Legoland - Another Orlando Vacation Option for Families

Central Florida will soon have another option in theme parks. Legoland is coming! What is Legoland you ask? It takes the concept of one of the most adored children’s toys - Lego’s and makes it into an entire park. That’s right. Soon there will be a whole theme park in Winter Haven, Florida devoted to Lego’s.

You may recall the Lego attraction at Downtown Disney. Well, that’s the general idea, only picture a whole amusement park centered around the theme. There is one such existing park in the United States- in California. There are also a few Legolands in other countries.

This Legoland is going to take over the property formerly used by Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven. Cypress Gardens was home to tens of thousands of plant and flower species. They also held water shows and began adding rides over the past few years in order to attract more visitors. But apparently, their efforts were not enough and the park closed this past September. It will be interesting to see how Merlin Entertainment will redesign the space to house Legoland.

Winter Haven is about an hour’s drive from Orlando, so it’s definitely another possible draw to the Central Florida area while families are on their Orlando vacation. Most children own and like Lego’s, so it’s easy to imagine that families traveling to Orlando to visit Disney, Sea World, or Universal, will make the short trip to Legoland. Many already add Busch Gardens in Tampa to their plans. This just gives one more option.

The park is set to open by late 2011.

Children have a blast at Sea World Orlando

Children love animals and if you have small children (under the age of six), Sea World Orlando is the best theme park you can take your children to when visiting Orlando, Florida. Why is Sea World more appropriate for young children than the other major theme parks? As I mentioned in the opening, children love animals. There is really nothing scary about animals. Children understand the concept of animal. They have seen dogs, cats, birds, and fish, so the sight of a penguin is not much of a jump for the imagination.

Think about a child’s reaction to a seven foot tall mouse, the famous icon of another Orlando theme park. Nothing against the mouse, but a lot of parents are shocked that their small children do not readily accept the giant rodent as a friend. Have you seen the parents that try to force their young children to hug him because it would make a good picture and a good memory for them? What about for the poor little child? Talk about a traumatic experience! A mouse at a pet store is only a few inches in length. It does not walk or talk and it does not wear giant white gloves.

At Sea World, your child will “meet” live animals, which by the way, do not talk. A fish swims. A penguin waddles. Sea world provides a harmless environment for young children to explore and learn about nature and the sea. The shows combine animals and humans in a way that makes sense to a young mind.

Yes, many children love the other theme parks, but if you are unsure and don’t want to take a chance on wasting your vacation money, Sea World is a good place to start. Adults and older children love it, too. There are roller coasters in addition to the shows and animal exhibits. So for families that contain at least one small child, Sea World Orlando is a fantastic park to start with in venturing into the theme parks of Central Florida.

What is the right age for children to travel to Disney?

If you’re thinking of traveling on Disney World Vacation with small children you may wonder, what is the right age? Is there a best age for a child to truly enjoy all that Disney has to offer? I know many families with small children who cannot wait until their little ones are “old enough” to take to Disney. What age is old enough? The question makes sense, because you want your child to remember this special occasion, especially if it is a rarity for your family.

As with any vacation, there are several important factors to consider before booking. First of all, consider your child or children. How do they handle meeting new people? How do they handle crowds? How do they handle heat? Each child is different and just answering these few questions, which every parent can answer without much effort, can be very telling on whether or not your child is ready for Disney World.

Some things that surprise parents when they take their children to Disney for the first time are that things that adults know and take for granted, children do not necessarily know and it can be shocking to them. For example, Cinderella is a princess and therefore human. She is one of the easiest characters for children to meet and be comfortable with. But Mickey Mouse is a mouse and therefore five inches tall, right? It can really rock a child’s world to see a “mouse” bigger than them with huge hands! Another surprising thing to parents can be what you find harmless, your child may find terrifying. For starters, any dark ride, even about Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, can ruin your child’s day, which would ruin yours as well. Woodland creatures can appear scary if they’re three feet high and in a dark room.

