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

If you’ve not made it to the Epcot 18th International Flower & Garden Festival yet, then the good news is that you’ve still got time. This weekend the star of HGTV’s Designed to Sell, Taniya Nayak will be on stage to talk about how to add value to your house without breaking the bank.

Taniya Nayak & Nigel Worrall

Taniya has some great tips and tricks on how to spruce up you home and spend very little money doing it so you really don’t want to miss out on hearing what she has to say.What you may not know about Taniya is that she was raised in Boston but her upbringing was shaped by her fun loving and creative family, who are from India, and influenced by her father, a talented architect.

After attending Boston Architectural College for Interior Design, her design style and upbeat personality landed Taniya her first television gig almost a decade ago on ABC Family’s Knock First. That show was geared towards designing rooms for hip, ambitious teens to showcase their own unique personalities. After that, Tanyia made the move to HGTV as a designer on the edgy series FreeStyle, a show encouraging homeowners to get imaginative with things they already had in their homes.

Since then, Taniya has joined the Designed to Sell team … a show that helps homeowners transform their homes with a $2,000 budget before they then put their homes on the market. Taniya is also soon to appear as the host  on another new HGTV program called House Hunters on Vacation. Make sure you get to Epcot this weekend to hear Taniya if you can….here’s the list of upcoming expert speakers:

Taniya Nayak, Designed to Sell and Destination Design (April 1-3)
Adding Value to Your Home Without Breaking the Bank

Ahmed Hassan, Yard Crashers (April 8-10)
Life, Love and Landscaping

Patti Moreno, Garden Girl, HGTV.com (April 15-17)
Gardening with Kids: Fun Seed Starting Projects

Michele Beschen, B. Original (April 22-24)
When Nature Calls: Creative, Back-to-Basics Style for All Things Natural and Decorative

John Gidding, Curb Appeal: The Block (April 29-30, May 1)
The Design Process: Curb Appeal Projects from Concept to Construction

Frank Fontana, Design on a Dime (May 6-8)
Beautiful on a Budget: High Style, Low-Cost Secrets to Bringing Indoor Styling Outside

Vern Yip, HGTV Design Star (May 13-15)
Top Design Trends Made Affordable and Accessible

In addition to these celebrity stage appearances, HGTV will present the popular twice-daily Disney Gardening at Home series, where guests can join a workshop and take home projects ranging from hanging baskets to water garden features. The Festival Center’s HGTV Theater will present a special-engagement film featuring tips and hints from HGTV shows.

It’s a great time to visit Epcot… enjoy

The top flowboarders in the country will meet in Kissimmee on April 30, 2011, when the 2011 U.S. FLOW Tour comes to the new Fantasy Surf indoor water attraction just off Poinciana Blvd. Wave Loch, creator of the U.S. FLOW Tour and manufacturer of FlowRiders®, has selected Fantasy Surf to be the second stop of the four month long tour that is held at 16 venues across 13 states.

“Wave Loch has been closely involved with the construction and launch of Fantasy Surf. We’re impressed with the beautiful 14,000 square foot facility and the way the community has embraced the new venue,” said Rob Chalfant of Wave Loch.

“Hosting a FLOW Tour competition will not only put Fantasy Surf on the national map but it will provide an economic boost to surrounding businesses that will offer lodging, food, and other amenities to the tour audience,” said Chuck Richardson, director of sales and hospitality at Fantasy Surf.

Fantasy Surf features Wave Loch’s patented double FlowRider® system which uses high-pressure pumps to create as much as a 30 MPH three-inch sheet of water. The water from the 55,000 gallon tank flows up and over the shape of a faultless tension sheet wave simulating the feeling of surfing.

Riding the indoor attraction has the look of surfing and wakeboarding, ride of snowboarding, and tricks of skateboarding in a safe and controlled environment.

Fantasy Surf sponsors the expert men’s and expert women’s champions of the 2010 U.S. FLOW Tour: Sean Silveira and Amanda McCormick, both from the Orlando area. After winning the U.S. competition, Silveira and McCormick went on to capture their respective divisions in the World Flowboarding Championships in October in Singapore. Both Silveira and McCormick plan to compete in the 2011 tour and will train at Fantasy Surf.

