All systems are go!  NASA has revealed that the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle launch planned in November 2008 is currently scheduled to go ahead!!!  A spectacular site for those visiting Florida this November.  The Mission is STS-126 Space Shuttle Endeavour, the estimated time for the launch on Friday, 14th November 2008 is 7:55pm.  East of Orlando a shuttle launch is worth travelling to the East Coast for.

Kennedy Space Center Official Site

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Busch Gardens, in Tampa on Florida’s West Coast - about an hour and a bit easy drive from Orlando - is getting in on the Halloween fun with this year’s Howl O Scream!

Dates

2nd October 2008 until 1st November 2008

Thursdays 7.30pm - 1.00am

Fridays and Saturdays 7.30pm - 2.00am

For 17 select nights, Busch Gardens is offering you the frights of your life with Howl O Scream! With various spooky houses, plenty of scare zones, and three shocking shows - leave young children at home with a babysitter!

Houses

After Hours: Last Call - At Club Muse it’s after hours and you can see what is luring in the shadows, turning your V.I.P. night into a R.I.P.

Trapped in the Walls - Evil lurks in the walls of this house from the tragedies that afflicted the family that lived here. What happens when a house can’t let go of it’s history?

13: Eat Your Heart Out - TheMessengers claim 13 victims every October. They have twelve, let’s hope that you aren’t unlucky thirteen!

Taste of Blood: The Vampire House - better take some garlic with you in this one!

Death Row Vengeance - Inmates curse those that do not rescue them from their final sentence, with their last breath. Will they come back to get you from the after life???

Reconstruction: The Doctor is In - Dr VonAngst rebuilds humans with mechanical devices, flesh and steel was never meant to turn out lie this!

Scare Zones

Wicked Woods - Are the trees alive? Arghhhh

Eternal Midnight - Midnight forever… Souls cannot leave their purgatory unless they get someone else to replace them. Let’s hope it’s not you!

Zombie Junction - A plague I tell you, a plague that affected the sleeping townsfolk. But they came back from the dead as flesh eating ghouls (and ghoulesses?).

Shows

Fiends - Any doctors in the house? The music will keep you dancing until the naughty nurses start operating.

One Wild Night - A young couple break into a wax museum - you can tell that is not a very good idea! Their life is changed forever…

Killer Klownz - I hate IT so definitely would not be going to watch this show. Would freak me out completely and give me nightmares. So if you are braver than me check out these blood thirsty bozos.

To book visit the official HowlOScream website, if you buy in advance online it will save you money. You can even print off e-tickets!

*BEWARE* No one will be admited in costumes.

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*WARNING* this Halloween at Universal Studios might be too intense for young children. No costumes or masks are allowed to be worn.

DATES for 2008:

26th and 27th September

2nd to 5th October

9th to 12th October

16th to 19th October

22nd to 26th October

29th to 31st October

1st November

SHOWS:

Rocky Horror Picture Show - A tribute

Brian Brushwood

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure

ATTRACTIONS:

Body Collectors

Creatures

Interstellar Terror

Doomsday

Scary Tales

The Hallow

Reflections of Fear

One thing I have never experienced is Halloween at Universal Studios, but by the looks of things it is a scary event, that I will need to wait until my children are a bit bigger and won’t be scared out of their skins! I would probably jump too with scary actors and scarezones (what are they - it sounds awful?!). Definitely not an event for the faint hearted or those with heart conditions!

*TIP* Express passes can still be bought and used to bypass the queues!

Here is an excerpt from Universal’s official website:-

“The Country’s Best Halloween Event” —Amusement Today

“Come face to face with your deepest fears as Bloody Mary brings history’s most terrifying urban legends to life at Universal Studio’s Halloween Horror Nights. Trapped inside or on the streets, there’s nowhere you’re safe. It’s the most immersive horror experience ever, with more Scare Zones than ever before, more Scareactors, and the most Haunted Houses ever.

