December 11, 2014

Developed by Disney and originally part of Walt Disney World, the Town of Celebration, FL, founded in 1994, is a planned community in Osceola County, FL that follows some of the design philosophy of Walt Disney’s original EPCOT plan. Of course, once the development was pretty far along, Disney de-annexed it from the Reedy Creek Improvement District — the quasi-governmental body that Disney controls that governs all of property within Walt Disney World.

While I had visited Celebration before, I think these are my first photos.

Driving past on September 14, 2014

Universal Orlando Resort CityWalkNovember 23, 2014 Now that I’m a “local” and can get free after 6 p.m. parking on most nights, I thought it was a good night to grab some dinner (and photos on my iPhone 5s) at and from CityWalk. It’s my first stroll around the property …

Universal Orlando Resort CityWalk – 2014 [more on the post]

From the parking lot, October 31, 2014

From August 25 to September 20, 2014, I stayed consecutively at Disney’s Old Key West, BoardWalk Villas, Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Saratoga Springs Resorts (as a Disney Vacation Club member, of course). Since then … well, let’s just say that my new home is closer to the Magic Kingdom than any of those resorts, but off Disney property.

Las Vegas, NV November 2004

“Hollywood” in Las Vegas. Based on the Television and Movie franchise, Paramount Parks (and in its final years, Cedar Fair) presented the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas, NV at the Las Vegas Hilton from 1998 until it closed in September 2008.

March 31, 2011

“Hollywood” in Chicago. Chicago was home to one of Charlie Chaplin’s first movie studios, Essanay Studios, at the dawn of the 20th Century, and as the 20th Century closed and the 21st Century began, it was home to Oprah Winfrey’s powerhouse talk show and her Harpo Studios. ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox own their Chicago affiliates. And Chicago is also home to “Superstation” WGN-TV.