Florida Vacation Blog

Archive for April, 2010

Goodbye April and Hello May! Just a few days away from May 5 and Cinco de Mayo celebrations around the globe.

If you’re in Orlando, you can catch the biggest Cinco de Mayo party in town at Universal Orlando CityWalk’s Latin Quarter from 5 pm til close. Enjoy free admission from 5-8 pm. There will be a $7 cover charge after 8 pm (must be 21 for admission after 8 pm).

The celebration includes one complimentary Dos Equis, Tecate or margarita (must be 21 or older). You can also enjoy a variety of drink and food specials.

For additional information, visit www.UniversalOrlando.com.

Get ready to grab your lightsaber! Droids, alien creatures, Darth Vader, Sith Lords, and Jedi warriors are all coming to Orlando.

There’s no need to travel to a galaxy far, far away because Star Wars Weekends return to Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park in Orlando on select days from May 21 thru June 13.

Star Wars Weekends include: May 21 - 23, May 28 - 30, June 4 - 6, June 11 - 13.

The annual Star Wars special event celebrates the epic space fantasy series as well as the animated new television series, Clone Wars. Your regular admission allows you to join Star Wars celebrities for special shows, presentations and Star Wars memorabilia.

Star Wars weekends offer fun for every age. Kids can work on their lightsaber skills at the Jedi Training Academy and prepare to do battle with the dark one himself - Darth Vader.

The Jedi Training Academy offers an excitement filled 30-minute live show featuring music and amazing lightsaber duels. You can train to become a junior Jedi Knight and might even be selected from the audience to put on a brown robe and learn battle skills from a Jedi Master before the dreaded arrival of Darth Vader.

There’s also Star Wars trivia contests, the Star Tours attraction, autograph sessions and motorcades filled with celebrities and visitors from Naboo, Endor and other planets.

Everywhere you look you’ll find Ewoks, Wookiees, Stormtroopers, Jawas and more. Bring your camera and be ready to shoot.

May the Force be with you at Disney’s Hollywood Studios during these four Star Wars Weekends. For more information on these or other special Disney World events, visit www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations.com. Or go to www.WestgateReservations.com for details on Orlando resorts and hotels and discount Orlando family vacation packages.

Now thru December 31, 2010, children age 12 and younger can get into SeaWorld parks in Orlando, San Antonio and San Diego for just $5. The dramatically discounted child admission price is valid only when purchased online at www.seaworldcares.com.

Under the program, you can receive one $5 child’s admission for each full-paid, single-day admission (retail price $78.95). The regular child admission (ages 3-9) is $68.95.

By purchasing tickets at the seaworldcares.com site, each $5 child ticket price goes to fund non-profit organizations working on wildlife conservation projects. Guests can choose which effort their donation will support.

For more on Orlando family vacation packages, go to www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations.com.

With summer temperatures arriving in Orlando, it’s time to start seeking options to cool off when you need a break from the sun. With four major water parks - Disney’s Blizzard Beach, Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon, Aquatica by SeaWorld and Wet ‘n’ Wild - the options are plentiful.

But now there’s a new water park option in Orlando called the CoCo Key Water Resort located near International Drive and I-4 in the midst of the attractions area.

While the colorful water slides and other water attractions are part of the newly remodeled resort, the water fun is also open to those who are not staying at the resort.

The watery attractions at CoCo Key offer wet fun for all ages. The youngest will enjoy Minnow Lagoon, a zero depth entry pool with mushroom style water fountains, soaker cannons and age appropriate slides. The area is also under a canopy, offering youngsters a respite from the hot Florida sun. Parents can watch from the comfort of the Wet Rooster Tiki Bar.

Older kids will appreciate the Coral Reef Cove which offers up water volleyball and the faster paced, Cyclone slide. There’s also a large arcade area filled with games and fun. Nearby is Parrot’s Perch where you’ll find additional slides, water cannons and a giant bucket that dumps 400 gallons of water every 30 minutes.

For the biggest thrills, check out the biggest slides. Over the Falls is a curve-filled body slide while Surfer Splash offers 1- and 2-person tubes. The Boomerango features 2-person tubes that depart from the top of a 60-foot tower.

Free to resort guests, the park is open to non-guests for $19.95 while Florida residents pay just $14.95.

For more information on all of Orlando’s water parks and attractions and other discount Orlando vacation packages, go to www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations.com.

Looking for a fun night out in Orlando? The award winning “Velvet Sessions” is a rock & roll cocktail party held monthly at the Velvet Bar and Lobby Lounge of the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando. Each “Session” showcases a different type of beverage theme to sip, shoot or guzzle along with fabulous and great live music from legendary rock bands.

Admission (minimum age 21) to these popular rock & roll events is $25 and includes free drinks, finger foods and warm-up tunes, all starting at 6:30pm. There is a cash bar when the featured entertainment begins at 8:00 pm.

