Taylor
7:29
from Slipnot showed up and the amount of
7:31
people who came who had never been to a
7:32
convention but they wanted to meet
7:34
Corey. That was cool to see their
7:36
reactions cuz it was just like normal
7:38
fans of Slipnot walking in and they're
7:40
like, "Wait a minute. What is this?"
7:42
Yeah. I could buy a horror a horror film
7:44
t-shirt here. Yeah. You mean I can dress
7:46
up like Slipnot and meet him? I didn't
7:49
know. You know, I love that stuff.
7:50
Definitely a big footprint of land
7:51
though.
7:56
So, I my assumption was that they were
7:56
going to keep part of the hotel open and
7:58
just remove half of it. I was
8:02
wrong. This whole thing, this whole
8:05
thing's going
8:06
away. Although, they could keep the
8:09
convention center part open, but that
8:10
wouldn't make any sense cuz no one would
8:11
be staying here. Yeah, those ballrooms
8:14
are pretty big. It's cool to see like
8:17
what's left. Like, how interesting. They
8:19
just stop at a certain part and they're
8:21
like,
8:37
Yeah, you think about it, one of those
8:37
pieces of rubble right there could have
8:39
been the wall of the room that was next
8:42
to the bed that Bruce Campbell might
8:44
have slept in. Yeah. thing that kind of
8:46
gets me is the main building, which is
8:48
like one fifth of what they haven't torn
8:51
down, still standing. Do we know what
8:54
this is going to be? I don't know. I
8:55
haven't Cuz see, I'm wondering like just
8:58
redo the rooms and their hotel is going
9:01
to take over. That's a possibility cuz
9:03
these rooms were kind of old. That's
9:05
true. They needed some They needed some
9:06
TLC. And there's nothing wrong with the
9:08
convention center. So, if another
9:10
company came in here, they would have a
9:12
whole convention center, restaurant
9:14
connected, and they could just build
9:15
this. It's a valid point.
9:18
It'll end up being a parking lot. Yeah.
9:20
Just to show how massive this property
9:27
is. This is kind of on the thoroughare
9:27
too towards Epic
9:30
Universe. So, again, prime real estate.
9:33
This is interesting. Since the last time
9:35
I was in this area, this Perkins has now
9:38
closed. So maybe they're going to be
9:40
doing a
9:41
massive tear down renovation on this
9:44
section corner of Sand Lake and I drive.
9:47
It's a
9:49
possibility. Years ago, they announced
9:50
they were going to do the world's
9:51
tallest roller coaster behind this. That
9:54
never
9:55
happened. But now the Perkins, which was
9:57
open for a while, is now closed. Signage
10:00
and
10:05
everything. The ever cha changing
10:05
landscape of International Drive.
10:25
good chunk of land, too. I keep using
10:25
the word prime real estate. So, right
10:28
over there is where the Windom was and
10:30
the Starbucks where I got the coffee.
10:31
And then you got Icon Park over there.
10:33
Look at all this parking that's just
10:35
empty.
10:37
There used to be a go-kart track fun and
10:38
wheels back in there or the company
10:40
owned by Fun and Wheels. This is the
10:43
backside of Hogan's no longer beach
10:45
shop. It's just Hogan's wrestling shop
10:46
now. And then of course the Perkins.
10:49
This is where you met Hogan, right? I
10:51
saw him. Yeah, I saw Hogan from a
10:53
distance back here when he did a a meet
10:56
and greet. Give me a 100 bucks. He was
10:58
doing like a meet and greet inside. I
11:00
was just passing through. I did not wait
11:01
in the line. It was a pretty long line.
11:03
But Hogan got out of his car there,
11:06
walked past me, walked in that door, and
11:09
he called me brother. He was telling me
11:12
as we were walking over here that this
11:14
BK has gone back to their old school
11:16
design with the
11:19
hamburger. They're going retro. All the
11:21
BKs are going back to their retro logo.
11:23
All the signage dropped. The beat shop,
11:25
Hogan's Beat Shop, which it was called
11:28
that for many, many years. Now they just
11:29
call it Hogan's Wrestling Shop. I think
11:31
his other store in Sarasota, which was
11:33
the first one, still called Beach Shop,
11:36
but this one is nowhere near a beach.
