All Things Travel

Posts Tagged ‘Attractions’

One of the most amazing things you can do whilst in Orlando is the Dolphin Swim Experience – Make a friend that will live in your heart forever when you experience the highlight of your day, a one-on-one dolphin encounter. Learn about dolphin behavior and communication. Wade into the dolphin lagoon. Come nose to bottlenose with one of these fascinating and intelligent animals, take hold of its dorsal fin and hold on for the ride of a lifetime.

The highlight of a visit to Discovery Cove is the opportunity to swim with a bottlenose dolphin during a 30-minute interactive adventure. Accompanied by a trainer, groups of six to eight guests wade into shallow water and become acquainted with their dolphin through hugs, kisses and rubdowns. Then, taking the adventure one step further, guests interact with their dolphin in deeper water for an exciting dorsal fin tow ride back to shore.

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Rising up in Orlando is a whimsical, one-of-a- kind water park only SeaWorld could create – Aquatica. Opened in March 2008, Aquatica blends up close animal experiences, waters from serene to extreme, high-speed thrills and wide, sandy beaches.

“SeaWorld is famous for immersing guests in the mystery of the sea and its animals,” said Jim Atchison, executive vice president and general manager of SeaWorld Orlando. “Aquatica takes this immersion to a new level, inviting guests to play in, over, and under the water itself.”

Setting foot into Aquatica, guests immediately experience the vastness of nearly 60 acres of lush landscape inspired by the vivid color, stunning flora and carefree personality of the South Sea Islands. Reminiscent of the rugged beauty of New Zealand, Australia and New Guinea, the landscape of Aquatica is striking. Crystal-blue rivers wind through hidden grottos and refreshing waterfalls, while rich greenery and bright flowers adorn towering rock formations.

Peeking through this verdant landscape, brightly colored, quirky buildings topped with swooping, pitched roofs create an uplifting, carefree setting. Colorful, whimsical animals – derivative patterns from New Zealand’s Maori culture – adorn carved totem poles and interactive fountains.

Live animals from lands all over the world including Commerson’s dolphins, brilliant macaws and colorful fish bring to life the park’s playful, high-energy nature.

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You’ll see one of the park’s most popular attractions from the street. The Black Hole is a massive structure made of twisting black tubes that looks like a huge spacecraft. 1,000 gallons of water per minute flow through the tubes to propel your two-man raft through 500 feet of twists and turns in thirty seconds. You shoot through the tubes in complete darkness for a ride that’s really out of this world.

Other tubing attractions include The Fuji Flyer, a 6-story toboggan ride and The Surge, one of the longest and fastest water tube rides in the Southeast.
Another hot attraction at Wet n’ Wild is the Hydra Fighter. This fun attraction places you in a swing that is equipped with water cannons. By manipulating the direction and pressure of the water cannon, you can control the velocity of the swing. This is a new attraction to Wet n Wild, so be prepared to wait.

If all these rides sound too wild, there are plenty of more sedate options. You can take an inflated tube ride around the park in The Wild One or splash around in the playground. There’s even a video arcade for land-lubbers.

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The most amazing piece of this world class facility is now open. Creative consultant Steven Spielberg has put together the most thrilling and technologically advanced rides and attractions ever made at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. Your journey begins at the exotic Port of EntrySM and takes you through five uniquely themed islands. – Seuss Landing, The Lost Continent, Jurassic Park, Toon Lagoon and Marvel Super Hero Island.

Islands of Adventure is home to roller coasters, water rides, shows, and Dr. Seuss land. You can even do both parks in one day, especially with the use of Universal Express. This additional option allows you to jump to the front of the line. Creating a better use of your time in the parks since you would not have to wait as long in line.

Island of Adventures includes the Incredible Hulk Coaster, which accelerated me and turned my body every imaginable way in a matter of moments. Hold onto your hats because they will blow off this exciting coaster. Doctor Doom’s Fearfall tests your fear of heights and uses it to conquer the Universe. I think he sucked some fear out of me. Spiderman is high tech 3-D and the ride of your life. Dueling Dragons is a coaster that flips and twists and just goes all over the place. There are two coasters for the same line, which is nice because it makes the line move very quickly. Each coaster is different. Watch out, they might crash together. Plenty of rides to get soaked on, make sure to take a tour of the dinosaurs at Jurassic Park, they are real. Finally, visit Seuss Landing no matter what age you are, it is sure to brighten up your day.

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Silver Springs is located on highway 40 off of Interstate 75. This park is home to animals, natural springs, and Wild Water water park. 2 parks in one are the appeal of the park. Enjoy natural Florida wildlife and the thrill of choosing to get wet!

