Welcome to Monday Morning in Orlando
I got this issue out the door in the nick of time. I’ve been traveling for 5 days, so today’s issue may be a tad shorter than usual. I appreciate your readership and understanding!
In today’s issue: 👇
- When There Was Kemp's
- Winning on the Inside
- New York Bakery Boys
- ….and much more
Did someone forward this email to you? Join over 20K insatiably curious Orlandoans, right here.
Let’s dive in!
- Philip
P.S. Want some hawt community sourced foodie recommendations? Check out the Orlando Signal Restaurant Guide, right here.
(GREATER) ORLANDO REWIND ⏪
When There Was Kemp's Coliseum
Ask a longtime Orlandoan about the triangular lot where North Orange Avenue curves toward Lake Ivanhoe and watch their eyes light up. Wine bars now occupy what were once roller-skating nights. Somewhere under a nearby parking lot, the shell of Orlando's first public swimming pool sits buried, still holding its breath.
From its grand opening on December, 1926 until fire swallowed it whole in 1972, Kemp's Coliseum was Central Florida's unofficial living room.
In 1937, Georgian businessman Bill Kemp bought the hall, gave it his name, and did something no venue owner had any business doing: he moved his family into a second-floor apartment inside the building. His kids fell asleep to big bands rattling the floorboards. Bill and Bessie Kemp stayed until their deaths, one month apart, in 1971.
The hall packed in 3,000 people and booked everybody: Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, The Beach Boys, The Who, Alice Cooper. Decades before Orlando had a real arena, this place was doing just fine.
Then, two weeks before Emerson, Lake and Palmer were set to play, fire ended the whole thing. Just like that. It was never rebuilt.
Today, only a repurposed bowling alley remains. The rest is asphalt and stories your grandparents still tell with a little too much enthusiasm. Honestly? Fair enough.
🎶 Want the full Kemp's Coliseum story, big bands, The Who, and all? We've got the extended cut right here.
THE SQUEEZE 🍊
Worried on the Outside, Winning on the Inside
Halfway through 2026, Orlando's economy is basically a duck. Calm on the surface, paddling like mad underneath.
Business confidence hit a two-year low in Q2, with only 35% of companies feeling good about the U.S. economy as inflation pressures and cost challenges mounted. But dig into the actual numbers and the picture brightens considerably: 55% of businesses reported revenue gains and 50% saw improved profitability.
The labor market? Same story. Unemployment nudged up to 4.6% in June, yet the region added 20,600 jobs over the past year, more than Miami, Tampa, and Jacksonville combined.
The duck keeps swimming.
(Learn a lot more about what's really going on beneath Orlando's economic surface with Neil Hamilton, right here)
Orange County Students May Soon Have to Ditch the E-Bikes
Orange County's school board is gearing up tomorrow on a policy that would ban most students from rolling e-bikes and e-scooters onto school property. Only licensed high schoolers get a pass, and even they'll need a decal and must dismount on school grounds.
The superintendent says watching kids zip through major thoroughfares is all the evidence she needs, data or not.
The board chair is bracing for a flood of angry parent emails but isn't budging, convinced the rule could save lives during the morning's daily chaos. Not everyone's on board, though.
At least one member thinks the ban just makes getting to school harder without actually fixing a thing.
(Dive deeper into what this means for students with Joe Byrnes, right here)
Orlando Just Relocated Its Most Dramatic Residents
For over a century, swans have called Lake Eola home, transferred there from nearby Lake Lucerne all the way back in 1922.
As of yesterday, the last of the captive flock has officially waddled off into the sunset, ahead of the city's original "early fall" deadline.
An avian flu outbreak beginning in December 2025 that killed 37 birds, nearly halving the population overnight.
The remaining 44 were donated to a licensed facility in Lake Butler, coordinated with wildlife experts, and free of charge.
About 8 migratory swans still cruise through regularly, so keep your eyes peeled.
👉 Partner With Orlando Signal 👈
💼 This Week’s Curated Jobs
Sourced from the Orlando Signal Job Board!
🎭 Marketing and Communications Manager, Blue Man Group Cirque du Soleil / Blue Man Group | Orlando
Be the face of Blue Man Group in Orlando, building tourism partnerships, generating press buzz, and crafting grassroots campaigns that keep the seats full at one of I-Drive's most iconic shows.
