In This Issue Welcome Casino Cruises Journey Into Narnia: Prince Caspian Book Review - Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World Free Monthly Desktop Wallpaper August events Weather forecast

Hi [%name%], welcome to the August newsletter of the Florida Review & Travel Guide.

August is traditionally the time when Disney announce their annual ticket price increases so it will be interesting to see if they put the prices up again this year or hold off for a bit, in the light of the downturn in the economy; more details next month.

This month we have information about casino cruises if you fancy a 'flutter' and more on the new Chronicles of Narnia attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios. See below for more details.

Sale of Anheuser-Busch

The Belgian brewer, InBev, is in the process of buying Anheuser-Busch and included in the sale is the Busch Entertainment Corporation and their 10 theme parks including SeaWorld, Discovery Cove, Busch Gardens, Adventure Islands and Aquatica in Central Florida.

It was not long ago that Busch Entertainment announced plans to build four theme parks in Dubai, their first overseas venture.

At this time it is unclear what InBev's thoughts are towards the Worlds of Discovery parks and whether they will keep the parks or sell them off to another company to help finance the take over.

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Latest Space Shuttle News

NASA are now confident that they will complete the repairs to the flame trench area of Launch Pad 39A (damaged by the last launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery), in time for the next launch in October.

In fact they are looking at the possibility of bringing the launch dates forward for Atlantis in October on the Hubble Space Telescope mission and Endeavour in November. The reasoning behind this is because from November 24 until late December, the position of the International Space Station in relation to the sun, means the space station would not be able to generate enough power to support a docked space shuttle.

This means NASA only has a small window of opportunity to complete two more missions this year.

To read the latest NASA launch schedule, click here.

Florida books published in August

Another quiet month when it comes to Florida books but included amongst this months offerings is the annual Disney bible, The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World plus Fodor's Walt Disney World with Kids and a very funny book by Rory MacLean:

• Bobby Bowden's Tales from Florida State
• Fodor's Miami's 25 Best
• Fodor's Walt Disney World with Kids 2009: with Universal Orlando and SeaWorld by Kim Wright Wiley
• Gardening in Florida 2009 Wall Calendar
• Next Exit Magic Kingdom: Florida Accidentally by Rory MacLean
• Travellers Florida: Guides to destinations worldwide by Thomas Cook Publishing
• The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2009 by Bob Sehlinger

All these books and more can be found in our new Florida book directories for US and UK visitors.

As Sterling Casino Lines closes their casino ship operations at Port Canaveral, Las Vegas Casino Lines prepares to launch their casino cruise from the same port.

Offering free parking, free hot and cold buffet, free cocktails whilst gaming and free entertainment, the Liquid Vegas will sail twice a day on a four hour gambling cruise, one just before lunch and the other early evening. On Friday and Saturday nights there is an additional late night cruise.

The 300 foot cruise liner can cater for nearly 900 passengers and crew. Games on offer include Baccarat, Blackjack, Let It Ride, Roulette, Craps, Texas Hold'em, Caribbean Stud Poker, Three Card poker, Big Six Wheel and Slots.

Please note you need to be at least 21 to sail on the Liquid Vegas.

Sterling's ship, the Ambassador II, has been beset with technical problems of late and when their lease at Port Canaveral expired in July, the company ceased operations but hope to start sailing again from another port soon.

The other gambling ship at Port Canaveral is the SunCruz XII which is a similar size to that of Las Vegas Casino Lines with a capacity of 1,200 and they also operate two cruises a day; one sailing just before lunch and the other early evening.

SunCruz Casinos also operate casino cruise ships from Jacksonville and Key Largo in Florida and Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.

To read more about casino cruises in Florida, click here.

To coincide with the release of the second Narnia film "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" from the original novels by C. S. Lewis, Disney have opened a new attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Called Journey Into Narnia: Prince Caspian, it is essentially a walk-through attraction to promote the new film and will appeal to fans of the original film who have not yet seen the new film.

