Posts Tagged ‘Treat’

Orlando Vacation Homes: Treat Yourself to a Luxurious Disney Vacation

If you are traveling with a large group or a big family and want to enjoy luxurious accommodations at the best possible price, then the best way to do it is by renting one of the many Orlando vacation homes located near Disney World.

During the past ten years there has been a tremendous boom in the number of vacation homes on offer in the Orlando area. The reason for this increase is the huge demand from visitors who want something that is more spacious than a typical hotel or motel, and are also interested in saving money on their accommodations.

The vacations homes in the Orlando area range from two bedroom condominiums and go right up to six bedroom mansions. The common feature in all of these vacation homes is that they are fully furnished and fully equipped with every amenity that you could want. These amenities include TVs, DVDs and home entertainment system, private and community pools and spas, wireless Internet, game rooms and more. In addition all the homes are air-conditioned and heated and ready to use in any season.

Location is another “selling point” for the vacation homes, as many of them are located in communities that are within minutes of Disney World and other Orlando attractions. You will not have to spend much time in your car and battle with traffic jams when you stay in a vacation home that is only a five minute drive to Disney World. If you stay in a vacation condo you can even take advantage of the shuttle services to the attractions which are offered free of charge by many of the condominium communities.

Lots of space, great locations, and tons of amenities are what you get in these vacation homes. What more could you ask for? Well maybe you would like rental prices that are low enough to make these luxurious accommodations seem dirt-cheap. And that is exactly what you will get if you are traveling with a group. Let’s look at a specific vacation home to get an idea of how this is possible.

Suppose you have a group of ten, then a great choice would be a five bedroom, three and one half bath vacation home in the Cyprus Pointe community, located 12 minutes from Disney World. This luxurious vacation home is complete with flat screen TVs throughout the house, wireless Internet, a game room and its own pool and spa. You can rent this vacation home for as little as $175 per night during the low season and would pay only $235 per night during the peak holiday seasons. Divide those prices by ten and you can see that the per-person per-night expenses are mighty attractive.

If you would like to take advantage of a vacation home bargain such as this one, then it is best to start searching, find the home that is best for you and to make a reservation. Some of the choicest accommodations are booked more than one year in advance. If you need a smaller vacation home you can start with a two bedroom condo and work your way up. In any case, you are bound to get a good deal.

Treat Yourself to a Night Out at an NBA Theme Restaurant

If you are in the Orlando area and are a basketball enthusiast, or have kids who love the game, then you should visit NBA City for one of your evening meals. NBA City is a basketball theme restaurant that has won heaps of praise from visitors and the news media alike.

It was set up in 1999 and has been a hit with sports lovers ever since. What’s the secret of its appeal? It’s the sports atmosphere that permeates every corner of the place.

You will be dining in an environment filled with all kinds of sports memorabilia and while you are enjoying your dinner you can watch large flat-panel TV screens showing live sports or highlights of past NBA exploits.

In the highlight videos the basketball greats from all the eras are shown. Old timers will thrill to see Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain again and your kids will enjoy watching Kobe Bryant rack up the points.

There’s more to do than just eat at this theme restaurant. It has an interactive section where you or your kids can test your basketball skills. It is not just video games; you really will get a chance to shoot some baskets.

What about the food? It is contains the favorites of typical American cuisine. That includes hamburgers, pasta, pizza, salads, sandwiches and grilled steaks. The desserts are “home made” and the prices are quite reasonable. The average price for a meal is under $15.

The menu sounds quite plain but the food items are well prepared and that’s why this restaurant has won a lot of good comments not only from ordinary diners but from food critics as well. In particular, Fodor’s Review said that “the food is actually the real draw here.”

It’s a huge place. The restaurant exceeds 15,000 square feet and can seat more than 350 people on its two levels. It also has space for private parties ranging from small intimate rooms to areas that can hold cocktail receptions for several hundred people.

Serious sports fans may want to try out their SkyBox Lounge. This is the luxury area of the restaurant and it not only has a good view of Universal’s CityWalk area, but gives you the possibility to watch non-stop sports on 20 different TV screens.

Before you leave the restaurant you may want to pick up some NBA souvenirs, jerseys and memorabilia. They have a well-stocked shop and you can pick out something with the emblem of your favorite team.

If you are “sold” on this restaurant and want to visit it here is the basic information that you need to know: It is conveniently located in Universal’s CityWalk area. CityWalk is a special entertainment, dining and shopping area of the Universal theme park. Beside NBA City, it is also home to many theme restaurants, night clubs and other restaurants.

The restaurant is open daily from 11:00 AM and the closing hours are not fixed; they vary according to the amount of customers.

That’s about it. If you are a sports enthusiast and want to have a tasty, yet inexpensive, dinner in a basketball environment then be sure to visit NBA City in Orlando.

