All Things Travel

Posts Tagged ‘luxury vacation villas’

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.”

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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.

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News hot off the press – SeaWorld Orlando is introducing a brand new tour called Animal Show and Photos Experience, the new tour will enable guests to have priority, reserved seating for shows — including the Shamu show “Believe,” the dolphin show “Blue Horizons” and “Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island,” the sea lion-otter show — it will also include photo opportunities immediately following those shows with the featured animals.

The Animal Shows and Photo Experience at SeaWorld Orlando features photo shoots with Shamu and other animals. Guests will also interact with a penguin and a Clydesdale in the five-hour activity. Participants will receive a photo CD of the day’s experiences. According to the SeaWorld Web site, the adult price is “from $125″ and children “from $100.” This is in addition to the regular (and required) SeaWorld admission.

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It was not too long ago that the rides in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando provided thrills aplenty, promising tales of pirates and pirate ships and the chance to dive 20,000 leagues under the sea. But the modern generation of children, weaned on the Wii, Second Life and DVD “Easter eggs”, look for more than the roller coasters and jerky automatons that entertained the youth of the 1970s.

“The emerging generation expects more immersive, personal and interactive experiences in every facet of their lives,” says Bruce Vaughn, chief creative executive of Walt Disney Imagineering. It’s a fact Disney had to face when it created its newest attractions for the Florida theme park.

Toy Story Mania is basically a giant 3D video game. Riders board a car and are driven through and parked in front of a series of video screens. The task: to shoot objects as they fall or fly out of the screen.

The 3D glasses mean objects do seem to come right out at you, and are sometimes accompanied by a fourth dimension: a blast of wind in your face or, in the case of water balloons, riders actually get wet.

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Peter Kacheris, managing director of luxury resort hotel, the Waldorf Astoria Orlando in Bonnet Creek, announced the addition of the Waldorf Astoria Golf Club to the destination’s extensive list of amenities. Created by acclaimed golf course architect Rees Jones, the 18-hole, 7,113-yard championship course is the centerpiece of the first golf club for the Waldorf Astoria brand. The Waldorf Astoria Golf Club will also feature a clubhouse and be open for play October 1, 2009, the same day as all of Bonnet Creek, conveniently surrounded on three sides by Walt Disney World Resort.

One of the few golf courses in the Orlando area to be free of real estate dotting its greens, the Waldorf Astoria Golf Club is open to all players — those staying at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando or Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek and those who want to experience a piece of history. Although designed with a five-tee system for all playing abilities, the course is challenging. Winding through a large wetland preserve, it has a par 72, slope 130 and 72.5 rating from its professional tees.

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Universal Orlando is taking a tip from their Hollywood counterpart for this years Halloween Horror Nights event and incorporating big screen scares into their version of the popular Halloween attraction. Last year in Orlando there was a Doomsday themed attraction, this year it is based around The Wolfman, Chucky and Saw.

For 23 select nights this fall, modern horror films are “Ripped from the Silver Screen” to frighten guests at what promises to be the most feared Halloween HorrorNights ever. For the first time ever, guests at Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights 19 will live Universal Pictures’ “The Wolfman” – a mega-horror movie – before it even hits the big screen. They will also experience two modern day blockbuster horror franchises – “SAW” and “Chucky” – as Universal Orlando devotes its entire Halloween Horror Nights event to bringing horror films to life.

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The news from KSC, Florida – it that NASA faces the prospect of more stormy weather today as it tries again to launch shuttle Endeavour to the international space station. Thunderstorms prevented Endeavour and seven astronauts from blasting off Sunday evening. Forecasters said there was a 60 percent chance the weather would force yet another delay Monday evening for the space station construction mission.

NASA has until Tuesday, possibly Wednesday, to launch Endeavour with the final piece of Japan’s space station lab. Otherwise, it will have to wait until the end of July because of a Russian supply ship that’s awaiting liftoff. Sunday’s countdown, at least, made it all the way to the nine-minute mark. Saturday’s launch attempt was foiled several hours in advance by a series of lightning strikes around the pad that required extra checks of the many critical shuttle systems. Back in June, hydrogen gas leaks held everything up.

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This w

eekend the city of Orlando hosts its first International Puppet Festival beginning this weekend at The Orlando Repertory Theatre and The Orlando Shakespeare Theatre in Loch Haven Park. Puppetering troupes from Spain, France, Canada and Mexico each will take the stage in performance, with time for a workshop or audience questions afterward. To be sure, these are no Muppets from Sesame Street; these are serious marionettes doing serious stage work here.

One highlight from the festival comes from the Bob Theatre from France. They are scheduled to perform their interpretation of “Nosferatu,” the original adaptation of the work most of us know better as “Dracula.” It’ll be interesting to see how they present the Nosferatu character, chillingly played by Max Schreck in F.W. Murnau’s 1922 classic film; you know, he was the guy coming through that door who looked very much like the one in the oft-stolen Edvard Munch painting “The Scream.”

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Well the news from Orlando is that there is still time to register for the “American Idol” auditions. Idol staff will be at the Amway Arena until the start of the auditions around 8 a.m. Thursday. Show producers say they expect anywhere from 8,000 to 10,000 people to audition today. Contestants began lining up outside the arena at 5 a.m. Many should expect to be there until the late evening hours.

“American Idol” staff suggested contestants have three songs prepared to sing, just in case — and get to the good part as quickly as possible. You only have 10 to 30 seconds to impress the judges. In order to get yourself on the stage you need to bring two forms of identification to registration, one that is proof of your age and one with a photo. For example, a passport and driver’s license, or a Social Security card and driver’s license.

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