Filed in
Christmas, Event Update, General Stuff, Orlando News, Thanksgiving |
10 November, 2008
In the 1974 classic Christmas special "The Year Without a Santa Claus," Saint Nick decides to take a year off. For the characters (and those watching), it was a blue Christmas, indeed.
For many in Central Florida, the blues have returned.
According to today's Orlando Sentinel, the historic Cypress Gardens theme park will temporarily close on Nov. 17 and reopen in March as a smaller, more focused park.
This, of course, means that the park's popular "Old-Fashioned Christmas" celebration, which once boasted the world's largest Christmas tree (a whopping 116-feet tall!), will remain dark this season.
Here's hoping that Florida's oldest theme park can use the hiatus to get their finances in order, and emerge in the spring as a more profitable endeavor.
We'll be first in line next Christmas!
Filed in
Christmas, Event Update, Orlando News, Universal Studios |
6 November, 2008
The Orlando Sentinel reported today that Universal Orlando will be kicking off their holiday season with two performances by the Grammy-winning group Mannheim Steamroller on Dec. 6.
Mannheim Steamroller is known for their unique instrumental tracks that founder Chip Davis calls "18th Century classical rock."
The group, which enjoys enormous popularity during the Christmas season, collaborated on the music for last year's original stage show "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" which will once again be performed at Seuss Landing inside Islands of Adventure theme park.
The 
Universal Studios concerts, held at 6pm and 8pm on Dec. 6, will include music from the IOA "Grinch" show, old favorites, and selections from the new Steamroller CD Christmasville
. It is the only scheduled holiday-season appearances by Steamroller founder Chip Davis.
According to the Sentinel report, the concerts will be included in regular theme-park admission.
For further updates about Orlando Christmas events, including ICE! at Gaylord Palms, visit www.christmasinorlando.com
Filed in
Behind-The-Scenes, Best of Florida Christmas, Carving, Christmas, Cool Stuff, Design Chatter, Event Update, Gaylord Palms, ICE! at Gaylord Palms, Orlando News |
20 October, 2008
Although Orlando's ICE! attraction won't open for several weeks, Gaylord Palms is giving a "sneak peek" of this cool holiday spectacle, thanks to two cool web cams that are already feeding live images to fans.
Web Cam One: Winter Wonderland ICE Bridge
Winter Wonderland is currently under construction inside the ICE! attraction at Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando. This romantic scene will feature a romantic winterscape, including a large bridge made completely from ice. When complete, ICE! visitors will be able to walk across the bridge, and take advantage of several photo opportunities, before moving on to the Hall of Ornaments, a colorful new ICE! scene.
Artisans from China are currently at work inside the 9-degree attraction. When the attraction opens, this scene will be home to the ICE! Proposals program, a unique place to propose marriage in Orlando.
To see the progress, click on the web cam link at ChristmasinOrlando.com, found on the right-hand column of the page.
Web Cam Two: Santa's Magic Flight
Santa's Magic Flight is also under construction inside the ICE! attraction. This newly-engineered scene is created from nearly 1 million pounds of ice, and features ice slides for children and adults.
When it opens on Nov. 17, the web cam will catch visitors to the attraction as they slide down the scene's four slides.
To see the progress, click on the web cam link at ChristmasinOrlando.com, found on the right-hand column of the page.
Filed in
Best of Florida Christmas, Christmas, Disney news, Event Update, Gaylord Palms, ICE! at Gaylord Palms, Orlando News, Thanksgiving, Universal Studios |
20 October, 2008
THEME PARK PASSHOLDERS ARE OFFERED
FREE CHILD ADMISSION TO
ICE! AT GAYLORD PALMS
Orlando Attraction Combats Christmas Blackout Periods
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Oct. 20, 2008) – This year, season passholders for select Florida theme parks can receive a free child’s admission to ICE! for every adult admission purchased.
This offer is available by showing a current season pass at the ICE! Box Office, for use on the following dates:
Nov. 17 through Dec. 5
Dec. 8 through Dec. 12
Dec. 29 through Jan. 4
This promotion is valid for season passholders of the following theme parks: all Walt Disney World theme parks and water parks (including Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Disney's Animal Kingdom), all Universal Orlando theme parks (including Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure), SeaWorld Adventure Park, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Aquatica, Wet ‘n Wild, and Cypress Gardens.
This special offer will come as welcome news to season passholders, many which have holiday “blackout” periods when the passes are not valid.
The fine print: This offer is valid only on specified dates in 2008. Only one complimentary child ticket will be issued per adult season passholder with purchase of a regularly priced adult ICE! ticket. Season passholder must be present, and will be required to show valid theme park season pass. Child tickets valid for children ages 4 through 12 only.
For more information, please visit www.gaylordpalms.com/passholder.
For further updates about Orlando Christmas events, visit www.christmasinorlando.com
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Behind-The-Scenes, Best of Florida Christmas, Carving, Christmas, Design Chatter, Disney news, Event Update, Gaylord Palms, ICE! at Gaylord Palms, Orlando News |
1 October, 2008
If you'd like to be a "fly on the wall" during the construction of ICE!, Gaylord Palms is using Twitter to provide periodic updates.
Twitter is a popular online service that allows users to share bite-sized messages (or “tweets”) of up to 140 characters long.
To follow Gaylord Palms on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/gaylordpalms
Filed in
Christmas, Disney news, Event Update, Uncategorized |
1 October, 2008
Suit up! It was just announced that Neil Patrick Harris, the Emmy Award-nominated star of the hit television series “How I Met Your Mother” and former star of the hit series “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” will return to Epcot as guest narrator for the Candlelight Processional Dec. 1-3, 2008.
