Velvet Sessions concerts offer a quaint and up-close atmosphere as performers hit the stage in the lobby of the Hard Rock. An English rock band, The Fixx is making a return engagement to Velvet Sessions and is best known for hits like “One Thing Leads to Another,” “Are We Ourselves?” and “Deeper and Deeper.”

Admission to Velvet Sessions is $29 when purchased online and in advance. Tickets can also be purchased at the door for $35. The admission price includes select specialty drinks (which vary monthly) and finger foods from 6:30-8:30 pm. There is a cash bar when the concert starts at 8:30 pm.

For details on the Velvet Sessions 2011 concert series, visit www.velvetsessions.com. For additional information on Orlando theme park concerts and events, go to www.orlandothemeparkvacations.com. Or visit www.westgatereservations.com for up-to-date savings and discounts on Orlando family vacation packages and resort accommodations.

SeaWorld Orlando recently announced the musical acts for the 2012 version of the its popular Bands, Brew & BBQ Fest, to be held over four weekends in February and March. The event features eight live concerts featuring country stars,  1970s rock bands and the reigning American Idol champion.

2012 Bands, Brew & BBQ Performers:

Feb. 11: Foreigner

Feb. 12: Gary Allan

Feb. 18: Trace Adkins

Feb. 19: Kenny Rogers

Feb. 25: Doobie Brothers

Feb. 26: Ronnie Dunn

March 3: Sara Evans

March 4: Scotty McCreery (reigning “American Idol”)

All concerts are included in regular SeaWorld Orlando park admission. For additional details visit www.seaworldorlando.com.

The first new attraction, TurtleTrek, will take guests on the life journey of a sea turtle. The attraction will include a pair or aquariums, one filled with manatees and the other filled with sea turtles. After passing through the aquariums, guests will enter a domed, 3-D theater where images of sea turtles will appear to swim around and above those guests.

A second new attraction will be Freshwater Oasis, an exciting new environment to be built at SeaWorld’s sister park, Discovery Cove. Guests can wade through a rainforest spring while small marmoset monkeys play in the surrounding canopy. Guests will then enter a faux sinkhole where they’ll have an opportunity to swim along with Asian river otters.

Each of the new attractions should be open by spring 2012. Meanwhile, SeaWorld also plans to open a completely new area of the park based on the continent of Antarctica. This area will replace the existing Penguin Plaza and allow guests to experience Antarctica through the eyes of a penguin.

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex has announced a special new close-up tour offering guests a unique glimpse inside NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building.

Other than NASA personnel and astronauts, few people have been inside the Vehicle Assembly Building where space shuttles were assembled and readied for launch.

However, the VAB will be part of a new Kennedy Space Center Up-Close tour to be offered eight times daily for a limited time beginning Nov. 1.  Also, for a very limited time, tour guests may actually see a space shuttle inside the VAB. Shuttles are being prepared for future display in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Florida.

Space shuttle Atlantis will be permanently displayed at Kennedy Space Center beginning in 2013.

Other stops on the two-hour Up-Close tour will include glimpse of the following:

• NASA’s KSC Headquarters.
• Operations & Checkout building - the astronaut crew quarters before each launch and where they boarded the Astrovan to ride to the launch pad.
• NASA Causeway and its panoramic view of the area and the coast.
• Crawlerway - the wide route that led shuttles to the launch platform
• Orbiter Processing Facilities - where orbiters were processed and maintained between flights.
• Solid Rocket Booster Storage Areas.
• Famed countdown clock.

Admission to the KSC visitor center is $43 for adults and $33 for ages 3-11. Admission for the Up-Close tour will be an additional $25 adults and $19 ages 3-11. Please note that the VAB stop is not part of the regular KSC bus tour that’s included with the regular admission.

For tour details or reservations, visit http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/. For details on discount attraction tickets and discount Orlando vacation packages, go to http://www.westgatereservations.com/.

The band is best known for songs including “Eye of the Tiger,” “The Search Is Over,” and “High on You.” The event, which runs monthly from January through October, will also feature a Halloween costume contest. The winner will receive a two-night stay at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Velvet Sessions offers an up close atmosphere as performers hit the stage in the lobby of the Hard Rock. Past performers include Brett Michaels, Joan Jett, The Romantics, Eddie Money, The Tubes, Psychedelic Furs, Blue Oyster Cult, Foreigner andothers.

The award winning “Velvet Sessions” is a rock & roll cocktail party held in the hotel’s Velvet Bar and Lobby Lounge. Each “Session” showcases a different type of beverage theme each month.

Open to those age 21-and-up, admission to Velvet Sessions is $45 when purchased online and in advance. Tickets can also be purchased at the door for $50. The admission price includes select specialty drinks (which vary monthly) and finger foods from 6:30-8:30 pm. There is a cash bar when the concert starts at 8:30 pm.

