All Things Travel

Posts Tagged ‘disney’

Walt Disney World Orlando is experimenting with a new system for distributing its FastPass tickets inside Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The theme park last week began issuing the FastPass tickets — which allow guests to skip long standby lines at popular attractions by giving them a specific return time later in the day — from a central location. The change allows guests to obtain FastPasses without having to trek to each individual ride to get them (though the passes are still available at those attractions, too).

Disney is using the FastPass vending machines at It’s Tough to Be a Bug, which is at the center of Animal Kingdom, to distribute tickets for the park’s three most popular rides: Dinosaur, Expedition Everest and Kilimanjaro Safaris. With the test, Disney spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez said, the resort is examining “how to make it even easier for guests to utilize FastPass during their visits.”

A wonderful gated community in Orlando. A fine selection of luxury vacation villas in Orlando Florida.

Driven By : SEO Services Dedicated Travel Portal

As reported in the local Orlando press this week; hours before the scores of guests arrived at the gates of Magic Kingdom, there was some unusual activity on the shores of Frontierland this week. Dozens of Disney cast members, chanting “stroke, stroke, stroke” and paddling stridently, competed in the Canoe Races of the World — commonly referred to as C.R.O.W. — an annual Walt Disney World event since 1973 with roots as far back as 1963 at Disneyland.

The teams, usually representing their work units, circle around the 1one-mile course, which begins on the Rivers of America near Country Bears Jamboree and passes by Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, scenery from the park’s railroad and Tom Sawyer Island and Haunted Mansion before heading to the finish line.

Crews of eight to 10 people compete in C.R.O.W., which is designed for team-building and muscle-building. The route, which takes about five minutes to complete, is not without challenges.

A wonderful gated community in Orlando. A fine selection of luxury vacation villas in Orlando Florida.

Driven By : SEO Services Dedicated Travel Portal

Well if you are lucky enough to be in the Orlando area this coming weekend you are really are spoilt for choice as there are lots of special events for the Independence Day Celebrations some beginning as early as Friday of this week. Here are a very small selection of things going on at the major theme parks and attractions.

Universal Studios’ celebration on Saturday also doubles up with the finale of its Summer Concert Series. Performing On stage this weekend will be the O’Jays (“Back Stabbers,” “Love Train”). Showtime starts at 9 p.m. The park’s late night film-fireworks-pyro presentation called Universal 360 returns Friday night and sports a patriotic finale on Saturday. Universal have advised that the fireworks will not be visible from nearby Islands of Adventure or Universal CityWalk.

Disney World sports has a number of special holiday changes to its normal programme of events. Friday and Saturday night at 9, Magic Kingdom will present “Disney’s Celebrate America! — A Fourth of July Concert in the Sky.” There will be “SpectroMagic” parade at 10:30 p.m. Saturday and another one two hours later, in the week hours of Sunday. (The park closes at 1 a.m. Sunday.)

Disney’s Hollywood Studios hosts fireworks at 10 p.m. Saturday, sandwiched by presentations of “Fantasmic!” at 9 and 10:45 p.m. and Epcot’s “Illuminations” fireworks and laser show will be “holiday inspired” at the special time of 10 p.m. Saturday.

A wonderful gated community in Orlando. A fine selection of luxury vacation villas in Orlando Florida.

Driven By : SEO Services Dedicated Travel Portal

This week sees the animatronic version of Barack Obama debuting at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando . Obama’s figure stands front and center at the attraction in the revamped Hall of Presidents, which has been under renovation since November of last year. Although last-minute tweaking still continues the show opens this coming Saturday. The show has been refocused to show the presidents as “real people” and how anyone can dream of becoming the nation’s leader.

Some highlights of the show are a film narrated by Morgan Freeman with video of presidents speaking during turbulent times, including Lyndon Johnson after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing and George W. Bush encouraging citizens at ground zero after 9-11. Midway through the film, a screen lifts to reveal the animatronic Abraham Lincoln, alone on the stage. He now delivers the full Gettysburg Address. And of course Obama reciting the oath of office, checking his notes, then making a speech, which was recorded by the president at the White House.

