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

First Lady Michelle Obama, Disney Channel stars Debby Ryan (“Jessie”), Roshon Fegan (“Shake It Up”), and Disney XD stars Doc Shaw and Kelsey Chow (“Pair of Kings”) and Olivia Holt (“Kickin’ It”), and the hugely popular “Phineas and Ferb” character Perry the Platypus, along with choreographer Rosero McCoy, joined nearly 1,500 kids and families at an event to get kids moving at Disney’s Magic of Healthy Living & “Let’s Move!” celebration at ESPN Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World Resort earlier today.

During the event, the First Lady, Disney stars and kids danced “The Platypus Walk,” a catchy spy-surf-rock song and dance that encourages fun physical activity. The event marks the second anniversary of “Let’s Move!,” the First Lady’s initiative to inspire healthier living, and Disney’s Magic of Healthy Living, a Company-wide initiative designed to encourage kids and families to lead healthier and active lifestyles.

Here’s some video:

The Kissimmee Valley Livestock Show and Osceola County Fair will kick off with a spectacular Demolition Derby on Opening Day, tomorrow, Friday, February 10 at 7 P.M.  The hard hitting, fast paced action is an interesting start to the fair that runs through 19th February and one that is sure to be a lot of fun. If you’ve not been to a Demolition Derby then you’ll enjoy watching as vehicles deliberately smash and crash into one another with the last driver with an operation vehicle is awarded the victory!

A mini-car derby heat will also take place and spectators will have a chance to win prizes during the fan participation games.  This exciting show is only $5.00 per person plus General Fair Admission of $5.00 for Adults and $3.00 for Seniors and Children 5 – 11, Kids 4 and under are free.  Senior Citizens (60+) are free on Opening Day!

Additional Entertainment Acts for the 2012 Fair include the Slack-wire Sam Show, World renowned Ventriloquist, Comedian and Singer Sylvia Fletcher, Eudora Farms Exotic Petting Zoo, Nojoe’s Clown Circus, Master of the Chainsaw Brian Ruth and much more.

Strates Shows Midway features over 80 rides, games and shows. The new Skyflyer is a vertical swing ride, one of three new rides to debut at the Fair.

Traditional Fair favorites such as the Pie Eating contest, Baby Show, Children’s Pet show and Tractor Pull will return by popular demand.  There will also be art and craft exhibits entered by local residents and 4-H members.  Livestock Shows and Sales will take place in the KVLS Pavilion.

The Fair is being held at Osceola Heritage Park, 1911 Kissimmee Valley Lane, Kissimmee.

More photos here.

In the wake of the 2012 Mecum Kissimmee auction, the list of shattered records continues to grow. The Florida auction kicked off Mecum’s 25th year and a staggering 2,158 vehicles crossed the block, the most in company history. The six-day event, held at Osceola Heritage Park on January 24-29, 2012, achieved a 30% increase in attendance over last year. Hammer price sales for the week-long auction totaled $55,397,462, and factoring in Buyer’s premium, total gross sales are reaching close to $60,000,000 as Bid Goes On sales continue to rise. Mecum sold an amazing 1,548 vehicles with a 73% sell-through rate.

Mecum Auctions president Dana Mecum (pictured above) said, “Kissimmee kicked off the 2012 auction season and Mecum’s 25th year in business, and I can’t think of a better way to begin celebrating our Silver Anniversary than with a record-breaking auction. Company records were smashed in nearly every category including number of vehicles offered, vehicles sold, total sales, attendance, and number of registered bidders.”

Top Ten sellers at the auction covered a wide swath in enthusiasts dream sheets. With nearly 300 Corvettes offered during the Kissimmee auction, quite a few were in the Top Ten, but sitting on top of the list was a 1963 Shelby Cobra Dragon Snake (Lot S220 -pictured at top of this post), which sold for $850,000.

The remaining nine vehicles were (all sales reflect hammer prices):
2. 1969 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Convertible (Lot F199) at $610,000
3. 1969 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Coupe (Lot S103) at $270,000
4. 1963 Chevrolet Corvette RestoMod (Lot S226) at $255,000
5. 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible (Lot T188) at $227,500
6. 1930 Packard 745 Waterhouse (Lot S83) at $225,000
7. 1941 Packard Darrin 180 Convertible Victoria (Lot S122) at $220,000
8. 1970 Plymouth Superbird (Lot K56) at $200,000
9. 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible (Lot S163) at $200,000
10. 1957 Ford Thunderbird F-Bird (Lot S129) at $200,000

Dana Mecum observed, “We have a heavyweight title bout going on within our own organization for the title of World’s Largest Collector Car Auction. With the great success from this auction, Kissimmee 2012 has captured the crown from Indy 2011 as the World’s Largest. Stay tuned for ‘Indy in May’ as it works to regain the crown as the World’s Largest.”

Overall, the event was very successful and I think NASCAR Champion, Ken Schrader, (pictured above with me) who visited the auction on Saturday to sign autographs, summed it up best when he remarked that he had no idea how you actually selected a vehicle to buy because there were so many of them on the auction block!

Complete auction results are available to Mecum InfoNet members, which is free to join at www.Mecum.com.

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay welcomed a new baby female reticulated giraffe on Monday, January 27, 2011. At 6 foot, 2 inches tall and weighing approximately 176 pounds, the newborn is the calf of father, Jafari and mother, Cupid. This is Jafari’s second calf, and cupid’s fifth.

This new addition brings the park’s reticulated giraffe population to 19. Exactly one month to the day before this most recent birth, another female in the herd, Tesa, gave birth to Jafari’s first calf, which was also female.

The new mother and baby are currently in an area out of guest view so they can be closely monitored by zoo staff to ensure the baby is nursing and growing properly. The duo will join the other animals on the Serengeti Plain in about three months.