💰 Competitive salary | 👉 Learn More & Apply
🥛 Director, Partnership Development Florida Milk | Orlando
Turn dairy into a sports and culture powerhouse by landing and activating partnerships with pro teams, college programs, and community organizations that make Floridians reach for the milk.
💰 Competitive salary | 👉 Learn More & Apply
🚀 Assistant General Manager, Space 220 Delaware North | Orlando (Walt Disney World)
Help run the most out-of-this-world restaurant in Central Florida, leading FOH operations 220 miles above Earth's surface (conceptually, anyway) while delivering a dining experience guests never forget.
💰 $81.9K-$110.6K/year + annual bonus | 👉 Learn More & Apply
🎪 Resident Creative RWS Global | Maitland (Hybrid)
Dream up haunted houses, holiday wonderlands, immersive activations, and live spectacles for the world's largest live entertainment producer, then watch your concepts come to life globally.
💰 $72K-$108K/year | 👉 Learn More & Apply
Tap/click here for lots more opportunities. Tons of jobs added!
✈️ Orlando’s best flight deal - Rocky steps and reading terminal edition
Nobody puts Philly on their vision board, and that's their loss. Reading Terminal Market alone is worth the flight, the murals covering entire building sides will stop you mid-stride, and yeah, you're getting a cheesesteak, but you're also discovering that this food scene goes way deeper than that. Catch a Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park, wander through Fishtown where the restaurant scene is absolutely popping, and don't sleep on the Barnes Foundation or Eastern State Penitentiar. One will blow your mind with art, the other with history.
Orlando (MCO) → Philadelphia (PHL) for 256 bucks* (non-stop!), round-trip Thursday through Sunday, late-August. See the deal.
*Price shown above is accurate as of the time this newsletter was sent.
#ORLANDOSIGNAL 📸
Downtown Clermont Mural
📷 via @orlandosignal |📍Clermont
Tag @orlandosignal to get your photo featured in the newsletter!
FOODIE FIND, FORK YEAH! 🤩
The New York Bakery Boys
📍603 Market St #110, Kissimmee, FL 34747. Map to this location.
New York has never had a shortage of opinions, especially about bagels. Since 1905, The Bakery Boys of New York has been winning those arguments.
This family-owned institution (with a location in Kissimmee) has outlasted trends, turmoil, and the relentless churn of a city that eats its own. The secret? Zero shortcuts. Every bagel, sandwich, and wrap is crafted in-house or sourced from another respected New York bakery using the exact same ingredients and techniques.
But ask anyone who's been, and the conversation inevitably turns to the breakfast sandwiches, the kind that ruin you for anything else before noon.
Old school. Undefeated.
👉 Check out the menu, right here 👈
Source: New York Bakery Boys
MORE PULP! 😎
Weekday things to check out
🎨 Draw Lab x SoBo Gallery Takeover: "Creativity Through Limits"
📅 Tuesday, July 28th | 2-4pm
📍 SoBo Gallery, 127 S. Boyd St, Winter Garden
Orlando artist James R. Maxey kicks off summer with a free creativity workshop. Register by today and come ready to make something unexpected!
👉 Create Free
💼 How to Do Business with the City of Orlando
📅 Tuesday, July 28th | 10am-12pm
📍 National Entrepreneur Center
Learn the inside scoop on Small Business Enterprise certification, city contracting opportunities, and everything you need to grow your business in Orlando.
👉 Open for Business
🎨 Free Curator Tour: "US" Exhibition
📅 Wednesday, July 29th | 6-7pm
📍 Art & History Museums – Maitland
Chief Curator Dan L. Hess takes you behind the scenes of "US," a new exhibition by Studio Artists and Artists-in-Residence; complimentary food and good conversation follow the tour.
👉 Behind the Art
🍰 Cheesecake, Happy Hour & Travel!
📅 Thursday, July 30th | 5-7pm
📍 Hangry Bison, Winter Park
Launch party for Joy's Travel Adventures Travel Club with raffle prizes, then stroll to Cheesecake Factory for National Cheesecake Day. 50% off a slice!
👉 Sip, Raffle & Slice
🎭 Want to share an event? Use this link.
THANKS!
✅ Want to connect with 20K+ curious Orlandoans for your business?, start a conversation here.
🌟 Know a community superstar? Tell me about them, right here.
Thanks for reading! I’ll see you again on Thursday’s weekend fun issue.
My Best,
Philip - Publisher, Orlando Signal
