Car driving tips and advice for Orlando, Florida

Car driving tips in the Orlando, Florida area

Visiting Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida is a popular vacation for many. However driving in a strange city and even a different country if your from outside the USA can present challenges. Here’s some driving advice for the Orlando, Florida area.

If you decide to get a USA car hire and do your own driving on your Disney vacation there are some things you should know. First of course is that everyone drives on the right hand side of the road. If your from a place where you drive on the left it will take a little getting use to, however you quickly learn it.

Remember that you will be in a tourist area, which means many other people are driving around on vacation and don’t know where they are going. Watch for other cars making sudden lane changes and turns as they come up to exits too fast. Or cars braking suddenly as they see their exit and they are in the wrong lane.
[Read more…]

Universal Studios Orlando Jaws ride to close Jan. 2nd 2012

Universal will close their Jaws ride in Jan. 2012

It is with some sadness that I tell you Universal Studios Orlando Jaws ride will be closing forever on Jan. 2nd, 2012. I guess it’s another one of those rides that is so old that the current young people just can’t relate to it.

When the Jaws ride first opened years ago it was one of the most high tech rides around. However pushing a giant robotic shark through the water was very demanding and it had frequent break downs at first.

But over time they got it right and the ride was glitch free most of the time. Jaws told the story of a giant great white shark terrorizing a small New England seaside town. It was a hit movie that had several sequels.
[Read more…]

Pet Halloween costume contest YouTube video I made

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I cooked a turkey myself and it came out great surprisingly! There are lots of things going on around Orlando during the fall and winter months.

One thing I do is go to the pet events that are held around Orlando in the fall. A popular one is called Wiggle Waggle Walk. It’s a great event that helps local pet rescue organizations and shelters.

One of the highlights of the event is a cool pet Halloween costume contest they have. So I took a video of it and made a pet Youtube video of it. I thought you might like to see it, so here it is above.

It’s amazing how many different pet costumes there are and the work that goes into each one. So watch the Wiggle Waggle Walk pet Halloween costume contest YouTube video above and enjoy! :)

Buffet stations at CityWalk New Years Eve party

The CityWalk new years party food stations picture

Click here for full size image

For those of you thinking of going to Universal Studios CityWalk New Years Eve party, they have come out with all their plans and information. For a full list of what’s going on that night see my CityWalk New Years Eve party article with updated information.

One of the highlights of the party is the free buffet food you will get that is included with the price of the event ticket. Universal has just come out with a detailed map of the stations where they will be.

There are actually several different types of buffet stations. They have entree`, seafood, desert and champagne stations. If you click the text link below the picture above you can see a full size image that shows where they all will be.
[Read more…]

From Orlando Inside, happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving day from Orlando Inside!

Once again it’s time for Thanksgiving day in the USA! Time to count your blessings and be thankful for whatever you have. This year has been hard on lots of folks, so it will be a bit harder to find things to be thankful for.

But we here in the United States still have it much better than lots of the other world, even poor folks. One of my favorite saying is “everything is relative”.

Which means we all tend to see things relative to where we are, who we are and what has happened in our lives. Because of that we often see our good luck or bad luck only in relation to how our life is right now.
[Read more…]

Fall and winter is the perfect time for cheap all inclusive holidays

Great low price holiday travel deals

Summer is now over, but some of the best travel deals and vacation packages are to be had during the fall and winter months. There are many advantages of choosing a vacation during this time.

Many people may not know it, but fall and winter months are a great time for cheap all inclusive holidays at many popular vacation destinations around the word. Prices can be lower and crowds are not as large, making your vacation more enjoyable.

Many popular vacation spots like Florida get the biggest crowds during the summer. But it’s also the hottest time of year, and many are not use to the heat and humidity. Plus prices are the highest of the year.

During the fall and winter months the temperatures are better at tropical places like Florida and the Caribbean, with the humidity lower and more comfortable. Not to mention it’s no longer hurricane season!

Plus places like Disney World hold great special Christmas holiday events, shows and fireworks you can’t see at any other time of the year. It’s a great time to find cheap holiday deals from travel sites.

Hotel and car prices are normally lower during the off peak season of fall and winter, except for a few days around the major holidays. Also the crowds can be a lot thinner, making wait times for rides and attractions a lot shorter and enjoyable.

