Florida Tourism and Travel

Orlando, FL – In celebration of Latin Culture, Wet ’n Wild will host its 9th Annual Fiesta San Juan on Saturday, June 21. The party heats up at 12 noon with activities for the entire family to enjoy and continues until 12 midnight when guests can honor the tradition of “The Night of San Juan” by taking a big splash in the water at midnight.

To make sure the festivities don’t miss a beat, Latin entertainers such as Cuco Reyes y su Orquesta Vibración, Catherine, Kompas and Kalcomania will perform live on the Wave Deck stage next to the Surf Lagoon wave pool.

Food, live music, and dancing will all reflect the Latin heritage theme. Mega – 98.1 FM will broadcast live throughout the day. Mega personalities will be hosting various activities with games and prizes. Plus, enjoy all your favorite Wet ‘n wild rides, including the pulsating lights and dramatic effects of THE BLACK HOLE™: The Next Generation!

A limited number of advance, discounted admission tickets are available for $32.00, tax included. Advance tickets can be purchased on-line at www.wetnwildorlando.com, Wet ’n Wild Guest Services, Mary Lou Music Center, and J & J Music Center. Tickets purchased on event day will be at regular admission price. Florida resident, afternoon discount and other discount ticket offers will not be valid for admission on this special event day. Comp tickets are not valid for admission on June 21, except for Fiesta San Juan specific comps.

Orlando, FL — FEEDING TIME! SeaWorld Orlando animal care specialist Nik Ricci bottle- feeds a baby manatee, rescued this past Saturday. Two orphaned manatee calves were rescued from Central Florida waters over the weekend and taken to the park for care until they are ready to be released back into nature. SeaWorld’s Animal Rescue Team is on call 24 hours a day, 365 days year, to rescue, rehabilitate and release hundreds of endangered animals each year. Rescued manatees are cared for in a specially designated rehabilitation area at SeaWorld.

Orlando, FL - The world’s first Jurassic Park-themed hotel suites are making their debut at Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando, offering guest accommodations that integrate the adventures of Universal Orlando’s theme parks into the hotel experience. Featuring raptor’s cage headboards, custom wall murals, artwork from the making of the movies and Jurassic Park-themed furniture, these suites offer privacy for mom and dad, with a separate room for the kids decorated in the Jurassic Park theme.

The Universal Orlando resort destination (www.universalorlando.com) includes two dramatically distinct and adjacent theme parks, the Universal Studios motion picture and television theme park and Islands of Adventure, Orlando’s most thrilling and exhilarating theme park. The resort is one of the top Orlando attractions for families and couples looking for fun. Universal Orlando also includes CityWalk, a 30-acre dining, shopping, club and live-entertainment venue as well as premier on-site Loews hotels and world-class film and television production facilities.

“Children step inside these suites and are visually transported to the island off the coast of Costa Rica, where dinosaurs roamed,” says Kimberly Bewley, principal designer. “We blended textures, colors and graphics to reflect the raw industrialism of the science labs in the movies and the wildness of the jungle. Children’s fascination and imagination are captivated by these one-of-a-kind hotel suites.”

The two-room suites offer ample space for traveling families, and parents appreciate the added feature that only allows access from the children’s room into the adult’s room and not into the hallway. “Kids absolutely love them,” says General Manager David Bartek. “In fact, we’ve had a few ask us if they could just move in … permanently.”

In addition to creating the Jurassic Park-themed kid’s suites, the hotel has also completed renovations on all guest rooms and other suites in a design motif that reflects the warmth, beauty and charm of the South Pacific. The new look is all-at-once fresh and inviting, but rooted in the romantic notion of travel that is celebrated throughout the AAA Four Diamond resort.

The $10 million room renovation includes luxurious duvets that hint at the allures of the islands, such as bamboo and fresh flowers that are always in bloom. The new design features a bamboo ceiling border accent, and a metal, bamboo-patterned wall screen that visually separates the sleeping area from the bathroom. Sisal-style carpeting is combined with rattan and cane features for the headboards, night tables, and dresser casework. Custom Royal Pacific travel posters complete the island experience.

Technology upgrades include the addition of iHome clock radios, with iPod docking stations, in all rooms and suites. The final technology upgrade is currently underway with the installation of 32-inch flat panel televisions in all guest rooms, larger flat panel televisions in all suite parlors and granite tops on the guest room credenzas.

