America’s Road Trip Travels to Forgotten Nickelodeon Resort Hotel Waterpark in Orlando, Florida Looking for Orange
- By ENJOYOURIDE
- July 18, 2018
- 8:43 pm
- One Comment
Hello my name is Randy Scott. I’m with AmericasRoadTrip.com and ENJOYOURIDE Next Exit. ENJOYOURIDE Next Exit is a YouTube series that travels the U.S. interstate system, stopping at every exit of every interstate and brings you along for the ride.
Usually when we film on exits, I’m joined by Meredith, but in this video at the former Nickelodeon Resort and Waterpark in Orlando, Florida on a solo business trip. My inner 90’s kid got the best of me, so I visited the former Nickelodeon hotel. The next few paragraphs will be a “producer’s commentary” – if you will – of the video as I watch it; my thoughts as I was filming, things that didn’t make the cut, and other things that happened the day I was filming. If you have stayed here when you were younger, feel free to watch this video on mute to relive some of your experiences that you have of staying at the hotel.
"To figure out how a team of people could create something that would inspire me enough to go walk around a hotel with a video camera and essentially look for orange paint..." - Randy Scott
Seeing Orange at the Former Nickelodeon Waterpark Orlando, Florida
I begin the video walking and talking in front of the hotel and kind of go off on a soapbox rant about how most of the cartoons in today’s age tend to be more violent and suggestive in nature. Granted, I don’t watch that many cartoons now and might not know what is entirely out there for kids to watch, but I have seen enough to know it’s not like how it used to be. My goals with ENJOYOURIDE is to, one day, personally be part of an organization that has strong ethics, a strong moral compass, successful, provides jobs to many families, and have the business outlive me. That is one of the main reasons why I came to the former Nickelodeon Resort in Orlando, Florida; partly to relive a bit of my childhood, and also to utilize all that I’ve learned since then in life and in business. To figure out how a team of people could create something that would inspire me enough to go walk around a hotel with a video camera and essentially look for orange paint. That leads us into where I finally shut up in the video and just let the pictures speak for themselves.
As you can tell, the day I filmed was a beautiful sunny day. As I enter the hotel, I met a very friendly security officer for the (now) Holiday Inn Waterpark & Resort. I told him I was looking for availability – a lie. That night I actually stayed in a small room overlooking the under construction waterpark. As I enter the resort, I can see these colored bricks on the front apron before the sliding doors. Being a nerd, I know resorts of this size usually have extras of everything. These bricks were no exception.
The bricks that they used to replace the walkway were where the Nickelodeon time capsule plaque was, and are obviously not as weathered as the others. I think the cover photo that I made comparing the before and after is what made this video so successful. I know the majority of viewers usually skip over the beginning of the video with my speech to get to the good stuff, but it’s pretty cool when somebody actually watches the entirety of the video.
One person commented that she was in tears watching me speak at the beginning and end of this video. That wasn’t my goal with the video, obviously, but it was the goal of the video to inspire and make people think.
As we go deeper into the resort, you can see many items that used to be Nickelodeon orange. As I was filming, I remained quiet during most of the shots to give people time to think and reflect about what once was. As I was checking into the resort, I asked one of the front desk staff were I could find anything left over from the Nickelodeon days.
All four people at the front desk chimed in, wanting to tell me where I can find good stuff. I jokingly made a comment saying, “So maybe I should grow up and move on with my life”, and to my surprise she replied with, “Yeah”. While I was there, they were replacing all the splash pad/pool material from the water park area. I think my inner nerd came out a little because even though I was there remembering the Nickelodeon resort, I was still impressed with how the pool material is made.
The next scene was when I found the coolest thing out of everything that I had found that day. The rocks on the ground around the base of the resort were still unturned and orange from the day they sprayed the resort for Nickelodeon. The reason why there was probably no overspray of white over the orange rocks, or any sloppy leftovers from when they recently painted it white was because Holiday Inn probably has plans on keeping it themed with their colors for longer than they did with Nickelodeon orange. Meaning, spray on paint won’t last as long as hand applied paint will. Spraying on the orange paint was probably more cost-effective at the time and they knew it would last for as long as Nickelodeon was licensing the resort. Nerd.
Thank You Nickelodeon.
I end the video in the empty back parking lot that once held hundreds of families on vacation who were anticipating a fun-filled day at Nickelodeon. I then explain how Nickelodeon was not in the hotel business – Together with Viacom they created amazing content and still hold intellectual property. The reason why I brought that up was to break down the façade of what some kids might view as intimidating – trying to find their place in the world where everything is already there. It’s kind of like a giant sandwich shop chain. One person had an idea and they protected it. But what people don’t realize is that a lot of those kind of shops are small-town, Ma & Pa shops who have permission to use a logo from a larger company. The same goes for hotels.
I hope that I did a good job in documenting the old Nickelodeon Resort for you. My goal was to give you a chance to reflect on your childhood, have some laughs, and inspire both young and old that watched to know that you can build something great out of nothing and that anything is possible.
America’s Road Trip and ENJOYOURIDE is nowhere near having the influence on kids and adults that Nickelodeon has, but we’re not stopping anytime soon.
Make sure to check out the Best of the Interstate, where you can easily find all the best attractions and businesses along the U.S. interstates. The Best of the Interstate helps to make your road trip about the journey just as much as it is about the destination!
What is the Best of The Interstate?
Watch more of America’s Road Trip with Meredith and I here, and check out some other great videos on remembering Nickelodeon with Adam the Woo and my favorite tribute to Nickelodeon Studios video.
If you’re a 90’s Kid or just enjoy nostalgia, you will love this article on Blockbuster’s last store in Bend, Oregon.
Get to know more about us with Meredith’s blogs on Minimalism and our Travels.
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Wear your new swag while visiting the old Nickelodeon Resort or while adventuring in Universal Studios Orlando!
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