Yesterday was a big day for us as we saw our YouTube.com/FloridaLeisure channel top 50,000 friends. Yes, that’s 50,000 people who regularly watch our videos about Orlando, Central Florida, Walt Disney World, SeaWorld, Universal Orlando and all the other events, attractions and things that happen in the nations number 1 visitor destination.
We are humbled and proud to have such a following and we just wanted to say “Thank You” to all of you that have helped us reach this mark. We’ve enjoyed bringing the videos to you and had a lot of fun in making them. We’ve covered all the theme parks, some of the smaller attractions, places to dine, places to shop, places to indulge, places to step back and chill, places to be entertained, places to entertain and we’ve also covered the weird and the wacky.
In celebration of reaching the 50,000 friends on YouTube mark, we thought we’d bring you some of our favorite videos of the year again:
This time of year is known as “Golf Season” in Orlando and it’s not just because it’s a great time to play the noble game but also a fabulous time to get out to see some of the best tournaments in the United States… the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour is on it’s Florida Swing right now and next week it stops at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge for the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard.
2011 is truly a golden year for Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge as it’s actually celebrating it’s 50th Anniversary. The Bay Hill Club was built in 1961 and it was just four short years after that in 1965 when the “King of Golf”, Arnold Palmer, played in and won a charity golf event on what was then an unknown golf course. The rest is history as “Arnie” fell in love with Orlando and Bay Hill that day and he started to hatch a plan to make the club his own. Naturally, he succeeded by initially taking out a 5 year lease with an option to buy on the property in 1970 and since taking ownership in 1975 he and his team have worked extremely hard to ensure that the PGA Tour makes an annual stop in Orlando.
Today, the Arnold Palmer Invitational attracts some of the strongest fields of the season and it’s world class amenities including a 70 room lodge make it a comfortable and value added experience for those guests fortunate to stay there during the event. So, if you’re in Orlando this year and unable to secure accommodation for the event at Bay Hill, why not enjoy your own vacation home just 10 to 15 minutes away from some of the best golf you’ll ever see? Florida Leisure Vacation Homes has homes close to the famous Orlando course and who knows, you may just see us skipping work and enjoying some quality golf time. Here’s some video I shot showing some of the things going on behind the scenes and how the venue is preparing for the tournament.
Great news! For over 25 years vacation homes have been a viable alternative for visitors coming to the Orlando area to visit Walt Disney World, Sea World and Universal Orlando. Up to now, Disney has always tried to lure guests to stay on their property but finally, after a long long battle, they have finally admitted that vacation homes are here to stay and they must join the vacation rental industry by becoming a travel partner with area vacation home rental companies. It’s fantastic news as it finally gives real credibility to an industry that brings over $4.1 BILLION to the local Orlando economy.
Here’s a picture of the web site announcing the news…
So now you know, vacation homes really are the best deal for families who are traveling to the Orlando / Disney area! Come and stay with us…
Just recently I made a trip to a place that is offering a once in a lifetime opportunity… your chance to actually live on Disney property!
As legend goes, a young Walt Disney would lie underneath the expansive branches of his ‘dreaming tree‘ in Missouri. It was here that Walt developed his passion for storytelling and it was also the birth place for some of the worlds most beloved Disney characters.
Many years later, Disney’s scenic Placerita Canyon ranch served as the backdrop for segments of The Mickey Mouse Club TV show. The reserve of more than 900 acres was purchased by Disney in 1959 to serve as a quiet vista for TV and movie productions. Walt and his family also spent time relaxing and playing on the ranch. What was the name of this ranch?
Golden Oak, in honor of a storied tree there which was said to have had actual golden nuggets found at its base in 1842.
Golden Oak at Disney, Florida is going to be a magical place with a unique address (Golden Oak, Florida) that comes with exclusive access and privilege. The community will eventually include some 450 homesites on 980 acres within the Walt Disney World resort situated near Bay Lake.