A typical U.S. FLOW Tour event brings hundreds of participants, coordinators, sponsors and vendors to a venue so it looks like Kissimmee will be a busy place towards the end of next month.

For more information, visit www.ultimateindoorwave.com.

Construction crews have now installed the final piece of track that completes Cheetah Hunt’s epic 4,429-foot run – a record length among Busch Gardens Tampa’s coasters. Busch Gardens’ design & engineering team also lost no time in getting the mega-attraction’s trains on the track for the first round of testing and last at the end of last week they began the slow process of using cranes and pulleys to drag the car around the track. This initial testing is the park’s way of making sure the car glides smoothly along the entire length of the ride, as well as checking that the “ride envelope” – the space around the car and rider with arms fully extended – has plenty of clearance.

The final section of the track, which completes the “jump” over the Skyride’s cables, was bolted into place just before 9:30 p.m on 14th March and even with the completion of the track,the work is far from over in preparing the new mega-attraction for its May 27^th grand opening. Crews will spend the next two months finishing the intricate sculpting – or “theming” – of the coasters’ surrounding architecture.

Construction also continues on innovative Cheetah Run habitat, which will house more than a dozen of the highly endangered cats and offer guests unique opportunities to get up-close and witness a cheetah’s speed first-hand during daily sprints.

Busch Gardens’ animal care team has something new keeping them up at night – a four-week-old baby cheetah that requires regular feedings and 24-hour care.

The new cub was born at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens to a mother who wasn’t able to care for him. When zoo keepers saw that the baby was not eating and having trouble gaining weight, they made the decision to hand-raise him. Now, at a little more than two pounds, the cub is eating well, getting stronger and eagerly exploring his new home.

Cheetahs are regulated by the Species Survival Plan (SSP), which tracks a species’ genetic lines in zoos and animal parks around the world and makes recommendations as to where specific animals should be placed for successful breeding opportunities. It was on the SSP and Jacksonville Zoo’s advice that the new baby was brought to Busch Gardens.

Once he is old enough, he will join the group of cheetahs living in Cheetah Run, the innovative new habitat opening alongside the Cheetah Hunt launch coaster that will bring guests face to face with these agile predators. Upon reaching maturity, he may also become an important part of Busch Gardens’ plans for a cheetah breeding program that will help boost the population of these critically endangered animals.

Cheetahs are included on both the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list of vulnerable species as well as on the US Endangered Species Act list of threatened species. Only approximately 12,400 cheetahs remain in the wild.

Busch Gardens supports the conservation of and education about cheetahs through the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, which has donated nearly $100,000 to cheetah efforts in Africa since 2005 and also helps fund conservation programs for white rhinos, marine animals and many other species around the world.

It was one of the more extraordinary days that Arnold Palmer has ever seen at his event, the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, as overnight two shot leader Martin Laird went from a shocking collapse to unlikely champion at Bay Hill this afternoon.

Three shots behind with just four holes to play, Laird managed to make birdies and two clutch pars to close with a 3-over 75 and become the first European winner in the 33-year history of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Laird’s final round 75 became the highest final round ever by a Bay Hill champion.  Laird still needed some help from Steve Marino, who lost the lead with a double bogey from a plugged lie in the bunker on the par-3 17th and although Marino made birdie on the 18th for a 72, Laird sealed the victory when he two-putted for par from 90 feet.

It was an unlikely victory for Laird as after 11 holes he was 5 shots over but he showed he was made of stern stuff as he impressively made back-to-back birdies to reclaim the lead, then sank a five-foot par putt at 17 and then nailed a four-foot par putt at 18 to finish 72 holes on eight-under par 280.

“I’ve had perserverance all week and it paid off,” Laird said.

Laird completed a stellar day for Scottish golfers after countryman Paul Lawrie, the 1999 British Open winner, won the European Tour’s Andalucian Open earlier in the day to end his nine-year victory drought. The day was made complete for Laird as he got to meet the “King of Golf”, Arnold Palmer at the presentation ceremony for the first time… that’s some way to arrange a first time meeting!

