rtotheizzo17
Hyper Poster
This is the place that is famous for having the plane on I-4 with the dummy sitting on top of it.
POLK CITY --
An iconic Polk County attraction announced Tuesday that it will close its doors to the public.
Fantasy of Flight will close its doors on April 6 after 18 years in business.
Owner and creator Kermit Weeks said the decision came down to dollars and cents.
"Today’s a bittersweet day for us," he said.
Fantasy of Flight started out as a pet project for Weeks, who owns the building and all the vintage planes inside. The building was originally only supposed to be a showroom for his planes, but it turned into a tourist attraction for thousands of people over the years.
Weeks said the business hasn't made money a single year since it opened nearly two decades ago.
"We’re halfway between Tampa and Orlando," he said. "We’re not a big destination yet, so everybody drives by. Everybody knows the name, everybody knows the place, but they don’t know what we are."
His creation is an air enthusiast's dream, with over 100 rare and vintage aircraft. And they're not only there for display, as Weeks flies many of them himself.
Unfortunately, he said, there was not a big enough market of aircraft enthusiasts to justify keeping the doors open to the public.
Weeks said the planes, which he owns, will stay put. He will continue to rent out the space for private events, like he always has.
The attraction employes 65 people total, and about half of them will lose their jobs.
If you prepaid for a day after April 6, or bought season passes to Fantasy of Flight, you will receive refunds through the company.
http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cf ... ht_to.html
POLK CITY --
An iconic Polk County attraction announced Tuesday that it will close its doors to the public.
Fantasy of Flight will close its doors on April 6 after 18 years in business.
Owner and creator Kermit Weeks said the decision came down to dollars and cents.
"Today’s a bittersweet day for us," he said.
Fantasy of Flight started out as a pet project for Weeks, who owns the building and all the vintage planes inside. The building was originally only supposed to be a showroom for his planes, but it turned into a tourist attraction for thousands of people over the years.
Weeks said the business hasn't made money a single year since it opened nearly two decades ago.
"We’re halfway between Tampa and Orlando," he said. "We’re not a big destination yet, so everybody drives by. Everybody knows the name, everybody knows the place, but they don’t know what we are."
His creation is an air enthusiast's dream, with over 100 rare and vintage aircraft. And they're not only there for display, as Weeks flies many of them himself.
Unfortunately, he said, there was not a big enough market of aircraft enthusiasts to justify keeping the doors open to the public.
Weeks said the planes, which he owns, will stay put. He will continue to rent out the space for private events, like he always has.
The attraction employes 65 people total, and about half of them will lose their jobs.
If you prepaid for a day after April 6, or bought season passes to Fantasy of Flight, you will receive refunds through the company.
http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cf ... ht_to.html