Presented in the World Showcase America Gardens Theatre at 5, 6:45 & 8:15 p.m., the event is one of the most beloved holiday traditions at Walt Disney World, featuring a joyous retelling of the Christmas story by a celebrity narrator — accompanied by a 50-piece orchestra and a glorious mass choir.
For more information about the program, including a complete celebrity line-up, visit the Epcot 2008 Candlelight Processional page of ChristmasInOrlando.com.
Filed in
Christmas, ChristmasInOrlando.com, Disney news, Event Update, Orlando News, Thanksgiving |
17 September, 2008
One of the most popular Orlando Christmas events is the Candlelight Processional, which is part of Epcot's Holidays Around the World. Every year, fans rush to book reserved seats for the shows featuring the most popular celebrity narrators.
The 2008 line up looks to be pretty stellar:
Nov. 28-30 John O'Hurley (Seinfeld's J. Peterman, and "Dancing With the Stars")
Dec. 1-3 To Be Announced
Dec. 4-6 Brian Stokes Mitchell (Broadway)
Dec. 7-9 Virginia Madsen ("Dune" and "Fire with Fire")
Dec. 10-12 Marlee Matlin (TV's "The West Wing", and "Dancing With the Stars")
Dec. 13-15 Monique Coleman ("High School Musical 2")
Dec. 16-18 Chita Rivera (Broadway)
Dec. 19-21 Abigail Breslin ("Little Miss Sunshine")
Dec. 22-24 Stephen Curtis Chapman (Christian music's most-decorated artist)
Dec. 25-27 Edward James Olmos (TV's "Miami Vice and "Stand And Deliver" )
Dec. 28-30 Angela Bassett ("How Stella Got Her Groove Back" and "What's Love Got to Do With It") and Courtney Vance (TV's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent")
This year's newest calendar addition is husband and wife duo Angela Bassett and Courtney Vance. We believe this might be the first time in the event's history that a team of celebrity narrators took on the official role.
Speaking of history, we've posted our exclusive historical list of celebrity narrators through the years, since the first Walt Disney World Candlelight Processional performance in 1971.
For more information about Christmas at Walt Disney World, or Orlando Christmas events, visit www.ChristmasInOrlando.com.
Filed in
Best of Florida Christmas, Christmas, Disney news, Event Update, Gaylord Palms, ICE! at Gaylord Palms, New Year's Eve, Orlando News, Thanksgiving, Universal Studios |
20 December, 2007
THEME PARK PASSHOLDERS ARE OFFERED
FREE CHILD ADMISSION TO
ICE! AT GAYLORD PALMS
Orlando Attraction Combats Christmas Blackout Periods
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Oct. 20, 2008) – This year, season passholders for select Florida theme parks can receive a free child’s admission to ICE! for every adult admission purchased.
This offer is available by showing a current season pass at the ICE! Box Office, for use on the following dates: Nov. 17 through Dec. 5; Dec. 8 through Dec. 12 and Dec. 29 through Jan. 4.
This promotion is valid for season passholders of the following theme parks: all Walt Disney World theme parks and water parks, all Universal Orlando theme parks, SeaWorld Adventure Park, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Aquatica, Wet ‘n Wild, and Cypress Gardens.
This special offer will come as welcome news to season passholders, many which have holiday “blackout” periods when the passes are not valid.
The fine print: This offer is valid only on specified dates in 2008. Only one complimentary child ticket will be issued per adult season passholder with purchase of a regularly priced adult ICE! ticket. Season passholder must be present, and will be required to show valid theme park season pass. Child tickets valid for children ages 4 through 12 only.
For more information, please visit www.gaylordpalms.com/passholder.
For further updates about Orlando Christmas events, visit www.christmasinorlando.com
Filed in
Christmas, Disney news, Event Update, Gaylord Palms, Orlando News |
3 December, 2007
The biggest surprise of this holiday season (beside's SeaWorld's odd last-minute Polar Express announcement) has been the show Luminescence – A Christmas Fantasy, now appearing nightly at Gaylord Palms Resort. Pardon the cliche, but this show rocks!
Imagine attending a Christmas-themed rock concert in the middle of the Gaylord Palms atrium. Don't worry… it's not too over-the-top rock. Those watching the show are giving it a universal thumbs up — both young and old!
The new show, the brainchild of the hotel's holiday showmeister Aaron Mendelson, has been described as "Christian Rock meets Pink Floyd." Certainly the abundance of lasers, special effects, and aerial exhibitions prove the point.
Performed by a talented cast of musicians and vocalists, this is a show remember. (And for those who want to remember it well, the resort even sells a CD of the performance!)
Want to learn more? Gaylord Palms has launched a new website dedicated to the phenomenon. Visit: www.luminescencetheshow.com
Filed in
Christmas, Event Update, Orlando News, Universal Studios |
8 November, 2007
According to the Orlando Sentinel (and an email sent to passholders this week), Grinchmas is back 
on at Universal's Islands of Adventure.
In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the book "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," the park will feature a brand new live musical stage-show salute to the beloved holiday story.
Also new: "Who-ville's Wonky Tree Lot" and The Grinch character breakfast, which runs at 8 a.m. Thursdays through Sundays. [Cost is $19.95 for adults, $13.95 for kids ages 9 and younger. Info and reservations: 407-224-4012.]
Heralded as "The Return of Grinchmas," this year's celebration should make up for last year's scaled-back Grinch-themed holiday who-ha. Who-ray!
(Oh, and for those who can't make it to Orlando this Christmas, the 50th birthday of The Grinch is also being celebrated in Nashville, with Gaylord Opryland's Grinch-themed version of ICE!)
For more details about Christmas at Universal, and Christmas events at Orlando theme parks, visit ChristmasInOrlando.com.
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