Fireball Run from Orlando to Los Angeles

OE meets up with team # 27 at Rosen Shingle Creek Resort. 100 teams comprised of some of the most successful people on the planet embark on a 3500 mile 9 day transcontinental adventure of a lifetime. Fireball Run is a live action “ game” and America is the game board. Starting in Orlando Florida and finishing at the SofiTel Hotel in Beverly Hills California.
While having fun & sharing an incredible experience with other likeminded people, they are on a mission; find America’s children… called “The Race to Recover America’s Missing”™. Every team will make the journey with a different missing child whose image & stats are affixed to the vehicle- creating a “rolling milk carton.”
The assignment; place as many “recovery” posters as possible along the 3500 mile
Hotel Reservations

Seaworld brings an underwater FANTASEA alive

For weekends in Otcober- Halloween meets the sea this October during SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular. An underwater “fantasea” comes alive as costumed youngsters trick-or-treat among friendly sea witches, octopuses, mermaids, pumpkin fish and more.
Celebrating SeaWorld’s new partnership with Sesame Street, everyone’s favorite mathematician, The Count, also gets into the Halloween spirit with his very own character breakfast. SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular takes place October 6 - 7, 13 - 14, 20 - 21, 26 - 28 & 31, and is included in park admission. The event begins each day at 11 a.m.
Spooktacular Highlights Include:
Spooktacular Concert Series – Four concerts sure to have every preschool-aged child dancing in the aisles will take place at Bayside Stadium during event weekends. Each artist performs between noon and 7 p.m. Artists include:
Dirty Sock Funtime Band - Oct. 6 & 7 Rebecca Frezza & Big Truck - Oct. 13 &14 Audra Rox - Oct. 20 & 21 Hot Peas N’ Butter - Oct. 26, 27, 28 & 31
Trick-or-Treat Sea Sweets - SeaWorld offers children the ultimate in safe and exciting trick-or-treat fun. Kids can follow their Spooktacular maps to 15 different treasure stations throughout the park, each featuring treats galore.
Frozen Fun Zone – A “Spooktacular” celebration breaks out in this fun-filled area as an ice witch, roller skating break dancers and a live DJ host interactive games and activities.
Strolling Entertainment - Fun loving sea witches Gummy Worm Wanda, Salt Water Taffy, and Swedish Fish Suzy, along with 35 other fanciful sea creatures, greet, mingle and play with guests making their way through the park. An interactive school of fish and live pumpkin fish join in on the Spook-“tastic” fun.
More SeaWorld Halloween Fun:
SeaWorld’s Spooky Spectacular Sleepover (Oct. 19, 20, 26 & 27 from 7 p.m. – 9 a.m.) Family members start the evening trick-or-treating around SeaWorld's 'spooktacular' exhibits. Then, before settling into their spooky slumber at the Shark Encounter, they come face to face with predatory polar bears, stealthy stingrays and those terrors of the deep, sharks. An evening snack and breakfast also are included. Cost is $78 per person or $113 to include park admission; program is for children in grades K-5 and their families. For more information, guests may visit www.seaworld.org.
Count Von Count's Spooktacular Breakfast (October 6 - 7, 13 - 14, 20 - 21, 26 - 28 & 31 from 9:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.) 1-2-3… smile with The Count! Don’t walk around on an empty stomach, stay “1” step ahead of hunger. What goes great with “2” morning eggs? Infinite hugs from Count Von Count, Elmo and all of his furry friends! Featuring a hot buffet enjoyed with the furriest characters in town, the Count’s Spooktacular Breakfast is a fun-filled experience sure to delight kids and parents alike. You can “count” on it! Prices are $16.95 plus tax for adults and $14.95 for children (ages 3 – 9). Children under 3 are free but require a reservation.
For more information, please visit SeaWorldSpooktacular.com or call 1-800-327-2424.
SeaWorld Orlando is the world’s premier marine adventure park with 200 acres of world-class shows, thrilling rides and unforgettable animal encounters. Millions of visitors have explored the mysteries of the sea with up-close animal interactions and exhilarating experiences. State-of-the-art rides give guests unprecedented thrills, while amazing animal encounters include killer whales, dolphins, sea lions, sharks and more. Orlando Hotels

