ATTRACTIONS

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ATTRACTIONS The Most Iconic Entertainment

Orlando residents and visitors have their pick of places to spend recreational time. Although Icon Park only opened in 2015, it has become one of the city’s premier attractions. According to Christopher Jaskiewicz, Icon Park’s president and CEO, being situated right off of I-4 and near the Orange County Convention Center makes the 20-acre entertainment destination ideal for busy families who want to pop in and enjoy as many of the 40-plus shops, eateries, and fun zones as they want.

“We are rolling,” says Jaskiewicz, who compares opening a new Orlando-area attraction to starting a football team in the SEC. “We are surrounded by established heavyweights that have been here for decades. It’s tough. We even went through a few name changes, like any start-up.” Does I-Drive ring any bells?

Turn the page to learn more about Icon Park. (iconparkorlando.com) —Christina Cush

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The Most Iconic Entertainment CONT.

When Jaskiewicz came on board as CEO in 2018, he aimed to retool everything to “convey the high-quality, affordable, easy-access destination it is.” At the time, Icon Park was best known for The Wheel, Madame Tussauds, and Sea Life (the Orlando Aquarium). But the restaurants upfront on the property were not connected with the other amenities. Jaskiewicz led a collaboration between all tenants in order to raise their profile.

The result? Even amid the pandemic, when other area venues released employees and laid off workers, Icon Park thrived. “The pandemic was a test to us as a leader,” Jaskiewicz notes. “We were the first ones to present to the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force in May [2020] on how we could reopen. They let us open in June because we are an open-air, gate-free park. It is a message that sits well with people.” To maintain momentum in COVID-19 times, the Icon Park team focused on who was here in Orlando already. This included the more than 2 million residents of the Orlando metro area who likely didn’t want to deal with big lines but may have been interested in eating at Blake Shelton’s Ole Red, which has a stage and talent pipeline from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry. In another show of optimism, Icon Park has four projects either opening soon or newly opened: the world’s tallest slingshot and tallest drop tower, a virtual reality arcade, and a museum of illusions.

Jaskiewicz is hoping that Icon Park becomes the nexus of the city’s next-gen entertainment district. An Orlando native himself, Jaskiewicz cites the spots he often visited growing up and how Icon Park is attempting to capture the feel that locales such as Church Street brought to the area. “We used to go to Rosie O’Grady’s in Church Street Station,” he recalls. “There was a country western space [too]. It was an entertaining mecca. Then Disney opened Pleasure Island in the 1980s to compete with it. They put Church Street out of business by the 2000s. Now there’s Disney Springs. But we have heritage in Icon Park. We are the heir to that entertainment destination legacy.” —C.C.

HOTELS

Riding the WAVE

Fine cuisine meets high tech at the new Lake Nona Wave Hotel. Each of its restauraunts—Bacán, Haven, and the Living Room Bar— will feature a robot butler known as “Rosie” that uses 3D cameras and LIDAR technology to navigate (not unlike those Beep shuttles in Lake Nona’s autonomous vehicle system). But that’s just one of the innovative elements planned at the Wave, which is being billed as one of the world’s most technologically advanced hotels. Rooms will include smart windows that tint using predictive intelligence, voice-automated controls, and a mobile app that puts the hotel experience in the palms of guests’ hands. “At the heart of this beautifully designed community lies innovation, cuttingedge thinking, and thoughtful experiences,” chef Guillaume Robin says. “Sharing our team’s ingenuity with hotel guests is our utmost priority.” (lakenonawavehotel. com) —Kristen Desmond LeFevre

Clockwise from top left: The Wave Hotel cuts a striking profile in Lake Nona; Haven Kitchen offers indoor seating under a trellis-inspired ceiling or outdoor tables sprinkled among candycolored cabanas.