Just announced over at Kennedy Space Center – When space shuttle Atlantis returns from its final mission in July, it’s coming home to stay at Kennedy Space Center, congressional sources said today.
Their confirmation came moments before NASA Administrator Charles Bolden was to make the announcement that the Visitors Center here will get to keep and display Atlantis for visitors and for the thousands of KSC workers who spent their careers launching the shuttles into orbit over the past three decades.
As expected, KSC won a nationwide sweepstakes to keep one of the three remaining active shuttles that have been the backbone of America’s space program since 1981. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Brevard County, had pushed hard to keep Atlantis, on which both he and Bolden flew into orbit in 1986, in his political backyard.
Bolden brought the good news to more than 300 NASA officials and area dignitaries gathered outside KSC’s orbiter maintenance facility for what was initially set up to be a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the first shuttle launch. The announcement was preceded by a 15-minute video about the shuttle, the most complex machine ever built, narrated by William Shatner, and congratulations from the six crew members aboard the International Space Station.
As regards the other shuttles, Discovery is heading to the Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia and Endeavour is off to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Finally, the prototype Enterprise, which never flew in space, goes to the Intrepid museum in New York City. Seems like a decent split to me and hopefully it’ll please most people.
30 years ago today Columbia and its crew of NASA astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen blasted off to begin three decades of shuttle missions with a first test flight that has been called the boldest ever. Columbia left earth at 7.00am on 12th April, 1981, to venture into space on a shake down mission and returned two days later.
NASA plans to announce retirement homes for Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour on the 30th anniversary of the first launch and we’ll have news of that late today.
After the fleet’s retirement, European and Japanese cargo ships will provide the International Space Station with supplies, but ISS crewmembers will have to fly there on Russian Soyuz capsules.
Over the decades, the reusable orbiters and their crews have deployed satellites, observatories and planetary probes. They delivered and repaired the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as crucial elements of the ISS. The shuttles united the rival Soviet and United States space programs in the years of construction of the ISS and after it was built.
Orlando City, nicknamed “The Lions”, host their first ever USL PRO regular season home opener tonight at the Florida Citrus Bowl. The inaugural opponent is USL PRO expansion side FC New York, playing in their first ever match.
The Lions are looking to rebound from their season opening 2-0 loss to division rivals Richmond Kickers. After the disappointing road result, Head Coach Adrian Heath expects a much improved squad.
“We took some things for granted [against Richmond],” said Heath. “We spoke long and hard with the players about it. I expect every one of our players that played last week to be much better this week. I guarantee you’ll see a completely different, much improved team.”
The Lions will be relying on improved play from the entire team, but the key player for City will be Cuban midfielder Yordany Alvarez. Alvarez is the engine of the Orlando City team, providing the vital link between the Orlando City defense and its aggressive and adventurous attack. If Alvarez is able to control the midfield, Orlando should control the game.
FC New York remains a bit of a mystery. The team has yet to play a regulation match, so their play style and key players remain unknown. Still, the Lions are not taking the Empire State club lightly.
“It’s very much into the unknown for us,” said Heath. “We’ll be prepared for every eventuality. We expect them to be very excited as well, since it’s their first match. We won’t take that for granted.”
Tonight’s match also marks the debut of Orlando City on USL Live. USL Live is the United Soccer Leagues online video service. For no charge, fans will be able to watch both live and archived matches. The majority of Orlando City matches will be available on the service during the season, including all 12 home matches. For more information on USL Live, visit www.usllive.com.
For tickets to the match, call 407-536-5368
Tickets will also be available at the Citrus Bowl box office starting at 4pm on Saturday.
Orlando City projected starting line-up (unofficial): GK – Miguel Gallardo
RB – Mechack Jerome, CB – Demar Stewart, CB – Rob Valentino, LB – Jack Traynor
RM – Jamie Watson, CM – Yordany Alvarez, CM – Lawrence Olum, LM – Lewis Neal
FW – Maxwell Griffin, FW – Devorn Jorsling
Available subs: Sean Kelley, Dennis Chin, Ian Fuller, Erik Ustruck, Luke Boden, Wes Allen
Premieres of the best in cutting-edge current cinema, indulgent experiences in food and film, a blissful mix of industry parties and special events and a star-packed attendee list all combine for the 20th annual Florida Film Festival, which starts today and runs for 10 days around Central Florida until 17 April, 2011.
Produced by Enzian, the Florida Film Festival greets its 20th anniversary with a heartfelt salute to its native state and namesake. All things Florida,from Apalachicola to Islamorada, from the Seminole Nation to Walt Disney World, from the black mud of the ‘glades to the fictional peaks of Mt. Dora, all things Florida will be celebrated in a 165 movies in 9 days extravaganza.
