Latest news with #non-Florida
USA Today
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Going to Disney World unplanned? One dad pays price, goes viral after spending $1,400
Going to Disney World unplanned? One dad pays price, goes viral after spending $1,400 The dad's sticker shock on a last-minute family trip to The Happiest Place On Earth helped him go viral. But planning ahead can help cut costs. Show Caption Hide Caption Disney launches new Florida resident ticket deal Walt Disney World has announced the launch of a new ticket deal for Florida residents just in time for the summer. Fox - 35 Orlando It's no secret that Disney World is expensive, but just how much of a hit will your wallet take? Well, one dad from Florida went viral after breaking down the price of his $1,400, unplanned visit to Disney World. Craig Stowell, a professional YouTuber based in West Palm Beach, Florida, took his family to Walt Disney World in April, during Easter weekend and had some sticker shock after he spent a grand total of $1,391.91 on parking, tickets, food and drinks, he told USA TODAY. "Know that everything is more expensive than it used to be," said Stowell. "It's not just a quick trip up to Disney anymore. It's the cost of my son's first car." Nearly $1,000 just to get into the park Stowell's family was visiting him from New Hampshire on Easter weekend, when they decided to do an impromptu Disney trip, Stowell said. So, they packed their things and drove to Orlando, Florida, from West Palm Beach, Florida, which is around 170 miles southeast of Orlando. In a video he posted about his day, he talks about just how much money he and his family spent on a day trip to Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios and Disney Springs. One of the first big purchases was the tickets, he said. For Stowell, his wife and three kids, including his son who was younger than 10, entrance to Hollywood Studios cost $974. The tickets were purchased on the day they visited the park. Tickets are broken up into two categories, according to Disney's website. Tickets for children who are 3 to 10 years old are a bit cheaper than tickets for adults, who need to be purchased for anyone who is 11 and older to enter the parks. Children younger than 3 enter the park for free. The remaining $345.91 was spent on parking, which is $30 per car, food and drinks. Spending Memorial Day weekend at Disney? See crowd calendar, weather Holiday surcharge made tickets more expensive Since the family visited the theme park on a holiday weekend, their tickets were more expensive due to a holiday surcharge, Stowell said. One-day tickets for Florida residents on Disney's website start at $119, and can be even cheaper for Florida residents planning to visit the park for multiple days. Will Disney tickets be expensive during Memorial Day weekend? Yes, tickets for Florida residents and non-Florida residents will be more expensive during Memorial Day weekend. During the holiday weekend, tickets start at $159, according to Disney's website. The price of admission for each park varies. Listed below are the prices of one-day tickets to enter the Disney parks on Saturday, May 24 for both residents and non-residents: Magic Kingdom - $184 - $184 EPCOT - $179 - $179 Disney's Hollywood Studios - $179 - $179 Disney's Animal Kingdom- $159 A family of five, with one child younger than 10 years old, would pay $947.87, including taxes, to enter Hollywood studios during the holiday weekend, according to Walt Disney World's website. That price tag doesn't include the additional costs of parking, Lightning Lane passes, photo packages, hotel stays or food. How to save on your Walt Disney World trip Stowell recommends that people trying to save some money plan ahead and skip the parks during holiday weekends and go during the off-season instead. Florida residents can also save money on their Disney trip by purchasing tickets for multiple days, according to Walt Disney World's website. While a one-day Florida resident ticket starts at $119, three and four-day tickets start at $87 and $72. The Florida Resident Summer Magic Ticket, which is valid from May 18 to September 27, offers an even more inexpensive experience. The summer magic tickets will cost the following, according to the resort's website: 4-Day Ticket – $60 per day, plus tax $60 per day, plus tax 3-Day Ticket – $75 per day, plus tax $75 per day, plus tax 2-Day Ticket – $105 per day Non-Florida residents can also take advantage of the 3-Day, 3-Park Ticket, which will allow guest admission to only EPCOT, Animal Kingdom and Hollowood Studios, and excludes Magic Kingdom, stated the resort's website. Prices for the ticket start at $89 per day, and are valid until September 22, according to Disney World. The tickets must be used within five days of the selected start date. Finally, Stowell offered one more piece of advice for Disney guests above the age of 21: "Don't buy the alcohol," said Stowell. It "would have saved a lot of money for me." This story was updated to add new information. Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. Connect with her on LinkedIn,X, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at jgomez@
Indianapolis Star
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indianapolis Star
Going to Disney World unplanned? One dad pays price, goes viral after spending $1,400
