{"id":99425,"date":"2025-12-30T00:12:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T00:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/99425\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T00:12:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T00:12:07","slug":"thornton-park-hosts-new-years-eve-orange-ball-drop-for-2nd-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/99425\/","title":{"rendered":"Thornton Park hosts New Year\u2019s Eve Orange Ball Drop for 2nd year"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 For years, Orlando\u2019s New Year\u2019s Eve celebration was centered in the heart of downtown, drawing thousands into the bar district for the Orange Ball Drop. Now, the orange ball is staged in Thornton Park, where it will drop for the second year in a row \u2014 roughly a mile from where the celebration was once held.<\/p>\n

Wendy Connor, owner of The Reindeer Room in Thornton Park, said the district stepped in last year when the event was left without a home just days before New Year\u2019s Eve.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we found out last year, it was really about 24 hours before New Year\u2019s Eve,\u201d Connor said. \u201cWe talked to the guys at Church Street, grabbed it, and made it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connor said organizers had more time to prepare this year and have focused heavily on safety, including increased police presence and private security.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur number one concern is always just making sure it\u2019s safe,\u201d Connor said. \u201cWe\u2019ve added additional OPD and additional security. That\u2019s not going to affect everybody having a good time, but it lets people know it\u2019s a safe, fun event.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the celebration continues in Thornton Park, downtown Orlando is losing another longtime bar.<\/p>\n

Tanqueray\u2019s Bar \u2014 better known to locals as Tanq\u2019s \u2014 is preparing to close after nearly four decades<\/a> in business. Along Church Street, several former nightlife venues now sit vacant, with \u201cfor lease\u201d signs replacing what were once busy late-night destinations.<\/p>\n

[BELOW: Longtime bar in Downtown Orlando to shut its doors for good. Here\u2019s when]<\/p>\n

Over the past five years, downtown Orlando has lost nearly a dozen bars, according to local reporting.<\/p>\n

Business owners say rising costs and new city rules rolled out over the last year have added to the challenge. Bars serving alcohol late at night must now meet stricter permit requirements, hire additional security and comply with enhanced regulations the city implemented following mass shootings in 2022 and 2024.<\/p>\n

Connor said she sympathizes with downtown bar owners navigating the changing landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel for those bars,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not the easiest business to be in. It\u2019s definitely cyclical, and there are a lot of extenuating circumstances that can affect your business. I understand the pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Orlando prepares to celebrate the New Year, city leaders, business owners and residents continue to debate how to balance safety, regulation and the nightlife that once defined downtown.<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2025 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 For years, Orlando\u2019s New Year\u2019s Eve celebration was centered in the heart of downtown, drawing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[52339,1186,32840,1335,139,141,140],"class_list":{"0":"post-99425","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-central-florida-happenings","9":"tag-holidays","10":"tag-new-years","11":"tag-orange-county","12":"tag-orlando","13":"tag-orlando-headlines","14":"tag-orlando-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}