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Xanadu: Home of the Future:Roadside America Road Trip Archives: Futuristic tourist attraction seen in 1985. Here's the VHS footage to prove it.
Watch Video.Demoliton: Future Arrives Without Xanadu
The last Xanadu, foam bubble "Computerized Home of the Future" in Kissimmee, Florida, has been totally demolished. Starting October 6, tipsters reported that a bulldozer had arrived at the former tourist attraction and was poised to reduce the Xanadu structures to rubble. By October 10th, styrofoam debris was scooped up into trucks and it was all over.
For over twenty years, Xanadu's novel approach to home-building stood along busy highway 192 outside Disney World. Looking like a combo lunar base and melted vanilla sundae, Xanadu was one of three erected in the US to serve as both commerical attractions and construction marketing tools. The other two stood in tourist hubs Gatlinburg and Wisconsin Dells -- those buildings were demolished years ago.
We first visited in 1985 two years after it first opened, when the Xanadu was powered by early PCs and a dodgy wireless audio system. The self-guided tour attempted to transport visitors into the sleek, automated world of 2001. The attraction's demise lured us down into our video vaults to resurrect some fuzzy VHS clips recorded back in Xanadu's glory years. [7 mb Quicktime Movie]
Kissimee's House of the Future never quite got in sync with the rapid advance of technology, and closed in 1996. It was subsequently sold, used for storage, then fell into further decline. In recent years it became the unauthorized home of squatters, though adventurous travelers were still stopping by to explore the delapidated bubble rooms.
We have no word yet on what establishment will replace Xanadu, but our bet is it won't be another "House of the Future." Additional photos of Xanadu demolished. [Thanks for the leads from Darin, George, and John]
Update - a condomium will be built on the Xanadu tract.
[10/12/2005]- Hours:
- 2005: Demolished.
- Status:
- Gone
- Kissimmee, Florida - Xanadu
I decided to drive over to Kissimmee to take a look at Xanadu myself. I wish the owners would sell it to someone who would like to refurbish it. I'm sure it was really cool when it was up and running. It's a bit creepy now. The homeless have obviously laid claim to it. Beer cans and smashed beer bottles all over the place. The overwhelming stench of mildew and urine. The furniture that was being stored there has been destroyed and turned into beds.
I didn't make it upstairs. I was turning the corner to do so, and there was a half-rolled, blood-stained mattress on the floor. I'm a small woman, and nobody knew I was there. Wasn't going to take any chances. I'm planning to go back again. It's such a shame that this place is going to waste.
[Dana Duffy, 08/08/2005] - Kissimmee, Florida - Xanadu
I saw Xanadu from the car and I knew I had to get closer, so I parked in a little hotel-type place to its right and went in. Xanadu is really interesting, with its weird shapes and little corners. I went to the second floor via a semi-hidden stair case and it felt like I was in a cave. There is trash everywhere, and broken glass. I took another flight of stairs, circular and narrow, to a third or semi-third floor. I saw a little semi-hidden doorway and was about to go inside when I saw somebody sleeping on a mattress. A homeless person. I felt a little afraid, but I wasn't ready to leave just yet so I kept exploring and taking pictures, but at a faster pace. I took another set of stairs down and ended up on the second floor again, but in another section. I went out to a little balcony and went I came back in I saw a pair of legs. Another person sleeping on the floor.
I went back to the first floor and was impressed by the design of the main lobby, if that's what it was. It has a foam thing that resembles a tree trunk going up to the ceiling, and there's a hollow space in it. It is a circular lobby and there is a circular ball-like chamber to the left with two windows. The bathroom is nice and has a little chamber that seems to be dug out from the wall. I guess that's the "sensory deprivation" bathtub I read about somewhere.
The place made me sad because it is actually really cool and it is all abandoned.
[Roberto, 07/05/2005] - Kissimmee, Florida - Xanadu - Home of the Future
I was vacationing in Florida, and we drove by and I knew I had to see what was inside Xanadu. Many of the windows are now broken, and it looks like there was lots of hurricane damage. There were no signs telling us not to go in or any security people. It looked like teens had gotten inside, and there were clothes and a makeout grotto type room upstairs... all over the ground was ham and beer bottles, I guess it's their clubhouse or something. The bath is empty, and there is mold and mildew everywhere. It's still very impressive, but it was sad to see it vandalized so badly.
[Nolan, 02/26/2005]
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We remind our readers that Xanadu is closed and you visit at your own risk. This is private property.