Welcome to Thursday Morning, Orlando!
Ahem. You might notice something a little different above. 👆I decided to give the Orlando Signal logo a small refresh. Thanks to Mrs. Orlando Signal for conceptualizing and helping make it happen. I knew there was a reason I kept her around. 🤣🤣🤣
Now, in today’s issue:
- Appetite for Good
- PHANTASMAGORIA
- A Swinging Holiday
- + lots of weekend recs
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Let’s roll!
- Philip
P.S. Want some hawt community sourced foodie recommendations? Check out the Orlando Signal Restaurant Guide, right here.
3 QUICK NEWS BITS ⏲️
Appetite for Good as Orlando's Magical Dining Delivers Record Charity Boost
Visit Orlando's Magical Dining Program served up its biggest helping yet: a record $398,307 for Orange County charities in 2025, beating last year by 13%. The delicious initiative has now dished out nearly $3.3 million to Central Florida nonprofits since 2009.
This year's star beneficiary, REED Charitable Foundation, is cooking up solutions to literacy challenges through affordable educator training. Visit Orlando also sprinkled $3,000 grants across six district nonprofits championing education and opportunity.
More than 160 restaurants joined the feast, with Otto's High Dive, The Chapman, STK Orlando, and Seasons 52 Orlando earning top-chef status. The program proves that good food and good deeds make the perfect pairing for hungry diners and deserving causes alike.
(Learn lots more about Orlando's culinary fundraising with Amy Drew Thompson, right here)
From Sleepy to Buzzing: Orlando's Ambitious Downtown Overhaul
Four major developments are reshaping downtown Orlando simultaneously: Camping World Stadium upgrades, the sprawling West court project, a Church Street overhaul, and reimagining the former Orlando Sentinel site.
After pandemic slowdowns left the corridor sleepy, the upcoming changes promise to inject new energy into the area. The multimillion-dollar construction spree aims to create a walkable, connected downtown that buzzes throughout the day, not just after dark.
Expect some growing pains as cranes multiply across the skyline. Camping World Stadium breaks ground within 60 days, with other projects launching summer 2026.
(Learn more about Downtown Orlando’s construction boom with Ashley Engle, right here)
Southeast Orlando's New One-Stop Shop Opens in 2026
Southeast Orlando residents, rejoice: Your days of crawling through Narcoossee Road traffic just to handle routine city business are almost over.
The new Southeast Community and Government Center on Dowden Road opens next year, delivering essential services straight to the city's fastest-growing neighborhood. District 1 Commissioner Jim Gray and Mayor Buddy Dyer checked in on the project last week.
The 15,000-square-foot facility, which broke ground last year, packs in permitting, inspections, code enforcement, a library, and a police substation.
It's designed to slash response times, ease traffic headaches, and double as an emergency hub when Mother Nature gets cranky.
(Learn lots more about Orlando's newest community hub with Tylisa Hampton, right here)
WEEKEND SPOT HIGHLIGHT 🔦
PHANTASMAGORIA: A Very Dickens Christmas
Source: PHANTASMAGORIA
📍Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater. 445 South Magnolia Ave, Orlando, FL 32801. Map to this location.
🕐 Friday & Saturday, December 19th & 20th, 2025, 8 p.m.
When most companies stage Dickens during the holidays, they stick to Scrooge's tale. But Victorian performance troupe Phantasmagoria asks: Why celebrate just one Christmas ghost story when Dickens penned so many?
Their 2025 production "A Very Dickens Christmas" ventures beyond "A Christmas Carol" into rarely performed works like "The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain" and "The Goblins who Stole a Sexton."
Through storytelling, dance, large-scale puppetry, and aerial work, this 15-year-old ensemble creates what the Orlando Sentinel called an atmosphere where "you can feel the hairs on the back of your neck standing up."
👉 Check It Out
TOP 3 FUN RECS FOR THE WEEKEND 🍊
Holiday Milk Mart
Source: Milk Mart
📍Milk District. Map to this location.
🕐 Sunday, December 21st, 12 p.m.
Ready to kick your early holiday houseguests out of the house? Send them straight to the annual Holiday Market at Milk Mart!
This Sunday, The Milk District's parking lots and streets come alive with local artists, food trucks, and live music. It's the last Sunday before Christmas, your final shot to shop local before the big day.
Ditch the mall madness and hunt for actual treasures: original art, vintage vinyl, adorable crochet plushies, handmade soaps, candles, and tons of other goodies you won't find anywhere else.