I went along to check out the construction progress at Discovery Cove’s “The Grand Reef” earlier today and things look to be going very well. The reef is well under construction and everything looks set for an opening sometime in June. It’s going to be another great visitor experience from what I can see and the all new SeaVenture is going to be something completely different for guests to enjoy.
The Grand Reef will feature multiple levels of exploration, from shallow waters to deeper swimming adventures and white sandy beaches with hammocks swaying in the breeze. You’ll also be able to enjoy snorkeling among canyons inspired by reefs from around the world.
The Grand Reef footprint is approximately 2.5 acres and will have close to a million gallons of water in it. The water temperature will be a comfortable 77 degrees and approximately 10,000 animals, representing 125 different species of fish, rays and sharks will be housed at the site.
Fish
Thousands of tropical fish will dart through crystal-clear waters, creating a whirlpool of color inside the reef’s grottos and crevices as Discovery Cove’s experts chose only the most colorful of species whose natural populations are healthy and sustained. The fish will include angelfish, butterflyfish, wrasses and tangs as well as larger, unusual-looking hogfish and filefish. A showcase moment will happen when snorkelers get up-close to the venomous lionfish but safely behind panoramic windows! Thousands and thousands of schooling sardines, shining in the sun, will also swim freely throughout the main reef making it a spectrum of color.
Rays
Dozens of rays, gliding through the water, are always a beautiful sight and four species of rays will fly among swimmers, including the spotted eagle, cownose, southern, and bluntnose rays. Spotted eagle rays are typically found in Caribbean and Pacific waters and these unique animals with white spots and greater than 5-foot wingspans are a protected species. Discovery Cove is one of the few, and most successful, eagle ray breeding programs in the world.
Eels
A variety of long and slinky exotic eels will also swim among The Grand Reef’s canyons but the good news is that they will also be behind glass and other interesting species including grouper and triggerfish will also make their home with the eels. In essence, eels are really just elongated fish, ranging in length from two inches up to 12 feet for the giant moray and there are approximately 800 species of them that us humans love to hate!
Sharks
Sharks are always a big attraction providing we know we’re safe and The Grand Reef aims to provide a view like no other…from the water. Exciting new views of sharks will allow non-swimmers to gaze down from above while snorkelers and SeaVenture participants can gaze through 10-foot-tall panoramic windows into a habitat filled with zebra, nurse and blacktip and whitetip reef sharks. New to Discovery Cove will be the species known as zebra sharks and they are found in Southeast Asia, Southern Africa and Western and Northern Australia. Typically they are cream-colored with spots even though they’re born with stripes – somewhat suggesting a sharky zebra. They’re also known as Australian leopard sharks.
SeaVenture Dive Helmets
And here's me trying one on...
SeaVenture
The Grand Reef’s innovative experience, SeaVenture, will be an underwater walking tour where guests, wearing some futuristic looking dive helmets, will feel right at home under the sea. After climbing down a ladder and setting foot on the reef floor, guests will immediately come eye-to-eye with the sharks although they will be behind a full, 8-foot-tall, 21-foot long panoramic window. During their journey, guests will encounter velvety rays, exotic-looking lionfish hiding under a dock and even touch a star fish or sea urchin found along the way. The adventure ends with schools of fish feeding around the divers with the massive open reef as the backdrop.
The ladders to descend to start your SeaVenture tour...
Some say it’s similar to walking on the moon … only you are surrounded by fish. SCUBA certification is not required and the program is about an hour long for groups of up to six people per excursion while the cost will initially be $59 per participant. Other Reef Facts
Removable Coral
Discovery Cove is using a unique technology to ensure The Grand Reef’s man-made coral maintains its vibrant colors. Each piece of coral, most weighing around a ton, is actually inflatable. When filled with air, the coral sections float to the surface for easy maintenance and cleaning. Overall, The Reef will have 90 pieces of the colorful coral in four different sizes.
The trick to making the coral float...and sink.... valves!
Salt Water
It takes about 140 tons of salt to make The Grand Reef’s crystal clear water but the recipe is a closely guarded secret and Discovery Cove’s staff aren’t giving it away!
Beach Sand
Discovery Cove has found the perfect beach sand for The Grand Reef and it’s used throughout the park. It is actually mined in nearby Davenport, Florida, and is actually from Florida’s ancient beach dunes. More than 5 million pounds will be used around The Grand Reef, and every pound is sifted and grated in order to make the sand feel just right – not too coarse and not too fine.