The 1,000-room Loews Royal Pacific Resort opened in 2002 as the third on-site hotel at Universal Orlando. It has been honored by Travel & Leisure Family as one of the top family-friendly resorts in the country. The world-class accommodations at Universal Orlando Resort also include the rock ‘n’ roll themed Hard Rock Hotel and the Italian-themed Loews Portofino Bay Hotel. All three on-site hotels are connected to each other and to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and CityWalk by a scenic waterway. On-site hotel guests enjoy a variety of special theme park privileges including Universal Express ride access. Just by showing their valid hotel room key card, on-site hotel guests can bypass the regular ride and attraction lines. This complimentary benefit is available to all guests staying on-site at Loews Hotels at Universal Orlando.

Lake Buena Vista, FL — The stars from “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” “Handy Manny,” “Little Einsteins” and more entertain Walt Disney World guests with animated graphics, music and songs in a new interactive, fun stage show, “Playhouse Disney-Live on Stage!” at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Casey, the “Playhouse Disney-Live on Stage!” host, assists the audience in a variety of dance and sing-along activities, encouraging children to join in the fun throughout the show. The stars of the entertaining new show are characters from the Disney Channel’s hit Playhouse Disney programming block geared to preschool audiences.

The 22-minute stage show, performed several times daily at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, hosts some of the world’s most popular children’s TV characters, where they come to life as never before in the all-new “Playhouse Disney-Live on Stage!” Children are invited to sing, dance and play along as their beloved friends from “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” “Handy Manny,” “Little Einsteins” and others appear in a new live adventure.

Mickey’s colorful clubhouse opens up with delightful characters and marvelous special effects to make kids a part of the interactive magic — helping their pals create the best birthday party ever for Minnie Mouse. In addition to the bubbly, breezy effects, music also fills the air as youngsters join the gang in singing along with catchy tunes that make Playhouse Disney such a fun place every morning — only this time, they’re a part of the wonderful new fun you’ll experience during your Florida holidays.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” — The ever popular “Fab Five” Disney characters — Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck and the ever-silly Goofy — pop out in new life-like animated puppetry for young audiences at the new show.

Little Einsteins” — Leo, Annie, Quincy and June are joined by Rocket, a fully animated on-stage toy rocket with all the bells and whistles. Together they battle their nemesis, Big Jet, in a high-speed rocket race to the finish line.

Handy Manny” — From his first Hola, Handy Manny and his handyman tools are front and center in the new “Playhouse Disney-Live on Stage!” show for yet another busy day of helping his friends. When the bubble-making machine conks out on stage, Handy Manny and his animated tools save the day.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios immerses guests in the glamour of show business 365 days a year with thrilling attractions, incredible Broadway-style shows, world-class entertainment and interactive film, television and radio production facilities.

UK visitors love Florida, the variety of holiday spots in Florida range from beaches to attractions and beyond with plenty to things and do. Online booking companies like On The Beach Holidays offer travel services.

Orlando, FL - The housing market is slipping, the economy is rolling up and down like a yo-yo, and the consumer confidence index has slipped to its lowest level in 18 month. So what does this mean to the travel industry in Orlando?

The outlook for the first quarter of 2008 looks pretty strong, especially in large markets such as Orlando. Trey Duling of Orlandovacation.com was recently been quoted as saying, “We expect to have another great first quarter in 2008. Yes, a lot of families might be looking to make cuts on their vacations to save some money, but the economy is not as bad as some analysis have been projecting. I don’t think the economy will get too bad, at least in the first quarter of 2008, where families will be cutting out their annual vacations. I don’t see any indications of that yet.”

Even though the major theme parks in Orlando have not come out with their 2008 first quarter forecasting, you should probably expect to see the overall attendance at the theme parks be the same as last year. It is too early to forecast the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2008; however, the first quarter looks to be quite strong.

“The first quarter should be flat as compared to 2007, but we need to remind ourselves that the first quarter of 2007 was very, very good,” said Trey Duling.

One market which should do better than last year is the vacation home rentals in Orlando. These vacations homes have grown so popular that there are almost as many vacation homes in the Orlando area as there are hotel rooms. It is these excesses in inventory which is continuing to drive the nightly rates down, hence providing families with a great bargain. The Kissimmee Convention and Visitors Bureau and Osceola County are both doing major marketing campaigns to promote the Orlando vacation home industry. This extra bit of marketing should make for a pretty strong booking season for the vacation homes.