It's no secret that Disney World is expensive, but just how much of a hit will your wallet take? Well, one dad from Florida went viral after breaking down the price of his $1,400, unplanned visit to Disney World. Craig Stowell, a professional YouTuber based in West Palm Beach, Florida, took his family to Walt Disney World in April, during Easter weekend and had some sticker shock after he spent a grand total of $1,391.91 on parking, tickets, food and drinks, he told USA TODAY. "Know that everything is more expensive than it used to be," said Stowell. "It's not just a quick trip up to Disney anymore. It's the cost of my son's first car." Stowell's family was visiting him from New Hampshire on Easter weekend, when they decided to do an impromptu Disney trip, Stowell said. So, they packed their things and drove to Orlando, Florida, from West Palm Beach, Florida, which is around 170 miles southeast of Orlando. In a video he posted about his day, he talks about just how much money he and his family spent on a day trip to Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios and Disney Springs. One of the first big purchases was the tickets, he said. For Stowell, his wife and three kids, including his son who was younger than 10, entrance to Hollywood Studios cost $974. The tickets were purchased on the day they visited the park. Tickets are broken up into two categories, according to Disney's website. Tickets for children who are 3 to 10 years old are a bit cheaper than tickets for adults, who need to be purchased for anyone who is 11 and older to enter the parks. Children younger than 3 enter the park for free. The remaining $345.91 was spent on parking, which is $30 per car, food and drinks. Spending Memorial Day weekend at Disney? See crowd calendar, weather Since the family visited the theme park on a holiday weekend, their tickets were more expensive due to a holiday surcharge, Stowell said. One-day tickets for Florida residents on Disney's website start at $119, and can be even cheaper for Florida residents planning to visit the park for multiple days. Yes, tickets for Florida residents and non-Florida residents will be more expensive during Memorial Day weekend. During the holiday weekend, tickets start at $159, according to Disney's website. The price of admission for each park varies. Listed below are the prices of one-day tickets to enter the Disney parks on Saturday, May 24 for both residents and non-residents: A family of five, with one child younger than 10 years old, would pay $947.87, including taxes, to enter Hollywood studios during the holiday weekend, according to Walt Disney World's website. That price tag doesn't include the additional costs of parking, Lightning Lane passes, photo packages, hotel stays or food. Stowell recommends that people trying to save some money plan ahead and skip the parks during holiday weekends and go during the off-season instead. Florida residents can also save money on their Disney trip by purchasing tickets for multiple days, according to Walt Disney World's website. While a one-day Florida resident ticket starts at $119, three and four-day tickets start at $87 and $72. The Florida Resident Summer Magic Ticket, which is valid from May 18 to September 27, offers an even more inexpensive experience. The summer magic tickets will cost the following, according to the resort's website: Non-Florida residents can also take advantage of the 3-Day, 3-Park Ticket, which will allow guest admission to only EPCOT, Animal Kingdom and Hollowood Studios, and excludes Magic Kingdom, stated the resort's website. Prices for the ticket start at $89 per day, and are valid until September 22, according to Disney World. The tickets must be used within five days of the selected start date. Finally, Stowell offered one more piece of advice for Disney guests above the age of 21: "Don't buy the alcohol," said Stowell. It "would have saved a lot of money for me." This story was updated to add new information.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Smart & Safe Florida joins Florida Decides Healthcare in ballot initiative challenge
(Stock photo by) The group seeking to legalize recreational marijuana in Florida has joined a legal challenge to a newly approved crackdown on ballot initiatives. Smart & Safe Florida over the weekend asked to intervene in a federal lawsuit filed last week by an organization seeking to place Medicaid expansion on the 2026 ballot. U.S. Chief District Judge Mark Walker granted Smart & Safe's request on Monday. Walker, meanwhile, has set a telephonic conference on May 14 to discuss scheduling for the lawsuit and how to move forward. Smart & Safe Florida, the group behind the proposed constitutional amendment to legalize recreational use of cannabis in 2024, is actively working to get another measure on the ballot in 2026 and didn't respond to a request for comment. But in a lengthy court filing, Smart & Safe Florida called the new restrictions signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis 'legislative gaslighting' that is not designed to block fraud in the initiative process as contended by the governor and others but will 'effectively destroy the people's right to invoke the citizen initiative.' The group, which has been largely financed by the medical marijuana giant Trulieve, was behind the 2024 initiative that fell just short of the 60% threshold needed to get approved. They have already started gathering petitions to try to make the 2026 ballot and have more than 200,000 signatures verified. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Smart & Safe Florida says some of the restrictions in the law, including a ban on using out-of-state residents to collect petition signatures, have already hampered their efforts. The organization has halted mailing out petition forms to registered voters due to a new requirement to turn over signed petitions within 10 days. The law prohibits felons, noncitizens, and non-Florida residents from acting as petition circulators; requires additional personal identifying information for voters signing petition forms and for petition circulators; and includes a requirement to place a financial impact statement drawn by a state-controlled panel on petition forms. That financial impact statement requirement violates its First Amendment rights, Smart & Safe Florida argues. While the Legislature, mostly the House, fought with the governor throughout the session, the Republican leadership did come together to pass HB 1205. DeSantis signed it into law three days after receiving the bill. The new law stems from a report from the DeSantis administration that alleged fraud in the petition-gathering process. The January report published by the state's Office of Election Crimes and Security asserts that more than 100 representatives of the group attempting to pass the abortion-rights amendment last year committed crimes related to gathering petitions. Meanwhile, Florida Decides Healthcare filed the the lawsuit last week. The group has been working to get its proposed constitutional amendment on expanding Medicaid on the statewide ballot in November 2026. In a press conference last week, Florida Decides Executive Director Mitch Emerson called the law a 'calculated and cowardly attempt by politicians in Tallahassee to rewrite the rules, not to serve the people, but to protect their own power. ' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Citizen power under fire in Florida ballot measure clash in Legislature
Florida voters have taken it into their own hands in recent years to approve medical marijuana, a minimum wage hike and several other policy changes when lawmakers failed to act. But future citizens' ballot efforts look bound to face costly and complex new barriers under legislation poised for final approval in the Senate and headed to the House. Senate Democrats warned the legislation (HB 1205) will effectively end citizens' initiatives, allowed under the state constitution since 1968. But the sponsor, GOP state Sen. Don Gaetz of Niceville, said that's not his goal. 'This bill is not an attack on the citizens' initiative process. But it is an attack on those who have corrupted it,' Gaetz told the Senate during debate April 30. Still, the legislation would impose a lot of new hurdles. Steep financial requirements and the threat of costly fines would be faced by organizations who hire signature-gatherers to get initiatives on the ballot. Almost 900,000 verified signatures from registered voters are now needed for a proposed constitutional amendment to be eligible for the Florida ballot. The Senate bill also requires petitions to go to the local Supervisor of Elections within 10 days of a signature collection, instead of the current 30 days. Late submission would result in $50-a-day fines that could climb into thousands of dollars under aggravating circumstances. Moreover, signature gatherers would face new standards, with certain felons, non-Florida residents and noncitizens barred from collecting. Paid gatherers also would have to undergo training and be registered with the state. New demands would be placed on county elections supervisors, who would have to notify voters whose signatures are verified on a petition, but not when their signatures are found to be invalid or disqualified because they were collected by an ineligible gatherer. 'We're only doing one side in this bill,' said Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton, who fought against the measure. Fresh standards also have been added that could trigger a Florida Secretary of State's investigation of organizations gathering signatures. Many of the provisions are viewed by critics as slowing down the signature-gathering process, making it more difficult for campaigns to get a proposal on the ballot. Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, called the measure 'big government overreach,' and said it was clear that Republican majorities in the Senate and House were intent on curbing petition campaigns: 'This is to stop any citizens' initiative from ever appearing on a ballot again.' The House has advanced similar legislation, which is even tougher in some ways, requiring ballot sponsors to post a $1 million bond with the state's Division of Elections to cover potential fines and other costs. But with this year's legislative session winding down, the House and Senate are expected to settle their differences. Ruling Republicans, starting with Gov. Ron DeSantis who proposed a citizens' initiative overall in January, look likely to agree on some form of crackdown. An investigation last fall by DeSantis' Office of Election Crimes and Security claimed rampant fraud in the Amendment 4, abortion rights signature-gathering effort, and to a lesser degree, Amendment 3's marijuana proposal. Clampdown by GOP... Florida GOP lawmakers look to layer new demands on state's ballot measures Senate Democrats downplayed the report, arguing the amount of fraud was relatively minor in these high-profile campaigns. But the Floridians Protecting Freedom (FPF) political action committee, which backed the abortion rights measure, paid a $164,000 settlement with the state over allegations that paid petition circulators submitted fraudulent petitions. Still, Republican majorities in the Legislature have worked for years to thwart constitutional amendments, almost 20 years ago raising their approval requirement to at least 60% of those voting. 