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

This weekend, Universal Orlando’s 2011 Summer Concert Series begins and it will feature the most dynamic lineup in the event’s history. Six hit artists – including Drake, Boys Like Girls and Trey Songz – will take center stage every Saturday night from June 11 to July 16.

With a combined total of 30 platinum albums, this year’s concert lineup features artists who have each led the U.S. music charts. The list of performers includes: Drake – one of only two musical artists to have his first two Top 10 songs occur in the same week; Grammy award-winning hip-hop artist Nelly; legendary female rock band Go-Go’s – who have their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; and multi-platinum rockers Third Eye Blind. The full lineup, including performance dates, can be viewed below.

In its third year, the Summer Concert Series has become one of Orlando’s most popular summertime events. By day, guests can enjoy world-class thrills found only at Universal Studios, such as The Simpsons Ride – featuring America’s favorite animated family – and Revenge of the Mummy – the world’s first psychological thrill ride based on the popular “Mummy” films. By night, guests can dance along to a live concert at the Music Plaza Stage in the glow of colorful LED lights from Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit – Universal Orlando’s most radically-innovative roller coaster ever created.

The Summer Concert Series is included with regular park admission to Universal Studios. Guests can upgrade a one-park ticket to include Universal’s Islands of Adventure – featuring The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the most spectacularly themed environment ever created.

Do you like Disney entertainment “heritage”? Love music? Art? Sports “spectating”? Food and drink adventures? Theme park parties celebrating Halloween or the holidays?

For fun-seekers with any of those passions and special interests, fall 2011 is a season to make some memories at Walt Disney World Resort. Here’s a look at what’s in store from Labor Day through Thanksgiving …

A ‘Tropical Serenade’ rekindling memories

The Sunshine Pavilion, featuring a show variously known as “Tropical Serenade” and “The Enchanted Tiki Birds,” debuted on Oct. 1, 1971, in Magic Kingdom. In 1998, following substantial refurbishment, it re-launched as The Enchanted Tiki Room – Under New Management, with two famous Disney birds – Iago from Aladdin and Zazu from The Lion King – taking control and trying to spruce up the show.

The “new management” has been let go and the future of the Adventureland landmark is in the wings and wit of José, Fritz, Michael and Pierre – four crooning parrot hosts who ushered in sophisticated Audio-Animatronics technology at California’s Disneyland in 1963 at The Enchanted Tiki Room.

In time for fall 2011 vacations, The Enchanted Tiki Room (as the Magic Kingdom attraction now will be called) is being prepared to reflect the show at Disneyland that represents a milestone in Disney theme park entertainment. While Walt Disney’s creative team previously had produced movable figures, none had the sophistication of the bird-brained cast of the Tiki Room. José, Fritz, Michael and Pierre produce movements when solenoid coils hidden inside receive signals recorded onto magnetic tape and are regarded as the first “true” Audio-Animatronics figures.

They introduce a musical presentation by more than 200 birds, flowers and tikis. Even the audience gets into the act, joining in during the musical ditty “Let’s All Sing Like the Birdies Sing.”

The Enchanted Tiki Room (tentatively slated for opening in August 2011) has shows throughout Magic Kingdom operating hours.

Events to suit all sorts of tastes

Some of the most popular and enduring special events at Walt Disney World Resort happen during the fall. Here are snapshots:

Disney’s Night of Joy – TobyMac, MercyMe, newsboys, Jeremy Camp, Jars of Clay and Skillet will headline one of the most-decorated lineups in the 29-year history of Disney’s contemporary Christian music event Sept. 9 and Sept. 10, 2011, in Magic Kingdom. The 16 artists have a 20-year legacy of accolades – 70 GMA Dove Awards and eight GRAMMY^® Awards including reigning Christian music Artist of the Year (Francesca Battistelli). Night of Joy is an after-hours event that requires a special ticket. Event hours are 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. each evening. More information is available at www.nightofjoy.com.

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party – The headless horseman romps down Main Street, U.S.A. aboard his steed, ghostly apparitions flit among the buildings of Magic Kingdom, Cinderella Castle is draped in eerie hues and the night sky is painted with bursts of orange and green fireworks during this popular after-hours Magic Kingdom party on 23 select autumn evenings between Sept. 13 and Nov. 1, 2011. The special-ticket event features trick-or-treating throughout the park, “Happy HalloWishes” fireworks spectacular, “Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade” – including Disney characters and the stars of the Haunted Mansion attraction – and the opportunity to experience popular attractions. Information about dates and tickets is available at www.disneyworld.com/halloween.

