In This Issue Welcome Hubble Space Mission SeaWorld Quick Queue Book Review - The Complete Walt Disney World 2009 Disney News Free Monthly Desktop Wallpaper October events Weather forecast

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

This month there is plenty of news about Disney, everything from new attractions to a very special deal if you visit a Disney park on your birthday during 2009 (more details below).

Extra Shuttle Flight

The Senate have approved the NASA Reauthorization Act which could potentially add one extra flight to the current Space shuttle schedule to deliver a physics project, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, to the International Space Station.

The shuttle fleet is currently scheduled to be decommissioned in 2010 ahead of the new manned Orion space program which will not be ready until 2015 at the earliest.

Titanic Exhibit New Home

The Titanic Exhibit was forced to close (see September 2007 newsletter) a year ago and has been temporarily housed at the Orlando Science Center.

It has now found a new permanent home back on International Drive, about one mile north of the now demolished Mercado shopping centre. It should open in early November.

Gas Price Rises

Following in the wake of Hurricane Ike, gas (petrol) prices peaked as high as $5.50 a gallon in some parts of Florida. Fourteen Texan oil refineries representing about 20% of the USA oil output, were forced to close ahead of Ike's landfall in Texas.

Cheapest gas prices today are around $3.50 to $3.70 a gallon in most parts of Florida.

Las Vegas Casino Cruises

Las Vegas Casino Lines hope to start their casino cruises from Port Canaveral in the next couple of weeks using their 900 passenger Liquid Vegas cruise ship.

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

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Florida books published in October

For the second month running, there are a large number of Florida books published this month including the 2009 editions of Fodor's Walt Disney World, Fodor's South Florida and The Complete Walt Disney World:

• Hiking Central Florida: A Guide to 30 Great Walking and Hiking Adventures by M. Timothy O'Keefe
• Moon Florida Gulf Coast by Laura Reiley
• Fodor's Walt Disney World 2009: with Universal Orlando and SeaWorld
• Great Houses of Florida by Beth Dunlop and Joanna Lombard
• The Twelve Days of Christmas in Florida
• Street Guide 2009 Bundle Broward County
• Street Guide 2009 Bundle Miami-Dade County
• Street Guide 2009 Bundle Miami-Dade/Broward/Palm Beach Counties
• Street Guide 2009 Bundle Palm Beach County
• Frommer's South Florida: With the Best of Miami & the Keys by Lesley Abravanel
• Rand Mcnally Broward County Street Guide
• Rand Mcnally Miami-dade County Street Guide
• Rand Mcnally Palm Beach County Street Guide
• Fodor's South Florida 2009
• National Geographic Traveler: Miami and the Keys, 3rd Edition by Mark Miller
• The Fontainebleau Miami by Kevin Plotner and Rebecca Plotner
• Greetings from Jacksonville, Florida by Donald D. Spencer
• The Complete Walt Disney World 2009 by Julie Neal and Mike Neal

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

The long awaited final service mission to the 18-year-old Hubble Space Telescope by the Space shuttle Atlantis was scheduled for this month but now looks like being delayed until early 2009.

The mission had been delayed by a few days because of the impact of Hurricane Ike on crew training at the Johnson Space Center in Houston and some issues over replacement parts for the observatory. The launch was scheduled for night-time on October 14 but a malfunction aboard the Hubble Space Telescope means additional replacement parts will be required and they will not be available until January 2009.

In an unprecedented move, NASA has readied the Space Shuttle Endeavour as a rescue craft, in case Atlantis gets into any difficulties and both shuttles are now on their respective launchpads.

The final service flight was previously cancelled because of the dangers involved but this decision was later reversed. If Atlantis suffers a serious problem it will not be able to reach the relative safety of the International Space Station and therefore the astronauts would face certain death without a rescue attempt.

If a rescue mission were required, NASA would have around a 25 day window to launch Endeavour with a four person crew to rescue the seven astronauts onboard Atlantis. There is no backup plan if Endeavour were also to suffer some problem.

Endeavour's next planned mission to the International Space Station has also been delayed until November 16 but it now looks like it will launch before Atlantis anyway.

To check the latest NASA launch schedule, click here.

SeaWorld Quick Queue

As announced last month, SeaWorld are testing a Quick Queue pass, like the Universal Express Pass which will allow you to skip the lines at the major rides and shows. Like Universal Studios, the pass is not free and will cost $29.95 plus tax per person and there are a limited number on sale each day.

Quick Queue passes are available from the front gate ticket windows, Guest Services or the Guest Assistance Counter inside the park and give you unlimited early entry to the shows such as Believe, Clyde & Seamore Take Pirate Island, Blue Horizons, Pets Ahoy at Seaport Theater and the nighttime Shamu Rocks and Sea Lions Tonight, unlimited rides up the Sky Tower and Paddle Boats and unlimited opportunities to skip the lines for the thrill rides such as Journey to Atlantis, Kraken and Wild Arctic.

