Celebration Drive
Celebration Drive is a stretch of sandy beach road in Port Celebration, Alexandrian-Prussian Antilles that is known for its concentration of resort hotels, all inclusive resorts and casinos. Celebration Drive is approximately 14 miles (22.5 km) in length, located just outside Port Celebration city limits in the unincorporated town of Plymouth Meeting. However many tourist often referred it to being in Port Celebration.
Celebration Drive host some of the largest hotels, casino, and resort properties in the world. The drive's famously known for its use of contemporary architecture and a wide variety of attractions. Its hotels, casinos, restaurants, entertainment offerings, and skyline have established Celebration Drive as one of the most popular and iconic tourist destinations in the world and is one of main driving forces behind the Port Celebration and Alexandrian-Prussian Antilles economies.
History
In 1964 the newly formed Alexandrian-Prussian Antilles government started to look for ways to diversify its economy away from agriculture. It wasn't until 1968 when the government decided on tourism sector. The government then started looking for land in and around Port Royal and Freeport, however both locations couldn't support a new massive development and locals where very critical of the project. The government then started to look at other islands outside of Isla Juana. The government settled on St. Michael located south of La Isabella. Once St. Michael was picked the government decided to purchase the land outside of Port Celebration via eminent domain. The location was picked due to the abundance of land, sandy white beaches plus there was land for future development.
Development began immediately, and the construction of many hotels and tourist establishments that would initial across 7.5 miles (12.7 km) along the turquoise-blue Caribbean Sea on one side and a small lagoon on the other. The wider region included lush tropical rainforests, cenotes, underground cave systems, and white sand beaches. The government financed the first 8 hotels, with the first one opening (Sunset Beach Golf Resort) to the public in 1974. The original hotel corridor opened to lukewarm crowds and it was criticized for overspending and environmental deconstruction. Pressure from politicians in Port Royal, the government sold the hotels to different investors to recoup some of its investment. Development along Celebration Drive would be stagnant for the next 5 years.
In 1980 the newly elected Governor David Graham announced that they would take another try and develop the Hotel Corridor, however this time his administration was seeking public-private partnerships. Development exploded and saw the opening of numerous new hotels, restaurants and resorts. To support the development Graham successful lobbied Alexandrian-Prussian Antilles legislation to pass gambling laws allowing casinos to operate only on St. Michael. With the passing of the law the first casino to open on Celebration Drive was the Lucky Dragon.
In 1990 the Fashion Mall and the Outlets at Celebration (now The Outlet Collection Port Celebration) opened to the public only furthering helping the Hotel Corridor. During this time government drop the Hotel Corridor name and started using Celebration Drive verbiage. Cruise Lines started adding Port Celebration to their port of call sailing itineraries. To accommodate the cruise lines, the cities of Plymouth Meeting and Port Celebration agreed to share the cost of expanding the port which was completed in 1994. Throughout the 1990's and early 2000's development soared and drawing tourists from mainland Alexandria-Prussia, Arconia, Indora and other international countries. In 2004 it saw the opening of the first waterpark in the Alexandrian-Prussian Antilles, initial just called Under the Sea Waterpark it would later expand twice and change it name to the Under the Sea Resort in 2012 due to opening of the Blue Sea Beach Hotel.
In 2006 it was announced that World Resorts and Revue Studios would build the world's first integrated resort. Construction began on early 2007 and finished in late 2010 with the opening of Revue Studios Celebration park. Following this opening development on Celebration Drive slowed until 2014 when it was announced that Outlets at Celebration were sold to The Outlet Collection Group, the company announced that they would revamp and expand the outlet.
In 2016 it was announced that Dreamland Parks & Resorts and Queen Consolidated would be both building resorts on Celebration Drive. Queen Consolidated announced that Queen's Wharf would be all inclusive, casino and spa resort. It's scheduled opening is slated for fall of 2020. Dreamland announced in 2018 that there property would be the second integrated resort, however the resort will be twice as large Revue Marina Resort. The resort will be opening in two phases the first phase is scheduled to open in late fall of 2020 and the second phase will open in spring 2021.
In 2019 it was announced that they old Summer Inn Resort would be demolished and the new Rivera Resort & Casino would be built there. Construction started in early winter of 2020 and it scheduled to be completed by summer of 2022.
Location of Landmarks
| North towards Fremont Street
↑ | ||
| Queens Wharf (construction) | Celebration Drive | |
| Beachview Street | ||
| Lucky Dragon | ||
| Festival Grounds | City of Dreams Resort (construction) | |
| Convention Center | ||
| SLS | ||
| Coral Spring Hotel | the Gray by Tipton | |
| VEGA 888 | The Blue Haven Hotel | |
| The Plaza Resort & Casino | Royal Park Hotel | |
| Alon | Wellington Hotel | |
| Stardust | Metro Court | |
| Hidden Beach | ||
| Serenity Resort | ||
| The Outlet Collection Port Celebration | Reflect Resort & Spa | |
| Casino Royale & Hotel | ||
| The Quad | ||
| Rivera Resort & Casino (construction) | ||
| Montecito | The Coast | |
| Intrigue Nightclub | Water Color Inn & Resort | |
| Tipton Casino Resort | ||
| Aladdin | ||
| Lava Springs Resort & Villas | ||
| CityCenter | Revue Marina Resort | |
| The Circus Hotel | ||
| Fashion Mall | ||
| Under the Sea Resort | Ocean Hotel & Suites | |
| Emerald Beach Club & Resort | ||
| Sunset Beach Golf & Spa Resort | The Waterfront Beach Resort | |
| Harmon Avenue | Marina Bay Hotel & Spa | |
| ←
Southwest towards the Marina and Port | ||