Walt Disney World Christmas lighting show at Magic Kingdom

November 23, 2009 by

Very soon Walt Disney World will start having their Christmas lighting ceremonies. Nothing is prettier than the Christmas lights at night at the Magic Kingdom, especially Cinderella’s castle! It’s amazing how they can make that castle glow with different colors.

Then of course you have the special Disney Christmas night parades, which are also very colorful and pretty. Add the fireworks and it’s a fantastic place to be! Here’s a youtube video of a past Disney Magic Kingdom Christmas lighting ceremony. Enjoy!

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Walt Disney World’s Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

November 21, 2009 by

Mickey's very merry Christmas party
Image by Walt Disney World

The article below is for 2009. To read about Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas party for 2010, CLICK HERE and see what changes have been made for this year.

This year at Walt Disney World they have decked out the resort and theme parks early with their Christmas decorations and lights. Normally they put up all Christmas lights and trinkets the night after Thanksgiving. But this year Disney has transformed the resort into a Christmas winter wonderland already!

Because of that they are having more nights for their special Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, held at the Magic Kingdom theme park here in Orlando. This is a special Christmas party held between 7:00 PM to midnight nightly on selected nights.

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is an amazing display of Disney magic, with several shows, parades and special entertainment. For starters you can see all the Christmas lights and decorations throughout the Magic Kingdom park. Disney really knows how to transform the park into a spectacular, magical sight with fantastic Christmas lights and holiday displays.
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World’s largest cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas

November 19, 2009 by

World's largest cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas
Photos by Amy Beth Bennett, Sun Sentinel

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For those who love cruise ships, here’s a few pictures of the new Oasis Of The Seas, which is now the largest cruise ship in the world! It arrived at it’s new home in Port Everglades here in Florida last week. Owned by Royal Caribbean International, it’s a floating city, and a big one at that!

World's largest cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas
Photos by Amy Beth Bennett, Sun Sentinel

Oasis Of The Seas is 1,184 feet long and more than 226,000 tons. The 5,400-passenger ship with a crew of 2,000 cost 1.5 billion dollars to make. Darn, I guess I can’t afford a copy! No other cruise line seems interested in topping it, so I think it will remain the largest cruise ship for some time.

Personally it looks a bit top heavy to me, especially in the second picture. Somehow it looks like a big wave hitting it broadside would flip it right over. It has 16 decks, a damn high ship! That’s a lot of weight above the waterline. But I’ll never be able to afford to go on it anyway. Cool ship, no matter what!

World's largest cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas
Photos by Amy Beth Bennett, Sun Sentinel

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Walt Disney World Thanksgiving day parade youtube video

November 16, 2009 by

Well everyone, I can’t show you what this years Walt Disney World Thanksgiving day parade will look like, because it has not happened yet! But I can show you one from a few years ago. Each year the Disney holiday parades get better, and I’m sure the Thanksgiving day parade at Disney this year will be better than this one.

But this gives you a little taste of what to expect if you are at Disney World this year for the Thanksgiving day parade. They will have several of them during the day. Of course with four theme parks each parade will be a little different. This youtube video is of the Magic Kingdom Thanksgiving day parade at Walt Disney World. Enjoy!

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Orlando Holiday airport travel tips and tricks

November 14, 2009 by

Orlando Holiday airport travel tips and tricks

The 2009 Holiday travel has begun! Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years see’s the biggest tourist crowds in the Orlando airport. Many from Florida are flying out to spend a white Christmas with loved ones up north. While many more are flying in for a Disney or other theme park Holiday vacation.

The biggest hassle will be at the Orlando airport. Expect long lines both at the baggage check-in area and also at the security points. These two spots will give you the biggest headaches and cost you the most time. Many people flying in or out for the Holidays don’t travel often and may not be up to date on everything.

So here’s a few refresher tips and tricks for you. Many airlines now charge for checked baggage, or checked bags over one per person. So remember that when your in the baggage line. But since they charge per bag anyway, and the baggage line is the longest wait at the airport, why not ship them instead?
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Thanksgiving day at Universal Studios and Sea World

November 12, 2009 by

Thanksgiving day at Universal Studios and Sea World

A week ago I made a post about what is going on Thanksgiving day at Disney. So I thought I’d also tell you what will be going on at Universal Studios and Sea World on Thanksgiving day. The truth of the matter is, there really is not that much extra going on at any of the theme parks on Thanksgiving day, except for bigger crowds!

Both Universal Studios and Sea World will have a few extra decorations and so on with a Thanksgiving theme. But there are no special Thanksgiving parades planned, or any Thanksgiving shows. It’s just not a Holiday that lends itself good with theme parks.

Here and there you will find restaurants in both Universal Studios and Sea World that will be serving the traditional Thanksgiving meal, like turkey, ham and cranberries. Normally it will be the bigger restaurants in the parks that will be serving Thanksgiving meals.

But that’s really about the only things that will be different. However because it’s a Holiday the parks WILL be full, very full. So be prepared for that and come early. Right after Thanksgiving all the parks will put up their Christmas decorations and lights.

They really do a good job transforming the parks into a Christmas theme, and the lights at night are fantastic. So if you are visiting the parks at Thanksgiving make sure you also come back the day or two after Thanksgiving, and stay till night to see the lights!

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Best place for Walt Disney World discount tickets

November 10, 2009 by

best place for walt disney world discount tickets

Click here for best deals on Disney tickets!

