According to Florida Highway Patrol officers, a 30-year-old man from Orlando lost his life when his Chevrolet Tahoe became disabled in the right lane of southbound State Road 417. The man exited the vehicle in an attempt to push the vehicle out of the roadway while three passengers–a woman and two young children–remained in the vehicle.
Florida Highway Patrol officers explained that a tour bus with only the driver on board was also traveling southbound in the right lane of SR-417 when it struck the back of the Tahoe, killing the man and pushing the vehicle into the guardrail with the woman and two children still inside.
Troopers said the accident took place at mile marker 6 near International Drive along State Road 417 just before 6:00 a.m. this morning. The crash caused the closure of southbound SR-417 at John Young Parkway as firefighters and other first responders worked to free the woman and children from the Tahoe. Traffic was diverted to Osceola Parkway.
The man who had exited the vehicle was pronounced deceased at the scene of the crash.
The 28-year-old woman and the two small children, boys ages 3 and 4, were rescued from the vehicle by firefighters. Both children were secured in their child safety seats at the time of the crash.
The three passengers were taken to Orlando Health and Arnold Palmer Hospital. All three are listed in stable condition, according to FOX 35 Orlando. The driver of the tour bus, a 56-year-old woman from Kissimmee was not injured in the crash. The investigation into the crash is ongoing.
In an effort to continually enhance the Guest experience here at Walt Disney World, we refresh our offerings from time to time. As previously announced in May 2021, Disney Skyliner transportation between EPCOT International Gateway, Disney’s Riviera Resort and Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort will be unavailable from Sunday, Jan. 23 through Friday, Jan. 28.
Alternate transportation will be available to help Guests reach their destination during this refurbishment.
The Figment popcorn bucket craze has been all over social media and the news since the adorable purple plastic buckets became available on Friday, the first day of EPCOT’s International Festival of the Arts.
The buckets were available at Pop Eats inside EPCOT at the festival, and lines to get one on Friday would cost you between four and six hours of your park day. Some who were willing to spend that kind of time in line just for the honor of having Figment hold their popcorn left the park that day with a sense of completion and fulfillment. Others found their fulfillment by purchasing far more than the number of buckets allowed per Guest, taking them home, and listing them on sites like eBay, Mercari, and Poshmark for as much as $200 apiece.
Other Guests were completely selfless with their buckets, waiting four or more hours in line, just purchase the Figment buckets as gifts or–better yet–to give “just because” to a Guest at the back of the line for the buckets, like this man, Jason M., who bought a bucket for his mom for her birthday and a bucket to give away. The recipient was in shock. Grateful, but shocked.
The lavendarly-adorable Figment buckets are ALL SOLD OUT.
But the most shocking thing you’ll hear today about the Figment popcorn buckets is that some are being sold on eBay, but not as actual buckets. Rather, bids are being placed on drawings of the Figment buckets. (And, admittedly, some of the drawings aren’t even very artistic.)
Just when we thought 7 hours in line for a Figment bucket was the craziest part of the dragon-bucket craze at EPCOT this weekend, we heard something that takes “craze” to a whole new level, but the amazing part is that this part of the phenomenon will benefit charity.
Some people took to eBay to list drawings, sketches, and even photos of the coveted Figment bucket. One of the drawings listed actually had the words “bad artwork sketch” in its listing title. The listing required an opening bid of $0.99 and opened on Friday morning at 11:16 a.m. local time. Almost immediately, eBay users began bidding on the drawing of the bucket.
Bids came in regularly until the total amount bid reached $10,000. Yes, ten thousand dollars. You can see the bid amount in the eBay screenshot below:
All of the proceeds from the sale of the “bad artwork sketch” were to go to charity, as stated in the listing. But sadly, the owner of the listing had to end the bidding and take down the listing due to some questions about the authenticity of the bids, according to a post from the seller himself/herself:
I’m skeptical of the series of automated bids that pushed this over the $10K mark, so I’m ending the auction so I can start the clock going on having them pay eBay to give the money to Habitat for Humanity. If the high bidder is legit, I’m so thankful for your generous donation. If not, then we’ll go through the proper channels to get everything settled and get money to Habitat.”
Hopefully, the bids were legitimate, and the bidder will follow through with his or her donation, which will benefit the efforts of Habitat for Humanity. According to the seller’s post, the bidder–if authentic–can go through eBay to make the donation directly to the charity.
During a heartbreaking interview that aired today on CBS Mornings, late actor and comedian Bob Saget opened up about his life’s journey and how comedy helped him through the rough times.