Cabanas
Finally, eight new cabanas will be found at The Grand Reef and these private, shaded areas are available for rental at an additional fee and are located right at the water’s edge. Complete with table and chairs, chaise lounges and rolled towels, the cabanas provide a special place for guests to relax when they’re not in the water, swimming among thousands of tropical fish.
Discovery Cove is a really cool day out and it is very exclusive. When the reef is finished the park will still only allow 1,000 guests per day to visit. The all-inclusive adventure includes one-of-a-kind opportunities to swim with dolphins, rays, and tropical fish as well as hand-feed exotic birds.
Discovery Cove is a tropical oasis in Orlando and you’ll be sure to relax and enjoy the paradise of rocky lagoons surrounded by lush landscaping, tropical reefs, winding rivers, a resort-style pool complete with waterfalls, and pristine white-sand beaches.
I’m often asked what else there is to do in Orlando other than visiting theme parks. Well, the answer isn’t very easy because Orlando has a lot of things you can do and some of them don’t cost a fortune either! Yes, we do have a lot of touristy things here but we also have some fabulous treasures where you and your family can get out and about and enjoy some of the real Orlando.
For a start we have some great museums, places like Orlando Science Center or the Orlando Museum of Art… and then we have some interesting places to visit such as Winter Park… a place that is celebrated for its sense of place and history.
The city is home to Rollins College, Full Sail University, the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, which houses the largest collection of Tiffany glass on Earth and the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens. Winter Park also enjoys more park space per capita than any other city in Florida.
Winter Park was founded as a resort destination by wealthy New England industrialists before the turn of the 20th century and it is recognized as the first centrally planned community in Florida; its main street includes not only public civic buildings and retail, but also art galleries, a private liberal arts college, museums, a park, a train station, a golf course country club, a historic cemetery, and a beach and boat launch. Many of its structures are more than 100 years old and the scenic Olde Winter Park area is punctuated by small, winding brick streets, and a canopy of old Southern Live Oak and Camphor trees, draped with Spanish Moss. The city draws thousands of visitors to annual festivals including the Bach Festival, the nationally ranked Sidewalk Art Festival, and the Winter Park Concours d’Elegance.
It’s a wonderful place to visit when you’re in Orlando…check out this video I made to get a better sense of what the city is about…
SeaWorld parks across the U.S. will debut their all-new Shamu show on 22 April 2011 and it will be a show that connects you and your family to the sea with a new level of energy, excitement and vibrancy as it educates and inspires you to make a difference in this world. “One Ocean” features SeaWorld’s majestic killer whales as ambassadors of the sea, and the ocean as the center of our natural world. The show connects you with these remarkable animals and immerses the you in the vivid colors and sensations of the underwater world. At the core of the show is the unifying message that both animals and humans are part of one world, with one ocean, and its future is in our hands to cherish and protect.
This new show is what you love about Orlando theme parks – thrilling entertainment that educates and inspires you to celebrate, connect and care for the world we share. One Ocean features spectacular whale behaviors, including thrilling high-energy leaps and multiple whales performing simultaneously. The whales interact in new ways with trainers, the audience, each other, and even the set itself. In one segment, the whales play amid giant fountains.
Shamu Stadium – with its three-story set, panoramic LED screens and hundreds of surround-sound speakers – will feature special effects that envelop you in the show experience, including brilliantly colored lights; soaring fountains; stunning underwater imagery and an original, contemporary musical score with global rhythms. But even more important is the educational message the show imparts: we are all part of one world and have the power to make a difference. The message of caring and respect for the world we share is woven throughout the show – encouraging everyone to make a difference through their own everyday actions. Find out more at SeaWorldOrlando.com/OneOcean. Here’s some video from behind the scenes…
… and Guests Can Skip Standby Queue with Disney’s FASTPASS!
Mickey Mouse now reigns at a new location in Magic Kingdom to meet and greet his friends at Walt Disney WorldResort. Guests can now go backstage at Town Square Theater for photos and autographs with Mickey — without waiting in a standby queue!
Mickey’s new location in the park also heralds the first-ever use of Disney’s FASTPASS Service for a character meet-and-greet experience. FASTPASS allows guests to reduce waiting by designating a window of time when they can return for a theme park experience.
The fun takes place at the Town Square Theater presented by Kodak, located just inside the Magic Kingdom entrance. Previously known as Town Square Exposition Hall, the venue has been re-imagined as a turn-of-the-Twentieth-Century theater where posters proclaim Mickey Mouse as the star of a magic show.
A glistening marquee with gold-leaf trim and sparkling lights beckons guests to enter a lobby that serves as a hub for character meet-and-greet queues, the Box Office Gifts merchandise shop and Tony’s Town Square Restaurant. Lush curtains with gold rope tie-backs, polished-brass chandeliers and a huge tile floor mosaic of the Town Square Theater logo adorn the space.
