Exclusive: Unicorp Chuck Whittall has $300M+ mini-theme park, hotel expansion plans for I-Drive
Unicorp National Developments Inc.’s Chuck Whittall hasn’t forgotten his plans to provide a major upgrade to the Icon Orlando 360 complex and other nearby assets. In fact, his vision has gotten much bigger and more expensive — about $300 million worth.
Whittall, president of Unicorp, told Orlando Business Journal the latest ideas at play are to build several new attractions at Icon Orlando 360 and and increase hotel room inventory at the Wyndham Orlando Resort International Drive. Specifically, up to $100 million in new rides and entertainment in the form of a mini-theme park are in the pipeline for the Icon complex, which is home to the 400-foot Icon Orlando observation wheel, a Madame Tussauds wax museum and Sea Life Aquarium. In addition, two new hotel towers are in the works for the 613-room Wyndham hotel, as well as a bump to its meeting space.
Here’s a break down of what Whittall has planned:
- A new double slingshot ride on the southern side of Icon Orlando, bookending the complex with the existing Starflyer ride to the north. The new ride will be built tall enough to be considered the ‘world’s tallest.’
- A drop tower — similar to rides like Disney’s Tower of Terror — on the Universal Boulevard side of the complex, which currently is used as parking space. That ride also will be designed as the ‘world’s tallest.’
- A new powered zipline ride, as well as other not-yet-announced thrill rides on the Universal Bourevard side of the property.
- Two new hotel towers added to the Wyndham that total up to 800 hotel rooms.
- Another 150,000 square feet of meeting space added to the existing 60,000 square feet of ballroom space at the hotel.
Many of the plans are already in the design phase, with plans to begin construction by mid-2019. The timeline for the additions vary, with some being completed by 2020 and 2021, Whittall added.
The catalyst for this major investment? It’s two-fold.
“We have found the Starflyer is doing so well that we are essentially coming up with a mini-theme park on the Universal side with these cool, modern rides that Universal and Disney don’t have,” he told OBJ. “Also, we know that Universal is moving forward with its [expansion] project and we are capitalizing on the land we have to maximize hotel rooms. We have the advantage that Universal can’t build as high and Disney typically caters to younger groups, so we can cater to the teenagers and young adults who want the thrill and high rides.”
This is on top of other I-Drive additions already in the works. For example, a new restaurant dubbed The Ole Red, inspired by country music star Blake Shelton’s “Ol’ Red” song, which merges southern food, hospitality and live country music, is coming to the Icon Orlando 360 entertainment and dining complex, formerly known as I-Drive 360. The $15 million Ole Red Orlando is set to begin construction in early 2019 and open in the first half of 2020.
In addition, Unicorp’s O-Town retail and entertainment center further south on Interstate 4 is making headway. The $1 billion, mixed-use O-Town project, as first reported by Orlando Business Journal, will include a 400,000-square-foot, grocery-anchored retail center called The Boardwalk at O-Town West — a tourist-centric complex with a mix of restaurants, shops and a 600-space parking garage. The project also will have 1,500 upscale apartments in multiple towers, a potential hotel and 150 homes in an area called Village at O-Town.
Overall, Whittall sees the potential of further making Icon Orlando 360 a destination that draws in more than the already 1 million visitors it now welcomes. “Icon Orlando is a dining/entertainment destination with a couple of rides. But now it will become a dining/entertainment destination with a lot of rides — big in quality rides.”