11:39
So, it's always interesting to me that
11:40
they It's always interesting to me that
11:43
they always they called this the beach
11:44
shop cuz nowhere near the beach. They
11:45
still have a lot of the the what they
11:47
call mannequins, I guess, in there of
11:49
Hogan when you kind of are walking
11:51
around inside, merchandise, things like
11:54
that. all the different eras of all the
11:57
different eras of Hogan back in the WWF
12:00
days. I was very very young. It was
12:02
definitely my favorite wrestler. I
12:04
always like Hogan and what he brought to
12:07
the
12:07
ring. Didn't really follow wrestling too
12:10
much when it went to WWE and on from
12:13
there, but watched a little bit. I go to
12:15
some independent wrestling stuff here
12:16
and there, but I haven't really kept up
12:18
with a lot of the new
12:20
wrestling. Hogan's beat shop. He is on a
12:25
shark. He's on a shark right
12:28
there. Michael was telling me his his
12:31
favorite era of Hogan was Hollywood
12:37
Hogan. He was the heel. You like the
12:37
heel era, huh? You were the heel era of
12:40
Hogan. Oh, yeah. When I was a kid, I
12:42
remember like everyone knew who Hulk
12:44
Hogan was, you know, and everything, but
12:47
he was the heel that I first was like, I
12:49
like this. Yeah. Why do I like this? He
12:51
probably he probably played a better he
12:53
plays a better heel than he does the
12:55
good guy. Dude, it was just cuz it was
12:56
all Hulk ism stuff, you know, like it
12:59
was just so good. Him, Kevin Nash, Scott
13:02
Hall would come out and they would just
13:04
talk
13:07
smack and being a being central Florida
13:10
Central Floridaians, there was a TV show
13:14
that was filmed at Disney that you know
13:16
pretty well. Yeah. With Hogan, Thunder
13:18
in Paradise. Thunder in Paradise. Tim
13:19
and uh did you ever do the video on that
13:21
yet? I did. Check out Micah's video.
13:23
Thunder at Epcot. At Epcot and at the
13:25
Grand Fian and at uh Fort Wilderness
13:28
Campground and Seven Seas. Yeah, Seven
13:30
Seas are in the background. It's nuts.
13:32
What a fun movie. Yeah. Search search
13:33
his filming location video on Hulk
13:35
Hogan's Thunder in Paradise, the show no
13:39
one saw, brother. Is also a place that
13:41
Micah and I know very well from a John
13:44
Ritter film, Problem Child 2. During the
13:47
opening sequence, they use this in
13:49
Problem Child 2 still here. Yeah, they
13:52
walk and they have those uh the flags.
13:56
It's the same looking shell of the the I
14:00
hope this never goes away. Me, too. Cuz
14:02
every time I pass by this, I always
14:04
think of the song, only the strong
14:06
survive. It's interesting. All the poles
14:08
through here have have stickers all
14:12
over. Like every pole down International
14:15
Drive just has stickers tagged up
14:19
everywhere. All of them. It's a sticker
14:22
prevalently sticker stickered
14:25
area. More construction, more
14:29
bulldozing. The building is right here.
14:36
Oh
14:36
yeah.
14:37
Oh my. This was the original swings on
14:41
iDrive before Icon
14:44
Park go-kart track.
14:47
Is this where the Gator Golf was or
14:50
that's over there? Next door. Next door.
14:52
So right here as you're walking right up
14:54
there was where the golf cart was
14:56
hanging over like it looked like it was
14:58
hanging over going to fall off the
15:00
track.
15:07
Yeah, they not only bulldozed it, but
15:08
they've cleaned it all up. Means they're
15:10
probably going to build something here.
15:11
Well, it's for sale. Still still a
15:13
little bit of the original brick down
15:14
here.
15:16
Yeah, this is where you would walk up to
15:17
the the front of the Magical Midway
15:28
Arcade. Over there goes the slingshot.
15:28
Definitely looks a lot different since
15:29
the last time I was by here. Big
15:31
slingshot. these little tiki stands. You
15:34
got a time share place there. That's
15:36
still That's still open. Time share
15:38
place is open. This place little tiki
15:40
stand thing is not. This has been empty
15:42
for a while. Be interesting to find out
15:44
how much it' be to rent this. You just
15:46
lease this
15:48
out. Just I don't know what you would
15:50
sell
15:51
here. We should look into leasing this.