The interview was a conversation between the comedian and CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook. LaPook and Saget were long-time friends, and LaPook wanted to interview the late comedian to discuss Saget’s efforts in raising awareness about scleroderma, a disease that–though extremely rare–claimed Saget’s sister’s life nearly 30 years ago. But he started with a simple question about Saget’s humor, asking him simply, “When did you know you were funny?”
Saget answered by saying that he remembered beginning his comedic life when he was about four years old.
“I would dance in the living room and just start dancing, dancing stupid to make anybody laugh, just like silent film stars,” he recalled. “And I knew some jokes, but it wasn’t really jokes. It was just like, ‘I’ve got to perform; I’ve got to make people laugh.’”
Saget and Dr. LaPook talked at length about Saget’s sister, Gay, who was diagnosed with scleroderma and passed away after only a few years at the young age of 47. Saget shared about how deeply his sister’s death affected him–so deeply in fact, that the America’s Funniest Home Videos host admitted that he needed comedy to get him through his grief.
“It was a defense mechanism and it truly helped me survive,” he said of humor and his career as a comedian and an actor that spanned more than 45 years.
“It helped keep me mentally alive rather than letting [adversity] destroy me,” he added.
Saget was emotional as he spoke about his sister’s death at times.
“We were all in the room when she let out her last breath,” he said of the day his sister passed away.
Bob Saget was found deceased in his hotel room last Sunday afternoon at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando Hotel. He was 65. He had been in Orlando to perform his stand-up comedy show.
On the Friday evening before his death, Saget performed at the Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Studios Orlando. On Saturday evening, he performed in Jacksonville, Florida. Afterward, he took to Instagram to share his feelings about the show, posting the following:
“Okay, I loved tonight’s show @pontevedra_concerthall in Jacksonville.Really nice audience. Lots of positivity. Happened last night in Orlando at the Hard Rock Live too. Very appreciative and fun audiences. Thanks again to @comediantimwilkins for opening.”
Saget’s family had tried to reach him on Sunday, as he was to check out of the Ritz-Carlton that day. When they were repeatedly unable to make contact with him, they called the hotel directly and asked for a welfare check in Saget’s room. It was an officer from the hotel security team who found Saget unresponsive with no pulse. It was then that 911 was called.
According to reports from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, there were no signs of drug use, of foul play or of trauma. An autopsy was performed to determine the manner and cause of Saget’s untimely passing. Those results are pending and won’t likely be available for several weeks.
CBS’s Dr. LaPook, who conducted Bob Saget‘s final interview said today on CBS Mornings that when he sat down with Saget on December 6 to interview him, he had no idea it would be the last time they would be together. LaPook shared with his CBS Mornings team today that he wrote the Saget interview segment for CBS Mornings through tears, but he says that Saget never missed an opportunity to make people laugh, and that’s evident in the interview.
You can see the interview in its entirety here as it aired on CBS today. If you were a fan of Mr. Saget, it’s definitely an emotional piece to endure, but well worth the watch.
The holidays may be over and done with, but we’re feeling all sorts of jolly with the newest announcement coming in from Disney! That’s right, Tim Allen is making a comeback to reprise his role as the man in the red suit we all know and love… SANTA!
Disney+ has announced the big news that Disney Legend, Tim Allen, will once again become everyone’s favorite Santa Claus with a new The Santa Clause limited series. The highly-anticipated series will be executive produced by Tim Allen and is set to begin production in Los Angeles this March. Along with Allen, the award-winning Jack Burditt will be an executive producer and showrunner, and Kevin Hench, Richard Baker, and Rick Messina will also serve as executive producers.
D23 has said The Santa Clause series will be set after the trilogy of The Santa Clause films. “In the Disney+ series, Scott Calvin is on the brink of his 65th birthday and realizing that he can’t be Santa forever. He’s starting to lose a step in his Santa duties, and more importantly, he’s got a family who could benefit from a life in the normal world, especially his two kids who have grown up at the Pole. With a lot of elves, children, and family to please, Scott sets out to find a suitable replacement Santa while preparing his family for a new adventure in a life south of the pole.”
Tim Allen made for the perfect Saint Nick with his portrayal of Scott Calvin for the 1994 The Santa Clause and won a People’s Choice Award for his performance. He then reprised the role in two sequels, 2002’s The Santa Clause 2 and 2006’s The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause.
Disney fans know Allen as far more than just his red suit as Santa Claus, but also easily recognize his voice as Buzz Lightyear in Pixar’s Toy Story film franchise.
