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Orlando Sentinel Tourism Central

A look at the last 10 years of Disney World growth -- and the next 10 Walt Disney World may one day add a fifth theme park. But it won’t happen in the next five years. At least, that’s according to projections by planners at the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the semi-autonomous government that oversees Disney...

Universal introduces new holiday package promotion From our sister Theme Park Rangers blog: Universal Orlando's latest ticket offer stretches one day into nearly two months. Beginning Dec. 5, Florida residents can purchase the Universal's Holiday Pass, which grants unlimited access to both Universal Studios and Islands...

Chicago Tribune reports another big trade show could abandon Chicago Has Chicago’s loss of the NPE plastics tradeshow to Orlando put a crack in the dam of the Windy City’s convention center? NPE was the second convention this month to announce its departure from Chicago’s McCormick place, after the Healthcare...

Disney to bring delegation from China to Orlando as design of Shanghai Disneyland continues The Walt Disney Co. plans to bring a delegation from Shanghai to Orlando early next month for a series of briefings with executives at Walt Disney World, as the company accelerates design of its first resort on mainland China. The...

Universal Orlando launches Harry Potter sweepstakes With the opening of its hugely anticipated Wizarding World of Harry Potter approaching, Universal Orlando and partner Warner Bros. have launched a sweepstakes in which people can win trips to the grand opening. Entrants can register at www.theroadtohogwarts.com. The Wizarding...

The Buzz-Florida Politics

Jim Greer still has a job This shouldn't be much of a surprise, but Florida GOP leaders took no formal action at their closed door meeting in Lake County this afternoon - called to help iron out concerns many party leaders expressed about the state Chairman...

A closer look at the Daily Kos' U.S. Senate GOP primary poll The liberal Daily Kos blog has released a poll with some intriguing results in Florida's Republican U.S. Senate race between Gov. Charlie Crist and former House Speaker Marco Rubio. Crist leads 47 percent to 37 percent among likely Republican voters,...

The hold up on Frank Sanchez's Commerce nomination Florida Trend: A U.S. Commerce Department spokeswoman told Florida Trend Thursday that the agency is frustrated over the delay in Frank Sanchez’s confirmation to be under secretary of international trade but rejected speculation that the holdup is related to anything...

FSU aims to choose new president by end of year FSU's presidential search committee just released a timeline for choosing longtime President T.K. Wetherell's successor, with the aim of sending a list of finalists to the Board of Trustees by early December. The search consultant, John Hicks of Academic Search...

Alex Sink names chief of staff; Jim Cassady to leave for campaign CFO Alex Sink just announced she is promoting deputy chief financial officer Tammy Teston to serve as her chief of staff for the Department of Financial Services. The change will take effect in January, when Teston will replace current Chief...