Laird is now $1.08 million richer and will now make his Masters debut at the year’s first major championship in two weeks time. Congrats!

Today is the final day at MegaCon at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. The show is a science-fiction/fantasy and comic book convention, featuring celebrity appearances and photo-ops, panels and presentations, merchandise and collectibles and more. It is also one of the Southeast’s largest comic book, science fiction/fantasy, anime, gaming and toy conventions and headliners this year have included Capt. James T. Kirk himself, William Shatner, who turned 80 recently, and Spider-Man creator and Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee.

Also making appearances have been Robin Curtis, from Start Trek III and IV, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Buck Rogers actors Gil Gerard and Erin Gray, Lou Ferrigno, John Schneider of Smallville and Dukes of hazzard Fame, Kevin Sorbo, Cindy Morgan from the original Tron (and Caddyshack), Doug Jones, who played Abe Sapian in the Hellboy films, several actors from the original Battlestar Galactica, and SoCal Val and and Traci Brooks of TNA Wrestling.

Most of the media and comic book guests are available for autograph signings, although most do charge and prices vary depending on the celebrity, and some are also available for photo ops at an additional charge.

Dozens of exhibitors and vendors are also in attendance, selling comic books, collectibles, toys, apparel, and much more. Artist’s Alley features both established and upcoming artists and provides them with the opportunity to sell their work and display it for comic book creators, publishers and distributors.

One event I always look forward to is the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Golf and Country Club and every year on the Friday of the event is a wonderful opportunity to indulge the taste buds and check out some of the best restaurants in the Orlando area at the Wine & Dine on 9 event.

17 of the finest restaurants in the area came together to put on a food fest on the fairway of the 9th hole. The event ran from 2:00 to 5:30pm and it is sold as a special ticket to existing Friday daily tickets or those with weekly badges. 

New for 2011 was the VIP ticket that offered a separate upscale seating area exclusively for VIP Wine & Dine on 9 ticket holders only and it looked to be very popular for those that wanted the experience of being waited on.

It’s definitely the place to meet your friends to socialize and enjoy some exquisite wine and appetizer pairings during the Arnold Palmer Invitational and it’s an even greater event as the proceeds benefit the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Dr. Phillips Rotary International.

Make sure you get your ticket for next years event nice and early…because it always sells out!

Here’s some video from yesterday…

Yesterday I talked about the progress being made at Legoland Florida and today I want to go into further depth about what you can expect to see when the park opens in October.

There are 10 themed areas making up the park and all of them feature exciting and fun things to do for you and your young ones. When it opens it will become the largest Legoland Park in the world so it’s important to understand what’s coming our way. In order to do that I thought I’d go through each themed area one by one:

THEMED ZONES:

The Beginning
The Beginning hosts the park entry, ticket and pass sales, the Garden Restaurant and The Big Shop.

The Big Shop will be one of the largest retail stores in the world where guests can take advantage of a huge selection of LEGO and LEGOLAND merchandise.
The Market will feature authentic imported Danishes and freshly baked pastries, espresso, milk, juice, fruit, a selection of yogurts and soft serve ice cream.

Fun Town
When guests enter Fun Town, they truly get a sense they’ve entered a LEGO village.

Factory Tour – A firsthand look at how LEGO bricks are made from factory to finish
Studio Store – Visit this store to pick up all your favorite LEGO licensed products, such as Clutch Powers, SpongeBob™, Indiana Jones™, Star Wars™ and Batman™
Granny’s Apple Fries – The park’s signature dessert item made with crisp Granny Smith apples, powdered with cinnamon and sugar and served with a deliciously sweet vanilla cream sauce
Fun Town Theater – Three different 4-D movies will show throughout the day at LEGOLAND’s largest 4-D theater with seats for 700

Miniland USA
The heart of every LEGOLAND Park, Miniland USA will be home to seven specially themed areas:

Florida encompasses the entire state from Mallory Square in Key West to Bok Tower in Central Florida and antebellum mansions in the Panhandle. Miniland Florida also includes an expanded area for Kennedy Space Center and an interactive Daytona International Speedway® racing experience where guests can race LEGO brick cars.

