ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orlando’s traditional way of celebrating the new year will in fact happen this year, but in a new location.
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The owners of several bars, including the Burton’s, The Abbey and Cavos got permission to move the giant pole-mounted ball from its original location on Church Street to the roof of the pop-up bar The Reindeer Room, which is centrally located for block party attendees.
The bar owners said the idea came together quickly after seeing reaction to news of the drop’s cancellation.
“It’s 25 years old, so we’re just trying to carry on the tradition from Church Street,” Burton’s Bar owner Aaron Dudek said. “Those guys were cool enough to let us take it and give it a chance to bring it back to life.”
The Church Street Orange Drop was canceled after the bars that sponsored the event shut down. The nightclub scene in that part of town has been winding down after multiple high-profile acts of violence in the streets and restrictions put in place by the city.
Hours after Halloween ended, a 17-year-old fired into the crowd, killing two men and injuring several others. That caused the city to announce the closure of Orange Avenue to pedestrians.
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Dudek and Cavos owner Mark Cavellini admitted it took them the better part of the day – and a significant number of risks – to dismantle the structure that sat atop Latitude’s and drive it across town.
WFTV watched the group debate how to best reassemble the structure, with hopes 2025 would be the first of many such drops in Thornton Park.
“We thought it’d be a cool opportunity to kind of bring attention to what we’re trying to do up here,”Cavellini said, cautioning that there were several logistical challenged to resurrecting the structure before they knew for sure it would work. “If we have a good one this year, I think we’ll continue to do it.”
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