Sam Sneads at Lake Eola Orlando

LevelRed Fundraiser for the American Red Cross of Central Florida
October 11th
Sam Sneads
Lake Eola301 E. Pine Street Orlando, Florida 32801
407.999.0109
http://www.samsneadstavern.com/

6pm - 9pm
$10 Donation
Hurrican Preparedness Month
"Creating awareness one level at a time"

90th Anniversary Celebration
FREE Food
MANY, MANY FREE Giveaways
Discounted HH Cocktails
Orlando Restaurants

Vista Cay Orlando

Location. Vista Cay by Millenium is a condo resort on Lake Cay in the midst of the excitement of Orlando, Fla. The resort is a straight drive from the Orlando International Airport, and is located adjacent to the new concourse of the Orlando Convention Center. SeaWorld and Discover Cove are less than two miles away. Universal Studios is less than four miles from the property. The Walt Disney Resort is less than 10 miles from the resort.
Features. This beautifully landscaped Tuscan-themed resort offers condominiums and town homes in Orlando's prime entertainment district. The clubhouse features a dedicated concierge desk in the lobby, which provides tour assistance and other guest services, spa services, an infinity pool with multi-level decks and lounge chairs, spa tubs, a sports court, a children's play area, computer stations with complimentary wireless Internet access, a game room, movie theater, fitness center and event space. Guestrooms. Two- and three-bedroom condominiums and three-bedroom town homes at Vista Cay by Millenium are custom designed. All units offer living areas and private patios or balconies with tables and chairs. Full kitchens feature Corian or granite countertops, refrigerators, stoves, dishwashers and coffeemakers. Entertainment centers in the living areas are equipped with 42-inch plasma televisions or 56-inch, big-screen televisions with cable channels, VCRs and DVD players. Flat-screen, 20-inch televisions with cable channels and DVD players are available in the bedrooms. Computers and complimentary wireless Internet access are provided in all units. Beds offer fine linens and pillowtop mattresses. Expert Tip. Located in the International Drive Area, the resort is close to a myriad of restaurants, shopping malls and attractions, including SeaWorld one-and-one-half miles away. SeaWorld is home to the famous Shamu, the killer whale show, dolpin shows and encounters, amusement rides and many more attractions. Please Note:A cleaning fee is required for stays of five nights or less. Cleaning fees are determined by the resort and are subject to change. Hotel Reservations

Floridays Resort Orlando

Location. Floridays Orlando Resort is set on 20 acres of landscaped property in Orlando, Fla. SeaWorld and the Lake Buena Vista entrance to the Walt Disney World resorts are two-and-one-half miles away. The resort provides complimentary transportation to the nearby theme parks.
Features. This resort greets guests in a 22,000-square-foot welcome center with check-in facilities and a concierge. A restaurant offers casual dining and take-out options to eat poolside or in the guestrooms. The pool bar and grill serves tall, tropical drinks and lunch items. A marketplace sells groceries, toiletries, sundries and other essentials. Conference facilities are available, and wireless Internet access is complimentary throughout the complex. A fully equipped fitness center and electronic game room are available in the welcome center. A sizeable pool complex features an expansive, open pool with lounge area, giant slide, splash tower, rock grotto and an adjacent deck for casual gatherings. A water jet playscape and wading area for small children is located near the pool. A smaller, more private pool is offered in a separate location from the pool complex. Guestrooms. Suites at the Floridays Orlando Resort feature separate living and dining areas with full kitchens. Both bedrooms and living rooms are equipped with 37-inch flat-panel HD plasma televisions. Elegant dining rooms feature solid wood and glass tables with six chairs and a decorative chandelier. All suites have balconies. Bathrooms offer makeup mirrors and granite countertops, with master bathrooms featuring jetted tubs with separate showers. High-speed Internet access is available. Orlando Hotels

Vines Grill & Wine Bar at Sandlake Road

Located on Restaurant Row at the Fountains Plaza Bay Hill
2.5 miles from the Convention Center. My close friends had dinner with OE last friday evening at the famous Vines Grill located on sandlake road. We have been there many times, but it was their first and they really enjoyed the wine and appetizers.Our food selection for the evening was Bruschetta,Escargots,Seared Ahi Tuna,Fire-Grilled Octopus and the Mediterranean Salad. The selections were tasty and the portions were perfect, it hit the spot. Rob selected a smooth merlot, sonoma brand for the table,awesome selection-great choice. Vines is on our favorite list- great food and awesome service.
Restaurants in Orlando

The Monorail "MAPO" test

Have you ever ridden the express monorail to MK when they had to stop between Contemporary and the park, and try a few maneuvers? When they bring a new train online, they are required to test the automated 'kill engine if get too close to another monorail' system.