15:54
Yeah, be kind of neat. I don't know what
15:57
I would put put here.
16:00
This hasn't been open for a long time.
16:02
Got the
16:03
bamboo. Even still got inside here. It's
16:07
like it has
16:08
some I don't know what that is in there.
16:10
Looks like a little quick service items
16:14
like an oven and
16:17
things. Could open up a iDrive churro
16:20
stand. Could be the
16:34
TV. It's a good business opportunity
16:34
right here on International Drive where
16:36
most of the business are just people
16:37
that walk up and down the road. Also,
16:40
side note, that business is not open.
16:43
That little tiki stand thing is right
16:45
here at the cusp of Orange County or
16:48
Orlando, I should say. Not the county
16:49
line. Forget forget what I said about
16:50
the county line, but it's the cusp of
16:53
the city line for Orlando. Nicknamed the
16:57
city. has a lot of nicknames, but the
16:58
city beautiful is the main one. They
17:01
removed all the stickers. It's the only
17:03
area of I drive that doesn't have
17:05
stickers. Yeah, they used to be covered.
17:07
Last time I was here, I mean, it was it
17:09
was pretty bad. Said something about it.
17:11
You think from this point now that we're
17:12
in Orlando, the stickers have been all
17:14
removed. Who knows? Cuz behind where
17:17
this is Well, it's not a county line
17:19
though. It's just a city line. Yes, city
17:21
line.
17:23
Interesting. Gators down here. Look at
17:25
this over here. They got uh little
17:28
gators.
17:31
Okay, someone's fishing for gators.
17:34
That's been seen here a while.
17:41
The longest residence of International
17:41
Drive right here. Mhm. Gator golf. Gator
17:48
golf. Mike, I was just noticing across
17:51
the street that is where the Windham has
17:53
moved to. Right over there. We'll walk
17:55
over there.
17:57
That's where the Windom's going to be
17:58
now. They've taken over this
18:00
property. And you can see over the top
18:03
over here, that's the water park at
18:06
Universal. This place was hopping a few
18:07
days ago for St. Paty's.
18:20
Get him a little treat there. Get him a
18:20
little treat.
18:22
Get it. Get it. It's a little hot. It's
18:25
a little hot. Oh, a rope. No, I've never
18:28
seen a brown Hulk
18:31
before. Have you ever seen a brown
18:35
Hulk? I never
18:42
have. That is
18:42
not the
18:45
Hulk. Thousands of gifts for $1.99
18:48
probably each. You can't get a,000 gifts
18:51
for a buck.
18:56
Bring your shopping cart and have some
18:56
fun, folks.
18:58
This is very interesting. It's made out
19:01
of Oh, I thought it was mesh. It's
19:03
little uh what do you call these? Not
19:05
screwed. The parts of bolts. Yeah,
19:07
bolts. Bolts. Well, look at his hair.
19:09
It's a chain. Like a bicycle. Sure is.
19:12
It's like a bicycle chain on his hair.
19:14
This is really cool, man. It's
19:17
interesting. Yeah, very interesting.
19:21
So, it probably never was green. Heavy
19:24
metal Hulk. Heavy metal Hulk. There it
19:26
is. That heavy metal Mickey. Yeah, it
19:30
is. Heavy metal Hulk. Mickey's going to
19:32
have words with you, Hulk. You don't
19:34
want to see him angry. Do not steal his
19:36
tagline. Never in my entire life seen a
19:39
a brown
19:41
Hulk made out of made out of
19:45
metal. He's bad.
19:48
Is he really? He just has uh resting.
19:52
He's so happy. He has resting Hulk face.
19:56
Not like Arnold though. Look at me.
20:00
Smile.
20:02
This has probably been here for a while.
20:03
How have I never noticed these? This is
20:05
a relic.
20:07
Amazing the stuff you
20:09
notice. Oh, what do they call They're
20:11
calling it the I do ID drive district
20:14
now. Yeah. All right.