Treat Yourself To Orlandos Number One Attraction: Discovery Cove

If you had to guess what is the number one attraction in Orlando you would probably say Disney World or Universal Studios, but you would be wrong. According to a respected source of travel information, the attraction with the most appeal is Discovery Cove, an ocean theme park that will let you get up close to dolphins, tropical birds and other exotic creatures.

Discovery Cove offers a variety of activities including snorkeling on a coral reef and getting safely up close to sharks and barracudas, but the standout attraction at this park is the chance that it offers you to wade or swim with bottleneck dolphins.

The park, which is located right next to the more famous Sea World, features 30 bottleneck dolphins and you dont just look at them through a plexi-glass wall, you can hug, kiss and swim with them one-to-one in a special dolphin swim.

Here is how it works. First you watch a video which explains what you need to know about dolphins and how to communicate with them through hand signals. You learn how to give them positive reinforcement and you get acquainted with safety procedures too.

After the orientation video, you get a chance to get wet and meet the dolphins in person. Groups of 6-8 people wade into a lagoon where they play with a dolphin for thirty minutes. You can pet them, stroke them and get to know them, but the highlight of the encounter is when you go on a one-on-one swim with a dolphin through the lagoon.

The second biggest attraction at Discovery Cove is the snorkeling experience. Instead of watching a film or movie about tropical fish, you can put on a snorkel and fins and swim over a tropical reef, past shipwrecks and grottos and view all sorts of tropical fish as well as sharks and barracudas. You dont have to worry about the sharks and the barracudas, they are kept safely away from you in a glass enclosed area of the lagoon.

You swim with a dolphin and then snorkel up close to sharks. Is there anything else that can top this? Well, at Discovery Cove you can also go for a trip up a tropical river and experience what it is like to visit a tropical rainforest. The rainforest at Discovery Cove has waterfalls, a freshwater lagoon and underground caves, and 250 tropical birds. The birds are quite tame and will even eat out of your hand.

If all that is not enough, you can get your snorkel and fins on again and go into the ray lagoon and get up close to the very gentle cow nose rays.

Visitors to the popular website Trip Advisor voted Discovery Cove as the most popular attraction in Orlando, and as can be expected it is not so easy to visit the park. You definitely have to reserve in advance and be prepared to pay a rather substantial price. An admission with a dolphin experience costs $289 and admission without a close-up with the dolphins costs $189. But, if you want the ocean adventure of a lifetime, then dont let these obstacles get in your way and go find out why this is the most popular attraction in the Orlando area.

Treat Your Family to a Visit to Gatorland

One of the most distinctive animals of Florida is the alligator and if you are visiting Orlando, you can get close to these critters, learn more them and have a lot of fun by visiting Gatorland.

Gatorland is a 110 acre theme park and wildlife preserve. It started out as a small roadside exhibit in 1949 and has grown to a state of the art theme park which proudly calls itself “The alligator capital of the world.” Gatorland was founded by the late Owen Godwin and it is still a family-run business today.

The park of course features alligators but it is also home to other attractions as well including crocodiles, an aviary, a breeding marsh, a petting zoo, a nature walk, educational wildlife programs, a gift shop and the Gator Gully Splash Park.

Gatorland is not just one of the many theme parks in Orlando rather it is one of the pioneers of tourist attractions in Central Florida. Although it was officially founded in 1949, it really dates back to the 1930s when Godwin’s father built an alligator pit in his backyard and his mother sold alligator related trinkets to shoppers from the family’s store. After the war the park started in earnest with a 16 acre plot that has grown to the present 110 park.

There is also some serious science being done at Gatorland in addition to all the fun and entertainment. Gatorland is the only place worldwide where alligators have been artificially inseminated successfully. Captive alligators are normally troubled by disease, infertility and death as embryos, but Gatorland along with the University of Florida have developed new techniques for breeding alligators, incubating eggs and providing the kind of an environment where the alligators can thrive.

Alligators are not the only attraction here; their larger cousins the crocodiles also have a place of honor in the attraction called “Jungle Crocs of the World.” This two-acre display houses one of the world’s largest exhibits of giant crocodiles in captivity. The Jungle Crocs’ natural design allows the animals to grow more than 20 ft. long and weigh more than a ton. While one can rarely get to see crocodiles in the wild, this unprecedented exhibit features the word’s most ferocious predators bursting from the water and chasing their startled prey onto the land.

In addition to the gators and crocodiles, Gatorland is home to thousands of aquatic birds, birds nesting above the marsh. Alligators protect the nests from natural predators, like raccoons and opossums and Gatorland is one of the few places worldwide where visitors can watch, at close distances, endangered wading birds build nests and feed their young.

For the past ten years the park has actually become a 110 acre “classroom” with an expanded education program offering classes on crocodilians, wading birds, snakes and Florida swamplands.

Gatorland is one of the iconic, must-not-miss attractions of Orlando and a visit there makes a great half-day outing for the entire family