So consider a fall or winter vacation for cheap holidays at the major tourist destinations. You’ll find great deals and wonderful weather to get away from it all and beat the wintertime blues! :)


Disney’s festival of the masters art show 2011 picture gallery

Disney's festival of the masters art show 2011

Hi everyone, I hope you got to go to this years Disney’s festival of the masters art show 2011 at downtown Disney and the west side. I went Friday, beautiful day and not too crowded.

I got to see many of the same artist that I saw last year, but there was plenty of new ones too. I was a bit hesitant to take pictures this year because a lot of artist don’t want pictures taken of their work.

That’s because many competitors try to copy others work. Or if you have paintings, some people take good quality pictures of them and turn around and sell them online, ouch!
[Read more…]

Universal Studios CityWalk New Years Eve events, party for 2011, 2012

Universal Studios New Years Eve party

Note: the new and full information about this years Universal Studios New Years Eve party for 2011-2012 has finally been posted! So I have an update below, just scroll down to where it says updated info!

It’s time to find out what’s going on at Universal Studios and CityWalk for New Years Eve 2011, 2012! At this time they have not come out with a complete list of events, like who will be the lead band playing there and so on.

So I will have to update this article once I know more. However there are some things I can tell you that you will want to know. The biggest thing is, there will be NO fireworks at Universal Studios parks or at CityWalk, their nightclub entertainment center.

Over at Islands of Adventure everything will be normal with no special new years events planned. That park will be open until 1:00 AM, a bit later than normal.
[Read more…]

SeaWorld New Years Eve 2011 fireworks, shows

SeaWorld Orlando New Years Eve fireworks and shows for 2011!

SeaWorld of Orlando, like the other major theme parks, is planning a big New Years Eve party and show for 2011-2012. They actually have some very good fireworks, synchronized with music and even colored water fountains!

So just what can you expect to see and do at this years SeaWorld Orlando New Years Eve celebration for 2011? Well a lot of it will be the same shows that have been going on for the Christmas holidays.

All of the special Christmas holiday shows and events will also be going on New Years Eve Dec. 31st, 2011. That includes The Polar Express Experience ride, the Winter Wonderland on Ice skating show, Shamu’s Christmas Miracles show and more.
[Read more…]

Walt Disney World Thanksgiving Day events, Thanksgiving dinner restaurants 2011

Walt Disney World Thanksgiving day events and places for Thanksgiving dinners 2011

Once again it’s almost Thanksgiving day! Many people ask what is going on at Walt Disney World during Thanksgiving day, November 24th. To be honest there really is nothing special that takes place at Disney on that day.

Contrary to what some have heard there is NO special Thanksgiving day parade at any of the Disney theme parks. There may be one over at Disneyland in California, but not here in Orlando.

Of course Thanksgiving day does fall right in the middle of the Holiday season. In the past Disney would put up all the Christmas decorations the night after Thanksgiving day, or the weekend following it.
[Read more…]

Walt Disney World New Year’s Eve fireworks, events for 2011 / 2012

Walt Disney World New Years Eve fireworks and events for 2011/2012

Picture credits to talke-photography

Walt Disney World has finally came out with their plans for this years New Year’s Eve fireworks, parades and events for 2011 to 2012. So the following is all the information I have of what’s going on at the theme parks and other Disney resorts on New Years Eve December 31st. :)

Disney’s Magic Kingdom theme park
The Magic Kingdom is the most popular Disney theme park to spend New Years Eve. That means it’s the most crowded and it WILL reach capacity and close to anymore guest once that happens. When that will occur is hard to say but it may be as early as mid afternoon.

So my advice is, if you want to see the late night shows and fireworks in the Magic Kingdom for New Years Eve, plan on going in before noon and staying there until your done for the night. This is not a good day to be park hopping!

Most of the shows, parades and fireworks are the same as last year. The times may change a bit, so double check a day or two before going in for the schedule of events. With that in mind here’s the plan so far:
[Read more…]

Disney Festival of the Masters 2011 art show at Downtown Disney

2011 Disney Festival of the Masters art show

If your an art fan, then you don’t want to miss the Disney Festival of the Masters 2011 art show at Downtown Disney! This amazing outdoor art show will showcase all kinds of top artist from around the world.

By artist I don’t mean just paintings, although there will be plenty there. But also you will see glass blowers, sculptors, clay art, many types of woodworking, specialty art of all kinds and many other wonderful art mediums on display.

The Disney Festival of the Masters art show is one of my favorite shows, I always go and take lots of pictures. This year it will be from November 11, 2011 To November 13, 2011.
[Read more…]