Of all the things that has to do with going on an Orlando vacation, the most confusing is getting your Disney theme park tickets! So many places sell Disney tickets, and all of them claim to be lowest in price. You can buy them in dozens of little booths in the tourist areas, as well as inside many hotels. BUT, most of these have strings attached.

The most common catch is that you have to go on a tour of a local time share resort and listen to their sales pitch. Trust me, it’s boring, you waste valuable time, and the sales people are very aggressive. If you don’t sign that paper they want you to sign, they make you feel like crap.

So avoid all that hassle. The best way to get the cheapest Walt Disney World tickets with no strings attached is buying them online. You always pay the lowest price when you buy online. But even then, you have dozens of different choices. All of these places that sell Disney tickets buy them wholesale at a discount.
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Walt Disney World Thanksgiving events and parades

November 8, 2009 by

walt disney world thanksgiving events and parades

Well in just a few weeks it will be Thanksgiving. Those of you who are going to take an Orlando vacation and go to Walt Disney World at Thanksgiving time might be wondering what is going on. One thing I can tell you is, all the Disney theme parks will be packed!

In fact every one of the Disney parks should fill to capacity in the early afternoon. So if you want to take in a Disney park on Thanksgiving day, go early and prepare for crowds. Don’t even think of park hopping on Thanksgiving day. Plan on going to one Disney park and staying there for the day.

Now as to what you can expect to see that is new on Thanksgiving day, the answer is not that much really. Disney will put up all their Christmas decorations and lights that night, but not on Thanksgiving day. So you will not see any special Christmas sets or displays.
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Youtube video of Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park

November 6, 2009 by

Today I found a really cool youtube video of Walt Disney World’s Blizzard Beach water park. Now there’s lots of youtube videos out there of Blizzard Beach water park. But this one is taken with the persons point of view. They did that by using waterproof cameras while they went down the slides and water chutes.

It’s a very good and quality video that really shows you just what you can expect the full length of all the Disney’s Blizzard Beach slides, rivers and tubes. It’s longer than most too. So if you want to go to Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park, make sure you check out this cool youtube video!

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Orlando Florida boast world’s largest McDonald’s

November 3, 2009 by

World's largest McDonalds in Orlando, Florida

One interesting fact here in Orlando is that it boast the worlds largest McDonald’s. Actually that has been debated, as there are several McDonald’s around the world that are about the same size. But in any case the one in Orlando is one of the biggest McDonald’s in the world.

Located at 6875 Sand Lake Rd. Orlando, FL. It’s just off International drive, a large tourist strip. It has two full floors, with a two story play area featuring 25,000 feet of slides and tubes to play in for the kids. It also has arcade games inside plus tourist information booths.

Located close to Universal Studios, Orlando’s largest McDonalds can’t be missed with the giant box of fries painted on the outside. So if you like eating at McDonald’s, make sure you stop by and see what the world’s largest McDonald’s fast food joint looks like!

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Sea World raises basic ticket prices again, still lower than Disney

October 31, 2009 by

sea world raises prices again, still lower than Disney

Picture by Joe Burbank, Orlando Sentinel

Well I knew it was going to happen, I just did not know when. Today Sea World of Orlando announced that they would raise the price of a basic one day ticket. The cost now will be $78.95 for a basic one day ticket to Sea World. The move brings Sea World’s base price to just 5 cents less than single-day, single-park tickets to Disney or Universal, both of which raised their own prices over the summer.

Every year all of the big three theme parks raise their base, one day one park ticket prices. So it’s nothing new, it happens every year. But I wanted to let you know this. Now, most of the theme park tickets people buy actually cost less than this. That’s because of all the special multi-day and park hopper ticket deals you can find.

In fact you should never buy a one day, base price ticket to one park at Disney, Universal Studios or Sea World. Normally if your on a vacation in Orlando your going to spend several days at the parks. All of them offer two, three or more day ticket deals and park hopper specials.

But they have to have a base price to work with, so they always have a standard, one day one park price to work with. As you can see, all the theme parks are very close when it comes to their base price. But it can vary widely with multi-day and park hopper deals. Now if only they would lower their base price!

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Walt Disney World’s Festival Of The Masters 2009

October 29, 2009 by

walt disney world festival of the masters 2009

For those who don’t know, Walt Disney World is holding their 34th annual Festival Of The Masters at downtown Disney on Nov. 13 to 15th. So just what is the Festival Of The Masters? It’s an art show, featuring top artist from all over. The types of arts you can see here is a wide range of items. Pottery, glass blowing, paintings, photograph, wood working, jewelry and all types of custom made crafts.

This year there will be nearly 150 artist showcasing their unique arts and crafts. Some of the things you see here are amazing and you can’t find anywhere else. I loved the guy who made life-like bust of women and men, they looked ready to talk to you!

Whatever type of arts and crafts you like your sure to find something here you love. The artist will put up booths all over the downtown Disney area. Besides the artist, there will be live entertainment, art shows for kids, a chalk artist display and much more.

Over at Cirque du Soleil La Nouba in the downtown Disney area you can meet the performers and have your kids enjoy face painting and balloons. Also if your a Disney pin lover check out the pin traders location, the biggest Disney pin trading and swapping store in the Disney resort.

Then of course you can go shopping at the dozens of Disney stores at downtown Disney, and eat at several restaurants and food shops. Disney’s Festival Of The Masters 2009 is an art lovers dream and one you don’t want to miss!

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