CitySurfing Orlando

If you were at the Fireworks at the Fountain on the Fourth of July at Lake Eola, you might have seen a product demonstration for the WingFlyer.

This unique mode of transport is a cross between a scooter and a bicycle, with a touch of a stair stepper exerciser added in. There’s no seat and you ride it standing up, like a scooter. It does have pedals like a bike but instead of a normal circular motion, you step up and down, as if on a stair stepper.

We recently received one from the company to try at our office. It arrived in a smaller box than I thought and it took two of us to put it together – we had to unfold it, connect the handlebars and the step pedals. We had the WingFlyer ready to ride within 20 minutes.
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Look out Harry Potter, you may soon need all the magic of Hogwarts to compete against the newest attraction planned for Walt Disney World.

Just announced today, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide is joining forces with filmmaker James Cameron and Fox Filmed Entertainment to bring the world of Avatar to life at Disney’s theme parks. The agreement gives The Walt Disney Company exclusive global theme park rights to the Avatar franchise and provides for Avatar-themed lands at any Disney park. The other locations will be determined by Disney and its international theme park partners.

How awesome is that?! Even better, the world of Pandora will be brought to life with the first Avatar-themed land planned for Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park right here in Orlando.

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Florida Hospital’s Celebration Health is getting ready to open a new patient tower next week on August 11th.

In the days leading up to the event, they have someone out and about the community helping to get the word out.

Meet hospitaliologist JP Evans, who is camped out in front of the hospital in a 36-ft Airstream trailer, ready to answer any questions people might have on the new addition to the hospital.

What is a hospitaliologist? According to Evans, it’s defined as “a person who studies improvements in patient care based upon treatment and technology innovations developed by today’s best hospitals and health care providers.”

He’s been sharing his exploits, including several jaunts around town, at his Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages, if you want to follow him online.

He also welcomes anybody and everybody to come hang out with him at his trailer.

Celebration Health will open their tower on Thursday, August 11, at 6pm. There will be an official ceremony, followed by tours for the public.

Music lovers will definitely want to check out this weekend’s Shut Up & Play Festival 2011, which will celebrate instrumental music ranging from funk to jazz to rock to fusion – and even more.

It takes place at the 11/12 Lounge (which is co-presenting this event with Kavode Entertainment) on Saturday, June 25, 2011, with three stages featuring 15 bands.

The line-up is headlined by Regi Wooten Band from Nashville. Wooten is part of the famous music family that includes Grammy-winning brothers Victor and Roy.

Also on the bill are Dave LaRue Trio, Kings of Talk, Absinthe Jazz Trio, Shak Nasti, The Forefathers, Decoy Beat, Blu-Tet, Lindy Romez & Sol Y Mar, Jupiter Groove, Apocalypse Fusion Trio, Buckets & Strings and more.

The day-long event starts at 2pm at the 11/12 Lounge at 843 Lee Road in Winter Park (near the I-4 intersection), and is sponsored by Bass Central, RE/MAX TOWN CENTRE Realtor Chris Godkin, and Lyrical Lumber. In addition to the music, there will be live artists, a massage booth, raffle drawings and more.

Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door and can be purchased from participating band members, online or at the club.

We reported several months ago that the restaurant and entertainment chain Dave & Busters would be opening their first Orlando area location this summer.

Well, it’s coming up to crunch time, and D&B still has 300 job openings to fill by their opening date of July 18.

They’re currently looking for a variety of positions, including guest service, bartenders, winner’s circle attendants for the games, and more.

For those not familiar with Dave & Busters, it’s like a sports bar restaurant mixed with a huge arcade and gaming area. I visited the ones in Nashville, TN, and Anaheim, CA, and I would say this would be a fun place for families to hang out, or perhaps a low-key date night. Their happy hour would also be good for after-work meet-ups.

At any rate, if you want to get in on this job-hiring action, visit the Dave & Busters website and see what’s still available.

Dave & Busters will be located at 8986 International Dr, on the site of the former Race Rock building, just north of Pointe Orlando.