Epcot International Food & Wine Festival – A veritable world of culinary adventures is on the menu Sept. 30-Nov. 13, 2011, during the 16^th edition of the festival presented by Vanity Fair Napkins. The journey along the promenade around World Showcase Lagoon includes more than two dozen marketplaces where everyone from neophytes to epicures and aficionados can nibble and sip their way across six continents of food and beverage adventures. Talented culinarians from across America and around the world will be involved with specialty dinners, seminars featuring cooking demonstrations and wine tastings, the popular Saturday night grand tastings – Party for the Senses – and more.  The festival also will feature the popular Eat to the Beat! concert series each evening. Details are available at www.disneyworld.com/foodandwine.

Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic – PGA TOUR thrillers have been the norm in this $4.7 million season-ending event on Disney’s Magnolia and Palm courses. Twelve of the most recent 16 editions of the pro golf event have been decided by one stroke or a playoff. A field of 128 players will tee off in the 41^st Classic Oct. 20-23, 2011. The 2010 winner was Robert Garrigus. More information: www.ChildrensMiracleNetworkClassic.com.

Festival of the Masters – Nearly 150 award-winning artists who turn clay, wood, metals, oils, watercolors and more into creations that treat the eyes – such as paintings, jewelry, sculptures and photographs – will show off their works Nov. 11-13 at Downtown Disney. One of the Southeast’s most highly regarded juried art festivals since 1975, Festival of the Masters features live entertainment and family-friendly activities each day. Admission and parking are complimentary.  For more information, guests may visit www.disneyworld.com/artfestival.

Old Spice Classic – The eight-team college basketball tournament again will be held over Thanksgiving weekend – Thursday, Friday and Sunday, Nov. 24, 25 & 27, 2011 – at the HP Field House at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Arizona State, Dayton, DePaul, Fairfield, Indiana State, Minnesota, Texas Tech and Wake Forest make up the field. Seven of the teams reached the 2010 postseason. The Old Spice Classic will feature 12 games over the three days. Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format. The two teams that remain undefeated throughout will face off in a championship match Sunday, Nov. 27. Additional information can be found on the Old Spice Classic website at www.OldSpiceClassic.com.

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party – On 19 select evenings between Nov. 8 and Dec. 18, 2011, guests can experience the enchantment of Castle Dream Lights on Cinderella Castle plus two special entertainment extravaganzas, “Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade” and the holiday-themed fireworks spectacular, “Holiday Wishes-Celebrate the Spirit of the Season.”  The special after-hours party, which requires a separate admission ticket, also features live Disney character stage shows, character greetings, cookies and cocoa, and even “snow” on Main Street, U.S.A.  More details are available at www.DisneyWorld.com/holidays.

I attended a Star Tours Preview recently and thought you’d like to see the following video that features a description of what you can expect on the all new Star Tours and also a super session with Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch.) The video takes you through the characters, the destinations and some of the 50+ possible story combination’s that you can experience on the ride. There’s also a few pictures I snapped during the preview…they can be found at Facebook.com/FloridaLeisure

Newly crowned “American Idol” Scotty McCreery poses on May 30, 2011 with Mickey and Minnie Mouse in front of “The American Idol Experience” attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. McCreery was honored in a parade at the Disney theme park and performed his new song, “I Love You This Big.” On Wednesday May 25, the 17-year-old singer was crowned the new “American Idol” on the season finale which was viewed by an estimated 29.3 million people. Excited fans lined the streets, cheering on the 17-year-old singer from Garner N.C., as he joined Mickey Mouse in a convertible sports car and greeted fans before taking the microphone to sing his new hit single, “I Love You This Big” in front of “The American Idol Experience” attraction in the Disney theme park.

In addition to the parade, McCreery later surprised guests by making an unannounced appearance on-stage at “The American Idol Experience” attraction inside the theme park. “The American Idol Experience” – the first major theme park attraction in the world based on the popular television series phenomenon – was developed by Walt Disney Imagineering in conjunction with 19 TV Ltd and FremantleMedia Enterprises. In the attraction, Disney guests are able to experience the glitz and glamour of the “American Idol” television show, whether they are auditioning for a Disney producer, performing on-stage in front of a packed theater, or voting for their favorite performance from their audience seats.

Performers who receive the most audience votes in preliminary shows return to star in that evening’s grand finale show.  In addition to their new-found theme park fame, the top vote-getting guest in the finale show receives “The American Idol Experience” Dream Ticket – which allows an eligible holder to schedule a front-of-the-line audition at a future regional audition for the “American Idol” TV show.

Pictured above “American Idol” Scotty signs an autograph May 30, 2011 for fan Sarah Solley while below is more video from the event.

The Amercian Idol – Disney tradition continued today as 2011 winner, Scotty McCreery made an appearance at Disney’s Hollywood Studios this morning. Scotty rode down Hollywood Boulevard with Mickey Mouse and also sang his new song, “Love You This Big” (see video below.) Afterwards he made a brief appearance during the first showing of The American Idol Experience.

Over the last 24 hours a lot of people have asked me about “Splash! Animals” after seeing them on the video I posted on this blog about the opening of “Cheetah Run” and “Cheetah Hunt.”

Splash! Animals is a live art experience committed to the conservation of endangered animals. It is an award-winning conservation focused live art experience that combines art, music, choreography and features endangered species. Based in Southern California (San Diego), Splash! Animals performs all over the United States and internationally at fundraisers, theme parks, zoo, schools and many other venues and events.

Splash! Animals made its debut at the World Famous San Diego Zoo in June 2007 as the nighttime entertainment and regularly appears at Downtown Disney in Orlando and California on weekends. The focus of Splash! Animals is to connect the audience to endangered animals emotionally through an inspiring performance while educating them about the importance of conserving wildlife.

The show always starts with a blank “canvas,” painted black, and in less than 10 minutes, beautiful portraits of endangered animals are revealed by the performing artists. It’s pretty amazing and following on from the feedback from the performance we featured on our “Cheetah Run and Cheetah Hunt Opens at Busch Gardens Tampa” video, we’ve created another video that shows both of the paintings the Splash! Animals team produced at the Busch Gardens VIP party. Enjoy!

I went to Busch Gardens Tampa last night to take another look at Cheetah Run and Cheetah Hunt ahead of the official opening this Memorial Day. A lot has changed since my last visit and it certainly all looks very impressive. Gone are the construction walls, the bulldozers and the construction noise and now it’s a pretty tranquil venue only punctuated by shrieks and shrills from the passing roller coaster, Cheetah Hunt.

As you enter the new area, the first thing that strikes you is the 1.5 acre area known as Cheetah Run. On your right, as you walk in from the main park entrance, is a glass wall where you’ll get your first look at the magnificent animal that is the cheetah. Fourteen cats occupy the area and they will often be seen lounging around or playing with each other as well as doing scheduled sprints down a 250-foot track.

The habitat faces the mammoth, twisting roller coaster, and it was noticeable how quiet it is on its track… in fact it’s only the shrieks from riders and the “whoosh” sound as it goes by at some 60 mph that makes you notice it’s there.  Of course, this makes you wonder how the cheetahs react but they seem completely nonplussed by it all and have obviously been trained well by park keepers who have played recordings of ambient theme park noise to get them used to things.

Naturally, there will always be some critics to the new attraction, not least of all because the cheetahs are penned in but the fact remains that they are an endangered species with just 12,400 left in the wild. Busch Gardens, as always, aims to educate people with a conservation message and the habitat will also  include interactive screens containing facts about the cheetah.

Cheetah Hunt. meanwhile, is a  4G steel roller coaster and a very worthy addition to the roller-coaster lineup at Busch Gardens. It is Florida’s first triple-launch coaster and it uses state-of-the-art technology to deliver three adrenaline-fueled surges of speed all inspired by the world’s fastest land animal.

With a ride time of more than 90 seconds from first launch to final brake, Cheetah Hunt’s 4,429 feet of steel track holds the record as Busch Gardens’ longest coaster, and its 13-acre footprint makes it the most expansive thrill-ride in the park’s history. Its series of magnetically controlled surges fling passengers up and under and through several of the theme park’s other environments. One of these pushes takes riders on a long straight that is aimed directly at a steep upward hill at 60 mph. The vehicle then goes up that incline and goes into a figure-eight motion at the top, where riders are given a great view of Busch Gardens, most notably the Gwazi wooden coaster that is otherwise hard to see from other vantage points in the park.

Other highlights of the ride are a loop over and around the Skyride wire and gondolas … an unusual, exciting and disorienting maneuver … that circles near a water hazard and finally into a low-riding series of curves that have a ski slalom feel to them.

Overall, Cheetah Hunt runs very smoothly and there’s only one inversion that might trouble some riders. It’s a refreshing change because its sister coasters Montu, Kumba and Gwazi can jar your body, mind and soul! great for the young…not so great for the older brigade!

From a safety aspect, riders enjoy the open air feeling and gliding motion effect as the over-the-head harness isn’t too padded around the head area. Overall the coaster isn’t too extreme but it does offer a lot of fun and it’s sure to be popular with riders for years to come. Make sure you check it out when you next visit Busch Gardens Tampa.

Here’s some video and more pictures are available  at Facebook.com/FloridaLeisure… make sure you click the “LIKE” button.

To the delight of youngsters everywhere, LEGOLAND® Florida today revealed its official opening date: Saturday, October 15, 2011.

Inspired by America’s love affair with all things LEGO®, the new 150-acre theme park will cater to kids ages 2 to 12 with more than 50 “pink-knuckle” rides – from roller coasters to race cars – as well as family focused shows and attractions.

Park officials disclosed the date, a closely guarded secret since the park broke ground last year, to help families already planning vacations in the fall. “I’d estimate 80 percent of the inquiries we’ve received have been about our opening date,” said LEGOLAND Florida sales manager Todd Andrus. “Guests are all but begging to know the date, so they can book their flights and accommodations, and purchase admission tickets.”

The park also unveiled a new online reservations program to make the vacation booking experience even easier. Travelers can now book tickets, accommodations, airlines and rental cars through the LEGOLAND Florida website. “Planning a family vacation can be daunting, especially for families with very young children,” said Andrus, a father and frequent traveler. “Packing alone is enough to overwhelm even the most organized parents. That’s why we designed our online system to be both user-friendly and convenient, allowing parents to book the essentials and then print out everything they’ll need right at home.”

Star Wars weekends begin at Disney’s Hollywood Studios today and there’s a great line up of actors from the movies lined up to attend the events. Today sees Anthony Daniels, who portrayed C-3PO in the films, and Dave Filoni, supervising director of “The Clone Wars” animated TV series at the theme park.

Next week, May 27-29 sees Daniels return alongside Bruce Spence (Tion Medon) and Dee Bradley Baker (Captain Rex of “Clone Wars”) while June 3-5 guests will include Ray Park (Darth Maul), Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) and Matt Lanter (Anakin from “Clone Wars”).

Park returns June 10-12 with Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and Tom Kane (Yoda from “Clone Wars”).

Celebrity hosts for the duration of Star Wars Weekends will be James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan in “Clone Wars”) and Central Florida’s own Ashley Eckstein (voice of Ahsoka Tano in “Clone Wars.”) She will host”Clone Wars: Behind the Force,” a look at the TV series, and Taylor will star in a one-man show that spotlights voices he has performed professionally, including from “Clone Wars.”

This year’s Star Wars Weekends will be enhanced by yesterday’s reopening of the Star Tours attraction, which began showing off its new storyline and 3-D effects to great public acclaim.

Star Wars Weekends will again include the Hyperspace Hoopla show, trivia contests and about 60 Star Wars characters available for photo opportunities. You can join the celebrities and characters for special shows, panels, presentations and more but remember that Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park admission is required and availability maybe limited for some events.

George Lucas (above right) was among the first to see the reopening of the Star Tours motion simulator ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios today. The 67-year-old “Star Wars” creator came to the park to celebrate the ride’s 25-year-old story as it has been updated with a new tale, a digital projection system and 3-D effects. Lucas even armed himself with a light saber to share a stage with surprise guest, Disney CEO Robert Iger, (above left),  as Darth Vader and other movie characters watched. “Lord Vader, prepare to meet your maker,” Iger cracked.

Pictured above, left to right, are James Arnold Taylor, voice actor from “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”; Dave Filoni, director of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”; Iger; Lucas; “Star Wars” character C-3PO; Anthony Daniels, the actor who portrayed C-3PO in “Star Wars”; Ashley Eckstein, voice actor from “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”; and Daniel Logan, who portrayed Boba Fett in “Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.”

The reopening of the “Star Wars”-themed rides in both Disney Hollywood Studios park in Florida and at Disneyland in California brings a new wave of attention to the franchise, which will get another boost and more than likely gain new fans in 2012 when all six original movies are re-released in theaters as a 3-D feature.

Lucas said the movies have now been around so long that they’ve become “part of the social culture.” “In the end, you do the best you can telling a story, and you hope people will come and see it,” Lucas said  in an interview at the park. “Once in a while, you get something like this, where people love it, they can’t get enough of it, they take it in as part of their lives.”

He said the return of the movies to the big screen will give parents a chance to share with their children something they experienced when they were young. “It’s a chance not only for people to see it in 3-D, but more importantly it’s chance for fathers to take their sons and they’ll say, ‘I saw this when I was your age. You’ve only seen it on television,’” Lucas said. “And if the father isn’t doing that, the grandfather is doing that, because it’s been that long. We’re in our third generation now.”

The Star Tours ride at Disney takes place somewhere between the third and fourth movies in the series … confusing , I know … and it features the droid C-3P0 as reluctant pilot of a star cruiser on a deep space adventure. To keep things fresh, Disney created more than 50 different versions of the five-minute ride, each featuring various “Star Wars” characters and locales, so that riders have a completely different experience each time they go.

Lucas added that he’d been pushing to get the ride updated for years. “I was pretty much hands-on everything,” said Lucas, who’s ridden the revamped attraction a number of times. “When we did the first ride, which was 25 years ago, I have stayed working with Disney over the years. We started like three or four years ago saying now’s the time to do a new re-do on the attraction. We’ve been wanting to do it for a long time.”