On select nights in September, October, and November, Universal Studios Florida® theme park is transformed into a nightmarish labyrinth of haunted houses, outrageous live shows, and electrifying scare zones while an army of mutants, monsters and maniacs roam the darkened studio streets.

Now in its 18th year, Halloween Horror Nights annually drawing hundreds of thousands of horror fans from around the globe to this one-of-a-kind event. Tony Timpone, Editor of Fangoria Magazine, said, “After visiting scream parks all across the US for the last 20 years, I can easily say that Universal’s is the best in the business… Halloween Horror Nights is the ultimate Halloween experience.”

It’s the greatest exhibition of pure terror ever unleashed anwhere and you can experience it all only at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights.” ~ www.halloweenhorrornights.com

If you buy tickets online for the Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios before 8th October you can get yourself $50 worth of savings at Universal Citywalk dining, shopping and entertainment venues.

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Swimming with dolphins, which can be done in Orlando, Florida at Discovery Cove, is the one of the top things that people want to do in their life. The thrill of touching and swimming with these intelligent creatures is just too wonderful to express in words alone!

Discovery Cove, part of SeaWorld, allows you to swim with the dolphins and experience the thrill for yourself.

2008 prices are $269 to $289 for the dolphin package, $169 to $189 for the non dolphin package.

The Dolphin package includes:-

*30 minutes swimming with Dolphins

*Snorkelling with tropical fish in the reef

*Wading with rays in the ray Lagoona

*Hand feeding birds in the aviary

*Relaxing in the resort pool

*Swimming along the tropical river

*Continental breakfast

*Lunch, snacks and beverages throughout the day

*Snorkel gear and swim vest or wetsuit, lockers, suncream and beach chairs

*Car park

*Admission to SeaWorld Orlando or Busch Gardens, Tampa for 14 consecutive days.

or

*For an additional fee, 14 consecutive days at SeaWorld, Aquatica and Busch Gardens Tampa.

You can book now to reserve your swimming with dolphins in Orlando at Discovery Cove.

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The 13th Annual International Food and Wine Festival is being held at Epcot Orlando, from 26th September until 9th November this year. 

Epcot guests can explore these “Cities in Wonderland” - from trendy Cork in Ireland, to the melting pot of Cape Town in South Africa - there will be plenty to choose from with international and regional marketplaces offering delicacies.  During the six week festival there will be tasty treats from countries on six continents.

There will be tapas, from over 25 international marketplaces at $2-to-$5 each, offered with recommended wines and beers. New festival flavours explore the culinary wonders of Lyon in France, Marrakesh in Morocco, Shanghai in China, Bologna in Italy, Tokyo and Mexico City. there will still be entertainment and traditional crafts of many countries along the promenade.

During the International Festival of Food and Wine there will be daily complimentary wine and beer tastings from around the world as well as cooking demonstrations. A series of special culinary programs features renowned winemakers, guest chefs and speakers participating in elegant dinners, luncheons, seminars and wine schools.

“We wanted to take our guests on a grand gustatory expedition,” says Nora Carey who helps manage the festival. “The cities that we’ll feature are known for great dining experiences, and the ‘Cities in Wonderland’ theme will inspire our guests to enjoy great food and wine in a fresh new way.”

The Epcot, Orlando festival continues to grow dramatically every year, attracting a diverse audience of more than one million guests each Autumn! Beer aficionados can raise their steins at  Germany’s Biergarten, which specialize in brews from light to dark.

Eat to the Beat!

Musical entertainment will get everyone foot tapping, the “Eat to the Beat!” concert series featuring a range of music from classic rock, soul, R&B, oldies, jazz to funk. Concerts are performed three times every single evening at America Gardens Theatre along the World Showcase lagoon.  Kool & The Gang, Spyro Gyra, En Vogue and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. David Sanborn, Jon Secada and Otis Day and the Knights will all feature.

The Festival Welcome Center will have a Champagne and Wine Bar.  There will be complimentary wine seminars and book signings. Exclusive festival pins and an official festival cookbook will be available.