While I've long known about the test and its requirement, I only recently learned the name: the MAPO test. My guess is this would refer to the 'manufacture and production' facility of WDI also called MAPO (the name also seems to refer to Mary Poppins the movie, whose profits enabled this facility to be built). If true, do the modern day CMs call it the MAPO test because the WDI guys insist this test be done?

Restaurant and park hours

I got a LOT of emails like this one from Sarah:

At the end of all this we had a huge hotel bill and from staying on site, with the only real perk being the free transport to and from the parks (we had rented a car and ended up driving in to some of the parks and paying for parking, because the bus system was unreliable, crowded, and hot). The Dining we felt was a disaster, we ate off site in Kissimmee more times than I can count because we wanted sit down, reservations were not available in the parks, and stand-by waits were never less than 90 min. anywhere we went (not to mention they were always mobbed by agitated guests). I guess we saved some money doing it that way, but had Disney not been so ridiculously packed with reservations we probably would have eaten at the park sit downs a lot more (I certainly wanted to). It felt like that if we wanted to eat at the parks we had to plan our whole vacation around food, which is silly! We were there for the Disney magic and attractions, Disney food is just a bonus - it shouldn’t feel like a huge hassle. We’re on vacation, we’re trying to have fun and relax!

Will we go back again? Of course, it’s Disney! We’ve even started planning a trip for the indeterminate future. But, we won’t be staying on site next time and we won’t be visiting the Disney parks for a full week. I enjoyed my first trip to WDW, but if Disney wants me as a repeat tourist every year they need to fix the dining program and do something about the hours.

PhotoPass pretty expensive

I'm not shy in my column to point out the virtues of PhotoPass. But John writes in:

I loved the idea when we were at the parks on our honeymoon. But when we got home, we discovered that each individual print was $12.95! We wanted seven prints of the same darn photo and that cost us $90! That's crazy and terrible -- there's no way printing 7 copies of the same photo should cost so much. Next time we go to WDW, we will skip the PhotoPass entirely. It's a great idea and also a complete ripoff, plain and simple.

Make park hopping automatic?

In response to a recent column when I noted any one park at WDW couldn't stand up to DL, Robert M. wrote:

But of course, as your careful "vs. one park" wording belies, WDW is more than one park, it's a full ecosystem and should be treated that way. This, however, reminds me of something I have been mulling for a while: Is it really in WDW's interest to make park hopper tickets a surplus charge? Of all the surplus ticket charges, it seems the easiest to avoid - it does not give access to a new park or protect your investment in case of a change of plans. In other words, it seems the most like a "luxury".

Yet, it seems so very much in Disney's interest to have people park-hop. When they park hop they take themselves out of the ride queues for at least an hour, but likely longer. And they are using facilities which are off the shelf and easier to maintain. They expose themselves to more of the advertising and merchandizing that exists at the entry/exits. They are more likely to try a restaurant they are interested in at another park (compared to finding an interesting restaurant without an admission ticket acting as a cover charge). It load-balances the parks; if one is busy that day, some people can opt to hop to a different park. And then there is also the intangible stuff you like to focus on: feelings of being respected, of being in control, not feeling like they have to pre-plan, etc. And in a world of full-park hopping a per park comparison as you did would seem as odd as a per-land comparison.

I really feel that, if not free, park hopping should be an easy to attain add-on. Free with resort stay; free with online/advance ticket purchase; free as a dreams come true thing; free with EPCOT restaurant reservation; etc.

The Oceanaire Seafood Room.......