20:17
Is that new? Cuz I know they were
20:20
changing a lot. Never heard it. Call the
20:21
district. Now, there's a lot of rumors
20:23
that they were going to close all of
20:24
this and put the trolleys in and you had
20:27
to park in a parking garage and ride the
20:29
trolleys. And I don't think it ever Were
20:31
they going to close the road down? Like
20:33
walking? Yeah, they were going to close
20:35
down certain parks and kind of do like
20:36
they do in Memphis and New Orleans where
20:38
it's it's trolley only. I don't think
20:41
that would have worked at all. Okay,
20:43
that storefront's empty.
20:45
That storefront's empty. King Pizza
20:48
still open, but next to King
20:51
Pet. That is
20:59
empty. Doesn't look like this discount
20:59
ticket center is in use anymore. This is
21:02
another one of the time share type of
21:04
places where you could go listen to a
21:06
time share and then either get cash or
21:09
discounted
21:10
tickets. Some old ticket items inside.
21:14
Also some Starburst down in here. Yes,
21:17
you have the Infinity
21:20
Falls sticker on the
21:23
ground. I wonder what
21:25
era. There's Legoland iDrive disc. This
21:28
doesn't look too
21:30
old. How at the
21:37
Moon. Trying to see what era those would
21:37
have been. Dave and Busters, Wonder
21:39
Works. All that stuff's still
21:41
around. I think that door's open.
21:49
around the corner
21:49
there. Nice.
21:58
Love the alien across the way.
21:58
That alien has been there a long time.
22:08
And this roand has been about 17 things.
22:08
Whly whirly dome. Whirly dome. That's
22:10
old school. It was a place where you
22:12
could buy like sports memorabilia.
22:20
This was the old Michael Michael Jordan
22:20
sculpture that used to be there and then
22:22
they repainted it. Multitude of
22:24
different things.
22:30
Ala is looking pretty good. He's been
22:30
repainted. He's been He's got a fresh
22:32
coat of paint on
22:34
him. That's the best I've seen that
22:36
alien look in years. Yeah, he looks
22:38
good. I think he used to be holding a
22:41
flag. Yeah, I think that was a flag
22:42
pole. It's a flag pole. The whole thing
22:44
looks really good. That looks That's a
22:47
fresh coat of paint. I always thought
22:49
that was like Bart Simpson Bart Simpson
22:51
type.
22:58
I'm an alien. Who the hell are you? He's
22:58
been here for a long time, too. I think
22:59
he was in a a different spot on iDrive.
23:03
I drive International Drive. Well, you
23:05
know, if you head down towards um
23:07
Festival Bay, they have that other
23:09
soccer
23:16
player. This place is still thriving.
23:16
You get a all you can eat buffet for $24
23:18
steakhouse. You know what? It looks like
23:20
this gift shop has finally closed. This
23:23
thing was one of the last old school
23:26
gift shops to stay open. Other than the
23:28
Problem Child 2 one back there, it looks
23:30
like it's closed its doors. This one and
23:33
the the rocket ship one down there. The
23:35
spaceship.
23:37
This is the lighthouse one. Yeah,
23:45
I did get to go in this before it
23:45
closed. Oh, look at this. I never
23:46
realized there was aras.
23:49
I do love some frozen ice and some
23:51
Italian ice just past Universal
23:53
Boulevard, which would be down there.
23:55
Yep.
24:00
No
24:00
longer can you use this as a
24:04
beacon. Although it is very interesting.
24:06
The sun is right above the lighthouse
24:09
providing its own light. Even though
24:10
this one doesn't work anymore. It's a
24:13
weird Oh, look at this. We could buy our
24:14
ride passes here. Yeah.
24:17
I don't know where we're going, but we
24:19
could buy Well, you used to be able to
24:20
buy the tickets here.
24:27
This was obviously designed and painted
24:27
by the same person that did the mermaid
24:28
one on Highway 192. Roland Dey is his
24:31
name. Roland Dempsey. Interesting.
24:34
Roland Dempsey signs his name on
24:36
everything. Believe he emailed me one
24:38
time. Songbird.
25:15
for formerly George's Music, the
25:15
Musician
25:22
Superstore right here off I4.
25:22
How you doing? Hey, how are you? Used to
25:24
be a Delorean. I used to sit right here.
25:27
George. Yeah. I always thought George
25:30
McFly. George McFly's music. Yeah, the
25:34
tires were right there on this on those
25:35
rocks. Started a music store and they
25:37
parked the Delorean here.
25:40
That's my story. Last time I was here
25:42
like a year ago, there was a sign that
25:44
said, "Coming soon, new store." Let's
25:46
see what's going on here. This sign's
25:47
been up for like over a year. Future
25:49
home of Bear Hug Brewing.
25:53
Yeah, there's a sticker.
26:07
It's changed.
26:07
Circus
26:24
this. Obviously, I don't use this,
26:24
but little Coke machine here.
26:38
Old Coke machine. That's what the inside
26:38
of a Coke machine looks like. Yep.
26:42
I stocked many of these back in my
26:44
retail days. Did you?
26:46
Yep. A manager would tell me, "Fill the
26:48
Coke machine out front." And I go to the
26:51
the aisle, get Coke products, and then I
26:53
would fill the machine. Close this back
26:55
up.
26:57
Spin that around. Lock it up. He's had
27:02
Mountain Dew, Powerade, Water, Aquafina,
27:06
Monster, Bri, Pepsi. Now, walking up
27:09
back the other side. Walk down one side.
27:12
Now going up the other. This looks like
27:15
it's
27:16
open, but something's going on here in
27:18
the front. Look, there used to be a
27:20
market there called the Steel Chef
27:22
Market. This hotel motel is open. I
27:26
think the Steel Chef Market's
27:29
closed. That's interesting. They're
27:31
building a moat. It looks like it. All
27:34
right. This used to be something. Looks
27:37
like an old like an old look like an old
27:39
Chevys or something. An old Mexican
27:42
restaurant. And it was a laser tag
27:43
zombie place. Yep.
27:47
Dang. Okay. When I first got my DSLR
27:50
camera, I came down here. Yeah. My DSLR.
27:53
I I I I was standing right down here to
27:56
test it out and this was here the uh
27:59
this is a spot of one of your first
28:00
videos. Yeah. Put that with that active
28:02
pay phone. Except well it's not active
28:06
but it's
28:08
here. And one thing I've never realized
28:10
before there are little placards down
28:14
here. That is
28:16
odd. There are little namesakes into the
28:21
ground. Like look at this. Here's Uncle
28:23
Bob someone walkway from 1985. Dude,
28:28
I've never noticed these. I've never
28:29
noticed these either.
28:36
That's cool. Well, this was the very
28:36
first hotel right here. Right there. You
28:39
think that's what that's from? The 80s?
28:41
Yeah, it could be, man. Uncle Bob
28:43
someone. Uncle Bob Peckler.
28:47
Pendler. Pendler. Uncle Bob Pendler
28:50
walkway. 1985. March of 1985. Who? Uncle
28:54
Bob
28:55
was. So you're saying this was the first
28:58
touristy motel on I drive. This was the
29:01
very first motel on I drive. Period. And
29:03
this is the one that Roy came over with
29:07
the man who who started this
29:08
international drive. There was it was
29:10
like a lawyer and someone else who who
29:13
owned some land and they started this
29:15
whole thing. and Roy had a handshake
29:18
agreement said we would love to come in
29:20
here and train our Disney cast members
29:23
for the opening of Walt Disney World
29:25
because they're going to have hotels.
29:27
Yeah. All right. A place I don't I feel
29:29
like is never going to go away is the
29:31
Volcano Island Miniature
29:33
Golf. Every time I'm here, I think when
29:37
I turn that corner and walk back here,
29:39
these dinosaurs are going to be removed
29:41
and they have stood the test of time.
29:43
They are never going extinct. No.
29:47
Although they have been
29:49
painted. Oh, you know what? Someone
29:51
probably went in there and spray painted
29:52
something they weren't supposed to and
29:55
they went in and painted over it so
29:56
people couldn't read something
29:58
offensive.
30:01
I can't I got to be honest. This reminds
30:02
me of the uh the pee-wee dinosaurs. This
30:06
is our own miniature generic cabone.
30:09
Cabazone dinosaurs. Yeah,
30:12
cuz it's just so grand.