There will be a weekly “Party for the Senses” grand tasting event with delicious tastes from chefs, more than 70 wines and beers and live entertainment to create a propery pary atmosphere.

Updates

The re-opened Spaceship Earth attraction in Future World, with updated narration by Oscar winning actress Dame Judi Dench, has been overhauled completely and has a touch-screen interactive ride sequence. Tutto Italia, is a brand new restaurant in the World Showcase with food from different areas of Italy. There is a new Tokyo Dining and Teppan Edo restaurants in Japan. While Mexico has a new tequila bar.  With all this fantastic food, wine, and hard drinks on offer this would be a good day to get a taxi to and from Epcot, Orlando!

Reservations required:

The weekly “Party for the Senses” grand tasting, Food and Wine Pairings at select Epcot restaurants, Regional Feasts, Epcot Wine Schools, Cheese Tastings, Sweet Sundays, and other special wine and culinary programs need reservations and separate admission.  For more info or to make your reservation phone Epcot, Orlando 407 WDW FEST / 407 939 3378

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You can take a helicopter ride with Orlando HeliTours they will give you 10% off if you mention “the Tourist channel”. This video shows you the 8 minute flight over Walt Disney World - well actually it goes around WDW as they are not allowed to fly straight over the top! But if you keep your eyes peeled you can see Cinderella’s Castle. They do a range of tours and other services,

Located on Highway 192, if you look for the Red helicopter on the North side of 192. It’s about 1/4 mile West from the huge Orange shaped shop.

When I was in New York I had a ride in a helicopter with Liberty Helicopters, the tour was really great fun and I really got my bearings being shown the location of all the big landmarks.

For your tour in Orlando with Orlando HeliTours you don’t need to book, according to their website.

Orlando Helitours can be contacted at…

5519 West Highway 192 (Our Florida Villa is just off the 192 you can book to stay in a home from home).
Kissimmee, FL 34746
PHONE: (407) 397-0226
FAX: (407) 397-4099
info@orlandohelitours.com

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Happy Birthday!!! Great news… In 2009, you can get into Walt Disney World, Florida or Disneyland Resort, California for free on your birthday.  That’s right, you pay zip, nada, nil, zero*.

*You have to prove your date of birth with your id and this will not get you money back if you are a passholder or multi day ticket holder.

More information here

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La Nouba, is the resident Cirque du Soleil show at Disney. La Nouba is from the French phrase “faire la nouba” or to party/to live it up.

“…is an unforgettable journey through our universe—at once threatening and exhilarating, frightening and familiar. La Nouba is the story of all stories, the site of all mysteries, where dreams and nightmares sleep side by side. La Nouba is memory, individual and universal. It beckons to us, challenges us to uncover passions we thought we’d lost long ago. Here, anything is possible.

From this encounter is born fear and ecstasy. From this encounter is born La Nouba.” ~ Cirque du Soleil

Two shows, 6pm and 9pm Tuesday through to Saturday.

I simply cannot wait to see this show. I have seen Cirque du Soleil when they travelled to Battersea Power Station in London and it was jaw droppingly good, the acrobats, combined with the mime and the music made it a truly magical experience like no other!

The show is located on the West side of Downtown Disney.

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There are many dinner and entertainment nights out in Orlando, Florida, which can turn eating out into a memorable experience! However, the Pirate’s Dinner Adventure show was rated the best for 2008 by readers of Florida Monthly magazine. Shiver me timbers, piece of eight, etc… Prices start at $29.95, there is a discount if you buy your tickets online at the Pirate’s Dinner Adventure website. Or you can save even more (up to $23 off the gate price) by ordering your tickets through Under Cover Tourist, your official ticket reseller.

Pirate’s Dinner Adventure – Orlando, Florida
6400 Carrier Drive
Orlando, FL 32819
Phone: 407.248.0590
Fax: 407.248.0507
Toll Free: 800.866.2469

Click the arrow on the video below for the official preview (without ruining too many surprises).

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