Las Vegas features the world-famous Strip including the Luxor Las Vegas, New York, New York Hotel and Casino, Excalibur, Mirage, Treasure Island, Tropicana, MGM Grand, Venetian, Stratosphere tower and two iconic structures of Paris Las Vegas: the balloon sign and Eiffel Tower. “The Strip” at LEGOLAND also features a miniature wedding chapel, monorails and real-life sounds recorded in Las Vegas.

Washington, D.C. sports faithful re-creations of the White House (including the first family and “first dog”), the U.S. Capitol building, Smithsonian, Washington and Jefferson monuments and parts of Georgetown. An animated marching band parades in front of the Capitol and tiny cherry trees blossom every spring.

New York City features tiny jets of water shooting up from the fountain in Rockefeller Plaza, while an army of animated yellow taxicabs prowls the streets of Times Square. The Statue of Liberty, a cutaway view of Grand Central Station, The Empire State Building, the Guggenheim Museum and the Bronx Zoo are just a few of the iconic landmarks.

A Pirate-themed section hosts a full-on swashbuckling pirate adventure as two opposing pirate ships and their “mates” battle it out upon the high seas.

Castle Hill
Castle Hill takes kids back to medieval times where spells are cast and many knights, damsels and dragons are found.

The Dragon – An indoor/outdoor steel roller coaster that features a spirited and humorous view of life behind the scenes within the enchanted LEGOLAND Castle.
The Royal Joust – Kids ride LEGO-themed horses through a number of medieval scenes where they encounter other riders in a simulated joust.

Land of Adventure
In Land of Adventure, visitors of all ages explore hidden tombs and hunt for treasure.

Coastersaurus – This junior coaster reaches curves and dips in and around a prehistoric jungle of animated and life-sized LEGO brick dinosaurs.
Lost Kingdom Adventure – LEGOLAND Florida’s spectacular dark ride invites guests to fire laser blasters at targets and brave the rugged Egyptian landscape in all-terrain roadsters, while attempting to unearth the vast treasures of a forgotten empire.
Pharaoh’s Revenge – This outdoor attraction lets children and parents fire soft foam balls at enemies and explore the complex maze of the Pharaoh’s kingdom.
Beetle Bounce – Launch 15-feet up toward intricate, brightly jeweled LEGO scarab beetles perched atop two monumental obelisks.

XTreme
LEGO TECHNIC® Test Track –Brave guests feel the power of acceleration, braking and maneuverability as they race a life-size LEGO TECHNIC vehicle along a wild roller coaster track.
AQUAZONE® Wave Racers –Riders zip in and out of waves as they dodge water blasters on this dual water carousel ride.

LEGO City
LEGO City is the perfect place for youngsters to live out their dreams in a scaled-down town created just for them.

Fun Town Fire Academy – Families race to put out a “blaze” by piling into a “fire truck” and power it by pumping levers across a paved straightaway. The first family to put out the fire and make it back wins
Driving School – A “real-life” driving experience for children ages 6 through 13, where kids receive their official LEGOLAND driver license.
Junior Driving School – A print-size version driving school course for children ages 3 through 5
Flight School – An inverted steel coaster that lets kids experience the thrill of flight.
The Big Test – This interactive show uses acrobatics, music and playful fun to teach fire safety as the zany crew of Fun Town Fire Department attempts to conquer the “Big Test” to become official firefighters.

Imagination Zone
Imagination Zone emphasizes exploring and creation, while showcasing seven of the most visually exciting LEGO models in the world, including a replica of Albert Einstein’s head.

Game Space – Features 13 game stations where guests can experience LEGO STAR WARS™ and other family friendly games like LEGO INDIANA JONES™, LEGO BATMAN™ and Monsters vs. Aliens all year.
Build & Test – Build a LEGO car and test it against the competition on the digitally timed track.
LEGO MINDSTORMS™ – Build and program cutting-edge, computerized LEGO MINDSTORMS™ robots.
LEGO Clubhouse – Kids and parents stock up on bulk LEGO bricks and Make & Create kits while enjoying ice cream, popcorn, beverages and snacks.
Kid Power Towers – Kids and parents alike hoist themselves up to the top of a tower to get a great view of the entire park and lovely Lake Eloise, and then enjoy a fun “free-fall” to the bottom.

