Wizarding Harry Potter ride at Universal Orlando

People are still in suspense when they walk by the presumtive site for the new Harry Potty theme ride. This ride has no lines or waiting while the rest of the park is cram packed. In order to see the spectacle, one needs to use the new bridge that connects Jurassic Park with the Lost Continent.

In order for construction to begin the colossal effort, they first had to begin demolishing the old restaurant/bar Enchanted Oak Tavern. The afore mentioned bridge provides the perfect viewpoint to watch the demolition process. Unfortunately, Universal is famous for being tight lipped about the rendition drawing of Harry Potter.

By this time the Enchanted Oak Tavern has been leveled which did raise a few eyebrows illustrating that Universal is prepared to go to great lengths to build this new monstrosity.

New changes for Disney's Fort Wilderness

Get ready for Disney's biggest undertaking yet with new improvements that will give guests more options to choose from while staying in the wilderness camp. After 20 years Disney will be adding extra-large camper pads, cable tv, segway scooters, mini-water park, dog park, and electric cart rentals.

Really, Fort Wilderness which has been the crown jewel of Disney World carries a lot of wonderful memories over the years. Because of so much history, Disney World has been hesitating in making any substantial changes.

Due to many new innovations in technology, the theme park needs to change in order to keep up with guest demands. Even with the Wi-Fi limited areas of access installed several years ago, recent discoveries indicate that this is not enough for their guests taste especially with the younger generation.

Many guests like the abiblity to check e-mail, news, and the market while they are on vacation. Lately, the new trend is wider and longer RV's up to 40 feet and that means constructing wider pads to accomodate these new motor homes.

Also this means that Disney has to create new campsites to keep up with the demand and charge roughly from $69 - 116 which will depand on the season.


In addition, Disney also is designing a new themed water-slide & splash-zone located near the Meadows area pool. The old Fort Wilderness abuts River Country which closed a few years ago is now being considered by designers and engineers. They will probably recycle the park's water tower and build a new water slide

These new changes are a big investment and with current high gas prices Disney is wondering whether changing the theme will be cost efective in the near future.

Aquatic not opened due to hurricane Fay

In case you haven't heard yet, Aquatica will not be opening today (8/21). Let me know if you have any questions; thanks! Have a great one.

Disney Cruise Tropical Storm Update

Florida-Based Disney DestinationsTropical Weather UpdateWednesday, August 20, 2008
Disney Cruise LineThe Disney Cruise Line® continues to monitor Tropical Storm Fay very closely.

Tropical Storm Fay has stalled along the eastern coast of Florida near our homeport of Port Canaveral, and its path is uncertain at this point. For this reason, Port Canaveral has been closed by the Port Authority and the Aug. 21, 2008 sailing of the Disney Wonder® will set sail on its 3-night itinerary from Port Everglades, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Other than the departure port change, we do not anticipate any additional changes in the upcoming Disney Wonder itinerary.

Transportation will be provided for Guests with transfers and those arriving by private vehicle at Port Canaveral. It is important that departing Guests park at our terminal in Port Canaveral as the ship is scheduled to return there on Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008.The Disney Magic® is currently on a 15-night Panama Canal voyage and is scheduled to return to Port Canaveral on Monday, Sept. 1, 2008.

The safety and security of our Guests and Crew Members are always our top priority, and we monitor the weather very closely. If necessary, our Captains are always prepared to alter the ships' courses or itineraries to navigate away from inclement weather.

Walt Disney World ResortThe Walt Disney World® Resort safely withstood the wind and rain associated with Tropical Storm Fay. We have returned to normal operations in all areas

Busch Gardens Closed due to Hurricane Fay

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay will be closed tomorrow, August 19th, due to Tropical Storm Fay. It will re-open for regularly scheduled park hours on Wednesday, August 20th.

DIsney keeps it's eye on the storm

As Walt Disney World® Resort continues to monitor the path of Hurricane Fay, recent forecasts illustrate that rain and wind may affect operations as early as Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 19, 2008.

At this time, Walt Disney World will operating as usual. To ensure our Guests have opportunities to enjoy our Parks and Downtown Disney® Area offerings, we will open early as follows:

All four Theme Parks will open at 8 a.m.
DisneyQuest® Indoor Interactive Theme Park will open at 9 a.m.
AMC Theatres will open at 10 a.m.

We will announce additional changes to our operations if the storm’s direction and intensity make it necessary to do so.

Closings during hurricane Fay

SeaWorld will close at 5:00 p.m.

Discovery Cove will close at 5:30 p.m. (no Twilight Discovery)

Aquatica will close at 5:00 p.m. Busch Gardens is closed all day

Aquatica operating hours

please be advised of the following hours of operation:


Aug 18th - Sept 1st 2008 close at 9:00 pm
open at 9:00 am

Cypress Gardens due to reduce hours

Cypress Gardens known for it's Southern Belle and enchanted botanical gardens was originally owned by Dick & Julie Pope in 1936. Unfortunately, park attendance began to fall off in 2003 leading to a bankruptcy causing the park to close. It was then sold to Land South Holding LLC. for $16.9 million dollars.

In order to combat the changing economy, Steven Baker of Leisure Baker Group have decided to scale back the hours of operation. Most parks begin to slow down around September and change their hours to remain profitable. With only 200 people in the park at any one time, does not provide the atmospher with the excitement and thrills park goers are looking for.

Because of the rising cost of gasoline and other factors, Baker has decided to limit the park opening to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday until further notice. One of the biggest problems is that the airlines at Orlando International Airport scaled back their seats by 6,900 seats and there is a drastic reduction in international tourism. Cypress Gardens also will open for big group events during the limited hours of opereation.

Scaling back park hours is probably in line with other attractions including Weeki Wachee Springs, and Silver Springs who will also reduce park hours to three days. Cypress Gardens employs about 200 people to operate it's park and the low attendance does not justify keeping it open for 7 days a week.