For details on the Velvet Sessions concert series, visit www.velvetsessions.com. For additional information on Orlando theme park concerts and events, go to www.westgatereservations.com. You’ll also find up-to-date savings and discounts on Orlando family vacation packages and resort accommodations.

Guests are invited to wear a wet suit and put on a dive helmet to experience a walking scuba dive type experience to get up close and personal with thousands of tropical fish and marine animals.

After a quick training session, you’ll follow a Discovery Cove guide down a ladder and into the Grand Reef’s 77-degree waters. While the compressed air helmet keeps water out and provides oxygen to breath, you’ll soon find yourself in an underwater world full of colorful fish.

Walking along the underwater handrail, guests can view sharks behind a large, clear window while the guide writes on an erasable board the different breeds of shark. Yet another nearby glassed off area is filled with poisonous fish.

But not everything is behind glass! The rest of the Grand Reef is teeming with tropical fish and other creatures such as pin-cushion sea urchins and hermit crabs. The underwater adventure costs $59, in addition to the regular park admission, and lasts nearly a half hour. SeaVenture is open to guests age 10 and older.

A limited-admission park, Discovery Cove plays host to a maximum of about 1,000 guests per day. Visitors enjoy a scenic, tropical setting with options like snorkeling, swimming, and interacting with birds in an aviary in addition to the park’s signature dolphin swim.

For more information about Grand Reef and Discovery Cove, go to http://www.discoverycove.com/. Or visit http://www.westgatereservations.com/ for details on discount Orlando vacation packages and theme park tickets.

At Disney’s Magic Kingdom, you’ll find Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party already in full swing. The annual, separate ticket event allows guests an opportunity to dress up in their costumes and trick-or-treat alongside favorite Disney Characters and Villains.

The Villians Mix and Mingle show has been restyled for this year and now features Dr. Facilier, the voodoo doctor from Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog” movie. The main musical number for this highly choreographed show is “Friends on the Other Side” from the same movie. The song offers up visual highlights like black-light effects and illuminations. As in the past, the show is followed by a fun meet-and-greet with the Disney Villains.

This year’s event at Magic Kingdom also offers a new trick-or-treat zone, Br’er Rabbit’s Laughin’ Place Candy Patch. The new candy patch area is located adjacent to Splash Mountain in Frontierland and replaces the former Alice & Mad Hatter’s Treat Trail that was formerly located in the old Mickey’s Toontown Fair.

For information on discount Disney tickets and discount Orlando family vacation packages, please visit www.westgatereservations.com.

It’s easy to work up an appetite while working your way around one of the expansive theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort. But Epcot® makes it just as easy to fill up with its International Food & Wine Festival!

The annual Epcot event runs from Sept. 30 to Nov. 13, 2011, and offers guests a very special passport to a world of taste tempting morsels. 

Enjoy delicious tapas and refreshing beverages. Catch a special celebrity chef demonstration. Sit back and experience a live rock concert. And don’t forget to enjoy all the regular Epcot rides and attractions as your work your way through the theme park.

It all begins at Epcot’s Festival Welcome Center where you can pick up a Marketplace Discovery Passport that highlights the day’s activities and country themed menus. Then start off on your own culinary tour of the world. You can dine on specialty items from around the globe, attend a cooking demonstration, taste extraordinary wines or enjoy an outdoor concert featuring a popular musical artist.

Special culinary events at the Festival include Party of the Senses, 3D Disney’s Dessert Discovery, Culinary demonstrations, Mixology seminars and wine & beverage seminars.

The International Food & Wine Festival is included with regular Epcot theme park admission; however, some events require additional fees. Food, wine and merchandise can be purchased quickly and easily with the use of a special mini Disney Gift Card.

For additional information and discount theme park tickets as well as details on discount Orlando resort accommodations, visit www.westgatereservations.com.

The newborn elephant calf becomes a sixth born at Animal Kingdom. The theme park’s herd now includes 8 female and four male elephants. The mother, Vasha, was impregnated through artificial insemination in 2009 and gave birth following a 22-month gestation period. It was the second calf born to Vasha at Animal Kingdom. She previously gave birth to a female calf, Kianga, back in 2004.

Vasha is currently nursing her newborn and the baby elephant will gradually be acclimated to the rest of the herd in the coming weeks.

For information on discount tickets to Disney’s Animal Kingdom or to learn more about discount Orlando theme park vacations, visit www.westgatereservations.com.

Already renowned for its shopping, dining and myriad attractions, Orlando’s famed International Drive is preparing to begin work on an all new $100 million project called I-Drive Live.

Set to be built on the 19-acre property formerly known as the Mercado, the new entertainment complex will include a towering, 425-foot-high observation wheel, a Madame Tassaud’s Wax Museum and a Sea Life aquarium.

The development will likely add a number of other restaurants and shops as part of its initial phase. Future development could also include a parking garage and two themed hotels.

For more information on I-Drive attractions and discount tickets, as well as discount Orlando vacation packages, please visit www.westgatereservations.com.