Name: One-Night Only "Top Chef" Dinner at The Oceanaire Seafood Room
Date: Thursday, October 11, 2007
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Place:
The Oceanaire Seafood Room
Pointe Orlando
9101 International Drive
Orlando, FL 32819
Description: The Oceanaire Seafood Room hosts a one-night only private dinner, featuring Brian Malarkey, Bravo’s “Top Chef 3 Miami” contestant and executive chef of The Oceanaire Seafood Room San Diego. Chef Malarkey will prepare a four-course dinner menu of recipes from the Emmy-nominated hit culinary series, incorporating some of his famed “Top Chef” recipes. Seating is limited; reservations are required at 407-363-4801
Cost: $100 per person
For more information: Call for reservations at 407-363-4801 or visit www.theoceanaire.com.
Orlando Hotels

SerbFest in Longwood Florida

OCTOBER 26th-28th 2007
The primary purpose of this event is to raise funds for the St. Petka Serbian Orthodox Church.
There will be a lot of traditional Serbian food, that is a unique mix of traditions from Greece, Hungary, Turkey and Austria, and entertainment. This is fun for whole family.
This year they will have guests from Arizona... Firebrass TRUBACI - and Folklore dancers from Canada.
Click here for more info on serb-fest and do not forget your orlando hotel reservations

Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony

NOVEMBER 4 @ 8 PM at the Amway Arena
Superstar Tour Pre-sale Offer NOVEMBER 4 @ 8 PM
Superstars Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony will co-headline their first tour together this fall. It's a mega-wattage match-up of some of the most exciting music in the world and Lopez's first concert tour ever!
PRE-SALE DETAILS
Start: Thursday, September 20 @ 10 am
End: Thursday, September 20 @ 10 pm
Password: RUMBA
This pre-sale is internet only.
Dates, times, prices, discounts, venues, performers and deadlines are subject to change. Do not forget your hotel reservations

AeroDynamiX Aerial Extreme Cirque Show

Cirque USA's show Aero DynamiX will amaze everyone with its international cast of aerialists acrobats, dancers and cirque acts. The show will also feature a special performance by Clymb-X Aerial Dance Theater. This one hour production is open to the public and suitable for all ages. Proceeds will go to the Rock Church Building Fund and will help create many wonderful programs for families in need.
Ticket prices are $28 for general addmission
$38 rear center rows and $48 for center front rows and VIP section
Tickets on sale at the Rock Church, Cirque USA
For More info call 407-207-3428
Location
Venue Rock Church Arena
Homepage: Website
Street: 5515 W Irlo Bronson meml hwy
ZIP: 34746
City Kissimmee, FL
Country: US
Orlando Hotels

International Drive Area Hotels

Rodeway Inn - Kids Eat FREE Program * Best lodging value in Orlando!
Quality Inn Orlando - FREE shuttle to Universal * Heated Pool * Kids eat FREE Quality Inn Plaza - Offering best family vacation packages to Orlando Florida
Hotel Reservations

Transportation Cards at WDW

We rode in the nosecone (operating cab 6) of the monorail last weekend and in addition to the usual Monorail card, we got a new one. This one gave some factoids about the ride and claimed it was part of a series of WDW Transportation Cards - there are 18 in all.

I'm intrigued. So we have to figure out what the 18 forms of transport are? And then we have to figure out how to get the cards? We wouldn't have known about this if we hadn't stepped into the nosecone of the monorail. Do we have to do other tricks like this to get the other cards?

Certainly, the bus is one of them. Maybe the Liberty Belle wheelhouse? Personal water craft? Ferries to Fort Wilderness? Boat to the Swan? How could there be 18 varieties??

Broken seagull

One of the three seagulls outside the Nemo pavilion (sigh, the Seas pavilion) is slightly broken. His lower jaw is permanently open, though it flaps around when he's supposed to be squawking. This is just a note to see how long it takes them to fix it.

Censored Monorail!

As you exit the monorail, the voiceover says: "please take small children by the hand as you disembark".

But twice yesterday, the 'hand' was bleeped out by the 'door-opening-chime' and the result sounded a bit like Jimmy Kimmel's Unnecessary Censorship, if you've seen that late night spoof.

I wouldn't have bothered posting this if it hadn't happend twice in one day! Back to seriousness: Disney should find a way to avoid bleeping out its safety spiel. Even though the result is unintentionally funny.

Monorail Gold joins Lime

Monorail Lime was the first to do away with the rail in the middle of the standing section of each monorail cab; they put four small poles instead to hold on to. This helps a lot when it comes to space for strollers. Monorail Gold now has it too! I hope they hurry with converting the rest. It is so much easier.

Get A Head Start On Your Holiday Planning Weekend Dates Sell Out Early!

Get A Head Start On Your Holiday Planning Weekend Dates Sell Out Early!
Warmest greetings as we gear up for our Best of Florida Christmas celebration! It's never too soon to plan your holiday getaway, but hurry packages sell out early. Secure your Christmas getaway, and get ready to immerse yourself in the total holiday experience with the Best of Florida Christmas getaway. Packages start at $249* per night (based on a 2-night
stay) and include:
o Florida-View accommodations
o Two tickets to ICE! with priority entrance and multiple
visits during your stay
o Two tickets to ICE! Skating with multiple visits during your
stay
o Family Memories Gingerbread Experience
o Souvenir ICE! photo
o Holiday Bedtime Stories, via in-room TV
o Assistance of Christmas Concierge who can recommend and help
book unique holiday experiences throughout Orlando
o Overnight self-parking

Gearing up for its 5th year, ICE! will feature new scenes including a walk-through igloo and a towering gingerbread candy house, plus the longest ICE! slide in the attraction's history, all hand-carved from nearly 2 million pounds of ICE! Hotel Reservations

Busch Gardens Howl-O-Scream Recruitment 2007

Be part of the Busch Gardens’ Howl-O-Scream 2007 Scare Squad. No experience is necessary! Tryouts are held at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay every weekend now through Sept. 8. The auditions are held Fridays from 5-8 p.m. and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. No tryouts will be held on Labor Day weekend. Candidates must be 18 or older. All ages are welcome; our oldest performers are in their 80s! The jobs involve evening and weekend hours. This is the perfect second job or way to earn extra holiday cash. The rehearsals start in September. Event runs 16 nights, Sept. 28 – Oct. 28. We have hundreds of performing roles available in our Haunted Houses, Scare Zones and with our atmospheric entertainment throughout the park. Non-performing roles also available. Orlando Hotels Hotel Reservations

Seaworld named best marine life park

Amusement Today awarded SeaWorld Orlando a 2007 Golden Ticket Award for Best Marine Life Park. This is the second year in a row SeaWorld has won the most sought-after awards in the business of amusements and attractions. The Golden Ticket Awards are presented to the “Best of the Best” in the amusement industry calculated from an international poll conducted by Amusement Today. Surveys were sent to a database of experienced and well-traveled amusement park fans around the world – in balanced geographical regions – asking them to rate the “bests” in 24 categories such as “amusement parks,” “roller coasters,” “shows,” “friendliest staff” and “water rides.”
Hotel Reservations

Discovery Cove Orlando

Discovery Cove Orlando
Passport Member Exclusive Offer:
Invite Three Friends to Enjoy the Savings!
Passport members can enjoy the one-of-a-kind Discovery Cove experience at a special rate; you can also invite three friends to share the amazing experience.
As a Passport member, you can now make reservations for non-dolphin swim visits. Don’t miss the chance to explore beyond the shore!
Book your Discovery Cove reservations today!
Select dates: September 5 – October 7; November 12 – December 20
Call 888-635-8917 and have your active Passport ready.
Advanced reservations required. Reservations and visits must be made by December 20, 2007.
Dates subject to availability and restrictions apply. Passport member must be present for visit.
Orlando hotel reservations

'Rain or Shine' doesn't mean that, always

Alan reports:

My sister’s family was at MK for a Pirates & Princesses Party on one of the rainy nights. I know that it rained until 10:00 PM and that there was a severe thunder shower over the park, but can not tell you what day it was.

They were told to keep there ticket stubs and that they could use them for one free day at the MK. They had one year to do so.

And they still had a great time at the party. They got to ride almost everything they wanted to, the lines were short (or nonexistent), and the kids got enough candy and beeds to entertain them on the drive back to Massachusetts

New Norway film - not any time soon

I think I'll start using this blog to also post important emails I receive in reply to my MiceAge articles. Here's one from Stefan:

I wanted to add on to your note about the new urgency for the Norway film update. While I hope that is true, last month I had written the Norwegian Embassy in DC asking them about this and surprisingly I got a nice long email back, which I wish I had now saved since it from the Minister of Tourism or something close to that.

