"I'm a big car guy, and the car cruises and car shows really stuck out to me," Todd Rambilas told GrowthSpotter after he and his wife, Radha, bought Old Town in September. "Part of our plan is to basically double down on that and expand more into it."
Old Town sits on West 192, and Kissimmee's tourist economy grew up around that corridor. The new owners point to something else. The part of the district they say sold them on the deal is the weekly lineup of free car shows and cruises, the same lineup that fills Old Town's brick streets four nights a week. If their stated plans hold, the next few years at Old Town will grow out of that schedule.
The free events are what they paid for
Todd and Radha Rambilas own RS Equity Services, an Orlando company. The deal closed Sept. 16, according to the Orlando Business Journal, and it covered most of the district at 5770 W. Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway. The reported price depends on the outlet. GrowthSpotter put it at $24.45 million, OBJ rounded to $24 million, and WESH reported more than $24.4 million.
GrowthSpotter's numbers show the scale of that purchase. The property covers 20 acres and about 132,000 square feet of shops, restaurants and attractions. It draws 2.1 million visitors a year. The previous owner, Los Angeles-based The Travel Corp., bought it in 2014 and put $20 million into improvements, including the Italian-crafted Ferris wheel and the jukebox-themed entry sign. Hoodline, citing GrowthSpotter, reported the property was about 95% occupied at the time of the sale.
On Old Town's own events page, the car shows and cruises cost nothing for car owners or spectators, and Wednesday's motorcycle night is billed as a free event too. So the new owners have tied their plans to events that bring in no admission revenue. Those events draw people to the bricks, and the people then spend money at the shops, bars and restaurants that line them.
The weekly schedule as it runs now
Here is the regular lineup posted on Old Town's car shows and events page:
| Night | Event | Times |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | Bike Night: touring motorcycles, Harleys, Indians, trikes, Slingshots | 6 to 10 p.m. |
| Thursday | Karaoke | See Old Town's schedule |
| Friday | Muscle Car Show and Cruise | Show from 3 p.m., registration 3 to 7:30 p.m., cruise at 8:30 p.m. |
| Saturday | Classic Car Show and Cruise | Show from 1 p.m., registration until 7:30 p.m., cruise at 8:30 p.m. |
| First Sunday of the month | Import Car Show | See Old Town's schedule |
The Friday show has rules. It's for show-quality muscle cars from 1964 and newer, plus older hot rods and classics dating up to 1985, and the page says plainly that patina is not allowed. Cars register on-site by entering from Highway 192 under the east side of the jukebox signs, and staff escort each car to its spot because driving on the bricks is by permission only.
The cruises also come with a monthly drawing. Every Friday or Saturday cruise counts as one entry, and Old Town gives away $1,000 on the last Friday and $1,000 on the last Saturday of each month. In November 2026 those nights fall on Nov. 27 and Nov. 28. November's Import Car Show fell on Sunday, Nov. 1, so the next one is Sunday, Dec. 6.
Where "double down" seems to be headed
Radha Rambilas described the tenants she wants in terms that look a lot like the car show crowd. "We don't want to change anything," she told GrowthSpotter. "We want to preserve Old Town and what it's known for. We just want to build on it, focusing on bringing in mom-and-pops with huge followings, food vendors, experience-type businesses — think mini-golf, ax-throwing, paint-and-sip — things like that."
Every business on that list is something to do while you're already there, which is how the weekly shows already work. Someone who comes for the 8:30 p.m. cruise has hours to fill between registration and kickoff. Food vendors, mini-golf and paint-and-sip all fill that kind of time.
GrowthSpotter's report also named the competition. Ovation Orlando, a $1 billion mixed-use entertainment project at the I-4 interchange, is slated to open in late 2028. Its plans include 670,000 square feet of experiential retail, more than a dozen restaurants, entertainment venues and three hotels. That's roughly five times Old Town's 132,000 square feet. Asked how Old Town stays relevant, Radha Rambilas pointed to price. "We are leaning in more on affordability," she said. "Old Town has always been that meet-in-the-middle, and we want to emphasize that."
A free Saturday car show is about as affordable as a night out gets, and a newer, much bigger competitor can't easily copy 40 years of weekly cruises. That helps explain why the owners keep returning to the car shows.
What the owners and the press say is staying
In the first weeks after the sale, the clearest public statements were about continuity:
- Regular events. Fox 35 Orlando reported no immediate changes for current businesses or for regular events such as the weekly classic car shows.
- The people running it. RS Equity Services is taking over leasing and property management but keeping the current Old Town staff, including Vice President and General Manager Thearon Scurlock, according to GrowthSpotter.
- The character. WESH quoted the family as saying the vision is "not to change what makes Old Town special," with classic cars, nostalgia, the family atmosphere and the district's character all staying.
The changes they've described are additions. GrowthSpotter reported plans for improved common areas, refreshed spaces, new experiences, and new vendors and attractions. No timeline for any of that has been published, so for now these are stated intentions.
The newest storefronts already fit that plan
The latest arrivals came in before the sale, and they already look like the kind of tenant Radha Rambilas described.
Hamburger Mary's announced in March 2026 that it would take over the former Shoney's at the front of Old Town and was aiming for a mid-May opening, ClickOrlando reported. By June 1 it had soft-opened, according to Gotta Go Orlando. Old Town's directory now lists it at 5764 W. Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway. Old Town's own release, as reported by the Osceola News-Gazette, described lunch and dinner on weekdays, brunch on Saturdays and Sundays, and the restaurant's bingo, trivia and Broadway brunch. That's a restaurant built around shows, which makes it an experience-type tenant.
In 2025, Old Town added Maw's Mountain Moonshine, which officially opened in February, and Tacos Padrisimo, which opened in April, according to a Visit Florida Media release. One is a moonshine tasting room and the other is a taco counter. Next up is Rocket Fizz, which Old Town's store directory lists as "Coming Soon" without an opening date.
Ideas that aren't on the calendar yet
The most ambitious idea is still at the discussion stage. According to Hoodline's summary of Orlando Sentinel reporting from Oct. 21, Radha Rambilas is considering an annual calendar of events built around Central Florida's cultures and traditions. Possibilities include celebrations inspired by Diwali, Holi and Caribbean holidays, with food, music, local vendors and family activities. None of those events have been scheduled.
The anniversary itself is close. Old Town opened in December 1986, according to Old Town's history page, so its 40th birthday falls this December. With Halloween on Oct. 31 now past, the next big night on Old Town's events page is New Year's Eve on Dec. 31.
When a commercial property this size changes hands, nearby homeowners and small-business owners on West 192 start asking what comes next. The HomePlace Team handles both sides: commercial leasing for operators interested in the kind of experience-driven space Old Town's owners say they want, and residential advice for homeowners nearby. If you'd like to know how corridor changes like this one show up in your home's value, The HomePlace Team can start with a free home valuation.
