The seven dwarfs mine train ride coming to fantasyland at Disney World!

The seven dwarfs mine train new ride at Fantasyland at Disney!

As any real fan of Walt Disney World knows, they are in the middle of a big expansion over at the Magic Kingdom. Fantasyland, the part located at the back of Cinderellas castle, will be getting a full makeover.

The plans have been changed a few times already. One new ride they seem to have agreed to keep is one called the seven dwarfs mine train ride! It will be an indoor mild roller coaster that goes through the seven dwarfs diamond mine from Snow White and the seven dwarfs.

It will be set to music from the classic movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. You can see it in the picture above in the top right side. I’m sure they would do a great job with the theme.
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Walt Disney World Beach Club Villas Resort

Disney's Beach Club Villas Resort in Orlando
Disney’s Beach Club Villas

If you want to stay right on Disney property on your Orlando vacation, Disney’s Beach Club Villas resort is one of the most beautiful places to stay. Disney’s Beach Club Villas is the fourth Disney Vacation Club Resort operating at Walt Disney World. This Cape May–style resort evokes the charm of seaside homes of yesteryear due to its soft hues of salmon and sea-blue and wooden porches.

Here you will be find a unique combination of nautical themes, homey comfort and resort facilities. This waterfront hotel is near Epcot theme park, Disney’s BoardWalk Area and Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park. As you probably imagine, there are many things to do here.

The resort provides high speed Internet access, a Disney Deluxe Villa Resort, spa, meeting facilities, Pack ‘n Play play yards and a wide range of recreational activities. For this reason it is a perfect place to stay for everyone in the family – children, parents and grandparents.
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How far from the Orlando airport is Disney and other theme parks?

Orlando Florida map of airport distance to Disney, Universal, Sea World and other attractions

Click here to open larger map in new window

One of the most asked questions I get is how far from the Orlando International airport is Walt Disney World, Sea World and all the other attractions. So I’ll give you a quick run-down in this post on the distance in miles from the Orlando airport to Disney and many other attractions and areas around the central Florida area.

The Orlando airport connects to major interstates and toll roads that gets you right to all the major attractions. You can pretty much stay on only one or two roads all the way to where your going. Reading all the road signs can be tricky, but for the most part it’s pretty simple to drive from the Orlando airport to where your going.

Now for the number one question I’m asked: how far is Walt Disney World from the Orlando airport? Disney itself is 44 square miles big, so it depends on what part your going to! But in general Disney World is about 22 miles from the Orlando airport.
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Are Orlando theme parks still empty?

Are Orlando theme parks starting to fill up now

Sorry it’s been a while since I made a post here, life has a way of taking all your time! Because of the bad economy this summer has seen light crowds at the Orlando Florida theme parks. Disney World, Universal Studios and Sea World has all seen attendance drop like a gold plated balloon! More and more however I keep reading about how things are getting better overall.

So, has things picked up at the theme parks? In a word, NO! This later part of the summer might be seeing a little bit more park attendance than the first part of the summer. But overall things are still down in the Orlando area. All the theme parks, hotels and rental agencies still report lower than normal sales. Of course I can see that just by going around town and looking with my own eyes.

It will not be too long before school starts. Once that happens things always slow down a lot, this year more than ever. This fall will be a fantastic time for that Walt Disney World or Universal Studios vacation. As I have said before fall has the best of both worlds in Orlando. It’s cooler, less humid and rains less than in the summer. Crowds are gone, prices go down and great deals can be had.

The only down side is that some rides in the parks get shut down for maintenance work, there are less fireworks and shows and less parades in the parks. But overall your enjoyment will be much better, especially since you can actually get on more rides and save money! So things might be picking up a little here, but the whole rest of the year promises to still be a slow one.

Orlando vacation theme parks and water parks

Well everyone, the title to this post seems pretty simple huh? Theme parks and water parks in Orlando. Heck we all know who they are, don’t we? Well actually maybe not! Orlando is growing very fast, and so are the theme parks. Also the major theme parks keep adding new parks! So it can be confusing to keep track of all the big theme and water parks in Orlando.

So I want to make a nice list of them. Now, when I say theme parks, I mean big ones, and I mean each different park in each complex. Disney World, for instance, is a giant mix of 7 or more parks. Water parks are a mix of ones in the big theme parks and other smaller ones all by themselves. I’ll start with the most popular ones first, shall we! [Read more…]

Disney World Orlando Vacation outlook for 2009

It looks like a friend of mine and his family are coming down for an Orlando vacation sometime in the late spring. Now this friend is not big on going anywhere, they’ve only been down here one other time. But they wanted to go one more time for their kids, who are around 16, 14 and 10. One of the main reasons they are going this year is because of the economy.

Now you might think wait a minute. If things are going so bad, and everyone is hurting for money, then why would they actually want to pick this time to spend their money and go on vacation? Well, not everyone is having a bad time with their jobs. This family happens to be doing okay and has money set aside and so on.