Anyway to recap it they said while the Norwegian government no longer supports the pavilion (money wise) there were talks awhile back to update the film to be done by Innovation Norway, a film company. But he said due to "Disney's steep and strict fees and policies" (those I remember being his exact words) these talks had fallen through and there is currently nothing in the works for this. He said the Embassy still would love to see this happen and they do care for the Norway pavilion even though they don't financially support it.

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay announces new attraction for2008

Tampa, FL -- Busch Gardens will announce details of the park’s new attraction, opening in 2008, at a press conference at the park on Thursday, Sept. 6 at 10:30 a.m., EST. The official name of the new attraction is: Jungala. Busch Gardens

Height / Age Restrictions at Walt Disney theme parks

Magic Kingdom Park
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – minimum height 40 inches
Splash Mountain – min. height 40 inches
The Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacres Farm – min. height 35 inches
Tomorrowland Indy Speedway – 52 inches to ride alone
Stitch’s Great Escape – min. height 40 inches

Epcot
Mission Space – min. height 44 inches
Body Wars – min. height 40 inches
Test Track – min. height 40 inches
Soarin – min. height 40 inches

Disney MGM Studios
Star Tours – min. height 40 inches
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – min. height 40 inches
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – min. height 48 inches

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park
DINOSAUR – min. height 40 inches
Kali River Rapids – min. height 38 inches
Primeval Whirl – min. height 48 inches
Expedition Everest – min. height 44 inches

Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park
Chair Lift – min. height 32 inches
Downhill Double Dipper – min. height 48 inches
Slush Gusher ( speed slide) – min. height 48 inches
Summit Plummet ( speed slide) – min. height 48 inches
Tike’s Peak ( children’s area) under 48 inches
Fahrenheit Drop – under 60 inches

Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park
Bay Slide – min. height 60 inches
Humunga Kowabunga (speed slide) – min. height 48 inches
Ketchakiddee Creek ( children’s area) - 48 inches or under
Crush ‘n’ Gusher – min. height 48 inches

Disney Quest Indoor Interactive Theme Park
Buzz Lightyear’s AstroBlaster – min. height 51 inches
Cyberspace Mountain – min. height 51 inches
Pirate’s of the Caribbean : Battle for Buccaneer Gold – min. height 35 inches
Mighty Ducks Pinball Slam – min. height 48 inches



For more details visist Orlando Attractions

Perfect photospot at Disney MGM

Here are my friends that went to MGM Studios with my family and me.
Miss OE Junior

Wagons, Loops, and EMH

Three unrelated topics today:

1. At the MK on Sunday, I saw a mother pulling a store-bought heavy-plastic wagon, in which was sitting a girl. I had to blink at that one. I thought Disney prohibited pull-from-behind anything. Strollers are "push in front of you". Did the policy change? Did the mother get away with something?

2. Fantasyland last night had area music, as it always does, only this time, it was the Pinocchio Village Haus loop! The land needs a Matterhorn if they're going to play that all the time. I stopped a wandering manager, who agreed with me that it was new, and weird. Maybe it was a mistake?

3. Saw EMH wristband distribution multiple times, and something occurred to me: no one, and I mean no one, looks carefully at those keycards. Could someone cheat the system by using last year's cards? Could a local visitor like me just get ahold of 3 cards for my family and enjoy EMH illicitly forever? I happen to not like EMH (man, is it ever crowded - the MK got more crowded as the EMH hour approached) so I would never do this, but I did wonder about the cheating.

Palm Restaurant at Hard Rock Hotel

The palm restaurant located at the famous Hard Rock Hotel Universal Studios is a great place for dinner. Please try the lobster for two and you can have any two sides, the arugula salad is a must the childrens menu have a great selection Kiana and Zania really enjoyed the food and they were also fascinated by the ladies restrooms, so they had to take pictures and also made two visits. Their comments were that it is so clean. Our choice of drinks for the evening were a malbec red wine from Argentina and the young ladies had shirley temples. To top things of our waiter, Michael was super service from a scale 1 to 10 he was a 10. On our next visist we are sure to ask to sit at one of his tables. The Hard Rock hotel is always a treat for my girls they love the atmosphere. Check out Hard Rock Orlando