30:16
Yeah, the plaque was here.
30:26
This was the
30:26
Sorry, folks.
30:35
Dinosaur outside. Should have told you.
30:35
Guys, yeah, you can walk around. This is
30:38
a boat. That That's an actual moat. The
30:41
whole perimeter of this boat.
30:51
Our own cabone dinosaurs meshed with our
30:51
own Labraa tarpits.
30:59
I love this though. The main building,
30:59
the men's side is like so
31:01
Polynesian fought and everything.
31:05
Oh yeah, it is very very Polynesian. I
31:07
never noticed that before. Those are the
31:09
restroom facilities. Looks like
31:12
something that would be out in
31:13
California. Wondering if it was still
31:14
here. There used to be under
31:16
surveillance
31:17
sign and it looks like part of it's
31:19
broken off, but it's still kind of here.
31:22
Used to be right across there. It would
31:24
say video
31:29
surveillance. There's the other portion
31:29
of it right
31:35
there. Did you think this thing had like
31:35
a a ride? Cuz like I I I you walk over
31:39
the water. I don't think so. Goes around
31:42
the whole thing. I think it was just a
31:43
miniature golf course and this was the
31:45
moat. Just made you feel like you were
31:46
on an island. Yeah, cuz you were. But
31:49
you're right. You know, you look at it
31:50
this way and it does kind of go through
31:51
a tunnel. It's wide enough that they
31:53
could have a boat. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. I
31:56
never looked I never noticed that. You
31:58
walk over it there. I mean, it's big.
32:00
Definitely could be like a lazy river
32:02
thing. There's something. Well, it's
32:04
still here. You want to start a
32:05
business? Yeah, that's true. Used to be
32:07
a waterfall, right? Just get a water
32:09
hose and a inflatable canoe. Right
32:12
here's the old
32:14
water straight ahead. You can see
32:19
where is the raptor still here? It is.
32:24
The weird thing is though, one day we'll
32:25
come by here and it'll be all be
32:26
completely bulldozed. I know it will be.
32:28
It's going to be sad when they bulldoze
32:30
this. Just like the original swings and
32:32
go-kart track and everything we passed
32:34
by. I wonder if the people who stay at
32:35
this Hampton Inn, when they're pulling
32:36
up, they're like, "Oh, look. And then
32:38
they realize they realize they can't go
32:40
mini golf. Stand right there. This is
32:45
it's a cypress store. I love this kind
32:47
of stuff. If I was traveling and I
32:49
showed up next to an abandoned golf
32:51
cart, I mean golf course place, I
32:53
would check this out. Check this out,
32:57
Doc. They're calling this
33:00
re-imagining Wait a second. I4 beyond
33:03
the ultimate here at Sand Lake. Oh yeah,
33:06
the ultimate I4 was like the project of
33:09
them like widening the I4, you know.
33:13
Yeah, they need to get moving on 535 in
33:16
I4. That is a disaster. It took me
33:19
forever to get here because just bumper
33:20
to bumper, but they're getting there.
33:21
They're getting there. I4 beyond. Bring
33:24
it on. Few I don't know, maybe a year or
33:25
two ago, they opened up a gift shop
33:27
here, a Disney World gift shop. I
33:29
thought it was going to be this massive
33:31
complex, but you go in and it's smaller
33:34
than the one they have at MCO Orlando
33:35
International. It's like a teeny tiny
33:37
room. I think in there with you the
33:40
first time we opened it up, we were like
33:41
so antilimatic. Yeah, we're going to go
33:44
in and check it out. See what they got
33:46
in here.
33:48
And this is a big parking garage right
33:50
here. Yeah, it is massive parking
33:52
garage. At first, I thought it was a
33:53
hotel, but it's just a parking garage.
33:56
Speaking of spooky, this is where this
33:59
is where the zombie walk for Spooky used
34:01
to be. That's right. We would all meet
34:03
in here and then we would walk that way
34:05
to spooky or no, we'd come we'd walk
34:07
this way. Yep. We'd walk that way past
34:10
all this and then over to the window
34:13
right there. But then I've done it also
34:15
with you where you can see it way down
34:18
there. The um the former Peab body, I
34:21
think. Oh, the Peabody. Yeah. Yeah. No,
34:22
it's not the window. It's the I can't
34:24
remember. Right by the big convention
34:26
center area. Yes. And there's a
34:28
restaurant over there. We did the zombie
34:29
crawl and we did it with um what's his
34:32
name? He was Arthur the Clown from
34:34
Terrifier when he first came. Okay.
