Leisure … more than a word, it's a lifestyle

Just recently I was invited to visit Discovery Cove to take a look around as we get a lot of our guests who ask about this wonderful park. Unfortunately I didn’t get to don my swimsuit or get into the water but I did have an enjoyable time wandering around and taking notes so I could talk to you about it in this blog.

Discovery Cove is situated very close to Sea World, about 15 minutes from most of our vacation homes and is open from 9.00am to 5.30pm on a daily basis. The park really feels like a tropical getaway and is the only place to experience the most exciting animal encounters the world has to offer. At Discovery Cove you can swim with a bottlenose dolphin and make a friend that will live in your heart forever. You can don a mask and snorkel in the Tropical Reef, a breathtaking underwater world teeming with thousands of exotic tropical fish and graceful rays. You will enjoy the freshwater swimming areas all year round as the water is kept in the 74 to 80 degree range. In the winter it might feel a little chilly so Discovery Cove does provide a full length wetsuit to keep you nice, snug and warm if would like one.

Nigel Worrall in the aviary at Discovery Cove

Alternatively, you can simply wander around and take time to enjoy the songs and vibrant colors of birds from all over the world in the Explorer’s Free Flight Aviary. Insider Tip: Make sure you grab some food inside the aviary to feed the birds…they’ll enjoy sitting on your shoulder or your hand as you feed them.

Here are some of my other Insider Tips to a great day out at Discovery Cove:

• Discovery Cove is all inclusive…that means everything is included. Once you’ve paid your entrance fee…that’s it…no more to pay.
• Discovery Cove provides all guests with swim vests and/or wetsuits, a mask and snorkel, towels and beach chairs. They will also provide you with a sample of a specially formulated sunscreen that is safe for use in the animal habitats.
• You should bring your own swimsuits (some people forget believe it or not), and, if you choose, water socks or rubber pool shoes. Don’t forget a hat, sunglasses, cover-up and dry clothes.
• Find out when stingray feeding times are when you arrive…it’s a lot of fun!
• Make sure you “Come Hungry”… remember the day is all inclusive and you can eat and drink as much as you like. Have breakfast at the park when you arrive!
• Do not wear jewelry; it’s for the safety of the animals.
• Make the day even more special: Ask about a private cabana…it’s an exclusive way to spend the day.

Private Cabana at Discovery Cove

So make sure you ask us about a day at Discovery Cove when you plan your next trip to Orlando…you’ll be glad you did.

Earlier this week I received a fantastic email and I thought I’d save it for today as it’s really a lovely way to end the week…and really sends the message home to all of us working for Florida Leisure Vacation Homes why we do what we do…

Baby goes straight from hospital to Florida Leisure vacation home

We thought we were looking for the impossible.  To celebrate our 30th
wedding anniversary, we wanted to get our 3 children and their families
to spend a week together in a large home or lodge.  They are spread
around the country so many years go by without all of us getting
together.  And it gets more difficult – - especially since they keep
giving us more grandchildren, which makes travel even more difficult.
So……….finding a place for all 16 of us to stay for a week under
one roof without stepping on each other would be hard.

Enter Florida Leisure Homes.  They provided us with a 6+ bedroom, 4 1/2
bathroom house with a pool, spa, game room, laundry, and plenty of
common space for sharing the good times.  To top it all off, the price
was very reasonable and the unit was in excellent condition.  Their
staff helped us arrive informed and ready to relax – - there were no
surprises!

The week started out with plenty of excitement as our 3 kids, their
spouses, and our 8 grandkids got reacquainted and the smiles and laughs
broke out.  It was fun being able to have the entire group eating,
watching TV, hanging around the pool, or just visiting.  In a hotel, we
would have been scattered around in 5 or 6 rooms.

We started visiting nearby Florida vacation attractions on the second
day.  The location made finding our destinations easy and we could be
back at the vacation home in time to swim or play games before dinner.

The 8 grandchildren were having so much fun!  With so many people in one
house we were concerned that everyone would get stressed out.  The
opposite happened – - everyone had more fun and was relaxed because
there were so many activities in the house.  In fact, our
daughter-in-law was pregnant and her new baby could obviously sense how
much fun it was on the “outside”.  So on the third day of our vacation
our 9th grandchild decided it was time to arrive!  Instead of going to
Universal Studios Florida, our son and his wife headed to the hospital.
We took everyone else to Universal – - every time we emerged from a ride
or attraction, we hurriedly dialed the cell phone to find out if the
baby had arrived.  At 4pm, grandson Slade popped out and screamed,
“Let’s get back to the vacation house so I can meet my brothers, sister,
and cousins!”

He came straight to the vacation house when he was discharged from the
hospital (going home could wait until the end of the week………).
When he turned three days old, he rode with us to Silver Springs and
spent the day vacationing with his entire family.

This only could have happened in a Florida Leisure
Home…………………..it was a wonderful week!

Dale & Becky Wadding
La Crescent, MN

Congratulations Dale, Becky and Slade. I love the fact Slade is wearing his “Friends Don’t Let Friends Stay In Hotels!” banadana. We all look forward to seeing you all again in the near future and your gift card for sharing this with us and being our  “Story of the Month” is on it’s way to you. Fantastic!