Where Halloween Meets the Sea

Where Halloween Meets the Sea
Only SeaWorld can bring the myth of the sea alive, with an incredible underwater FantaSea. Dress up in your favorite costume and trick-or-treat while interacting with sea fairies, learning from a “school” of fish or dancing with an ice witch.
October 6-7, 13-14, 20-21, 26-28 & 31
New This Year
Dirty Sock Funtime Band – Oct. 6&7
Rebecca Frezza & Big Truck – Oct. 13&14
Audra Rox – Oct. 20&21
Hot Peas N’Butter – Oct. 26-28&31
Orlando Attractions

Back from radio silence!

Sorry about the extended radio silence. I've been putting the final touches on Draft 1 of the next book (which will be out for Holidays 2007, and will be Disneyland CM themed).

To make up for it, let me pack into a single post several things I've been meaning to say lately:

1. Free dining is back. You can tell because all reservations are full, and most tellingly, the Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station is now again a temporary looking all you can eat dinner buffet. Sigh. I'd say it's time for the rumored restaurant to be built on the site of the old TL skyway building!

2. Recently discovered little devices atop one shop in World Showcase, right near the rose garden. Turns out they are bug clickers, designed to scare away bugs from the rose bushes at the shop. Weird. They are quite audible to human ears.

3. No more milk refills to kid's meals at sit-down restaurants. That's quite sad. Are we pushing soda onto the next generation? I refuse to give in.

4. There's a lot of 'tiny atmosphere' now: they draw hopscotch at the UK pavilion, or a giant 'snakes and ladders' (think chutes and ladders). Many country pavilions are now doing more interactions and games like these. I see games in heavy use at the MK before parades: hula hoop, four square, even jumping rope. The latter makes me cringe each time. What if a Guest face-plants and sues?

5. When walking past the Lego store at DtD, I heard a ringing public telephone, so naturally I looked for it. Joke's on me! The sound emanated from a speaker above their window displays. I surmise they installed this because they know that heads turn, naturally, to the sound of a ringing phone. Those heads will now see the Lego displays. Cute.

6. I'm dismayed by the merchandise decision to make some stores at the parks look like discount stores. Watch for endcaps and counter displays that have a giant, garish '$10' in yellow letters. We don't want Wal-Mart, do we?

7. But one great thing about merch: Epcot is stocking retro designs from the 1980s on a few t-shirts. Alas, they don't seem to carry XL. don't they realize that many of us old enough for those t-shirts now wear larger sizes??

8. Have you ever hung around in the HISTA playground at MGM? (I guess I should start saying DHS). Parents by the dozen perch at the exit and await their kids, who run amok. Fine so far. But the parents are on the ground and in the sun. Is it so hard to build chairs and benches and shade here???

9. There's a ride in almost every park I've never done. At DHS, it's the Animation Academy. At DAK, it's Pocahontas. At MK, it's the Astro Orbiter. At Epcot, ... nothing.

New Cities Get Air Service to Orlando

Beginning September 9, Alaska Airlines will be offering seven flights per week between Portland, Oregon, and MCO. Virgin Atlantic starts new Orlando service from Glasgow, Scotland, on October 20. West Jet has announced that it will offer five flights per week to Ottawa, Ontario, starting November 5 and one flight per week from Hamilton starting November 10. In 2008, Jet Blue will start offering seven flights per week from Burlington, Vermont, on January 10. Delta will offer a weekly flight from Cancun beginning February 2, and on February 17 West Jet will offer two flights from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Flights

Having a great time Disney MGM Studios

In search of a Coke Float at MGM Studios

Craving for a ice cold coke float in Disney's MGM Studios,look no further Carmen knows were to get one, it all at the 50's Prime Time Cafe.You will not want to miss this float, it is a must to have.

You can also get a pair of crocs at Disney MGM Studios.

Disney's Fast Pass Plan

Cut the wait time in 3 easy steps, OE and Carmen on the way to Fast Pass, here is the plan each family member insets their park ticket into the fast pass kiosk,then you receive a fastpass ticket with the return time so you can go play in the park instead of waiting in line.Remember to come back during your return time and hop on the attraction with little on no waiting. Carmen is an expert on fastpass at Disney MGM Studios