Florida Vacation Blog

Archive for the ‘Family Vacations’ Category

Spring is in the air and Major League Baseball is back in Central Florida. Orlando might be the theme park capital of the world, but when it comes to Spring Training baseball, there’s no better place to catch all the Grapefruit League action.

Fourteen different major league teams call Central Florida their home for spring training. As a result, baseball fans don’t have to look far for the next game throughout the month of March.

Two teams - the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros - have training camps right in the middle of the greater Orlando area. The Braves play at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Lake Buena Vista while the Astros take the field just down the road in Kissimmee.

From there, just a short drive down I-4 takes you to Lakeland, spring training home of the Detroit Tigers. And farther west along the Gulf coast, you’ll find the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers, the New York Yankees in Tampa, the Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton, the Baltimore Orioles in Sarasota, the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte and the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater.

On the Atlantic coast side of Florida’s peninsula, you can catch spring training games and workouts for the Florida Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals in Jupiter and the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie.

There’s no better way to see and interact with your favorite MLB stars up close than at a highly affordable spring training game. For spring training schedules of your favorite team, or for any of the Grapefruit League teams, visit www.MLB.com.  

For details on discount theme park tickets and discount Orlando vacation package specials, please visit www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations.com. For discount resort or hotel packages, go to www.WestgateReservations.com/sweepstakes.cfm.

Spring is in the air as the annual Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival kicks off at Disney World on March 3 and runs thru May 16, 2010,

This year’s event features more than 100 colorful and fun topiaries ranging from a 14-foot tall Goofy fishing to Lion King characters and, of course, Mickey and Minnie. Enjoy millions of blooms, hundreds of butterflies in the butterfly garden, and more. There’s also experts ready to provide gardening tips and demonstrations, and on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays during the festival, you can also enjoy the Flower Power Concert Series featuring music from the 1960s and 1970s.

For more information about Disney World, Epcot and other Orlando theme parks, visit www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations.com. You’ll find discount tickets, discount Orlando vacation packages and discount Orlando hotel and resort accommodations.

Legoland® Florida, slated to open in the fall of 2011 on the site of the former Cypress Gardens theme park, will feature a unique mix of attractions. The largest Legoland park in the world, the Central Florida version will feature more than 50 rides, shows, attractions as well as spectacular LEGO models and other interactive elements for the entire family.

For information about the new park and the LEGOLAND sister park already open in California, please visit www.legolandfloridaresort.com. Or you can visit www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations.com for more information on all the Orlando area theme parks and attractions as well as discount Orlando theme park tickets and discount Orlando hotels and resorts.

Universal Orlando is promoting vacation packages featuring the soon-to-open Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction at Islands of Adventure. Deals are valid for travel beginning May 28, 2010, meaning the long awaited Harry Potter adventure should be open no later than late May.

The $200 million theme park expansion project is taking shape with Hogwarts Castle and Hogsmeade Village as the central attractions.

For more information on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, visit www.UniversalOrlando.com. For details on discount theme park tickets, discount Orlando, Florida vacation packages and more, visit www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations.com or www.westgatereservations.com/sweepstakes.cfm.

Get ready to celebrate. While the official Mardi Gras celebration kicks off in New Orleans, Mardi Gras Universal Studios style has already started in Orlando with a a long list of weekly concerts and parades plus fabulous food and plenty of beads.

The party really gets cranking tonight, Feb. 16, at Pat O’Brien’s within Universal CityWalk where the popular restaurant/club is hosting a Fat Tuesday celebration to kick off the Lenten season. From 4pm til close, you can enjoy a live party band, special drink discounts, New Orleans style food specials, stilt walkers, bead girls and plenty of other fun and entertainment.

Admission is free until 7 p.m.

After 7 p.m., admission is $8 per person or $20 for a VIP ticket offering private balcony access, light appetizers from 4-8 pm and free admission to select CityWalk clubs.

This week’s Mardi Gras concert features the music of Blondie and lead singer Deborah Harry. Ranging from disco and punk to new wave and hip hop, Blondie is best known for hits like Call Me, The Tide is High, One Way or Another, Heart of Glass and Rapture.

For additional information on Mardi Gras events at Universal Orlando or discount Orlando vacation packages and theme park tickets, visit www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations.com. Or to register for a free resort getaway sweepstakes, go to www.WestgateReservations.com/sweepstakes.cfm.

The classic Main Street Electrical Parade is slated to return to Disney’s Magic Kingdom in June and run throughout the summer as part of a Summertime Nightastic! promotion.

