Independent guide and review of Florida as a holiday destination

Florida 2006 Highlights

2006 has not been a bad year for Florida and its tourists, all in all. Tourist numbers have remained pretty static compared to 2005, probably not helped by the rise in price of gasoline and the terrible hurricane season for 2005.

For Florida highlights in 2007, click here.

Best beaches

Florida continues to have some of the best beaches in the whole of the United States.

According to Stephen Leatherman, Ph.D. "Dr. Beach", Caladesi Island State Park, Dunedin was ranked 2nd in 2006 with Barefoot Beach Park, Bonita Springs taking 10th place.

Killer whales at the new Believe Shamu show in SeaWorld Orlando

In previous years, Fort DeSoto Park's North Beach, St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, St. Andrews State Recreation Area (SRA), Grayton Beach SRA and Bahia Honda SRA have all been voted into first place.

In addition The Discovery Travel Channel ranked Little Palm Island in the Keys and South Beach, Miami in their top 10.

New rides and attractions

Several new rides, shows and attractions opened during 2006 as the major theme parks continue to compete for visitors, including:

SeaWorld launched Believe, the new Shamu killer whale stadium show plus some new rides in the children's playground including a Shamu inspired roller coaster
Disney revamped the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Magic Kingdom on the back of the successful Johnny Depp film of the same name
In Epcot, the Living Seas pavilion re-opened as The Seas With Nemo And Friends and the ride has been rebuilt with 'clamobiles' and features Nemo
At Disney's Animal Kingdom, the long awaited "Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain" roller coaster ride officially opened in April
Following the success of the "Happiest Celebration on Earth", Disney launched their new "Year of a Million Dreams" celebrations which will run until the end of 2007
Busch Gardens Africa replaced its Haunted Lighthouse 4D film with the new Pirates 4D featuring Eric Idle and Leslie Nielsen
At the Universal Orlando® Resort, Universal 360: A Cinesphere Spectacular is the new night-time show at Universal Studios and High In The Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride opened in Islands of Adventure. There are also two new venues in CityWalk, namely the Red Coconut Club and the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant

To the Moon, Mars and beyond

NASA have been able to get back on track after the successful launch of three shuttles missions to the International Space Station, the first since the Columbia tragedy of 2003.

They also announced the start of the Constellation program which will see the introduction of the Ares and Orion replacement vehicle for the Space Shuttle fleet which is being retired by 2010 and planned missions to return to the Moon and eventually send manned missions to Mars.

Hurricanes and the Florida weather

After 2005's terrible hurricane season and the early above average predictions for 2006, 2006 ended up being a relatively quiet year with only nine named storms; consisting of five hurricanes of which two were classed as major hurricanes and four named tropical storms. None of the hurricanes made landfall in the USA.

In early 2006, the forecasters were saying 17 named storms and nine hurricanes with five major ones.

All the main theme parks including the Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Orlando® Resort, SeaWorld and Busch Gardens announced formal "peace of mind" hurricane policies such that if your vacation is disrupted due to tropical storms or hurricanes, you should be able to reschedule or get a refund on your vacation.

The lowlights

The owners of Cypress Gardens filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy but they have managed to obtain additional financing whilst they resolve their dispute over hurricane insurance claims and are remaining open and promising new rides and attractions for 2007.

Gatorland suffered a terrible fire in the entrance area and gift shop but luckily the fire did not spread to the main park and only a couple of exhibits kept in the entrance area were lost. The iconic alligator jaws were smoke blackened but defiantly remained in place. After a couple of weeks, the park was able to re-open using a temporary entrance.

2006 was not without it's tragedies with a number of deaths due to alligator attacks and people being taken ill after getting on theme park rides.

Three women died in one month (May) after being attacked by alligators. Alligator attacks are extremely rare but you must take sensible precautions, particularly during the mating season and at dawn or dusk.

Several people of differing ages died after riding theme park rides including Mission: Space at Epcot and the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at Disney's MGM Studios. Whilst all the deaths have been attributed to medical pre-conditions, it goes without saying that you should read very carefully the health and safety notices posted by the theme park ride entrances, especially if you suffer from high blood pressure or a known heart condition.