Homeland Security issued a nationwide warning to “be on the lookout for terrorists” yesterday. As a result security is now being upgraded at many of the nation’s stadiums, entertainment complexes, and even hotels out of fear they could be potential terror targets. Homeland Security says no specific threat regarding a stadium or any other venue has been made but keeping citizens safe is an ongoing effort.

If you couple that threat with the fact that hotels nationwide are facing their worst economic conditions ever and are having to cut back on staffing and service levels, it seems that now is the time when travelers need to make the switch to staying in vacation rental homes for their business or leisure needs.

Across the USA, it is rumored that as many as one in five hotels are now in some stage of foreclosure according to Kenneth Rosen, an economist at University of California.

As many as one in five U.S. hotel may default on their loans by the end of 2010 as the recession forces companies to spend less on travel and perks, according to Real Capital Analytics Inc. analyst Jessica Ruderman and Kenneth Rosen, an economist at the University of California.

“The value of hotel properties in default or foreclosure almost doubled to $17.3 billion in the second quarter through June 24 from $9 billion at the end of the first quarter, data compiled by Real Capital Analytics Inc. show. The New York-based research firm, which began tracking distressed commercial property in November, expects hotel defaults to increase by as much as $2 billion next quarter”, said analyst Jessica Ruderman.

“Hotels without question will have the highest foreclosure rate of any commercial real-estate sector,” said Rosen …

The ill fated Cypress Gardens has closed once again and only time will tell if it’s for good. Cypress Gardens has always been a decent day out but unfortunately it’s never really come to terms with how to actually get people to drive to the park in Winter Haven.

Here was the statement issued late yesterday:

From the earliest moment that our firm purchased Cypress Gardens and Splash Island Waterpark, our highest priority has always been to maintain the park’s beauty and protect its proud traditions as a mainstay of the State’s history and natural treasures. It is with these ideals in mind that we must announce that the park will be closed for business as of Wednesday, September 23, 2009.

During the last two years, Land South Adventures, LLC, has explored numerous management frameworks and exhausted every possible approach to keep the park running in its traditional form. Now, we are in the process of negotiating with several potential purchasers and lessees for all or part of the property, and do not feel it is fair to our employees, the guests, or the public to continue operations heading into the fall with the future of the property in flux. We are optimistic that the outcome will be in the best interests of both the park and the residents of Polk County and the State of Florida.

Here’s part two of the going back to the 60′s video series :

It’s always fun looking back on past times and evoking some of the memories of times we lived in. This week the Oprah show is taking a look back at the 60′s so we thought that we would as well!

Watch this video with us and let’s see how the world has changed… and then be sure to leave us a comment or two about what you think have been the good things …or the bad things.

Here’s a blog I also published in my real estate blog www.TotalRealEstateOnline.com earlier today. I think it has some relevancy to how things are at the moment and that maybe, just maybe, some confidence is returning to the market.

In perhaps another sign that the market is actually improving , new construction of U.S. houses increased in August, the Commerce Department estimated Thursday. Starts rose 1.5% in August to a seasonally adjusted 598,000 annualized units roughly in line with the 600,000 pace expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. This is the highest level of starts since last November. Starts of new single-family homes fell 3.0% to 479,000 in August, for the first decline in six months. Starts of large apartment units jumped 25.3% to 119,000. Building permits, a leading indicator of housing construction, rose 2.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 579,000. This is also the highest level since last November. So is this the good news we’ve been waiting for?

Details are starting to emerge for the the highly anticipated “park within a park” 20 acre Wizarding World of Harry Potter due to open next spring at Universal Orlando.  There will be three major Potter-themed attractions  including a “Forbidden Journey” ride set in the iconic Hogwart’s Castle, Dragon Challenge and Flight of the Hippogriff.

Dragon Challenge is a high-speed ride described as “definitely for the brave” and is based on the Triwizard Tournament, a fictional 13th century contest between students of the three most prestigious magical schools of Europe.

Another is Flight of the Hippogriff, a coaster based on Rowlings’ magical creature with the head, wings and front legs of a giant eagle and body, hind legs and tail of a horse.

Also keeping faithful to  author J.K. Rowlings’ seven-book Harry Potter series visitors will be able to sample butter beer and pumpkin juice at the Three Broomsticks Restaurant, relax in the Owlery and be fitted for a magical wand in Ollivander’s Wand Shop, all of which are familiar to Potter fans.

The “Wizarding World” had been under development for five years and park details have been tightly held since the project was announced in 2007.

The Walt Disney Company has just recently announced an expansion of Fantasyland and several other projects and this can only be seen as good news for the Orlando area. Theme parks always need something new to draw people back and it’s not before time that Fantasyland is now going to get its makeover.

Basically, the plans wipe out everything to the east of the carousel and to the north of the Pooh ride in the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland, all the way over to the Tea Cups. That includes Mickey’s Toontown Fair. The Barnstormer survives, to be relocated, along with Dumbo, to the far east-side of Fantasyland (the side close to Tomorrowland). In the middle, in addition to the Ariel ride, we get a Belle-themed restaurant and walk-through attractions for Aurora and Cinderella.

The expansion is set to be complete for 2013 so only time will tell to see if people put off their trips until then. Let’s hope not.

On this video you will learn Vacation Home Secret #1 and why so many people have stopped staying in hotels and are now choosing an Orlando vacation home rental from Florida Leisure Vacation Homes. Enjoy.