That said, my perception of both traditional and direct media coverage surrounding the announcement is that it contains a hidden message as important as Legoland itself. I encourage you to read this post from The Daily Disney blog “A Mom and the Mouse” by Kristin Ford. The column highlights the Lego Imagination Center at Downtown Disney, which is an existing interactive play area and Lego store to which children flock en masse. The author includes an important paragraph acknowledging the new Polk Legoland and its proximity to the Orlando attractions. And she closes the piece by encouraging financial incentives and other “tie-ins” to entice visitors to venture off the Disney property and try something new.

As I read more about the author, I learned that she is a self-proclaimed Disney enthusiast who’s been given a space on that blog by The Orlando Sentinel specifically to discuss activities at Disney. So “don’t look now,” but here’s another example of a neighbor to our East focused on a big deal in Polk, and encouraging regional ties.

What’s more, news from around the world has been regionally refreshing. Read this post by an on-line British news source titled Legoland Florida Coming 2011 to be World’s Biggest. This London-based piece tells readers how near Legoland will be to the other Orlando theme parks, while acknowledging the prominence it will enjoy among Florida’s best attractions. Here is the writer’s closing argument :
“Florida is already home to the biggest Disney park in the world, as well as Universal Orlando, which features two theme parks – Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure. Now no one will be able to go wrong with a vacation in the Sunshine State.”

The bottom line is that if you’re from London, Stuttgart or Tokyo, a 40-minute hop isn’t far at all to visit another first-class attraction. And you won’t know, nor will you care, that the local folks there are struggling to develop as a world “Super Region.” To you, it already is, which leads me to my point: It’s happening in spite of ourselves. But if we embrace regionalism by cooperating with our neighbors, I submit that it’ll make all the difference in the world.

Just an aside, but as we contemplate all the folks who’ll now be considering a brand new Central Florida theme park, I can’t help but ponder the question: How should we transport them throughout our region?

photo credit: Amodiovalerio Verde

A sign of the season: Can your home weather storms? If not, listen up

A sign of how far we’re gone since 2000: Shielding Press Empowers The Public

Bonus:

If you still can’t recount them do they exist? New voting machines: Paper trail to nowhere?

Is the News Chief next? Cypress Gardens to Test Weekends-Only

Presented without any comment whatsoever: Amtgard! Battles Begin With Swords Of Foam