So, while many people claim that age 5 or 7 is the ideal age for a child to visit Disney, it is different for every child. Only a parent knows their child well enough to determine if he or she is ready for Disney World. But now you have some food for thought on making that determination.

Orlando is a Fabulous Vacation Spot

Orlando is not only a fabulous vacation spot for families with children. Seniors love an Orlando vacation, too, and now is the best time to visit. With most kids in school right now, families are not as free to travel. This means that the theme parks, restaurants, and shopping outlets are not as populated. This presents an amazing opportunity for you and your friend or sweetheart to make Orlando your own. So before Spring Break begins (normally the end of March to April), take this opportunity to enjoy sunny Orlando in your style.

If you’re a kid at heart and like the theme parks, you will find the pace and atmosphere a little calmer. Of course, Disney is Disney, so the vibrant ambiance will always be there. But you will be sure to find fewer little bodies, and big bodies, too, to maneuver around. This means this is the perfect time to stay at a fine resort and be able to afford it! Hotels and resorts, as well as rental vacation homes all offer discounts during off-peak seasons, and this is one of them.

Besides the theme parks, Orlando and the surrounding areas offer a variety of cuisine in very fine restaurants. Choose from themed restaurants to sophisticated fine dining establishments. And everyone knows that Florida is one of the best places to golf in the winter. There are also cultural events and attractions that can make for a more refined Orlando vacation than most people think possible in the attractions capital of the world.

So if you don’t happen to have small children vacationing with you, don’t avoid Orlando. This is the best time of year for you to visit Orlando and make it your own.

So Much to do on Your Orlando Vacation

There are so many things to do on your Orlando vacation. The area is known for having the world's best theme parks and they alone are enough of a reason to come to the Central Florida area year after year. Park hopping can fill up a vacation by itself. One of the many other fantastic things about Orlando is the shopping!

The locals know this little secret, but not unlike Disney and the other theme parks, most of the people you will encounter enjoying Orlando's outlet malls are foreigners. The discounts are good by anyone's standards, but when your currency is worth two of ours, imagine the savings and the large amounts of goods they scoop up.

Many people who travel to Orlando intent on shopping, bring extra suitcases just to carry home all of their bargains. Those are the serious shoppers- the ones who have been here before. Many others just browse and pick up a few special gifts or souvenirs. But with over a thousand stores to choose from, you can get almost anything in Orlando.

Make sure to bring comfortable shoes because between Orlando Premium Outlets, Prime Outlets, Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores, and hundreds of malls and specialty shops, you will likely walk miles each day. Add those miles to the miles you will walk if you do visit any theme parks, and you could consider your vacation an exercise plan. How’s that for an excellent excuse to take a vacation to Orlando? Save money, lose weight - it’s a win-win!

If you want to stay at quality Lake Buena Vista hotels at discount prices, be sure to search the hotels in the above search box. Lake Buena Vista hotels are just minutes from the Walt Disney World Resort.

Golfing on Your Orlando Vacation

As if you needed another reason to head for a warmer climate from the colder parts of the country, here is yet another- golf! For avid golfers, the long winters of the north can be excruciating waits to get back on the course. You can only go to the indoor driving range so many times before you just “need” to get out there for nine or eighteen holes of the real thing.

That is why winter is such a good time to vacation in Orlando, Florida. There are plenty of public and private golf courses to choose from and they are all open 365 days a year. If you dream of green fairways, you can find them in Orlando and the surrounding areas.

Most hotels and resorts offer golf packages to make it easy for you to plan and enjoy your golf vacation. Call around and ask about all of the options you are interested in. Waiting until you arrive removes some of the motivation from the hotel or resort. While you are still shopping around, they will be more likely to offer you specials and discounts. For example, you may get them to throw in use of a golf cart, club rental, a lesson with a pro, etc.

So, don’t suffer trying to stick it out all winter long. Orlando has lush, open golf courses waiting for you! Have family to bring along? They will be satisfied to let you go play golf while they do the theme park tour. Everyone will be happy with your choice to book an Orlando golf vacation.