The longtime favorite originally found its way down Main Street U.S.A. back in 1977 and ran until 1991 when Disney introduced the SpectroMagic parade. The Electrical Parade returned again from 1999-2001 but has been part of the fun at Disney’s California Adventure Park in Anaheim the last few years.

As part of the return to Disney World, the classic parade will feature a new Tinker Bell presentation at the start of the parade. Also new to the Main Street Electrical Parade will be Snow White and Pinocchio floats.

In Disney’s ongoing effort to “go green,” the thousands of lights in the parade have all been replaced with LED bulbs.

Visit www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations.com for information on all the Disney parks as well as discount Orlando vacation packages and discount theme park tickets. Or visit www.WestgateReservations.com for discount Orlando hotels, resorts and accommodations for the entire family.

The Mardi Gras celebration is in full swing at Universal Studios Orlando Resort. With weekly parades and concerts, lots of great food and plenty of beads, there’s a definite taste of New Orleans in the air.

The party amps up on Tuesday, Feb. 16 at Pat O’Brien’s within Universal CityWalk. The restaurant/club will be hosting a Fat Tuesday celebration to kick off the Lenten season.

From 4pm til close, you can enjoy a live party band, special drink discounts, New Orleans style food specials, stilt walkers, bead girls and plenty of other fun and entertainment.

Admission is free until 7 pm. After 7, admission is $8 per person or $20 for a VIP ticket offering private balcony access, light appetizers from 4-8 pm and free admission to select CityWalk clubs.

For additional information on Mardi Gras events at Universal Orlando or discount Orlando vacation packages and theme park tickets, visit www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations.com. Or to register for a free resort getaway sweepstakes, go to www.WestgateReservations.com/sweepstakes.cfm.

Now your little princess can have lunch with a real Disney princess. Actually, you can enjoy any meal of the day, thanks to the new Fairytale Dining attraction at Disney World’s Cinderella Castle inside the Magic Kingdom.

Guests with reservations can now greet Cinderella in the Castle lobby prior to having breakfast, lunch or dinner inside the Castle dining area. While dining, additional princesses will stop by your table to chat, pose for photos and sign autographs.

While there is no guarantee as to which princesses circulate on any given day, you can usually expect to see Snow White, Jasmine, Aurora and Belle.

For more information on attractions at Disney World or for discount theme park tickets and hotels, please visit www.WestgateReservations.com or www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations.com today.

An exciting new traveling exhibit, “Out of This World,” now at the Orange County Regional History Center has brought a variety of extraordinary costumes from film and television to downtown Orlando.

Costumes on display include a number of classic characters ranging from Star Trek’s Captain Kirk as well as Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder to the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz and Darth Vader of Star Wars fame.

Many of the legendary costumes are displayed on custom styled mannequins, each designed to uniquely reflect the character’s body. Other costumes are enclosed in futuristic cylinders.

The traveling exhibit is part of a renowned collection borrowed from Microsoft co-founder, Paul G. Allen. You can find the display on the second floor of the Orange County Regional History Center from now until May 16, 2010. The museum’s elevators have also been specially redesigned for the exhibit…they now resemble Star Trek’s transporters ready to beam up visitors to the exhibit floor.

Out of this World is just one of many special exhibits you’ll find at the museum. Another popular exhibit now on display is “Lights! Camera! Action! Filming in Paradise,” which offers a closer look at the history of movie filming in Florida.

For more information on other popular theme parks and attractions in Orlando, or discounts on Orlando 5-Star Resorts and hotels, visit www.WestgateReservations.com or www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations.com today.

Each spring Florida bursts into bloom with a variety of eye-pleasing garden festivals — from butterfly celebrations to one of the nation’s most ambitious flower and garden fests.

A short drive from Orlando, you’ll find beautiful Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales. The Gardens present Butterflies at Bok from March 3-31, 2010. Special areas of the gardens feature plantings specifically designed to attract the beautiful wings of a variety of butterflies.

For information, you can visit www.boktowergardens.com.

Meanwhile, Disney’s Epcot also opens its annual flower festival on March 3. The 17^th Annual Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival remains one of the largest such events in the world, with more than 30 million blooms spread across 300 acres of Epcot’s World Showcase.

The event runs thru May 16 and visitors will experience themed gardens, floral floating islands, gardening seminars, planting demonstrations, exhibits, hands-on activities and a wonder series of Flower Power concerts. The concerts feature music from the ‘60s and ‘70s at the American Gardens Theatre each Friday, Saturday and Sunday during the Festival.

Concerts and most festival activities are included in regular park admission. Visit www.disneyworld.com/flower for additional details. For information on Orlando Disney theme park discounts or savings on Orlando vacation packages and Orlando hotels near Disney, visit www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations.com.