May 2009 Newsletter

Hi subscriber, welcome to the May 2009 newsletter of the Florida Review & Travel Guide.

This month sees the opening of one new roller coaster, Manta at SeaWorld whilst Universal Studios announce a delay in the opening of their new roller coaster, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit on the back of poor attendance figures in the first quarter of 2009 (more details below).

Swine Flu Outbreaks

You will have been reading in the news about the threatened pandemic outbreak of swine flu that started in Mexico. Some people who recently visited Mexico have spread the illness to other countries including Europe and the United States. So far, all but one of the fatalities reported have been in Mexico itself and at this time, there are no confirmed cases in Florida though several suspected cases are being investigated.

The World Health Organisation is advising all visitors to avoid travelling to Mexico and Caribbean cruises are being re-routed to avoid ports of call in Mexico as a precaution.

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Follow Us on Twitter

For those of you who use Twitter, you can now follow the latest news from Florida as it happens with us on Twitter, right here. Over the coming months we intend to rationalise our use of Twitter and RSS feeds to provide a single source of news updates.

Latest Hotel Deals

We are now subscribing to BookingWiz to give you the latest Florida deals each month.

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Gasoline Prices

Average pump prices in Orlando have crept back over the $2 a gallon mark, up about 5 to 10 cents on last month. You can always find the latest pump prices at GasPriceWatch.com.

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Florida Books published in May

Not many books published this month but included are a few that have slipped through the net from previous months. Books include the 2009 edition of Beyond Disney: The Unofficial Guide to Universal SeaWorld & the Best of Central Florida plus the delayed Captain's Guide to the Wrecks & Reefs of Florida's East & West Coast, the Keys & the Bahamas. There are also a few Kindle editions starting to make their appearance which we will cover at a later date. All in all there are around 16 books this month including:

• Beyond the Attractions: A Guide to Walt Disney World with Preschoolers by Lisa M. Battista
• The Discovery and Conquest of Terra Florida by Don Fernando de Sotto
• A Florida Sketch-book by Bradford Torrey
• Daytona Beach/Volusia County/Flagler County Street Atlas by Universal Map
• Key West: A Guide to Florida's Southernmost City by Sarah Goodwin-Nguyen
• Kids Love I-75: A Family Travel Guide for Exploring the Best "Kid-tested" Places Along I-75 - from Michigan to Florida by Michele and George Zavatsky
• Martin County Street Map by American Map
• Florida Berlitz Pocket Guide
• NASCAR Racers by Ben White
• Ichetucknee: Sacred Waters by Steven Earl
• Weird Florida by Charlie Carlson
• Orlando FL Street Map by American Map
• A Guide to Florida Grasses by Walter Kingsley Taylor
• Beyond Disney: The Unofficial Guide to Universal SeaWorld & the Best of Central Florida by Bob Sehlinger
• Florida in the Popular Imagination: Essays on the Cultural Landscape of the Sunshine State by Steve Glassman
• The Captain's Guide to the Wrecks & Reefs of Florida's East & West Coast, the Keys & the Bahamas: Over 1000 GPS & LORAN Coordinates for Fisherman, Boaters, ... Divers, Snorkelers and Treasure Hunters by Laney T. Rinehart

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

The Economics Research Associates and the Themed Entertainment Association have released their annual Attraction Attendance Report for 2008 and not surprisingly numbers are flat or down on 2007 as the global recession started to bite particularly in the fourth quarter of 2008.

It looks likely that this trend will continue into 2009 and already Universal have reported a nearly 20% drop in attendance figures for the first quarter of 2009 for their Florida parks. Of course a large percentage of this could be caused by Easter being in the second quarter this year whereas it fell in the first quarter last year.

As in 2007, Florida boasts eight of the twelve top spots for most visited theme parks in North America (i.e. including Canada) and five of the top seven water parks in North America.

Positions remain the same as in 2007 with Disney taking the top five positions; Magic Kingdom is the most visited park, Disneyland at Anaheim in California second, Epcot third, Disney's Hollywood Studios fourth and Disney's Animal Kingdom in fifth place.

Disney also took the top two water park positions with Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach but SeaWorld's Aquatica made a very impressive first year ending up in fourth position behind Wet 'n Wild in third place. It will be interesting to see if it overtakes Wet n' Wild in 2009.

Not unexpectedly, the Walt Disney Attractions group remain the top theme park operator with an estimated 118 million visitors worldwide. In third place with 25.7 million is the Universal Studios Recreation Group and in fifth place with 23 million is Busch Entertainment.

Not all the parks provide ERA/TEA with visitor number statistics and some of them dispute these figures but they are good indicator in overall trends. Busch Entertainment stated that their collective parks attracted 25.4 million visitors in 2008, which was 10 percent more than the 23 million estimated in the ERA/TEA report.

For more information on Florida theme parks and water parks, click here.

One new roller coaster ride should open this month but another is delayed.

SeaWorld's new Manta roller coaster is ahead of schedule with testing of the coaster completed. The official grand opening day is set for Friday May 22 (Memorial weekend) but it is likely that guests may be able to ride it ahead of this date with a soft opening any day now.

The ten aquariums are being filled including 300 rays in readiness for the opening.

Manta is one of only a few flying roller coasters. After you get onboard, the seats rotate you into a prone face-down position unlike traditional coasters where you sit face-up throughout the ride. The cars are shaped like a Manta ray with a twelve foot wing span and hold 32 guests.

Manta reaches speeds of 56 mph with four inversions and spins including two in-line spins, a flat spin and a pretzel loop, a close call with a waterfall and a wing dip just inches above the water. In fact the water fall separates the queue line from the ride and you'll be able to feel the train as it hurtles past.

Like Kraken at SeaWorld and SheikRa, Montu and Kumba at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Manta has been built by the Swiss company, Bolliger & Mabillard. Total track length is 3,350 feet with a 113 foot drop. Height requirements are 54 inches (137 cms).

For more information on the new Manta roller coaster at SeaWorld, click here.

The Hassle-Free Walt Disney World Vacation 2009 is written by Steven M Barrett who is probably better known for his "Hidden Mickeys: A Field Guide to Walt Disney World's Best Kept Secrets". This is the eighth edition and the book is updated each year.

Some of the main complaints of people visiting Walt Disney World are the costs, the crowds and the heat so this book helps you to mitigate these things.

The first chapter gives advice on planning your vacation with topics such as when to go, the advantages of staying on site, getting there and getting around, what to bring with you and details of the various ticket pricing options. A table summarises each on site restaurant with location, cuisine, whether they serve breakfast, lunch and or dinner, price range and overall rating.

The next four chapters cover Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom. For each of the parks, there are suggestions of attractions with minimum waits, warnings about attractions that may frighten young children, where to find the least crowded rest rooms, best resting places and a few hidden Mickeys.

If you are determined to be first on either Space Mountain or Splash Mountain in the morning, then there are suggestions on how to get there ahead of the crowd.

To read the complete review of The Hassle Free Walt Disney World Vacation 2009, click here.

Universal have pushed back the planned opening of their new roller coaster, the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster at Universal Studios. The date has slipped from Spring 2009 to "late spring/early summer".

More details are starting to emerge about this music and video themed roller coaster. When you ride the Rip Ride Rockit you will be able to select from five different genres of music; rap/hip hop, country, classic rock/metal, pop/disco and club/electronica and then if you want you can purchase a video at the end of the ride.

The ride starts with a breathtaking 167 foot vertical 90 degree climb at 11 feet a second up to 17 stories high, making it the highest coaster in Orlando. It then drops you at 65 mph.

Rip Ride Rockit features seven manoeuvres, three of which are brand new and have never been built before. The Vertical Lift gets you vertically to 167 feet in just 16.5 seconds. Towards the end of the ride you complete the Crowd Surfer where you fly over the load platform through a 95 degree bank, then at the Drop Tuning, you dive underground near the Blue Man Group theatre in Universal CityWalk before completing the Plot Twist, an inclined loop with a 150 degree banking turn and a final 360 degree turn.

The three unique manoeuvres are the Double Take, the Treble Clef and the Jump Cut which is a spiralling negative-gravity which gives you the effect of a corkscrew without actually going upside down.

Rip Ride Rockit is manufactured by Maurer Söhne from Germany and uses X-CAR coaster vehicles which gives you more freedom in terms of restraints (no shoulder harness) and allows more flexible motion than other coasters. Each Rockit consists of 7 X-Car Tandems with 12 seats.

Total track length is 3,800 feet and ride duration will be 1 minute, 39 seconds.

To read more about the new Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket, click here.

Following the closure of the Pleasure Island night clubs at Downtown Disney, the area continues to undergo change. The Virgin Megastore will close at the end of the month, but new shops and a new attraction have opened.

Characters in Flight

Characters in Flight is a new tethered helium balloon ride operated by Aerophile who also operate a similar balloon ride call PanoraMagique at Disneyland Paris. The ride lasts around six minutes with about four minutes spent at the maximum height of 400 feet.

From your high vantage point you can see all four Disney parks, SeaWorld, Universal, downtown Orlando, the Convention Center and Orlando International Airport. On a clear day in theory you should be able to see the shuttle launch pads at the Kennedy Space Center so don't forget your camera and binoculars.

The balloon is decorated with some of Disney's flying characters, such as Mary Poppins, Dumbo and Peter Pan and can carry up to 30 guests at a time.

The six minute flight costs $16 for adults and $10 for children (plus taxes) and is open seven days a week from 10:30 am to 11:00 pm (to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays). Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis. It can only operate in light winds so if it is too windy it will be temporarily closed.

Tren-D

A new store, Tren-D has opened at Downtown Disney's Marketplace selling funky women's clothing and accessories store aimed at the 18 to 35 year old market. Disney branded goods will be sold alongside brands such as Roxy and Billabong. It is located in the store previously occupied by Summer Sands close the the Pin-trading area.

Paradiso 37

Opening this month is the lakeside Paradiso 37 "Street Foods of the Americas" restaurant featuring North, South and Central American cuisine with an International wine bar, over 50 different varieties of tequila and 10 signature frozen margaritas. The number 37 comes from the 37 countries making up the Americas.

It will be open on the West Side close to the now closed nightclub 8TRAX, from 11 am to midnight with nightly entertainment.

To read more about Downtown Disney, click here.

May and June 2009 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 May 2009 (Pirate's Cove Adventure Golf, I-Drive) and June 2009 (Welcome to Hollywood 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 May or June 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...

Memorial Day is on May 25 so you can expect a busy weekend, particularly at the theme parks. SeaWorld will most likely be especially busy with the official opening on the new Manta flying roller coaster.

Also don't forget it is Cinco de Mayo on May 5, Mothers Day on May 10 and Armed Forces Day on May 16.

Disney's Epcot conclude their Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival with a series of concerts with classic acts from the 60s and 70s including Chubby Checker and the Wildcats, Ricky Nelson Remembered - featuring The Nelsons, Jose Feliciano, The 5th Dimension and finally Tony Orlando.

NASA also hope to launch the Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-125) on the fifth and final mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

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

Temperatures in May will continue to rise with average temperatures and rainfall for the time of year.

In the north around Pensacola and Jacksonville, the month will be mostly sunny with the odd shower. Temperatures will be in the low to high 80s during the day with night-time temperatures in the low 60s/mid 70s. It will be slightly warmer in the east with higher humidity in the west.

Across the Central region, the weather outlook is similar with sunshine and clouds plus the odd shower. Temperatures will be in the mid 80s/low 90s during the day, dropping to mid 70s/low 70s over night.

Down in Miami and the Keys, the temperatures are more steady than the Central region with mid 80s during the day and mid to high 70s overnight.

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.

Copyright © 2009, Stephen Downs, Florida Review & Travel Guide. All rights reserved. Please do NOT reprint or host on your website without explicit permission from http://www.floridareview.co.uk.

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