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

It’s that time of year when Disney & Epcot springs to life… the 18th Epcot Flower & Garden Festival started this week and it’s already proving to be a massive hit with visitors to the theme park.

The event is filled with over 75 Disney character topiaries among the over 100 topiaries located around the park as well as a colorful array of flowers, gardens, live music and special presentations.  Plus, for the very first time, the festival includes Disney·Pixar character topiaries as Buzz, Woody and Lotso from Toy Story 3 and Lightning McQueen and Mater from Cars 2.

You also get the chance to see how green your thumb can be as some of the nation’s top designers help you plan everything from planting your first garden to enhancing your home’s curb appeal. With opinions from HGTV stars like Vern Yip and Genevieve Gorder—plus Epcot gardening experts—you’ll have new ideas blooming around your home in no time!

Rounding off the festival is some fantastic live music from the 1960s and 1970s during the Flower Power Concert Series where you’ll find different artists  including Melissa Manchester, Davy Jones and Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone every weekend during the festival at the America Gardens Theatre!

Flower Power Concert Series

The event runs to  May 15, 2011 and we’ll have regular updates for you all through the festival season. Here’s some video…

New details are coming out from Disney just days after dramatic evidence from Universal’s  shows just how important it is for our theme parks to keep offering new attractions.

Universal Orlando has just posted their best quarterly results in the resort’s 20 year history, fueled by the power of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Attendance alone for the resort’s two theme parks soared upwards by 36% for the third quarter, going up to 3.7 million guests from 2.7 million in the third quarter 2009. If that wasn’t serious enough, revenue surged ahead by 62% to $364 million, allowing the operating profit to over double compared to last year.

So, it appears that Disney imagineers are attempting to breath life back into Pleasure Island. The buildings that once housed the adult-oriented clubs at Pleasure Island have sat empty for the last two years, but some small details of what’s coming can be found in a couple of building permits.

Disney this week filed a pair of permits signaling the start of new construction at Pleasure Island, a once-popular dining-and-dancing spot that has since become little more than a cut-through between the two retail ends of Downtown Disney.  The permits suggest that at least two old Pleasure Island venues, BET Soundstage and Adventurers Club, will be razed completely.

What’s more, Disney World President Meg Crofton last week publicly hinted that changes were imminent. In a ceremony honoring new Disney World ambassadors, Crofton listed the “reimagining of Downtown Disney” among a list of current construction projects at the resort, along with the Fantasyland expansion at the Magic Kingdom and a new hotel dubbed Disney’s Art of Animation Resort.

Currently, Disney has dressed up the area around the several vacant buildings with a giant Mickey Mouse pumpkin, but it’s hard to tell from documents what is planned and Disney will only officially say, “more shopping and dining establishments.”

Pleasure Island opened in May 1989. Disney completed some big renovations in 2006, but in September of 2008, they shut down all the night clubs to make the island more family oriented. Since the clubs closed on Sept. 27, 2008, the only notable new venue to be added at Pleasure Island is Paradiso 37, a Mexican and South American restaurant that opened in June 2009.

Disney has said in the past that it expects to complete its redevelopment of Pleasure Island by 2012 so we’ll continue to keep you updated on progress. It’s about time something was done because every time I’ve been there recently, it’s always been very very busy. .. and for Disney, that means they are leaving revenue on the table!

Here’s some video from a recent visit I made:

Decided to revisit Downtown Disney yesterday to check out how busy it was this Labor Day weekend… and I was amazed how busy it was and how much business some of the stores were doing. Looked to me as if an awful lot of people were ignoring the economic climate and just getting on with their lives.

Smiles, laughter and fun was everywhere to be found and that’s what makes Orlando and Disney so special. There’s a lot wrong with the world…but this place just seems to ignore all that and simply get back to the basics of providing fun and good times to everyone. It’s magical to see.

Anyway…take a look for yourself… here’s a video from last night’s adventure…

Star Wars Celebration V is underway at the Orange County Convention Center. It started yesterday and as expected, the lines were long before the doors first opened. Long lines then continued inside at many of the booths offering exclusive and free merchandise such as Lego, Hasbro and Disney. Don’t worry if you’re still planning on attending, most booths are only offering a limited amount each day so that they don’t run out too fast.

Also, there are many photo opportunities that are free, some cool free giveaways and lots of neat things to see. Besides the show floor, there are panel discussions going on all day as well as movies, games and costumes to check out.

The Star Wars convention runs through Sunday so if you’re a fan, hurry there….we don’t know if the event will ever come back to Orlando.

There’s a lot of carfuffle in “O” town at the moment over the $4 Billion Disney purchase of Marvel Comics. There’s a lot of speculation over Disney’s plans for the brand and it seems Disney will end up having a few options:

1) Disney continues to license the names to Universal.
2) Disney withdraw the rights to use the names of Hulk, Spider-man, Iron Man and Marvel’s other 5,000 characters.
3) Disney eventually buys Universal.

I prefer to see this in a positive light although I quite understand the viewpoints of those who prefer the more traditional Disney characters and the family values they bring. The purchase of Marvel means that Disney will be able to offer something different and their expertise will develop the Marvel brand further than it has ever gone in my opinion so I don’t see Disney withdrawing the rights to the characters for the foreseeable future.

Having the Disney name behind them will help Marvel expand globally and will help Disney get back its following among the males species, something they lost with stuff like Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers.

There’s a way to go yet before this deal is consummated as it will have to go through an antitrust review not to mention get the approval of Marvel’s shareholders. Further, details will have to be worked in regard to licensing rights that Marvel has with other studios.

Overall, interesting times ahead … but I’d still have loved to be a fly in the Universal boardroom when they found out about this deal. Let me know what you make of this deal.

Star Wars Weekends is an annual special event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park that celebrates the epic space-fantasy Star Wars Saga and the new animated television series The Clone Wars. Join Jedi Masters, Sith Lords and Star Wars celebrities for special shows, presentations and memorabilia.

Weekends and celebrity guests scheduled for 2009:

May 22, May 23, May 24
Ray Park, Warwick Davis, and James Arnold Taylor

May 29, May 30, May 31
Peter Mayhew and Matthew Wood

June 5, June 6, June 7
Jeremy Bulloch, David Prowse, and Matt Lanter

June 12, June 13, June 14
Dave Filoni and Temuera Morrison

Fans of the Star Wars universe don’t have to travel to “a galaxy far, far away” to come face to face with droids, alien creatures and many of their favorite Star Wars characters.

Younglings can hone their lightsaber skills and prepare to do battle with Darth Vader himself at the Jedi Training Academy. Prove yourself the master of trivia in contests with prize giveaways. Board a runaway Starspeeder on the Star Tours attraction, or stare in awe as visitors from Naboo, Endor and every planet between pass by in a motorcade.

In addition to all of the entertainment, there are plenty of conversations, autograph sessions and motorcades with the celebrities and creators of the Star Wars galaxy.

Hunting for a special collectible bounty? Grab a Disney’s FASTPASS ticket to ensure your place in line for celebrity autographs, or find special limited-edition merchandise to add to your collection at the Tatooine Traders store and other vendors around the Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park.

Each day ends with the Hyperspace Hoopla! show, where many favorites let loose with music, comedy, dancing and more.

With Ewoks, Wookiees, Stormtroopers, Jawas and more invading Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park, young Padawan Learners and their parents would be wise to have their cameras ready. Star Wars Weekends take place only once a year, so check back for the next event dates and plan your trip early. Do. Or do not. There is no try!

Begin your Jedi and Sith training now as you choose your allegiance, download a guide to bounty hunters, and more!

Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park admission is required. Star Wars Weekends events are included with admission to Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park. Availability is limited for some events. Events may be cancelled at any time.

I was at Walt Disney World yesterday to learn about their upcoming programs and I have to say I was blown away by their “What will you celebrate?” campaign.

It’s always fascinating to watch how Disney does things and this campaign is one of the best they have done in a long time. The message is absolutely clear and asks a compelling question; “What Will YOU Celebrate?”

This is a time of year for great celebration …even though we are constantly being told we are in an economic crisis. All I can say to that is “nonsense”. Everywhere I go, restaurants, shops, theme parks, etc are all doing pretty well and there’s no shortage of people going about their lives and enjoying themselves.

Of course, this time of year is great for celebrations; maybe it’s a graduation, or a birthday, a wedding anniversary, a reunion, true love, a first visit or even a triumph? Whatever you are celebrating a visit to Orlando and to the famous Walt Disney World theme parks is a great way to celebrate.

Did you know that over 70% of people have taken a vacation primarily to celebrate a special occassion?

Did you also know that over 53% of people consider a trip to Florida and a Disney theme park as the best place to celebrate? Far and away the top place in the world as the next best, Hawaii, only came in at 18%.

The reason for this is that people want to create memories for life and that’s exactly what a trip to Walt Disney World does. What’s better is that Disney is now allowing everyone who has a birthday to get into a theme park for FREE. That’s right …FREE. So what are you waiting for? It’s time to come to Florida, to visit Orlando and Walt Disney World and to enjoy a great stay in a Florida Leisure Vacation Home.  Now that’s a reason to celebrate in itself!

Voices of Mickey

Wayne Allwine February 7, 1947 – May 18, 2009

Despite today’s economic woes, people are still traveling and taking vacations; it is my experience that they are just doing so with a lot more focus on their budget. Hunting for deals and ways to cut costs while on vacation has never been more important and one budget-friendly trend has emerged as the solution for those who want to travel for less: vacation home rentals.

 Vacationers may wonder how renting a Florida Leisure Vacation Home can actually cost less. First, vacation homes usually come equipped with all the necessities to cook meals. Just cutting one restaurant meal a day out of a vacation budget can save hundreds of dollars over the course of the trip. By eliminating all of those little extra food outings and instead stocking up at local grocery stores, vacationers could possibly cut trip costs in half.

In addition to saving money by eating in, a vacation home is a much larger space so more people can travel together and split the cost of the rental. And with multigenerational travel on the rise — grandma, aunt, mom, dad and kids all traveling together — it’s an easy way to be comfortable and share intimate travel memories together in a larger space.Do the math. If renting a four-bedroom villa for a week costs $1,000, two families of four will pay only $500 each for accommodations and that same price sometimes only covers one or two nights in a hotel simply because you have to get more rooms to accomodate everyone. In addition, many homes have extra amenities at no additional cost, meaning none of those pesky “resort fees” to use the pool or other extras. Financially, vacation rentals make a lot of sense.

TripAdvisor published the list that always makes my skin crawl and dread when I have to board that plane and have a hotel stay.  That’s why I always have my friends visiting Orlando stay in one of our vacation homes … I know they will pass any blacklight test and our cleaners are very thorough.

Here are this year’s “winners” and then a couple of blogs which will really make your skin crawl … hopefully you aren’t reading this from the “comfort” of a hotel room.

http://www.gadling.com/2009/01/28/dirtiest-hotels-in-the-united-states?icid=sphere_blogsmith_inpage_gadling

http://www.gadling.com/2009/02/10/update-inside-the-dirtiest-hotel-in-the-united-states/?icid=200100397x1218669904x1201177652