Walt Disney Imagineering handled the master planning for Golden Oak in conjunction with aclaimed design firms. Great efforts were taken to provide areas of sanctuary within the community to provide homes to the native songbirds, osprey and wood storks.
Golden Oak will initially be divided into 3 arranged neighborhoods. Each one designed to complement the Golden Oak community and the names include Carolwood, Silverbrook and Kimball Trace. Within these three neighborhoods are 81 homesites. Kimble Trace – “The Village”, has 37 1/4 acre lots and prices will range from $1.5M to $2M in this area. Over at Silverbrook are 19 “Estate” homesites featuring 1/2 acre lots at a price range of $2M to $3.5M while Carolwood sees 25 “Grand Estate” homesites with approximately 3/4 acre each. Prices here will begin in the $3.5M range.
Luxury Homes
Here are some of the proposed home styles that will be available to build at Golden Oak:
Village Courtyard Style Home
Italianate Style Home
Tuscan Village Style Home
Venetian Style House
A Special Kind of Disney:
An abundance of pleasures and pastimes will be yours at Golden Oak. There’s nothing quite like a day in the theme parks at Walt Disney World® Resort but adding an even more magical dimension to your Disney experience will be the privileges created expressly for families at Golden Oak:
Private VIP transportation
A suite of in-park benefits
Access to select special-event tickets
Community-hosted activities throughout the year
Your Golden Oak Concierge
There’s something rather delightful about being able to hand over your “Want To’s” and “Must Do’s” to someone who can orchestrate them into “Well Done’s.” And here, that special someone is your Golden Oak Concierge, just a call or click away. It will be their pleasure to take care of such arrangements as:
Move-in services
Travel and private transportation
Disney parks and special-event tickets
Golf tee-times
Dinner reservations
Private VIP tours
At-home dinners and parties
Holiday home decorating
Grocery shopping and errands
Pre-arrival and post-departure home maintenance services
Summerhouse Private Clubhouse
Summerhouse, a Private Proposed Clubhouse
A destination experience close to home, the Summerhouse is envisioned to be a casually elegant gathering place for families and friends. Imagine the possibilities for finding your ideal blend of social, leisure and quality time enjoying:
Fine dining
A spacious veranda, the perfect spot for sipping refreshments
State-of-the-art fitness facility
Yoga studio or workout area
Culinary adventures, such as guest chef appearances and wine tastings
Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World® Resort
Also to be located at Golden Oak is a proposed 445-room Four Seasons hotel. Residents of Golden Oak will have access to select amenities at the proposed Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World® Resort including:
An 18-hole golf course designed by Tom Fazio
Superlative restaurants
Facilities for private events
A tranquil spa, offering a complete array of services, for body, mind and soul
Here’s a clip from local news about the new community:
Here’s a short video I made on my visit… it’s short as Disney won’t allow us to show too much just yet!
What is the first step?
Get on the list! The first step is to get on the Priority Reservation List. A limited amount of home sites are being released in 2010 so timing is everything. 25 deposits have already been placed since the opening announcement a couple of months ago and your place will be secured upon receipt of a fully executed Lot Release Priority Agreement and a refundable $25,000 deposit. If you are interested then Florida Leisure Vacation Homes and it’s sister real estate company, Total Real Estate Solutions will be pleased to assist in lot and builder selection. Do note, however, vacation rentals are not allowed in the community but long term lets are permitted.
Last week this blog (click here for last weeks blog) covered the news that Busch Gardens is developing a new area, Cheetah Run and Cheetah Hunt, at its famous Tampa theme park, so I decided to trek the hour journey from Florida Leisure Vacation Home land to see what was going on.
It seems that vacation home rental scams just won’t go away. Last month I had to help a party of 150 people out when the homes they had booked through a vacation rental agency failed to materialize and today I have found myself in a similar position. On local WESH 2 news last night a family told the story of their planned vacation and of how, after just arriving in Orlando, the vacation home they had rented failed to exist.
After hearing the story, I was more than pleased to be able to offer a helping hand and we managed to find them one of our Florida Leisure vacation homes to stay in for the next few days. In this case, three of the family had traveled ahead to prepare for the arrival of other family members so the others were forewarned there was a problem. Happily all of them will be getting together this afternoon after traveling to Orlando from New York and Miami today. It all ends well and you can see more on the story on Wesh 2 Orlando at 5pm tonight.
After three years of anticipation and hype, at 9.00am today, Universal Orlando will formally throw open the doors at its Islands of Adventure theme park to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The spectacular addition has cost over $200 million and is a fantastically detailed collection of rides, shops and eateries. The new addition is expected to lure millions of new visitors to Universal Orlando in the coming months as the resort becomes home to all things Potter.
It’s a remarkable rise considering the first Harry Potter book was only published in 1997. Since then the franchise has catapulted itself into one of the most commercially successful entertainment properties of all time. The book has more than 400 million copies in print and has raised more than $5.4 billion in global box-office receipts.
Interestingly, the seventh and final volume in the book series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was published three years ago, and author J.K. Rowling has no plan to write more Potter books, aside from a possible encyclopedia about Potter’s magical universe. The eighth and final film, Deathly Hallows, has been split Deathly Hallows into two parts by Warner Bros, and is to be released next year.
Universal Orlando has informed us that it is planning to open its parking garage at 5:30am this morning to handle the first of what are expected to become daily crushes of visitors to Wizarding World this summer. Further, it has erected a large screen near the entrance of Islands of Adventure to let as many guests as possible watch a grand-opening spectacle which is scheduled for 9 a.m. today in Wizarding World.
Universal officials remain tight-lipped about what’s in store and who will attend the event, but if you are unable to make it don’t worry as the event is being streamed live online. That said, we do expect some of the stars behind the franchise to be in attendance though and many of them including Rowling and actor Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) are already in Orlando so it would be very odd if they didn’t make an appearance!
More during the day as we get it.The Live Event Feed is here and it begins at 9.00 EDT:
And don’t forget our own “Wizards of Leisure” offer… and details on how you can join in the fun are below:
Wizards of Leisure Offer
In celebration of the opening of the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park, Florida Leisure Vacation Homes will supply two adult tickets to Universal’s Islands of Adventure to any guest making a reservation this week for 5 nights or more. This is a $156.72 value!!
You get :
2 tickets to Universal’s Islands of Adventure Theme Park
Includes entrance to Wizarding World of Harry Potter
with any 5 nights or longer vacation home reservation
So make your reservation NOW! Remember, you must make a reservation for 2010, this week for 5 nights of more to qualify. To make a reservation for your next Orlando vacation, simply visit our web site FloridaLeisure.com or call our hotline on 1-800-760-1114 and quote “Wizards of Leisure”
It’s a big week here in Orlando as The Wizarding World of Harry Potter officially opens on Friday. The soft opening has gone well and from all reports,the new section of Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park is a fabulous enhancement to Central Florida’s world famous attractions.
Nothing official has been announced by Universal, but rumors are spreading that some of the stars from the Harry Potter film series will be at the grand opening next Friday. In mid-May, Potter stars Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), and Oliver and James Phelps (Fred and George Weasley) visited The Wizarding World and it’s rumored that one or two may well return for the official opening.
There’s currently many rumors flying around and the biggest one is that Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe and James and Oliver Phelps are coming. It is also rumored that John Williams, the composer of the films, will be at the grand opening with a full choir and orchestra.
The media events begin on Wednesday and run through Friday. Some of the events, like the grand opening Friday morning, will be open to the public, while other events during the three days may remain private. It’s possible some celebrities could be at one event and not others. Major media from all over the world are expected to attend and NBC’s Today Show will be broadcasting live Friday morning.
It promises to be a fun time… so we’re going to add to it…. we’re doing our own “Wizards of Leisure” offer… and details on how you can join in the fun are below:
Wizards of Leisure Offer
In celebration of the opening of the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park, Florida Leisure Vacation Homes will supply two adult tickets to Universal’s Islands of Adventure to any guest making a reservation this week for 5 nights or more. This is a $156.72 value!!
You get :
2 tickets to Universal’s Islands of Adventure Theme Park
Includes entrance to Wizarding World of Harry Potter
So make your reservation NOW! Remember, you must make a reservation for 2010, this week for 5 nights of more to qualify. To make a reservation for your next Orlando vacation, simply visit our web site FloridaLeisure.com or call our hotline 1-800-760-1114
The event the whole world waits every four years for is about to begin. In just over a week the 2010 FIFA World Cup will officially begin as hosts South Africa will start their campaign for glory against Mexico in Group A of the tournament. The game is being held at Soccer City in Johannesburg and is the start of a month long soccer (football if you prefer) festival.
Here at Florida Leisure Vacation Homes we have been gearing up for the event by printing game schedules for each and every vacation home so that no-one who wants to watch the action will miss it. It’s a pocket sized TV guide to the games, the players and the action and is a must have to place in your pocket to get quick and handy sized information.
You can also download it for FREE by filling in the box below.
For those that don’t know, the current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation over a period of about a month. There are two stages to the World Cup: the group stage followed by the knockout stage.
In the group stage, teams compete within eight groups of four teams each. Eight teams are seeded, including the hosts, with the other seeded teams selected using a formula based on the FIFA World rankings and/or performances in recent World Cups, and drawn to separate groups. The other teams are assigned to different “pots”, usually based on geographical criteria, and teams in each pot are drawn at random to the eight groups. Since 1998, constraints have been applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation.
Each group plays a round robin tournament, guaranteeing that every team will play at least three matches. The last round of matches of each group is scheduled at the same time to preserve fairness among all four teams. The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage. Points are used to rank the teams within a group. Since 1994, three points have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss and if two or more teams end up with the same number of points, tie breakers are used: first is goal difference, then total goals scored, then head-to-head results, and finally drawing of lots (i.e., determining team positions at random).
The knockout stage is a single elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary. It begins with the “round of 16″ (or the second round) in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up of another group. This is followed by the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and then the final itself.
During the 18 tournaments that have so far been held, seven nations have won the title. Brazil has won the World Cup a record five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. Italy, the current champions, have won four titles, and Germany are next with three titles. The other former champions are Uruguay, winners of the inaugural tournament, and Argentina, with two titles each, while England and France have one title each.
The World Cup is the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world, where an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 World Cup which was held in Germany. And just to put you in the mood, here’s the 3 minute Nike commercial that really does sum up the mood of the whole world while the tournament is on. Enjoy…regular updates will appear on this blog as we make our journey through World Cup South Africa.
Earlier this week Disney Parks announced that the company’s goal of recruiting 1 million people to donate their time and get a 1-day ticket to Disney in return had been reached, and that the “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” promotion is to end.
Those participating in the program signed up to volunteer through the nationwide HandsOn Network and even though volunteer registration has ended, those who have completed their volunteer activity still have until Dec. 15 to use their free park ticket at Walt Disney World or DisneyLand.
In 2009, Disney distributed 1.2 million free tickets to anyone who went to one of their U.S. theme parks on his or her birthday. That worked out to be about 100,000 per month but the volunteer promotion was so successful that it was getting 100,000 participants per week this year.
At a media event last month at Walt Disney World, Disney officials admitted they were “overwhelmed” by this response.
No word yet on what will happen to the daily “pre-parade” in the Magic Kingdom that is designed to celebrate the promotion. It was the first new use of the Muppets at Walt Disney World in several years so it remains to be seen if Miss Piggy returns back to her dressing room.
Here’s some video I shot showing some of the things going on behind the scenes and how the venue is preparing for the tournament.
