In its final days of session last week, the Florida Legislature passed a bill that critics say will make it tougher for timeshare owners to get out of their contracts.
State Rep. Eric Eisnaugle, R-Orlando, sponsored the legislation on the House side and state Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland sponsored it in the Senate.
The legislation makes a number of technical changes to the Florida Vacation Plan and Timesharing Act.
It passed the House 87-22 in mid-April. It passed the Senate unanimously last week.
Several groups opposed the legislation.
“If this bill is signed into law, you can bet that our groups will be right back in Tallahassee before the next session, working as one very well organized group seeking to fix the problems and inequities created,” said Greg Crist, chairman and chief executive officer of the National Timeshare Owners Association, in an email.
Park owners’ earnings reports due
This week will be a busy one for theme-park analysts, with all three of Orlando’s big companies filing earnings reports.
First up is Comcast Corp., owner of Universal Orlando, which will report Monday morning.
Walt Disney Co. will follow Tuesday afternoon.
SeaWorld Entertainment will issue its first-quarter report Thursday. Analysts are expecting a loss of 59 cents per share. The company is expected to give more details about its international expansion plans during its conference call with analysts.
Disney tests food-ordering apps
Walt Disney World last week started testing an app that lets visitors order food on their phones.
The two-week test started Tuesday at Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ Backlot Express and its Fantasmic! nighttime show.
Visitors who make FastPass reservations at Hollywood Studios are getting emails giving them access to the app. Others who want to try the system can go to the guest-relations department, a Disney spokeswoman said.
At Backlot Express, diners pick up the food they order. At the Fantasmic nighttime show, employees deliver the food to guests’ seats with the help of smartphone location technology.
SeaWorld San Diego fined
A state California agency cited SeaWorld Entertainment’s San Diego park last week for safety violations.
California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health issued four citations with a fine of $25,770. The agency said in one citation that SeaWorld’s “methods … for correcting unsafe conditions were not effective” because they did not protect employees who swim with killer whales in a medical pool and are present on “slide outs” with the orcas in pools.
SeaWorld said in an emailed statement the citations show a “fundamental misunderstanding of the requirements of safely caring for killer whales.” The company plans to appeal. SeaWorld said it has made significant safety enhancements to its killer-whale program.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals issued a statement on the citations last week. “SeaWorld resists safety reforms every step of the way because it puts profit before the welfare of its employees and the orcas confined so miserably to its tiny concrete tanks,” the group said.
Goodall speaks out on SeaWorld
Jane Goodall has joined the list of celebrities speaking out about SeaWorld.
The renowned conservationist and primatologist told Huffington Post recently that SeaWorld “should be closed down.”
“When they are contained in these tanks … that is acoustical hell,” Goodall told the Huffington Post. “The sounds bounce back from the walls of the tank.”
Shortly after Huffington Post wrote about Goodall’s comments, SeaWorld tweeted a link to its website addressing noise. SeaWorld says its tanks “are quieter than the ambient ocean. And those above water sounds don’t transfer underwater. So, based on these studies, we are confident the sounds in our environment are not detrimental to the animal’s wellbeing.” SeaWorld also said in an emailed statement “Jane Goodall is a respected scientist and advocate for the world’s primates, but we couldn’t disagree more with her on this. Zoos and marine mammal parks like SeaWorld allow people to experience animals in a way that is inspiring and educational.”
Gray Rohrer of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. spedicini@orlandosentinel.com
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