Pirate’s Cove
Pirate’s Cove has been taken over by swashbuckling pirates along the shores of Lake Eloise at LEGOLAND Florida’s very own live-action, water-stunt show.

DUPLO® Village
Duplo Village is ideal for toddlers and their imaginations. Youngsters can fly a plane, drive a car or explore a whole town – designed with their height in mind.

Legoland Florida is going to be a lot of fun and we’ll continue to give you updates over the next few weeks…

I paid a visit to Legoland Florida yesterday and was treated to a helicopter ride to look over what’s happening on the construction site. Progress is slow but sure at this stage but I’m delighted to be able to confirm that all is on track for an opening sometime in October. I was also able to have a chat with Legoland’s General Manager Adrian Jones at the construction site and he reported that the infrastructure has almost been finished and now they were starting to really build things, put in rides and redo existing buildings.

Aerial view of Legoland Florida

Adrian Jones (left) - General Manager Legoland Florida & Nigel Worrall

The most visible construction involves the castle, which will double as a loading station for the new Dragon Coaster ride. Its distinctive top can be seen from outside the park gates and the Triple Hurricane wooden coaster will become Coastersaurus. Before Legoland’s 50 rides and attractions could be built, systems such as drainage and sewage had to be addressed. “A lot of the core infrastructure was just too old and it would not have kept up with a brand-new, state-of-the-art park” said Adrian.

The 150-acre resort will feature attractions designed primarily for children aged 2 to 12, with mild roller coasters, car and boat attractions, Lego-building areas, a ski stunt show and small-scale versions of cities made of Lego blocks. While the scenery is dominated by dirt and concrete at the moment it won’t be long before you’ll see the start of the Lego veneer. Come July a lot of the rides will be in place and they’re also hoping to have a large part of the Miniland USA area, complete with the state of Florida in miniature as well as mini cities of Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., and New York City. Miniland USA will also feature Florida landmarks, including the Daytona International Speedway and Kennedy Space Center.

The park is located in Winter Haven and is approximately a 40 minute drive from most of Florida Leisure’s vacation homes. It’s a very easy drive and the park is going to be a much gentler pace than a typical trip to Disney or Universal. Legoland is offering a discounted annual pass for $99 and that ticket will be good from when the park opens and through the end of 2012 but purchases have to be made by April 30 at Legoland.com. Sales have been going so well that the the annual-pass price will go up to $159 for adults and $129 for children ages 3-12 after that date so you need to act quickly. Here’s the video of yesterday’s visit…

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson head the field for the Arnold Palmer Invitational that starts tomorrow at Bay Hill Golf and Country Club in Orlando. Justin Rose, who captured two PGA Tour victories last year, and Northern Trust champion Aaron Baddeley were also among a handful of late entries who joined the field and the final roster features nine of the top 20 players in this week’s world rankings.

After skipping last years event six-time Bay Hill champion Tiger Woods is making a welcome return after a year’s hiatus. Wherever he goes Woods is always in the news and hopefully this tournament will be a chance for him to set the headlines for all the right reasons. It’s been a painful 18 months for the 14 time major winner and he’ll no doubt see this as the perfect opportunity to tune up ready for the 2011 Masters in a couple of weeks time. U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell and Masters titleholder Phil Mickelson also are among the headliners in a field that also includes six of this year’s 11 PGA Tour winners.

Late additions to the roster for this years event are Stewart Cink and David Toms who join the 120-man field, along with Bill Haas and Fredrik Jacobsen. The field also will include Champions Tour pro Andy Bean, entering on the 30th anniversary of his 1981 victory.  Last years winner was Ernie Els in a rain delayed tournament that actually finished a day late and he’ll be hopeful of defending his title this year. It’s going to be a great four days of golf in Orlando!

Here’s some video from last year’s event: