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Florida Highlights

2009 Florida Highlights

Legoland Florida

Lego have announced the opening of Legoland Florida on the site of Cypress Gardens in Central Florida.

It will be the largest Legoland to date and will create 1,000 jobs. It is expected to open in late 2011.

Universal U Select

Universal Orlando has announced a new ticket pricing structure called "U Select", in time for the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It follows a similar idea introduced by Walt Disney World in 2005, the Disney "Magic Your Way" ticket system and the idea is to encourage guests to visit the Universal parks for more than just a couple of days.

Free Gift Card

Disney have announced a free Disney Gift Card with a value of up to $750 for selected 5-night/6-day non-discounted vacation packages booked by March 27, 2010 and used by June 3, 2010. There are different 'blackout' dates depending upon resort.

2009 Florida Highlights

It looks likely that visitor numbers to Florida will stagnate in 2009 in light of the current economic crisis but at least gas (petrol) prices have fallen.

Either way, Florida has a lot to offer and on this page you will find some of the new happenings planned for Florida in 2009.

For Florida highlights last year in 2008, click here.

Artists impression of new Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit

Artists impression of new Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit
[Courtesy of Universal Studios]

New rides and attractions

There is the possibility of a new park within a park opening in late 2009 with the arrival of "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" due to open inside Universal's Islands of Adventure. Other theme park rides, shows and attractions that are due to open during 2009, include:

Universal Studios plan to unveil a new roller coaster called "The Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit" in the Spring of 2009. It features six near-miss moments, a record-breaking loop and eight corkscrew turns and will be the tallest coaster in Central Florida at 167 feet in the air, with speeds of 65 mph. It promises to be a high-intensity, multi-sensory experience.
As mentioned earlier, "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" will open at Universal's Islands of Adventure in either late 2009 or early 2010. [Update: opening delayed until 2010]
A new roller coaster called "Manta, Ride the Flying Ray" is scheduled to open in the Summer of 2009 and will be SeaWorld's second real roller coaster to complement Kraken and the part coaster/part water ride Journey to Atlantis.
Around March 2009, Cypress Gardens is scheduled to re-open. The park will concentrate on it's original features; i.e. the beautiful botanical gardens and the famous ski shows and also the recently developed Splash Island water park which will be expanded. It is expected that during the refurbishment, the thrill rides at Adventure Grove including the six roller coasters will be removed, along with the small zoo, Nature's Way. [Update: Cypress Gardens closed for good in September 2009]

NASA missions

NASA are still struggling to complete their list of shuttle missions to the International Space Station before the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010.

NASA hope to launch six shuttles in 2009 including the delayed final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. The first launch is of the Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-119 (ISS-15A), no earlier than February 12, 2009. The 27th mission to the International Space Station will deliver the fourth starboard truss segment (ITS S6) and fourth set of solar arrays and batteries.

Hurricanes and the Florida weather

The team from the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University led by Professor William Gray have already released their first predictions for the 2009 hurricane season and again they are predicting above average activity though slightly down on 2008.

They are forecasting 14 named storms for 2009. Out of the 14 storms, they expect seven to become hurricanes of which three will become major hurricanes (category 3 or higher) with wind speeds in excess of 111 mph.

To read about Florida highlights for other years, just follow the links to 2008, 2007 or 2006.