Just beyond the lobby, guests pass through an ornate arch and enter a queue to meet Magician Mickey Mouse — or a queue to meet the Disney princesses, for whom Town Square Theater will be a meet-and-greet location during New Fantasyland construction.
The meet-and-greet experience begins when magical posters featuring Mickey’s various magic acts come to life, enhancing guests’ journey through queues into the backstage corridors of the theater. Mickey greets guests in a rehearsal-room environment amid posters, steamer trunks and stage props. It’s a classic backstage area with a wood floor and ceiling. One wall is brick, the others are papered in red and black — Mickey colors.
During the Princesses’ limited engagement at Town Square Theater, they will greet guests in an area fit for royalty — replete with plush carpeting, lush velvety-blue drapes with gold tiebacks, and a large mural backdrop of a chateau amid green, tree-covered hills and fields.
Exiting the meet-and-greet areas, guests pass through Curtain Call Collectibles, a shop with design elements suggesting a backstage area used for theater shipping and receiving — with large, barn-like doors through which props and set pieces could pass.
Guests wanting to meet Mickey or the Princesses can either obtain a Disney’s FASTPASS ticket or get in standby queues. FASTPASS tickets, which are available near Town Square Theater, designate an hour window of time during which the guest can return to the theater and have their “magic moment” with Mickey or the Princesses without joining the standby queues.
Hope you all enjoyed our little “April Fools” piece yesterday about “Pilar Lofo” vacation homes, i.e., a tent on the front lawn or rear “water view” lot! A lot of you have been in touch with us to say how much you enjoyed the piece and some of your comments have been hilarious. Thank you!
We enjoy having fun in the Florida Leisure office and of course, it greatly helps that we’re in the fun capital of the world…Orlando. Ultimately our business is about people and giving them a great time when they visit us. We work hard at creating fun vacations as fun is an important part of life. Life can be hard at times and taking some time out to enjoy the lighter side is absolutely necessary no matter your circumstances.Fun is also an essential part of this blog and of our company philosophy and everyday we try to bring that to our blog by highlighting some of the fun things going on in Orlando as well as in our everyday office dealings.
We look forward to serving you more… in a fun way…of course!
The show “Survivor” forces contestants to make it in the wilderness with less than bare minimum essentials. It’s just about the greenest way to live, with no water, no electricity, no waste, no stuff.
Well just recently a luxury hotel in San Diego challenged its guests to survive on less than the bare minimum at a seriously and to think green in the process. At seriously slashed rates and while other guests are paying upwards of $200 to sleep in luxury, some are paying just $19 a night to stay… in a tent… in their room. Correct—no bed.
“Survive” Amidst Luxury
So here’s the deal: Last fall the super luxury Rancho Bernardo Inn in San Diego, CA launched the unconventional “Survivor” package, challenging guests to choose how low they want their rate to go based on the amenities (and necessities) they are willing to sacrifice. During Fall last year, the regular $219 per night room, which typically includes deluxe accommodations plus breakfast for two, was being discounted piece by piece according to the guest’s preferences. John Gates, the hotel’s General Manager, admits that the idea wasn’t based on green ambitions, but saving money and going green are often naturally related. “Although the Rancho Bernardo Inn is proud of its efforts regarding conservation, in all honesty that was simply a positive by-product. Just goes to show how much more our industry can do.”
Here’s the breakdown of costs and money saving options that were offered :
$219 deluxe accommodations plus breakfast for two
$199 without breakfast
$179 without honor bar
$159 without A/C or heat
$139 without pillows
$109 without sheets
$89 without lights
$59 without linens
$39 without toiletries
$19 without bed
Translation: Save Resources—like electricity (no AC, no lights) and water (no linens to wash) = Save Money.
Sure, lots of hotels are promoting the idea of reducing resource-overuse through their little note cards program—you know those cards in the bathroom and beside the bed encouraging guests to not waste water. But this one is actually rewarding guests for their green choices.
Pilar Lofo Vacation Homes
So, here at Florida Leisure we thought we’d do something similar. Our “Pilar Lofo” vacation homes follow the same principle. There’s no furniture, no electricity and no water. Simply turn up with your tent and pitch it on the front lawn to enjoy your vacation. The cost is $9.99 per day but if you’d like the deluxe version just go around the back of the home and pitch your tent there instead. It’s there you’ll find the water view in the form of a full size swimming pool . The deluxe option is $14.99 per day… that’s right … just a measly $5.00 extra.
Standard - $9.99
Deluxe - $14.99
And there’s more…but you’ll have to watch the video to see it all…
