This press release was issued by Clarion Partners today regarding their acquisition of the Water Tower Shoppes for $18.3 million. The release also indicates that a Publix grocery store will anchor the plaza.
A grocery store on “this side” of 192 will be more convenient for NEV owners and bike riders than the current Publix at Xentury City.
John Baker of JB Creative sent a press release about a new movie about Celebration. John is a filmmaker and Celebration resident.
From the press release:
Celebration is a thriving, diverse and multi-cultural community, set against the backdrop of picturesque homes and public buildings, architecture, nature and scenery.
But to outsiders who visit the town, or read about us in international news reports, there is a common misconception that we live in a pre-fabricated neighborhood, overshadowed by the ominous Walt Disney World and conditioned to live by the rules and regulations of a strict governing home owner’s association.
The Town That Disney Built is a new documentary film that celebrates and honors the Celebration community, with the simple aim: “To document and celebrate the day-to-day lives and times of the residents of Celebration – and to give the community at large a glimpse inside our town, to see what Celebration is truly like – and cut through the mystique, the drama and the misconceptions that exist about our community.”
For more information, and to order, visit www.thetownthatdisneybuilt.com.
At the Water Tower shopping center:
And I’m sure I’m missing some, so please feel free to add. And yes, one of these is made up.
Celebration will be hosting a unique event on May 21 from 6:30 to 9:30 pm called Savor the Flavors. Dine with friends and neighbors in the open air of Market and Front Streets in downtown Celebration. All the dining establishments downtown are offering prix fixe meals, with the price including dinner, listed complimentary alcoholic beverages, gratuity, taxes, and a charitable donation to benefit Florida Hospital – Celebration Health.
A nice-looking flyer, including the menu for each restaurant, is available at savortheflavors.net. Questions can be answered by calling (407) 566-1200, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CelebrationRecreation.
The hardest part is deciding which terrific Celebration restaurant to choose!
Just a reminder that there is 11,150sf of prime movie theater space available for sublease in the heart of Celebration, should you happen to be looking. 
It’s in-between Kilwin’s, a busy ice cream and candies shop, and The Columbia, a busy Spanish/Cuban restaurant. A lot of people here like movies, both first-run and classic, and would support you by buying your tickets and food.
Pad thai and a beer at Thai Thani.
We attended the first night of Grouchos Comedy in Celebration on Feb 5. My wife’s parents do the Canadian snow bird thing, so we were fortunate enough to have trusted help in town to watch our 17 month old for a night. We started at around 7pm at Cafe D’Antonio, me with wine and a kick-ass Caprese di Bufala and the wife choosing to fill up on bread and Bruschetta alla Romana. Hunger sated, we strolled over to Thai Thani for the show.
Now… it was the first night for Grouchos at Thai Thani, so I didn’t know what to expect. I heard about it from Mike Nunez with Lexin a few weeks prior, but didn’t have any insight into how widely it was advertised, how well advanced tickets were sold, or how many people would actually show.
We didn’t do the Dinner & Show deal, which meant we wouldn’t have priority seating. BUT, I was pleasantly surprised to be seated at the back of the room — meaning they had done very well in selling the package and filling the place. There were ‘Reserved For…’ placards posted on most of the tables. Sure enough, by show time the room was packed, a great environment for comedy. “Trailer Park Diva” Michelle Harrington had a great set, and headliner Dean Napolitano absolutely killed.
Notice on the very left of the photo that Nat seems quite happy about things.
All expectations were exceeded — even on an opening night, where glitches are expected — and we shall definitely be repeat visitors. Thanks to Nat with Thai Thani, Larry with Grouchos, Mike with Lexin, and whoever else was involved in bringing this to Celebration. If you’re around Celebration on a Saturday evening, I encourage you to take advantage. The dinner & show package is a tremendous value:
Tickets- $12.00 or $25.00 Dinner Package (includes show, dinner, beverage, and choice of seats)
Menu Includes
Choice of one of the following:
Egg Roll (2-piece)
Crab Rangoons (3-piece)
Chicken Satay (2-piece)
Plus Choose One Entree
(Choice of: Chicken, Beef, Pork, Tofu or Veggies)
Fried Rice
Phad Thai
Sweet & Sour
Garlic Meat
Mixed Vegetables
Cashew Nut
Pepper Steak
All Entrees include choice of soda or Ice Tea.
You can tell them you read about it here, but it won’t get you anything special beyond funny looks.
No idea what the true status of the (former) Celebration AMC 2 theater is, but here’s what I know.
From what I can observe, the power is still on and food & beverage equipment is still there. Point-of-sale is gone from the concession stand and the box office. I’ve tried to find out from AMC, through their agent, whether projection equipment was left behind, but that answer does not appear to be forthcoming, oddly.
I’ve tried to push something forward for that space as my own personal time allows, but my chief concerns are that 1) my time is limited, since I have a full time job, 2) while I have general business acumen, I have zero movie exhibition experience, 3) I’m not 100% sure what model would work there, and 4) if it’s such a great idea, why hasn’t anyone else stepped up?
Regarding models, it’s one thing to have a few good ideas, but another to flail around trying different things while you’re burning a lot of money each month for rent. There’s no lack of enthusiasm in town for a theater that would play art house, R-rated movies, and cult classics… but would there be enough people voting with their wallets to keep the thing afloat, or would it ultimately be an expensive and humbling lesson about the movie business?
If you do happen to read this, are covertly moving something forward, and would like some assistance, feel free to touch base with me.
Live comedy is coming to Celebration! From what I understand, terms were worked out earlier tonight to feature live comedy by a nationally touring comedian every Saturday night at 8:30pm in the Thai Thani banquet room. The first show is scheduled for February 5. Admission is either $12 or can be purchased as part of a dinner and show package.
I hope to have more information in a day or two such as a list of performers and how to purchase tickets. In the meantime let this serve as a save-the-date!
Update 2011-Jan-19: The first six weeks’ acts have been announced. See the Grouchos site for more info.