'It should be a very big deal to change our founding document,' said Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, another Senate sponsor. But even when approved by voters, some initiatives have been hamstrung when lawmakers enact them, with 2018's felons' voting measure not going as far as supporters wanted. Last year, DeSantis used millions of taxpayer dollars in fighting the recreational marijuana and abortions rights measures, which fell just short of the 60% threshold. The House has been investigating DeSantis gaining help in this battle from a political committee led by his then-chief-of-staff, James Uthmeier, whom he has since appointed Florida's attorney general. DeSantis' October surprise... DeSantis-backed report accuses abortion amendment backers of signature gathering fraud The committee received $8.5 million tied to a legal settlement for alleged Medicaid overbilling. The money was funneled through the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity founded to support a key initiative of First Lady Casey DeSantis. The Senate bill takes its own swipe at DeSantis, banning the use of public funds from again being used to support or oppose a constitutional amendment. Both the House and Senate also have ignored DeSantis' earlier call to outlaw third-party signature gathering by citizens' organizations, which rely on paid gatherers to collect the vast number of verified petition signatures from voters needed to get a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot. John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network's Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@ Follow him on X: @JKennedyReport. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida GOP set to add new hurdles for citizen ballot measures
Miami Herald
26-03-2025
- Lifestyle
- Miami Herald
These 4 Florida cities rank among nation's best places to retire. Why they're special
If you're dreaming of retirement, you may find your ideal place to settle down in Florida. That's because the state is home to four of the nation's best cities for retirees to call home, new rankings show. Here are the places that made it onto the list: Clearwater at No. 2St. Petersburg at No. 4Cape Coral at No. 5Fort Lauderdale at No. 8 The list comes from Niche, a website that posts ratings and reviews for neighborhoods, schools and companies. To determine the top retirement destinations across the country, it studied data from the U.S. government and other sources, according to results published Monday, March 24. Niche scored each place across multiple categories, including population trends, costs of living, winter temperatures, safety and access to entertainment options. For this list, the website focused on 230 cities, defined as places with at least 100,000 residents, public relations manager Zach Chatham told McClatchy News via email. What makes the Florida retirement destinations special? When it came to the highest-ranked places for older adults, Florida had more cities in the top 10 than any other state. 'Our Best Places to Retire rankings takes into account key factors such as weather, crime rates, residents 65 and older, housing costs, and access to amenities such as restaurants, golf courses, exercise facilities, and doctors, and those areas in Florida score very highly across those categories,' Chatham wrote. The top-ranking Florida city was Clearwater, in the Tampa Bay area. On its Niche page, the city received 'A' grades for its outdoor activities, nightlife, weather and diversity. But it didn't fare as well when it came to safety and housing, earning 'C' grades in those categories. 'Living in Clearwater offers residents an urban suburban mix feel and most residents own their homes,' Niche wrote. 'In Clearwater there are a lot of bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and parks. Many young professionals and retirees live in Clearwater and residents tend to have moderate political views.' Also landing a spot on the list was nearby St. Petersburg, which received similar nods for its amenities and 'urban suburban' flair. Rounding out the Florida cities in the rankings were Cape Coral — a roughly 130-mile drive south from Tampa — and the Atlantic Coast destination of Fort Lauderdale. Nationwide, the top-ranked retirement spot was Scottsdale, Arizona, just outside of Phoenix. The only other non-Florida city to land in the top five was Metairie, Louisiana, in the New Orleans area. The retirement list was part of Niche's 'Best Places to Live in America' rankings, which also determined the nation's healthiest places and the top locations to buy homes. The results were divided into different areas, such as cities, towns, suburbs and neighborhoods, results show.