34:37
David Thornton. David Thornton. I have a
34:39
picture of him with How do I know his
34:40
name? I have no idea. All right, we're
34:43
going in. Is the Walt Disney World.
34:46
Welcome to the Walt Disney World store.
34:48
Welcome to Walt Disney World store.
34:58
hours of operation, 9 to 6:00 p.m. It's
34:58
basically the same stuff they have. It's
35:00
like a very teenytiny emporium and a
35:04
smaller version of the big gift shop
35:05
they have under the American flag when
35:07
you go in the A&B gates at
35:09
MCO. That's kind of the that's my
35:12
consensus on this on the size of it, but
35:14
it's neat that it's here. I'm sure it
35:15
gets a lot of walk by, but a lot of
35:16
people walk up and down I drive. So,
35:17
it's kind of like the Montreal store as
35:19
you exit Magic Kingdom. Montreal store.
35:21
Yep. How small like that. All right, I
35:23
stand corrected. It was It was larger
35:26
space than I thought it would be. For
35:29
some reason, I remember it being teenier
35:30
in time. That's about the same size as
35:32
the one at MCI. Yeah. With a higher roof
35:34
line, but it's still when they
35:37
originally were teasing opening this, I
35:38
thought it was going to be the whole
35:39
thing. I did, too. I really did.
35:42
Massive.
35:44
But definitely worth stopping in. They
35:45
got quite a bit of things in there. And
35:46
you can buy tickets in there. Probably
35:48
even an annual pass or whatever you want
35:50
to do. They have a ticket center. Yeah,
35:51
they have a ticket center. You I think
35:53
you can
35:55
uh renew your annual pass and you don't
35:58
have to go to the park in that long.
36:00
Actually, I just renewed my pass four or
36:02
five days ago. I just did it right on
36:04
the Disney Experience app. Yeah, you can
36:05
do it. They just asked you right there.
36:06
Do you want to do it? Did it? They take
36:08
the money out of your bank account. You
36:10
shed it a little bit of a tear and then
36:11
you get on with your life. Yep. Mine's a
36:13
September. That's my doomsday. All
36:15
right. We have now gone back over to the
36:17
side we started on in the same parking
36:20
lot we both parked at and met up at and
36:22
we're going to continue our tradition of
36:24
Chewies Mexican food right along here.
36:28
There are two Chewies that Mike and I
36:30
choose to go to on a semi-regular basis.
36:32
Another one across from the former
36:34
Splendid China, now the Margaritaville
36:36
Resort. But I would say out of all of
36:38
them, this is the one we eat at most of
36:41
the time. Texmech, you would call it. I
36:43
think it's a Texmex type of Mexican
36:46
food. So, we get it have a Elvis themed.
36:48
All the Chewies have a Elvis theme. So,
36:52
sticking with the Elvis and getting the
36:54
burritos, getting the chips, getting the
36:55
snacks, getting the appetizers, all that
36:57
stuff. And uh continuing our Chewies
36:59
tradition. All right, I am full. Some
37:01
delicious chewies.
37:03
Peeking over here once again at
37:06
the former
37:18
Windom. I'm sure the next time I am in
37:18
this area and I see this, this will all
37:19
be cleaned up. Yeah,
37:22
but you're right. It is interesting how
37:24
they haven't touched the main building,
37:26
just the rooms.
37:28
So, it wouldn't make sense to reutilize
37:30
the convention center area, build a new
37:33
hotel on the exterior of it, and then
37:34
call it something else. I don't think
37:36
they would want to mess it up because
37:38
the restaurant is connected to the same
37:40
building. Right.
37:51
Right. And that's going to do it for
37:51
today from International Drive.
37:54
Changes are inevitable. Things will
37:58
always keep
38:00
progressing no matter how nostalgic you
38:03
are about something. Thanks for
38:06
watching. I'll see you in the next
38:07
video. The vlog is over.