A reticulated giraffe’s gestation period is approximately 15 months, and the new baby will nurse for about one year. This birth is part of a successful long-term breeding program at Busch Gardens. The term “reticulated” refers to the giraffe’s net-like pattern of spots.

Busch Gardens’ 65-acre Serengeti Plain is a naturalistic habitat featuring a diverse population of free-roaming African animals including giraffe, zebra, white rhinoceros, eland antelope and several other species of hoof stock and birds.

You can view these amazing animals from the Serengeti Express, the Skyride or on a Serengeti Safari, an open-truck tour during which you can hand-feed reticulated giraffes and get up-close with the other animals on the plain.

The world’s largest auto auction begins at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee today and runs through to Sunday 29th 2012. In that time, some 2100 vehicles will have passed through the auction block and sales will probably exceed $50 million!

The Mecum Auction is an event that has grown from a small regional event in conjunction with the NCRS Corvette Clubs to a stand alone Annual National Event which has captured the crown as the world’s largest.

Over 100 acres of grounds hosts tents, car parking, and truck and RV parking and nearly 6,000 registered bidders are expected to attend in addition to 50,000 fans who will be there to see some great vehicles.

The auction isn’t all about cars though as the auction also includes antique and classic motorcycles and collectible antique and wood boats. There’s really something for everyone, so if you’re in Orlando this week, make sure a trip to Mecum Kissimmee 2012 is on your hit list!

More photos at Facebook.com/FloridaLeisure

Universal Orlando announced today that it’s Mardi Gras 2012 celebration will feature one of its most powerful and diverse musical line-ups ever. With a combined total of more than 350 million albums sold, guests will be able to rock out this spring to 14 of the biggest names in music during an authentic and family-friendly version of the famed New Orleans street party.

On Saturdays and select nights starting February 11 through April 14, Universal Orlando’s Mardi Gras celebration combines unparalleled theme park entertainment with an elaborate Mardi Gras parade, dozens of colorfully costumed performers, authentic New Orleans bands, delicious Cajun cuisine and live concerts by some of today’s most popular artists.

On Feb. 18, pop superstar and Grammy winner Kelly Clarkson will take the Music Plaza Stage to perform major hits from her recent album, “Stronger;” Hot Chelle Rae will please crowds with their hit “Tonight, Tonight” during their performance on March 23; and singer-songwriter and Grammy Award nominee B.o.B, known for his multiple top singles “Nothin’ on You,” “Airplanes” and “Magic,” will perform on March 24. Additional performances include Billboard magazine’s “Female Entertainer of the Century” and disco diva Diana Ross; Boyz II Men, the most successful R&B group of all time with more than 60 million albums sold worldwide; teen sensation Big Time Rush; 2012 Grammy nominee for “Best New Artist” J. Cole; and four-time Billboard Latin Music Award winner Prince Royce. For the complete line-up, see below.

Before enjoying the live concerts, guests can experience all the fun and excitement of The Big Easy as Universal Studios Florida is transformed into a family-friendly version of New Orleans’ famed Mardi Gras event. Guests can dance along with street performers and collect beads by the handful as colorful floats wind down the street of Universal Studios during the Mardi Gras parade. This year’s parade will take guests on a journey through the earth’s different ecosystems with elaborately themed floats including: bayous and swamps, rainforest, coral reefs, the deep blue sea and Polar Regions. Every year, the parade’s hand-crafted floats are built by Blaine Kern Artists – the same company that designs the floats for the Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans.

The heart of Mardi Gras is Universal Studios’ French Quarter Courtyard, where guests can groove to the soulful sounds of authentic New Orleans bands every night before the headliner concert. Since 2006, more than 20 bands have traveled straight from The Big Easy to Universal Orlando to perform Blues, Jazz and Zydeco music for partygoers – adding to the authenticity of Universal’s Mardi Gras celebration. The French Quarter also features delicious Cajun cuisine, including jambalaya, gumbo, beignets and much more.

Orlando is leading the way again as our friends at Orlando Balloon Rides has now introduced its new jumbo 24 person hot-air balloon. The balloon is designated as the largest hot-air balloon flying in the United States and stands at 112 feet high, about the size of an 11-story building, and 90 feet wide when fully inflated. It holds 425,000 cubic feet of hot air and that’s more than four times the size of a standard four-person balloon.

The big balloon was custom-ordered from Ultramagic Balloons of Spain and although this size balloon is common in Europe, it is the first of its kind in the U.S.  The balloon isn’t exactly light either, as the basket weighs 1,600 pounds and the envelope (the  balloon),  is 1,000 pounds.

The basket, or gondola, also sports higher-than-average walls, which are made of aircraft-grade stainless steel that’s wrapped in wicker, and they have partitions that divide the standing space.

“These are like the Bentley of hot-air balloons with these partition baskets,” said Jason Schulke, CEO of Orlando Balloon Rides, “The cost of the new balloon and related expenses was about $275,000.”

A large part of the thinking that went into making the purchase was simply a numbers game. Orlando Balloon Rides annually carries 18,000 to 20,000 people and when you consider over 50 million people visit Orlando, there simply wasn’t enough capacity to take everyone who wants to do a balloon ride.

Today marked the first time the balloon had been fully inflated since leaving Spain and the first passengers on its maiden voyage were made up of contest winners and combat veterans. The balloons traveled west from a spot on the edge of a golf course for Reunion Resort and Club on County Road 532, then crossed above Interstate 4.

Rides cost $175 per person for a four-hour experience. The experience includes a champagne breakfast, inflation time and packing time and about an hour of air time, depending on flight conditions.

Here’s some video from this morning’s launch at Kennedy Space Center… travel well Curiosity… 8.5 months to get to Mars!