A similar Quick Queue pass is also being tested at Busch Gardens Africa for $24.95 plus tax per person which gives express access to Sheikra, Kumba, Montu, Gwazi Lion, Gwazi Tiger, Rhino Rally and the Congo River Rapids.

It is also likely that SeaWorld will re-engineer the Wild Arctic simulator ride into the Polar Express as they did last year, over the Christmas holiday season.

To read more about SeaWorld, click here.

The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World is written by husband and wife team, Julie and Mike Neal and the third edition is published in October 2008.

Over a period of five years the Neals (who live in Celebration) have visited Walt Disney World hundreds of time to produce this beautiful guide book. Though this is not an official guide book, like the Birnbaum series, they have clearly been given access to many areas of Disney.

Julie has researched and written the text whilst Mike has taken the sumptuous colour photographs used to illustrate the book.

You would not think you needed another Walt Disney World book but the new Complete Guide to Walt Disney World is well worth a look

The whole book has a glossy magazine feel with lots of double page spreads, lavishly illustrated throughout with over 400 photographs.

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

A lot of Disney news this month, the biggest being the final closure of the six night clubs that make up Pleasure Island after nearly 10 years.

Pleasure Island & Downtown Disney

As well as all the existing retails outlets and restaurants in Downtown Disney, the Ragland Road restaurant and the Fuego cigar bar will remain open. Disney are not expected to announce what they plan to do with the space currently occupied by the Pleasure Island clubs until early in 2009 but it is likely any re-development will be phased in over time.

Partygoers and night club fans will still be able to party the night away at Universal's Citywalk.

On a happier note, a new restaurant, T-Rex: A Prehistoric Family Adventure, A Place to Eat, Shop, Explore and Discover will open for business in late October at Downtown Disney. Like the Rain Forest Cafe, it will feature life-size animatronics, in this case dinosaurs amongst cascading waterfalls, bubbling geysers and a fossil dig site.

Tinker Bell comes to Magic Kingdom

The Disney Princesses will have a new group of rivals to contend with, the Disney Fairies. A new attraction called Pixie Hollow opens on October 24 in Mickey's Toontown Fair and will feature a new group of Disney characters, namely Iridessa, Rosetta, Tinker Bell, Silvermist and Fawn.

There will be merchandising, books, internet games and DVD movies developed around this group of fairy characters.

New Bowling Alley

Disney have announced plans to build a 100-lane bowling centre at their ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. It is scheduled to open in 2010 and will be one of the largest bowling centres in the USA.

More Disney timeshares

Disney have confirmed that they are building around 300 timeshare properties in the 15-story Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort within walking distance of the Magic Kingdom. Prices will start from around $18,000.

Disney are also planning around 60 villas at Treehouse Villas at the Saratoga Springs resort near Downtown Disney. Both developments are scheduled to open in 2009.

"What will you celebrate?" Promotion

Disney have announced as part of their "What will you celebrate?" promotion that it you visit any of the theme parks at Walt Disney World or at Disneyland in California on your birthday in 2009, then you can get in for free provided you can show a valid proof of identity to confirm your date of birth.

Disney Water Parks

Disney's Blizzard Beach re-opens on October 26 after it's annual maintenance and on the same day, Typhoon Lagoon closes for it's annual maintenance.

To read more about Walt Disney World, click here.

October and November 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 October 2008 (Wonderworks on International Drive) and November 2008 (Kraken at SeaWorld) 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 October or November 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...

Throughout the month of October, the parks start to kick off their Halloween celebrations.

As Florida moves into the fall season, up and down the state, there are local county fairs celebrating everything from peanuts to rattlesnakes and snapping turtles (known locally as cooters) where you can get the chance to sample real Florida life.

Another big event is the annual Epcot International Food and Wine Festival which runs from September 26 to November 9. Admission is included in with the regular Epcot park ticket and every evening there is a concert.

For a small fee you can sample cuisine from around the world, including South Africa, Italy, Australia, Russia, Spain and Ireland.

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

With one month remaining in the Atlantic hurricane season, the number of storms is already equal to an average year. During September, Hurricane Ike caused considerable loss of life in the Caribbean and devastation to parts of Texas.

Like September, rainfall is expected to be above average for October across the State with average temperatures.

In the north around Pensacola and Jacksonville there will be a periods of sunshine and showers with noticeably lower temperatures at night. On the West coast, daytime temperatures will be in the low 70s/low 80s and the nights will be in the low 50s/high 60s. On the East coast, daytime temperatures will be slightly higher in the mid 70s/mid 80s and at night in the high 50s/high 60s.

Across the Central region, it will warmer with high 70s/high 80s during the day dropping to low 60s/mid 70s over night but with the risk of thunderstorms.

Down in Miami and the Keys, daytime temperatures are more even with mid to high 80s during the day and low to mid 70s over night. It will also be very humid with frequent thunderstorms.

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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