A wonderful gated community in Orlando. A fine selection of luxury vacation villas in Orlando Florida.

Driven By : SEO Services Dedicated Travel Portal

For those of you who enjoy a more informal style of eating Disney Animal Kingdom has just the thing for you to try out. If your planning a chilled trip to Disney’s Animal Kingdom and don’t really want to eat in a yet another crowded restaurant – then the “Picnic in the Park” might be just that alternative that you are looking for. With dozens of shady spots for outdoor dining, Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s “Picnic in the Park” al fresco dining sounds just the ticket.

Guests can pre-order picnics in front of Animal Kingdom’s guest-relations office or at the Tusker House Restaurant between 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. daily, or if you’re already in the park or it’s after 1 p.m., you can order picnics at the podium at Tusker House Restaurant. Picnics are normally ready for pick-up within two hours at Kusafiri Coffee Shop & Bakery in the park. You can then head for one of 14 specially designated picnic areas around the park

The to-go meal includes either sandwiches or rotisserie chicken or ham, one or more sides, desserts and bottles of water. Each comes in a reusable bag with plates, utensils and a map marked with the picnic locations. Sandwich picnics start at around $24.99 for a meal for three people and rotisserie picnics go up to around $56.99 for six people.

A wonderful gated community in Orlando. A fine selection of luxury vacation villas in Orlando Florida.

Driven By : SEO Services Dedicated Travel Portal

It has been announced that Princess Diana’s dresses to be displayed at Downtown Disney Orlando later this summer. Downtown Disney will be hosting an exhibition of Princess Diana’s dresses beginning in early July2009 and running right the way through to November 2009. The exhibition entitled “Diana — The People’s Princess” will be next to DisneyQuest, in the building that until recently housed the Virgin Mega Store. The exhitibtion is presented by The People’s Princess Charitable Foundation Inc.

Some of the items that are on display at the exhibition will be a black velvet V neck, designed by Bruce Oldfield and worn by Diana for her official royal portrai in 1985. A model of Diana in an exact replica of her wedding dress

A spokemans for Disney has been quoted as saying “It’s one of the largest collections of royal dresses, and will include five rarely seen dresses worn by the princess.”

The exhibition also covers part of her childhood, her wedding, her married life and life in Kensington Palace, her role as mother of Prince William and Prince Harry and the Christie’s “Sale of the Century,” in which dozens of Diana’s dresses were sold to benefit charities all around the world.

A wonderful gated community in Orlando. A fine selection of luxury vacation villas in Orlando Florida.

Driven By : SEO Services Dedicated Travel Portal

The Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, which is funded in part by Disney theme-park visitors, announced yesterday that will distribute nearly $1.5 million to conservation initiatives aimed at protecting everything from sea turtles in Florida to snow leopards in Pakistan. Disney says the programs receiving 2009 grants support more than 90 species and promote habitat-protection in 33 countries. The beneficiaries include:

Florida Atlantic University, for sea turtle research – The American Museum of Natural History, to support Western Que Son, a conservation area in central Vietnam that is home to the endangered Grey-shanked Douc Langur monkey – The International Elephant Foundation, for patrol training for employees monitoring Sumatran elephants – The Painted Dog Conservation Trust, to support an environmentally focused children’s camp in Zimbabwe – Rainforest2Reef, which helps protect endangered jaguars by preserving Mexican rainforests

Other efforts include following the migration of Magellanic penguins in South America and reintroducing whooping cranes in eastern North America.

A wonderful gated community in Orlando. A fine selection of luxury vacation villas in Orlando Florida.

Driven By : SEO Services

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.
A wonderful gated community in Orlando. A fine selection of luxury vacation villas in Orlando Florida.