New Attraction Coming to I-Drive?
A plan to redevelop the old Mercado Shopping Center on International Drive cleared its first hurdle when Orange County’s Development Review Committee gave preliminary approval with conditions to plans for a 9 acre amusement park and shopping complex.
The biggest attraction will be a 425-foot Ferris wheel that will be the first of it’s kind in the world. The complex will also include an aquarium and Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum.
Paul Batt with Unicorp Development said the Ferris wheel is a radical change from bicycle type wheels you know like the London Eye.
“This technology is fairly, radically different in that it does not rotate, the wheel itself does not rotate. There is no central hub. It is basically a roller coaster that travels at 1 mile per hour.”
The next stop for the development will be the Orange County Commission. Most of the concerns from the DRC were over parking issues the company plans to resolve before final approval. They hope to start construction by the end of the year, and the building phase is expected to take 14 months.
