jjcollins
13 Jun 05, 02:55 PM
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom/growth/orl-special-idrive,0,4627078.htmlstory
A 3 day series about International Drive
International Drive fun facts
Number of hotel rooms: 33,000. An estimated 5.3 million people occupied 20 million-room-nights last year.
Biggest hotelier: Harris Rosen, 4,197 rooms
Number of time shares: 3,400
Number of Darden Restaurants: Four. The first Olive Garden and the first Bahama Breeze restaurants were opened on International Drive. Red Lobster has two others.
Number of gift shops: At least 21 T-shirt and gift shops between Sand Lake and Kirkman roads. This doesn't count shops in hotels and attractions.
Number of tattoo shops: 7
The I-Drive corridor is 14 1/2 miles long - 13 1/2 in Orange County. It comprises 5,500 acres of land and buildings assessed at more than $4 billion.
Hotels: About 95 along the corridor*
Restaurants: 150+
Shops: 500
In 2004, the Ponderosa Steakhouse on north International Drive owned by the family of Jesse Maali was the No. 1-ranked worldwide in the chain, with $6 million in sales. The family's store on south International Drive was No. 4, while its two stores on U.S. Highway 192 in Kissimmee were Nos. 2 and 3, Ponderosa officials said.
In January 1996, 13 pregnancies attributed to women touching West African fertility gods on display at Ripley's Believe It or Not! caused a 30 percent increase in attendance, mostly by women. Whether it was a coincidence or publicity stunt is not clear. :eek: :eek: :eek: lol
The Quality Inn Plaza on South International Drive is the world's largest Quality Inn. It opened Feb. 1, 1984 with 340 rooms. Three expansions tripled its size to 1,020 rooms.
In May 1989, embattled evangelist Jim Bakker and wife Tammy moved their ministry to Shoppers World, a failing shopping center off I-Drive. But within six months, Bakker was convicted on federal fraud charges and Tammy left town. The center was bulldozed for code violations in 1995.
In April 1985, a company owned by comedian Bob Hope bought 80 acres for $4.8 million on south I-Drive near Interstate 4. His agent said Hope planned to build a museum to hold memorabilia from his show business career, but it was never built. He sold the land in 1999 for $14 million. It's now the site of the Premium Outlets.
In November 1975, about 10,000 followers of 17-year-old Indian holy man Guru Maharaj Ji attended a four-day festival on inner peace. Maharaj Ji addressed the crowd from a stage protected by bulletproof glass floating on Sandy Lake, near the future site of Wet 'n Wild. Five men were arrested for marijuana possession and three for disorderly conduct.
In June 1974, a 304-room Quality Inn, also known as the Hi-Q, was opened by a subsidiary of north I-Drive developer Major Realty. The 21-story, 16-sided hotel was said to be among the tallest buildings in the state.
The original name to market the anchor hotel across from the Convention Center in the mid-1980s was the Hotel Plaza International, but bookings were poor. They soared after the hotel name was changed to the Peabody Hotel.
Names of hotel side streets in Plaza International were selected for exotic and noncontroversial locales such as Jamaican, Austrian, Samoan and Hawaiian courts. 1979 drawings show Austrian was initially named Persian Court, but it later was changed - perhaps because of Iran's seizing of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Persia was the Western name for the state of Iran prior to 1935.
Read all of the Article folks - Thanks orlando sentinel
jj...... :jump:
A 3 day series about International Drive
International Drive fun facts
Number of hotel rooms: 33,000. An estimated 5.3 million people occupied 20 million-room-nights last year.
Biggest hotelier: Harris Rosen, 4,197 rooms
Number of time shares: 3,400
Number of Darden Restaurants: Four. The first Olive Garden and the first Bahama Breeze restaurants were opened on International Drive. Red Lobster has two others.
Number of gift shops: At least 21 T-shirt and gift shops between Sand Lake and Kirkman roads. This doesn't count shops in hotels and attractions.
Number of tattoo shops: 7
The I-Drive corridor is 14 1/2 miles long - 13 1/2 in Orange County. It comprises 5,500 acres of land and buildings assessed at more than $4 billion.
Hotels: About 95 along the corridor*
Restaurants: 150+
Shops: 500
In 2004, the Ponderosa Steakhouse on north International Drive owned by the family of Jesse Maali was the No. 1-ranked worldwide in the chain, with $6 million in sales. The family's store on south International Drive was No. 4, while its two stores on U.S. Highway 192 in Kissimmee were Nos. 2 and 3, Ponderosa officials said.
In January 1996, 13 pregnancies attributed to women touching West African fertility gods on display at Ripley's Believe It or Not! caused a 30 percent increase in attendance, mostly by women. Whether it was a coincidence or publicity stunt is not clear. :eek: :eek: :eek: lol
The Quality Inn Plaza on South International Drive is the world's largest Quality Inn. It opened Feb. 1, 1984 with 340 rooms. Three expansions tripled its size to 1,020 rooms.
In May 1989, embattled evangelist Jim Bakker and wife Tammy moved their ministry to Shoppers World, a failing shopping center off I-Drive. But within six months, Bakker was convicted on federal fraud charges and Tammy left town. The center was bulldozed for code violations in 1995.
In April 1985, a company owned by comedian Bob Hope bought 80 acres for $4.8 million on south I-Drive near Interstate 4. His agent said Hope planned to build a museum to hold memorabilia from his show business career, but it was never built. He sold the land in 1999 for $14 million. It's now the site of the Premium Outlets.
In November 1975, about 10,000 followers of 17-year-old Indian holy man Guru Maharaj Ji attended a four-day festival on inner peace. Maharaj Ji addressed the crowd from a stage protected by bulletproof glass floating on Sandy Lake, near the future site of Wet 'n Wild. Five men were arrested for marijuana possession and three for disorderly conduct.
In June 1974, a 304-room Quality Inn, also known as the Hi-Q, was opened by a subsidiary of north I-Drive developer Major Realty. The 21-story, 16-sided hotel was said to be among the tallest buildings in the state.
The original name to market the anchor hotel across from the Convention Center in the mid-1980s was the Hotel Plaza International, but bookings were poor. They soared after the hotel name was changed to the Peabody Hotel.
Names of hotel side streets in Plaza International were selected for exotic and noncontroversial locales such as Jamaican, Austrian, Samoan and Hawaiian courts. 1979 drawings show Austrian was initially named Persian Court, but it later was changed - perhaps because of Iran's seizing of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Persia was the Western name for the state of Iran prior to 1935.
Read all of the Article folks - Thanks orlando sentinel
jj...... :jump: