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America’s 30 Most Visited Cities

© Matt Apps

1. Las Vegas, Nev.
38.9 million visitors; 40 million rooms sold. Total weighted score: 4.48
If you put your money on Vegas, you’re a winner. Its self-reported visitor numbers are slightly less than other big contenders, but it tops Smith Travel Research’s list of rooms sold for 2006, with nearly 40 million—6.2 percent of the market share, head and shoulders above the other major metropolitan areas. Vegas is a prime example of how, according to tourism expert Dan Erkkila, destinations have begun to market themselves above and beyond their features and attractions (“come see what we have”) and started emphasizing “how a destination will make you ‘feel’ when you visit and after you have been there.”

For more information: Las Vegas

© David Alexander Liu

2. Los Angeles, Calif.
58.6 million (25.4 million overnight + 33.2 estimated day visitors); 25.5 million rooms sold; score: 4.22
Hollywood starlight, a host of high-profile sports franchises and the eternal sunshine of Pacific beaches are among the charms that bring tens of millions of visitors to this Southern California metropolis. It doesn’t hurt that Disneyland is a short drive away—and creates a city ranking all by itself (see #13). Its overnight visitors can be measured, but because of its sprawl, its day visitors had to be estimated using relative weighted averages.

For more information: Los Angeles

© Atlantide Phototravel/Corbis

3. Orlando, Fla.
47.8 million visitors; 27.2 million rooms sold; score: 3.90
Readers of the Forbes Traveler list of 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions will recognize several destinations (Disney World, Sea World and Universal Studios) from this Florida tourist nexus. The theme parks are technically just beyond the city limits, but factor in balmy weather and Orlando’s booming conference and convention scene, and it’s clear why more than 47 million visitors came to “The City Beautiful” last year.

For more information: Orlando

© Andrew Cribb

4. New York City, N.Y.
44 million visitors; 23.9 million rooms sold; score: 3.52
No surprises here. Year after year, the Big Apple takes an ample slice of the U.S.-visitor pie. In 2006, 44 million guests called on Times Square, the Met, the Empire State Building and New York’s myriad other cultural and commercial draws.

For more information: New York City

© jmbatt

5. Chicago, Ill.
41.3 million (2005); 24.8 million rooms sold; score 3.47
More than 41 million non-residents breezed into the Windy City last year to enjoy the multitude of cultural, business and recreational centers on the shore of Lake Michigan. The largest city in the Midwest, Chicago has long served as the area’s unofficial capital and is a major U.S. transportation hub.

For more information: Chicago

© Condor 36

6. Washington, D.C. metro area
36.9 million; 22.8 million rooms; score: 3.15
Beyond its iconic monuments and museums, the nation’s capital gets heavy traffic from government and private-business travelers. D.C. is also a hotbed of performing arts and entertainment, second only to New York City, for example, in number of theater seats.

For more information: Washington, D.C.

© Ariel Bravy

7. Atlanta, Ga.
37 million visitors; 21.5 million rooms sold; score: 3.05
Thirty-seven million travelers visit the greater Atlanta area annually—. Its tourist attractions include the World of Coca Cola and Underground Atlanta, a subterranean mall that covers six city blocks.

For more information: Atlanta

© San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau

8. San Diego, Calif.
32.2 million visitors (2005); 14.2 million rooms sold; score: 2.33
California’s second largest city includes 70 miles of beaches, 90 golf courses, and a host of family attractions like Legoland and the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park.

For more information: San Diego

A recent online poll asked readers to weigh in on the biggest pop culture stories and personalities of the year and the votes have been counted.

Nearly 2,000 people responded to Parade magazine’s questions and when it was all over, Rosie O’Donnell was voted the “most annoying celebrity?” by 44 percent of readers. What it is about O’Donnell is unclear, but she found herself at the center of several controversies in 2007.
 

During a March episode of ‘The View,’ O’Donnell echoed the belief of 9/11 conspiracy theorists that World Trade Center tower 7 was imploded and in April she was accused of “anti-Catholic bigotry” for complaining about the number of Catholics on the Supreme Court.

She and co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck got into an argument in April after O’Donnell criticized the Bush administration by asking, “655,000 Iraqi civilians dead. Who are the terrorists? … If you were in Iraq and another country, the United States, the richest in the world, invaded your country and killed 655,000 of your citizens, what would you call us?”

After seeing the coverage of her fight Hasselbeck, O’Donnell asked for and received an early release from her contract with ‘The View.’

Despite voters finding her “annoying,” there’s no denying that O’Donnell helped the show immensely, with ratings rising significantly during her tenure.

The mention of the name orlando evokes so many images; Mickey and Minnie, the spectacular theme parks, the scare-you-to-death thrill rides, the natural beauty, the world class accommodations, the great restaurants-on and on it goes. From orlando Sea world, to disney World orlando to Universal Studios orlando-orlando has it all!

Most of all orlando spells a great fun family vacation that will never be forgotten. Why have family vacations in Orlando? Orlando is the quintessential family vacation spot in the united states and perhaps the entire world with more to keep the entire family going full speed for literally weeks.

Don’t let the other 50 plus million visitors from around the world slow you down. Of the top ten amusement parks in the U.S., orlando only has seven-three got away somehow! Are the amusements parks the reason orlando is the premier family vacation destination in the country?

There are nearly 120,000 hotel rooms, suites, resorts, vacation homes and other lodging accommodations to take care of the hoards of visitors from around the globe year round. And that number is growing as we speak. Are the world class accommodations the reason orlando is the premier family vacation destination in the country?

As of this writing there are over 5300 orlando restaurants with the number growing by the minute. The words “theme restaurant” must have been coined for orlando. If there is a world class theme restaurant anywhere in the country it probably is in orlando.

Please note that theme restaurants are famous for their atmosphere and the experience of putting you in another time and place for a few hours NOT necessarily for their culinary excellence. The two concepts are almost always mutually exclusive. Are the world class culinary and themed restaurants the reason why orlando is the premier family vacation destination in the country?

Or the world class shopping-is that the reason it is so popular. Can you imagine having 50 million visitor a year, the retail shops to support that traffic?

No it is not any one of these things by itself-it is the whole package! The 90 plus theme parks and other attractions, the world class accommodations, the fabulous themed restaurants, great shopping, toss in some great weather, mix with 50 million of your closest friends and you have a recipe for a fun family vacation beyond compare-ORLANDO!

For more information check the links below.

Jack Krohn is a free lance writer. He has traveled extensively to europe, throughout the southwest and hawaii. He has had Diabetes, Pre-diabetes and Syndrome X for nearly fifteen years. He speaks from the experiences he has had during that time.

If you’ve noticed a little more love in the air lately, thank Donna Dowless.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer recently appointed the local artist to the official position of — no kidding — “Ambassador of Love.”

In explaining the appointment, Dyer didn’t point to the city’s crime wave. Just the need for more kindness and beauty in the City Beautiful.

“I’ve known Donna for quite some time, and we talked about how to raise awareness of the arts and the importance of compassion and love in our community,” Dyer said.

The Dyer administration crafted a formal proclamation, the City Council voted unanimously, and now Orlando has a love ambassador.

Dowless would seem the natural choice for the post. Her mixed-media art is known for its focus on love, from crimson lips to her trademark hearts. Celebrity owners of her work include Celine Dion, Naomi Judd, Rosie O’Donnell and Cher.

As ambassador, the sprightly Dowless goes around bestowing blessings of love on downtown pedestrians, construction workers and pretty much whomever else she runs into.

“I believe in the power of love and what it can do,” she said. “It’s just an amazing thing when you extend love to friends, to family, to humanity.”

When she stops strangers on the street, Dowless introduces herself as Orlando’s official ambassador of love and explains that she’d like to bless them.

Mike Amato of St. Cloud at first seemed understandably wary when Dowless approached him as he stepped out of a downtown Starbucks with his son, Hunter, on Friday. But that changed after she announced her formal position and explained her mission to spread City Hall’s love.

“I think through love, one heart at a time, we can make a difference in the world,” she said.

She reached into her black velvet bag, took out a pair of quarter-sized glass hearts and pressed one into each of their hands. (There are different colors with different meanings; for example, clear for strength. Dowless doesn’t know which shade she’ll find until her hand emerges from her bag of love.)

“I certainly didn’t expect it, but it’s a pretty cool idea,” Amato said. “Everybody seems afraid to even say ‘Merry Christmas’ anymore, so it’s really kind of nice.”

Orlando may be the only city in the country with a love ambassador. An Internet search for “ambassador of love” turned up poetry and a few adult Web sites, but no diplomatic posts.

Still, the appointment isn’t without precedent. In 1970, President Nixon appointed singer and Broadway actress Pearl Bailey the country’s Ambassador of Love. She requested the title “Roving Ambassador of Love,” quipping, “Honey, I get around a lot.” She was later a special delegate to the United Nations under the Ford, Reagan and Bush administrations.

As Orlando’s ambassador, Dowless doesn’t receive a salary or perks such as diplomatic license plates or free travel.

“I don’t know of any international love fest that we’d send her to,” said Dyer, who gave Dowless free rein to figure out what exactly a love ambassador should do. So far, she has blessed the grand opening of a Church Street tapas bar and bestowed countless personal blessings.

The world can be a pretty cynical place. But Dowless said the response to her blessings has been overwhelming. People carry the glass hearts with them, and some have told her stories of passing them on to someone else. One of her hearts ended up with a man who took it along to his cancer treatments.

When she walks past a downtown construction site, workers sometimes yell, ‘Ambassador!’ to get her attention. Then they reach into a pocket, pull out the glass heart she’s given them and hold it aloft to show their appreciation.

“People are just taken away by it,” she said. “Sometimes we just need a reminder that we make a difference.”

This is the time of year when children will be home for the holidays and parents will be looking for ways to keep their children busy. Don’t stress over how to keep them busy when you are not at home, and don’t let them drive you crazy when you are at home. Plan ahead of time and use the following tips to keep you and your little ones happy over the holiday season.

Leave a List

Children need order and instruction. Don’t be afraid to give your child a list of household chores everyday. Inform them of the consequences of not following through with their responsibilities. Tell them their actions are fundamental in the success of the family’s holiday season. This is not a lie because your sanity is extremely important during this time of year.

Trust Traditions

Young people like traditions and customs. Traditions give them a sense of belonging. Traditions also allow youngsters to create memories. Start at the beginning of the vacation and allow children to get involved in family traditions by giving them opportunities to plan for the holiday events. Have them make presentations in front of the family on how to make customs and traditions in the family better. Children love presentations, especially when they can illustrate with drawings and decorations. Doing this will increase family time and help the young ones learn organization skills. With safety in mind, allow children to help prepare holiday meals, decorate for the holidays and clean social areas for entertaining.

Hope for Hobbies

Picking up a new hobby or activity during the holidays may be a good alternative for children who like to explore. Learning to play an instrument or learning a new activity is a wonderful way for children to explore and grow. Many local museums and youth centers offer holiday camps where students can learn about other cultures while creating arts and crafts.

Some holiday camps offer everything from learning Swahili connecting Kwanzaa, to making dreidels connecting Hanukkah. After the class is over, children can present family members with holiday gifts from what they have learned, such as performing a musical number or creating a holiday ornament. Home-based camps can be easily organized in the neighborhood with a little planning and organization. Work out supervising schedules with parents in the neighborhood and seek the help of your local arts and crafts store for ideas and materials.

Create a Contest

Reward children for how much they have done. Create contests to keep them motivated. You determine the guidelines and the rewards. You can associate a monetary amount or holiday prize for the number of books read, chores completed or plans made. Families of more than one child can produce a family talent show. Contests can be created rather easily with any incentive plan in any event category. The sky is the limit. You decide.

Back to the Basics

Keeping kids busy during the holidays may not be an easy task, but it is well worth the effort. A little creativity and patience can give you the sanity you need to get through the holiday season. The tried and true methods may not be the healthiest for your kids, but when all else fails, load up on food, video games and movies.

 Christmas has come and gone yet another year. What will the year 2008 bring to us? I wonder. I don’t know about you, but I have spent all this time preparing for Christmas Day that I haven’t put any-thought into my New Years Resolution. You know, that promise we all make to ourselves & then 9 times out of 10 never follow through with it. Or, maybe we follow through for about a month or two. I have to be honest, I don’t think I have ever followed through with a resolution for an entire year? Have You?

I think the most common resolution is probably weight loss for many people. But for those of you that have kids, have you ever asked your kids what their resolution might be? I find this to be a great way to teach them how to set goals & try their best to achieve them.  For example, my 11 year old daughter plans to make a resolution to not care about what others think.  My 8 year old daughter says she is going to practice dancing EVERYDAY & my 6 year old boy, he says he is going to run faster then anybody on this planet this year! It amazes me on a daily basis to learn about my kids and what is important to them.

I think I just realized what my New Years resolution will be! I am going to make more of an effort to get to know my distant family members. We should all take the time to get to know your friends and family. Here’s an idea….Ask them what their New Years Resolution will be this year.  Show them your interested in them and their desires of life.  Maybe you can be a support system & help them achieve their goal. After all being with friends & family is what the holidays are all about! 

The Holidays will come to end, but that doesn’t mean enjoying time with our friends an family has to. Florida Leisure considers all of our guests to be a part of our family & we would like to get to know you as well.  If you would like to enjoy some family time in your home away from home, give us a call or reserve online!  

I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas & may 2008 be a Very Happy New Year!      �

Just before catching her flight home to New York on a recent afternoon, Myrna Francis managed to squeeze in a little last-minute Christmas shopping for her grandkids.

Where? In stores run by Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando at Orlando International Airport, where she snagged a Cars video game and Spider-Man sandals.

“It’s convenient,” Francis said of the stores, after emerging from one with a Mickey Mouse plastic bag. “I didn’t have to carry it [the souvenirs] all the way to the airport.”

She isn’t the only one who likes the stores. A review of airport-revenue records shows that the terminal shops run by Disney, Universal, SeaWorld Orlando owner Busch Entertainment Corp. and the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex are cash cows for the theme parks and OIA.

The eight shops operated by the parks rang up nearly $20 million in sales during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 — collecting more than $1 out of every $4 consumers spent at airport stores. They have churned out more than $80 million in sales during the past five years.

Disney dwarfs the competition. Its stores — the flagship Disney’s EarPort in the terminal’s east hall and the Magic of Disney in the west hall — outsell all of the other theme-park stores combined. Its stores ring up as much as $1.2 million in receipts in a single month.

During the past five years, Disney has sold nearly $58 million worth of merchandise at the airport. Only HMSHost Corp., which operates 22 restaurants, and Alpha Airports Group, which runs a pair of duty-free shops selling liquor, cigarettes, perfume and other high-end items, do better than Disney among airport concessionaires.

The theme parks aren’t the only ones who benefit. Their stores paid a combined $4.5 million to the airport last year in the form of concession fees and rent. They have plowed close to $20 million into airport’s coffers during five years.

“The theme retail stores really, I think, do well in representing why people travel to Orlando,” said Renee Spann, the airport’s director of concessions. “I think it’s a very pleasant surprise for [passengers] when they come to the airport.”

For the theme parks, the airport stores serve almost as satellite attractions.

Disney’s EarPort, which at 4,700 square feet is the largest park shop in the terminal, features a wall-length mural of Mickey Mouse and iconic images of its four parks. Two spots are set aside so visitors can take photos of themselves next to life-sized sculptures of Snow White and Goofy.

The walls of one SeaWorld store were built to look as if they are made of coral, and the ceiling is wavy and covered with blue glass ornaments. Travelers passing a Universal store see holographic images of the Incredible Hulk, Shrek and SpongeBob SquarePants that shift with every step.

One of the Kennedy Space Center stores displays a $500,000, 188-pound spacesuit that astronaut Gene Cernan wore while training for the Apollo 17 mission to the moon.

The theme-park feel goes beyond the decorations. Every hour in Disney’s stores employees announce a “magical moment” and randomly select customers, usually children, to play a Disney trivia game, solve a puzzle or race toy cars across the shop floor. Sometimes they play a game called “Finding Nemo,” where an employee hides a toy based on the Pixar character and customers search for it.

“It’s so unique out there for us, because we’re going to be the first Disney experience some of those guests have when they get off at the airport — and we’re going to be the last experience some of our guests have,” said Mark Dukes, director of merchandise at Downtown Disney. “It really is an extension of Walt Disney World.”

Records show that sales in OIA’s theme-park stores ebb and flow with overall airport traffic. Spring and summer are typically the busiest months, as families with children take advantage of spring break, the Easter holiday and summer vacation to travel.

This past year, for instance, April was the best cumulative month for the stores. Disney alone rang up more than $1.2 million in sales. Universal did $324,000, followed by SeaWorld at $218,000 and Kennedy Space Center at $158,000.

Those sales meant about $420,000 in payments to OIA.

Toys, shirts, tickets sell well

Park officials say top sellers at the airport include plush toys, T-shirts and figurines. The stores also sell tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of park tickets each year.

Games, both low-tech and electronic, are particularly popular among parents who want something to entertain their children with during the long flight home. But snow-globe sales are nonexistent, their having been pulled from the shelves after the federal ban on carry-on liquids.

“I think, from our standpoint, we’re sensitive to the fact that the traveler is flying. They’ve pretty much got to pack it,” said John Lowe, vice president of merchandise for SeaWorld, Discovery Cove and the soon-to-open Aquatica. “We’re sensitive to the fact that you can’t take a 150-pound statue on a plane.”

Beyond direct sales, the airport stores promote the attractions, particularly in the case of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, which lacks the marketing muscle of the bigger theme parks.

“They’re really an important outreach tool for us,” KSC Visitor Complex spokeswoman Jillian McRae said.

Stores pay OIA varying rates

Each theme park must pay the airport a minimum amount of money for its stores every month, plus a percentage of total sales above that. But the terms, which the airport negotiated individually with each company, differ somewhat for each.

During the most recent fiscal year, for example, Universal had to pay a minimum of about $39,000 each month for its two stores, or 20 percent of sales in one store and 19 percent in the other — whichever was greater. SeaWorld’s stores, by contrast, had to pay a combined monthly minimum of about $46,000, or 20 percent of sales up to $1.5 million and 22 percent of sales beyond that.

As a result, records show that Universal paid about 21 percent of its $2.7 million in fiscal-year merchandise sales to the airport, while SeaWorld paid about 28 percent of its $2 million in sales. Disney paid the airport about 24 percent of its $13 million in sales.

Universal would not discuss its stores in any detail. But in a prepared statement, Ric Florell, the senior vice president and general manager for resort revenue operations, said: “We’re pleased with our airport stores for two reasons: They offer great previews of the Universal Orlando Resort experience for people arriving in Orlando, and they perform well as retail locations.”

OIA officials are pleased, too — so much so that they are now planning to add two theme-park stores on the far side of the main terminal’s security checkpoints, in Airside 4, where most of the airport’s international flights arrive and depart.

Tigger, one-eyed gator, cat urine top another weird year for news in Florida

The Associated Press

Saturday, December 22, 2007

TALLAHASSEE, Florida: Florida well-known for its theme parks and beaches, has another — more dubious — distinction, a tendency toward bizarre news and 2007 was no exception.

There was the battle over former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith’s body, the city manager who was fired after he became a she, the university student who shouted “Don’t Tase me, bro!” as officers jolted him with a Taser and the astronaut love triangle involving the woman who drove 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers), allegedly using diapers to save time, to confront a romantic rival.

But beyond those headline makers, there was more. So much more.

At Walt Disney World in Orlando, the cartoon character Tigger (which had beat a groping charge a few years ago) was accused of hitting a 14-year-old boy at the theme park, but was let off despite the fact the father had it on videotape.

Two-time NASCAR Busch Series champion Martin Truex Jr. made matters worse for himself after he was caught urinating on a car. Asked by a police officer if the relief was worth a $100 (€70) fine, he held out a $100 bill only to be charged with disorderly intoxication.

As always there were plenty of strange stories fueled by alcohol.

Proving that drinking and driving still do not mix: a 30-year-old woman taking driving lessons ran over her instructor, who had to be airlifted to a hospital. Her blood-alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit.

Then there was the mug shot of a 41-year-old woman arrested in Tampa on driving while intoxicated charges whose T-shirt read, “I’m not an alcoholic, I’m a drunk. Alcoholics go to meetings.”

In the town of Largo, in an alcohol induced oddity, police were left scratching their heads after being called to a bar disturbance only to have one intoxicated man call for help saying he was surrounded by police.

Speaking of head scratchers, a substitute teacher got in trouble in the Orlando area for bringing a handgun on school property after someone reported he was using the gun to scratch his head while pulling into the parking lot.

In other school weapons crime, a 10-year-old girl faced a felony charge in Ocala after she brought a kitchen knife to school to cut the steak she brought for lunch.

Two Tampa-area middle-schoolers were arrested on charges they tried to poison their science teacher by pouring a fabric freshener into her soda.

And there was trouble on the way to school, too. A Tampa-area mom was sentenced to a year in jail after boarding a school bus and telling her daughter to fight another girl. In Jacksonville, authorities charged another mom with pulling a gun at a school bus stop because her son was being bullied.

As always there were plenty of dumb crimes to report.

A man with no arms and one leg who refused to stop driving was sentenced in Pasco County to five years in prison after the latest in a long list of driving offenses.

A former felon swapping his old clothes for new ones in a department store dressing room was caught because his old prison ID badge was in the pants he left behind.

A Tampa-area woman was charged with faking her teenage daughter’s death to scam a medical clinic out of $500 (€348) for funeral expenses, proving she did not learn anything during the two years she spent in prison for faking her husband’s death to collect insurance four years earlier.

A man trying to rob a pharmacy got stuck in an air shaft for 10 hours. He said he was trying to retrieve a cat. Authorities did not believe him.

A burglary suspect fleeing Miccosukee Tribe police jumped into a lake where signs warn “Danger Live Alligators.” He was killed by an alligator.

Of course, there are always plenty of strange stories involving alligators in Florida.

A man golfing in Venice reached down to retrieve his errant shot from a pond when a one-eyed alligator reached up and grabbed his arm, pulling him in. He freed himself by punching the gator. In another attack, a man in a wet suit retrieving balls from a golf course lake to resell them was bitten on the foot by a 7-foot (2-meter) gator.

Rounding out animal attacks was a 62-year-old man who saved himself from a rabid bobcat by strangling the animal.

For pet lovers, there was the story of the man who was arrested after authorities found about 300 cats in his home, which was covered in feces 2 and 3 inches (5 and 8 centimeters) deep.

Others were more tragic. The owner of an exotic animal farm in Wewahitchka died after an 1,800-pound (816-kilogram) camel sat on her as a local television station filmed a feature story.

In Hillsborough County, deputies did not believe a woman when she said the vial they found in her purse contained dried cat urine, not methamphetamine. They should have. She sat in jail for two months until a test proved she was telling the truth. Drug charges were dropped.

As for weird police stories.

Orlando-area police gave away sneakers for people who turned in guns and got a little more than they expected when a man exchanged a 4-foot-long (1.2-meter-long) surface-to-air missile launcher for Reebok sneakers for his young daughter.

There were robbers with a heart. An Altamonte Springs gunman let a convenience store clerk call 911 during a robbery because she said she might be having a heart attack. He then stole $30 (€21) and cigarettes saying as he left, “You have a good day. I’m sorry this had to happen.”

Giving new meaning to the phrase he never knew what hit him, a man in St. Lucie County went to the hospital and told doctors he woke up with a bad headache. He speculated his wife may have elbowed him in his sleep. Doctors quickly found the cause of the pain — a bullet. The couple confessed the wife sleeps with a loaded gun under her pillow and accidentally shot her husband when a burglar alarm went off.

And finally, one man found out that the cost of college graduation can be almost as expensive as getting the diploma. The 24-year-old man celebrated his graduation from Georgia Tech at a Panhandle strip club and ran up an American Express bill totaling $53,000 (€36,857) — more than five semesters of out-of-state tuition at the school. When his dad saw the bill, he called authorities and complained the club took advantage of his son.

I always hear my friends say it must be weird at Christmas time in Orlando, with the weather being nice.  I say Christmas is awesome wherever you are, and we still do it right.  It’s the most wonderful time of the year in the most wonderful place on earth. Just take this trip down my street.

Merry Christmas.