Top 5 best Orlando attractions

Today as we are winding down 2009 I thought we would look at the top 5 Orlando attractions. The top three Orlando attractions are easy since Disney, Universal Studios and Sea World are the main attractions in Orlando. If you asked 100 people on the street you would probably get 100 different answers for what their 4th and 5th most favorite attraction in Orlando are...knowing that, this is my list.
1. Walt Disney World- This is the granddaddy of them all, and Disney is the main reason why Orlando is the number one family travel destination in the entire world. Disney World is absolutely huge. It consists of 4 major theme parks (Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and EPCOT), a downtown area, two great water parks, first class resort hotels, a couple of golf courses, fishing lakes, and an interactive indoor theme park which is called Disney Quest.
2. Universal Studios- Universal Studios Orlando consists of 2 major theme parks (Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios), a downtown area with great restaurants, first class resorts, and they are going to opening the much anticipated Harry Potter theme park in the Spring of 2010.
3. Sea World Orlando- Sea World is a much smaller than Disney World or Universal Studios but it is just as much fun. Sea World has 1 theme park which is built as part aquatic zoo and part theme park. They have a great little water park and who could not mention Discovery Cove where you and your family can swim with the dolphins. Sea World Orlando is a great little theme park for the whole family.
4. Pirates Dinner Show- This is my favorite Dinner Show in Orlando. The food is good, the service is great, and the show is awesome!
5. Fun Spot on Highway 192- I know this one is kind of random but if you love to race go carts then you need to check out Fun Spot. This Orlando attraction is set-up like a mini carnival with 4 great go cart race tracks. It doesn't cost a lot of money to visit and if you go on Friday nights they always have an antique car show which is pretty cool to see.

If you are visiting Orlando we would love to assist you with your travel plans. We have great deals on a few Orlando hotels, to make a reservation all we require is a $50 refundable deposit and your remaining balance is due 15 days prior to your arrival. We guarantee to have the lowest prices on any of the Orlando hotels we offer, and our guests can book with confidence since we offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Best Orlando Vacation Deals of 2010

Today I thought we would look at the three best Orlando vacation specials have for 2010.

1) Disney World- Since we have had great success with our current Disney World ticket offer we are going to stick with it especially for the first couple of months of 2010. We are upgrading all 4 day Disney World tickets, both hopper tickets and base tickets, to 7 day tickets.

2) Sea World Orlando Specials- It is quite surprising that we have not seen any ticket changes at Sea World since The Blackstone Group purchased them a couple of months back. Keep in mind, The Blackstone Group also owns majority of the stock in Universal Studios so one would think that there would be a special ticket which would benefit both Sea World and Universal Studios. e We have not seen anything yet, but we are expecting some news soon. If you purchase a Sea World ticket from us, you can upgrade the single day ticket to a 7 day ticket at the gate.

3) Orlando Vacation Homes- For January and the first part of February we are offering our Terra Verde townhomes at $84 night a night, and we even have 3 bedroom vacation homes with a private pools for $81 a night.

We are really excited about our specials going into 2010, and we are looking forward to a great year. Please click here to see our most up to date Orlando vacation specials. We also have a full staff of travel specialist waiting to assist you should you need a little assistance.

Kissimmee Vacation Packages

Looking for a great Christmas gift? Well you have to look no further, simply book one of our Kissimmee vacation packages and all you will have to pay is a $50 refundable deposit. The remaining balance will not be due until 15 days prior to your arrival, and if something comes up between now and 15 days til your arrival date, we can cancel your reservation and refund you $35 of your deposit.

Think of the fun you and your family members, girlfriend, boyfriend, or just friends will have on Christmas day making your plans to come to sunny Kissimmee Florida and spend a few days living it up. Kissimmee is one of the best places to go on vacation, while you are here you can see Disney World, Sea World, Gatorland, FunSpot… in fact there are over 35 total theme parks and attractions located in Kissimmee. Kissimmee is also home to a number of top rated golf courses and Kissimmee Lake Taho is known as one of the best bass fishing lakes in the world.