Past Velvet Sessions performers include: Brett Michaels, Joan Jett, The Romantics, Eddie Money, The Tubes, The Fixx, ABC, Foreigner, Warrant, and more. The next Session on April 29, 2010 features Asia with John Payne. Popular Asia tunes include Heat of the Moment, Go, Wildest Dreams, Only Time Will Tell, Don’t Cry, and Days Like These.

On May 27, the Psychedelic Furs take the Velvet Sessions stage with songs like: All That Money Wants, Heartbreak Beat, Love My Way, Pretty in Pink, Sister Europe, The Ghost In You.

For more information, go to www.velvetsessions.com or www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations.com.

Turn back the clock while you groove and rock at the Flower Power Concert Series. It’s all part of the 2010 International Flower and Garden Festival at Disney’s Epcot theme park. The festival and concerts are all part of your daily Epcot admission.

Feel the vibes of some of the biggest names in music from the 60’s and 70’s under the skies of the open-air American Gardens Theatre at Epcot theme park. This weekend’s special musical guest for April 23-25, is Atlanta Rhythm Section. The group will perform Flower Power Concerts on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 5:15 p.m., 6:30 p.m. & 7:45 p.m.

For details, visit www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations or http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/epcot/special-events/epcot-international-flower-and-garden-festival/schedule/          

Get ready to rock the universe at Universal Studios Orlando.

Rock the Universe, the Christian-music event held annually each fall at Universal Studios, has announced its 2010 lineup for the two-day, separate ticket event.

The performers tentatively scheduled to appear on Friday, Sept. 10 include Newsboys, Skillet, Jars of Clay, Hawk Nelson, Decyfer Down and Kutless. The Saturday, Sept. 11 lineup includes Jeremy Camp, Relient K, tobyMac, Needtobreathe, Fireflight and Grits.

The concert event is slated to run from 4 pm til 1 am on both days. For more information on this popular event, go to www.rocktheuniverse.com.

For more on Universal Studios and the other Orlando theme parks, go to www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations.com. Or find discount Orlando family vacation packages and hotel information at www.WestgateReservations.com.

Ricky Nelson Remembered.

It’s been 25 years since the passing of singer-songwriter Ricky Nelson, one of teh nation’s original teen idols. Today, Nelson’s identical twin sons, Matthew and Gunnar, help honor his memory with a concert featuring their father’s greatest hits.

The duo hits the stage for the eighth consecutive year at Epcot’s International Flower & Garden Festival this weekend, performing as part of the Flower Power Concert series.  The show features Rick Nelson favorites such as ”Travelin Man,” “Hello Mary Lou” and “Garden Party.”

The brothers also had their own hit called “(Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection” under the band name of Nelson.  They will perform Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Epcot.

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay recently welcomed a new baby. The little one weighed in at a mere 147 pounds.

The baby was actually a reticulated giraffe born to mother, Teesa, and father, Sterling. The addition now brings the theme park’s giraffe population to 15. Mother and baby are doing fine and are currently being housed in a private area where they can be monitored by zoo staff to ensure the little one is nursing and growing properly. In a matter of months, the pair will be ready to join the rest of the giraffe herd on the Serengeti Plain at Busch Gardens for all visitors to see.

The park’s 65-acre Serengeti Plain is a naturalistic habitat featuring a diverse population of free-roaming African animals including giraffe, zebra, white rhinoceros, eland antelope and additional species of hoof stock and birds. All of the animals can be seen up close via several different Busch Gardens attractions, including the Serengeti Express, the Skyride and the Serengeti Safari. The Safari offers an open truck tour of the plain during which you may have an opportunity to hand-feed the giraffe.

The giraffe birth at Busch Gardens is part of a successful long-term breeding program. A giraffe’s gestation period is approximately 15 months and the new baby will nurse for about a year. A second baby reticulated giraffe is expected to be born later this spring. The term “reticulated” refers to the giraffe’s net-like pattern of spots.

Visit the Web site www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations.com for information on tickets for Busch Gardens as well as all the other Orlando and central Florida theme parks and attractions.

The Mardi Gras celebration at Mardi Gras is drawing to a close this weekend with musical guest Chicago coming to Orlando on Sat. April 17 at 8:30 pm.

One of the most popular and successful American rock bands of all time, Chicago is one of the top ten best-selling U.S. groups ever with Billboard chart albums in five consecutive decades.

Of course, while Chicago brings 30 years worth of hits to the Universal stage, the annual Mardi Gras party wraps up its 2010 run with one more big bead-filled parade and all the usual street performers, fantastic Cajun foods and more.

As Mardi Gras winds down, the excitement continues to build toward the June official grand opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal’s sister park, Islands of Adventure.

For more information on all of Orlando’s fun-filled theme parks and attractions, visit www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations.com or check out www.WestgateReservations.com for discount Orlando hotel and resort packages.