They also look for bargains and ways to save money with everything they do. That’s one of the reasons why they are doing okay! So it’s because this is a bad year that makes it appealing to them to take their last big Orlando vacation. They know prices for everything is low, and that not many will be in the theme parks. So, it makes sense to pick now to come down here. [Read more…]

Going to Universal Studios Orlando with friends

I’ve been having a very busy week, so sorry if I’m not posting each day. This Friday I’m going to Universal Studios Orlando for a full day with a friend of mine. It’s been a little while since I’ve been there, so I’m going to take lots of pictures to share with you all. Of course I should be doing that a lot now that I have a website devoted to the theme parks and Orlando.

That’s one of the perks you have when you live in Orlando is going to the theme parks. They have Florida residence annual passes that are a good deal so it becomes affordable to go every week if you want. Not too many people can just decide to go to Universal Studios at the last minute! However many people that live in Orlando hardly ever go.

Why not you may ask? Well, it’s just like anything else. Most people work very hard and deal with what life always throws at you. Florida is not what some think, that you move down and spend your time lying in the sand and going to theme parks every other day! You still have to work, deal with the kids and life’s curve balls. [Read more…]

Disney World Expedition Everest roller coaster youtube video


Well everyone, I’ve had a long day today. So, I’m going to make this a quickie post! That means I’m going to show you a youtube video. This one is a cool one about Walt Disney Worlds animal kingdom roller coaster called Expedition Everest. It’s suppose to be themed that your going up mount Everest, and you get attacked by the Yeti, an ape-like creature.

At first the ride goes a bit slow, and you start to think “is that all”? But it has some surprises, and saves the high speed twist and turns for the last part of the ride. It goes into several dark tunnels, and even goes uphill backward in some spots! It’s at the Animal Kingdom at Disney World, and one of the best rides at that park. So enjoy this youtube video of Expedition Everest roller coaster at Animal Kingdom!

Walt Disney World Christmas holiday fireworks youtube video

I wanted to show you a little bit of the Walt Disney World Christmas fireworks show. I wanted it to be this years, not last. I managed to find one on youtube that someone had put up. It’s the Disney World Christmas fireworks at the magic kingdom park. That one is always cool because of Cinderella’s castle.

They always light it up and use it as part of the fireworks display. Now, no youtube video can come close to really capturing the way the Disney fireworks show looks. You just can’t do it justice on a video. In fact it looks sad compared to the real show. But, if you’ve never seen Disney’s fireworks, it gives you a taste. So enjoy this Walt Disney World Christmas fireworks youtube video of 2008.

So just how big is Walt Disney World?

Well I hope everyone had a great New Year’s eve without getting into too much trouble! I read something the other day that made me laugh, and then made me realize just how little a lot of people know about Walt Disney World. I was reading a personal blog online, and this girl was saying that her and her husband were going to go to Disney World.

Okay, great, nothing wrong with that. But then she went on to say that they wanted to get a Disney hotel. That way, she said, they would be right there at Disney and be able to walk to all the Disney parks! Oh my, I sure hope she sees this post, because if she really goes thinking that, she’s going to be in for a big surprise.

So, just how big is Walt Disney World? Well first lets make sure your talking about Walt Disney World, not Disneyland. Disneyland is the one in California, Walt Disney World is the one in Orlando, Florida. Disneyland is much smaller than Walt Disney World, MUCH smaller! Also when you say Walt Disney World, your talking about the whole complex, not just one of the parks. [Read more…]

More about Orlando Inside, vacation guide

After reading the post I have made so far, I realized I still have not said too much about myself. Why should you take my advice about how to plan your Orlando Disney vacation? What makes me so smart? Why am I doing this, out of the goodness of my heart? Well, let me fill you in some. My name is William, but I really prefer to be called Bill.

I live in Orlando, about 8 miles from Walt Disney World. I’m originally from Vermont, but have been in Florida for 16 years. I’m single and between 30 and 50 yrs. old! Yes, if your a woman and single by all means drop me a note! I love the theme parks and have worked at both Walt Disney World and Universal Studios. I have annual passes to both of those parks, plus Sea World.

The two years I worked at Disney I was a third shift maintenance man. “cast member” is what they call people that work at Disney. Because of my job I got to go into all the buildings, rides, back areas and so on. I worked in secure areas and places most don’t ever see. I worked in all three Disney parks, Disney’s Animal Kingdom was not open yet. [Read more…]

Orlando Disney holiday season still light this year

Well I hope everyone had a great Christmas day! I myself roasted a whole chicken and watched some movies on my computer, fun fun! I also took a drive out to Disney, but I did not actually go into the parks. In hindsight I think I should have, because it was very light crowds, at least for the holiday season.

I took a look at the parking spots and a few other ways I know of to peek into the parks without actually going in. (sorry, can’t tell you how) 😉 It is DEAD around Disney for a holiday season! I see that last month the hotels had only a 53% occupancy according to the local results that keep track of those things.

That pretty much mirrored what I’ve been saying and seeing. So that means the other parks like Universal Studios and Sea World also had light Christmas day crowds. The ones that are here are really having a good time with no crowds and low prices. I have to wonder if they know how lucky they are to be here this year. [Read more…]