We have a full staff of reservationist waiting by to assist you with your Kissimmee vacation. All of our travel specialist live right here in Central Florida and they have a total of 50 years of travel sales experience amongst them. We offer a lowest price guarantee on any of our Kissimmee hotels and we also have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. We look forward to seeing you in 2010.

Christmas Vacation in Orlando

Christmas is a great time to spend in Orlando. If you have not made your plans for this year it might be a little late but here are 5 great reasons to spend Christmas and New Years here in Orlando next year:
1) Disney Very Merry Christmas Parade- There is nothing like the Disney's Very Merry Christmas Parade. It is held on certain dates in December and it really gets you in the Christmas Spirit. The parade lasts for about 2 1/2 hours, and it is held at the Magic Kingdom Theme Park.
2) Lots of Activities at the Parks- Christmas time is the busiest time of the year for the theme parks but don't let this deter you. Sure there are more people here than in September but the parks also have more people working to accommodate for the extra guests. Think of it this way, the more people that are here the more activities (parades, special events, etc) Disney, Universal, and SeaWorld are going to provide.
3) Weather- Today the temperature is in the low 70's but this weekend we should be in the mid to high 80's during the day and low 70's at night. The December weather in Orlando is great...not to hot and not too cool.
4) Bowl Games- Orlando is home to two bowl games. The Champs Sports Bowl which is held on December 27 and the Citrus Bowl which is held on January 1. This year the LSU Tigers will take on Penn State in the Citrus Bowl.
5) Out Door Activities- Golf, Fishing, Tennis, Basketball, Swimming...no matter what your favorite outdoor activity Orlando is the place for it. Orlando is home to many world class golf courses, and Kissimmee Lake Taho is one of the best bass fishing lakes in the world.

We look forward to seeing you next year in Orlando. If we can assist you with your travel plans to Orlando please give us a call. During Christmas, many families like to stay in one of our Disney vacation homes since they all have their own private pools.

Deals on Kissimmee vacation homes

This year, the deals on vacation homes in Kissimmee, FL are better than I have ever seen. Yes, the nightly prices on these vacation homes near Disney World are better in 2009 than they were in 2001...quite remarkable. Here are three good tips to get the best deal when renting a Kissimmee vacation home:
1. Decide on a neighborhood-This is key...the neighborhood makes the house. We suggest looking for a vacation home community with a security gate, 24 hour guard service, one with a huge clubhouse with community swimming pool. What you are looking for in these communities is one that offers all the amenities you would find at a four star hotel, and then you can also have all the space the vacation home is going to offer you. Decide on a community which is not more than 15 minutes away from Disney.
2. Once you have decided on a neighborhood then start searching for the deals. You will probably find it easier to deal with a wholesaler or vacation home property manager than dealing directly with the home owner. You can get good deals by working directly with the home owners, but more than likely their full time job is not renting out their Kissimmee vacation home. However, to find the best deal talk to both property managers and home owners directly, the one with the best deal wins.
3. Size matters. If you think all your family needs is a three bedroom vacation home go for the four bedroom. Why? Simple, more space and the bigger the house the bigger the swimming pool. The price difference between a three bedroom vacation home and a four bedroom vacation is about $10 to $15 more per night.

We hope this information was helpful and if you are looking to rent a Kissimmee vacation home please give us a call. We have full staff of travel planners waiting to assist you.

Star Wars Convention Coming to Orlando 2010

The Orlando Convention and Visitors Bureau just landed the Stars Wars Convention in 2010. The official dates are August 12-15 and the tickets will go on sale December 10, 2009. The price of the tickets are $120 for all four days and $50 for a single day ticket. This is the fifth Star Wars Convention is slated to bring in Star War fans from all over the world. It is going to be interesting to see what Disney World does as a tribute to one of the most popular films of all time.

If you are a fan of Star Wars and you are thinking about coming to this convention, we are offering all Star Wars Fans a $25 discount off the price of their Orlando Fl. hotels. Simply just let one of our friendly customer service agents know you are coming to this festival, and we will take the discount off your total price.