Welcome to Silver Springs. There are plenty of different ways to tour the park: two boat rides, a Jeep safari, and walking around the park. These different tours offer additional adventure to the park. These rides allow you to view additional wildlife. There is a variety of wildlife in this park. There are plenty of alligators to view and watch. Some of them were pretty active, especially if you went during the feeding time. Local Florida wildlife, such as: black bears panthers, birds, and deer. They also had a large assortment of African wildlife, including giraffes, monkeys, llamas, zebras, speckled deer, long horned sheep, and sloths. There was a petting zoo for the kids, shows held throughout the day, and plenty of opportunities to view certain wildlife up close.

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Busch Gardens is located just North of Interstate 4 on Interstate 75, right outside of Tampa. Busch Gardens is located about 1 hours from Orlando, FL. Busch Gardens contains wildlife and wild rides. Soar at 60 mph on the world’s two tallest inverted roller coaster, then trek the plains of Africa, escape from fiery volcanoes, or cool off on unforgettable white-water adventure rides.

his park is ideal for any family. There are exciting rides for the thrill seekers and shows and wildlife for those who are not. The thing I loved the most about this park was the lack of waiting in line. Of all the amusement parks that I had the opportunity to attend, Busch Garden’s lines were the shortest. I had the opportunity to ride roller coasters twice in a row without having to wait more then a half an hour. There were 2 large steel roller coasters and 2 large wooden roller coasters.  Other coasters in the  park were made in the late 80′s and are fun, but not as impressive. If you are a roller coaster fanatic, be sure to ride the Montu. The Montu is a hanging coaster. This ranks in the top ten for longest roller coasters. It is full of loops and tunnels, flips, and goes 65mph, a must do.

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Orlando is a major city in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, located in Central Florida. Orlando is also the principal city of Greater Orlando. The Orlando-Kissimmee MSA is Florida’s third largest metropolitan area, behind Miami and Tampa, and the 8th largest metropolitan area in the south. The city itself is the sixth most populous in Florida. Orlando is also home to the University of Central Florida, which is the second largest university in Florida in student enrolment and has the fifth largest enrolment in the U.S..

The city is well known for the many tourist attractions in the area, in particular the nearby Walt Disney World Resort, which is located in Lake Buena Vista about 14 miles (23 km) south-west of Orlando city limits via Interstate 4. Other notable area attractions include SeaWorld and Universal Orlando Resort. The region sees an estimated 52 million tourists a year.

Walt Disney World opened on 1971 and Roy O. Disney dedicated the property and declared that it would be known as “Walt Disney World” in his brother’s honor. He was quoted as saying “Everyone has heard of Ford cars. But have they all heard of Henry Ford, who started it all? Walt Disney World is in memory of the man who started it all, so people will know his name as long as Walt Disney World is here.” After the dedication, Roy Disney asked Walt’s widow, Lillian, what she thought of Walt Disney World. According to biographer Bob Thomas, she responded, “I think Walt would have approved.”

Roy O. Disney died on December 20, 1971, just a short three months after the property opened.

Disney subsequently opened EPCOT Center in 1982, a theme park adapted from Walt Disney’s vision for a “community of tomorrow”. The park permanently adopted the name Epcot in 1996. In 1989, the resort added Disney-MGM Studios, a theme park inspired by show business, whose name was changed to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2008. The resort’s fourth theme park, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, opened in 1998.

Each park is represented by an iconic structure: Magic Kingdom (the first and original theme park) – Cinderella Castle, Epcot – Spaceship Earth, Disney’s Hollywood Studios – The Sorcerer’s Hat and Disney’s Animal Kingdom – The Tree of Life.

Disney’s property includes five golf courses. The four 18-hole golf courses are the Magnolia, the Palm, Lake Buena Vista and Osprey Ridge. There is also a nine-hole walking course called Oak Trail, designed for young golfers. Additionally, there are two themed miniature golf complexes, each with two courses, Fantasia Gardens and Winter Summerland.

Catch-and-release fishing excursions are offered daily on the resort’s lakes. A Florida fishing license is not required because it occurs on private property. Cane-pole fishing is offered from the docks at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground and Disney’s Port Orleans Resort.

The May 2008 issue of trade magazine Park World reported the following attendance estimates for 2007 compiled by Economic Research Associates in partnership with TEA (formerly the Themed Entertainment Association): Magic Kingdom, 17 million visits (No. 1 worldwide), Epcot, 10.9 million visits (No. 6) , Disney’s Hollywood Studios, 9.51 million visits (No. 7) and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, 9.49 million visits (No.
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