👉 Get more info, right here
Winter Park Stage Swinging Holiday
Source: Band Preservation Inc.
📍Winter Park Center Stage. 251 S Park Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789. Map to this location.
🕐 Friday, December 19th, 7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
The holiday season swings into Winter Park this Friday when The Great American Big Band delivers "Christmas in the Park" at Central Park Stage, completely free.
Expect classics like "Jingle Bells" with an Andrews Sisters twist, "Blue Christmas," and favorites from "White Christmas."
Pack a blanket and snacks, claim your spot on the lawn, and let the horns and rhythms transport you to the golden age of American music.
No tickets, no fuss, just pure holiday joy.
👉 Get the full details
THE OUTSIDERS
Source: The Outsiders
📍Walt Disney Theater. 445 South Magnolia Ave, Orlando, FL 32801. Map to this location.
🕐 Friday, December 19th, 2 p.m. | Saturday, December 20th, 2 p.m. & 8 p.m. | Sunday, December 21st, 1 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.
Four 2024 Tony Awards® including Best Musical? Not too shabby for these Greasers.
THE OUTSIDERS whisks audiences straight into 1967 Tulsa, where Ponyboy Curtis and Johnny Cade prove that being an "outsider" just means you've found your real family.
Adapted from S.E. Hinton's novel and Francis Ford Coppola's film, the show features a book by Adam Rapp with Justin Levine, music by Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) with Justin Levine, and direction by Danya Taymor.
It's friendship, rebellion, and heart, with a killer soundtrack to match.
👉 Check it out, right here
MORE WEEKEND HAPPENINGS 🎭 🥁
Multi-Day
Corey B | Fri & Sat | I-Drive | More
Jared Freid | Fri & Sat | I-Drive | More
Friday - 19th
Stealing Christmas: An Emo Grinch Party | 8 p.m. | Downtown | More
Kids and Parent's Craft Night | 5 p.m. | UCF | More
Christmas Market w/ live music | 6 p.m. | Thornton Park | More
Florida Philharmonia Orchestral Holiday | 7 p.m. | Clermont | More
Psycho-Frame "Winter Salvation Tour" in Orlando | 7 p.m. | Winter Park | More
Orlando Solar Bears vs South Carolina Stingrays: Teddy Bear Toss | 7 p.m. | Downtown | More
Bands Saving the World! | 7 p.m. | Audubon Park | More
Chuck Magid's 10th Annual X-Mas Rager | 8 p.m. | Mills 50 | More
Saturday - 20th
🔥Santa's Coming To Kelly's! | 1 p.m. | Maitland | More
Free Portrait Sketch | 11 a.m. | Longwood | More
A WHO-bilation at Founders Square | 11 a.m. | Avalon Park | More
Knockout Christmas Classic | 8 a.m. | Kissimmee | More
Stories in Stone | 10 a.m. | Maitland | More
Enzian Holiday Series: Rare Exports | 12 p.m. | Maitland | More
UCF Knights Womens Basketball vs. Brigham Young University Cougars Womens Basketball | 2 p.m. | UCF | More
Fortune Feimster: Takin' Care of Biscuits Comedy Tour | 7 p.m. | I-Drive | More
Holiday Movie at Lake Eola Park: Christmas with the Kranks | 7 p.m. | Downtown | More
Montgomery Drive Presents: Old Again with Special Guests Coyote Theory, Hungover, and mode | 7 p.m. | Mills 50 | More
Duke’s Nutcracker with the Matthew Chacon Jazz Orchestra | 7:30 p.m. | Wadeview Park | More
Sunday - 21st
Holiday Afternoon Tea | 10 a.m. | College Park | More
Sugar Cookie Decorating | 11 a.m. | Lake Mary | More
Very Merry Pop-Up Market | 12 p.m. | OBT | More
Mellow Market: Holiday Edition | 12 p.m. | Audubon Park | More
Bonsai Workshop | 12 p.m. | SoDo | More
The Ukulaliens Holiday Uke Jam | 2 p.m. | Mills 50 | More
Hanukkah Celebration of Lights | 5 p.m. | Lake Nona | More
Tom Rhodes | 6 p.m. | I-Drive | More
Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols | 6 p.m. | Downtown | More
Matt Rogers: Christmas In December | 7:30 p.m. | Milk District | More
A Solaria Solstice | 7 p.m. | Mills 50 | More
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THANKS!
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We’ll see you on Monday.
My Best,
Philip - Publisher, Orlando Signal