It is located in Soundstage 4 which is situated between Walt Disney: One Man's Dream and the recently opened Toy Story Mania!.

As you queue for the attraction, there is a welcome presentation about Narnia with a trivia quiz and then there is a optional photo opportunity with Prince Caspian himself against a backdrop of the "Dancing Lawn" which is where the Narnians first met the Prince in the book/film.

When you enter the main attraction get to watch a behind the scenes film of the making of the The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, narrated by the director Andrew Adamson. After the film, you enter an underground vault where you can see a replica of Aslan's How, the burial mound on the site of the Stone Table where Aslan "died" in the first film.

Multiple surround sound screens immerse you in the The Chronicles of Narnia with clips from the film along with lots of costumes and props from the film set.

To read more about Disney's Hollywood Studios, click here.

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2009 by Bob Sehlinger and Len Testa is published by John Wiley & Sons.

Each year the unofficial "bible" to Walt Disney World continues to grow and is now up to 864 pages. It really is the definitive guide to the Walt Disney World Resort.

Though it does not have the gloss and visual appeal of some other guides, what it lacks in colour photographs it more than makes up for in sheer volume of information and facts.

We first bought this book back in the early 90's and it is invaluable in helping you make better use of your time with hints and tips on how to beat the crowds and see the shows with the minimum of wait times.

Bob Sehlinger and his team of editors interviewed 9,000 families to get their views on each of the rides, shows and restaurants and each attraction is described in detail and rated for different age groups from pre-school right up to seniors with details of type of ride, best times to go, duration of ride, loading times.

There is also a companion website which gives you up to the minute details on predicted crowd levels, updates to the book, latest WDW news and a subscription touring guide service.

To read the complete review of Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2009, click here.

August and September 2008 desktop wallpaper calendars

The free Florida desktop wallpaper calendars are now available in widescreen format as well as standard format so if you have a widescreen monitor you can now download a new widescreen calendar.

Free desktop calendars for August 2008 (Bok Tower) and September 2008 (Power Rangers at Disney's Hollywood Studios) are ready to download now.

Note that some of the larger files can be 200-300k in size so if you are on a modem dialup line it will take a few minutes to download.

To view and then download the Florida free desktop wallpaper for August or September now, click here.

Also don't forget if you are looking for inspiration on what to do on your Florida vacation, why not take advantage of our collection of free brochures where you will find information on many activities including golfing vacations, eco-tours, scuba diving and Caribbean cruises.

Read more...

There are no public holidays in August but this year, Labor Day is on Monday September 1st so you can expect increased visitors at the theme parks the preceding weekend.

Other notable events in August include the last few days of The Sounds Like Summer Concert Series at Epcot with tributes to Elton John and The Supremes and the Annual Funday & Possum Festival in Wausau.

For full coverage of August events throughout the State of Florida, click here.

August is one of the hottest months in Florida and this year will be no exception with temperatures expected to be above normal but hopefully rainfall around normal with afternoon thunderstorms early in the month.

In the north around Pensacola and Jacksonville there will be plenty of sunshine but the month will start with the occasional thunderstorm. On the West coast, daytime temperatures will be in the high 80s/low 90s and the nights will be in the low to high 70s. On the East coast, daytime temperatures will be slightly higher in the high 80s/mid 90s but at night it will slightly cooler in the low to mid 70s.

Across the Central region, it will similar with high 80s/low 90s during the day dropping to low/mid 70s over night and very humid. Orlando will see slightly higher temperatures than the Gulf coast.

Down in Miami and the Keys, daytime temperatures are similar with high 80s/low 90s during the day and mid 70s/low 80s over night. It will also be very humid.

To check out the rest of the weather for all of Florida including a live weather map, monthly temperature and rainfall charts across the State and the latest hurricane news, click here.

We plan to bring you a newsletter on the first day of each month with details of upcoming events and news from across Florida.

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