September 2008 Newsletter

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

As expected, both Disney and Universal increased their theme park admission ticket prices at the beginning of August (more details below).

More Casino Cruises

Following our news item last month about casino cruises in Florida, there have been two submissions for additional casino cruises from Port Canaveral.

SeaEscape which has just ceased operations out of Fort Lauderdale are looking to move and the Omega Commercial Finance Corporation of Miami are also looking to start operations at Canaveral with a 2,000-passenger gaming ship.

Ron Jon Surfpark

It looks as if the planned Ron Jon Surfpark on International Drive is no more. The Ron Jon Surf Shop has pulled out of the development at Festival Bay Mall and building work has stopped after technical problems with the wave machine technology increased the costs and delayed the project.

There were plans to open a scaled back park but it now looks likely the whole project will be scrapped as far as the Orlando site is concerned.

Blizzard Beach

Disney's Blizzard Beach water park will close for it's annual refurbishment period from September 28 to October 25. Typhoon Lagoon will remain open during this period and then as soon as Blizzard Beach re-opens, Typhoon Lagoon will close.

Pleasure Island

All the nightclubs at Disney's Pleasure Island will close for good on September 27. It is believed that Disney want to move away from a largely young and single adult audience to a more family orientated entertainment area with more restaurants and shops.

SeaWorld Quick Queue

SeaWorld have quietly announced 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, the pass is not free and will cost $29.95 plus tax per person (more details next month).

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Latest Space News

Tickets for the next space shuttle launch (Space Shuttle Atlantis) scheduled for October 8 have gone on sale at the Kennedy Space Center.

NASA plan to launch two military satellites in September, the GPS 2R-21 (M8) on September 11 and NROL-26 on September 26.

To read the latest NASA launch schedule, click here.

Florida books published in September

After a couple of quiet months when it comes to Florida books, this month sees a host of new books including the 2009 editions of both Fodor's Florida and Frommer's Florida plus a new book from Birnbaum and a Baedeker guide book:

• Miami & the Keys (City Guide) by Adam Karlin
• The Complete Idiot's Guide to Walt Disney World, 2009 Edition by Doug Ingersoll
• Fodor's In Focus Florida Keys, 1st Edition
• Frommer's Florida 2009 by Lesley Abravanel
• Miami Eat!: Great Meals Wherever You Are by LoAnn Halden
• Miami Shop!: Great Shopping Wherever You Are by Riki Altman
• Street Guide 2009 Pasco County
• Urban's Way: Urban Meyer, the Florida Gators, and His Plan to Win by Buddy Martin
• The Florida Life of Thomas Edison by Michele Wehrwein Albion
• Sandspurs: Notes from a Coastal Columnist by Mark R. Lane
• Fodor's Florida 2009
• The Central Florida Family Vacation Guide: Coast to Coast with the Kids by Laura Lea Miller
• Florida's Paved Bike Trails: An Eco-Tour Guide by Jeff Kunerth and Gretchen Kunerth
• A Journey into Florida Railroad History by Gregg M. Turner
• When Steamboats Reigned in Florida by Bob Bass
• A Brief Guide to Florida's Monuments and Memorials by Roberta Sandler
• The Rough Guide to Miami & South Florida by Mark Ellwood
• The Rough Guides' Orlando Directions 2 by Ros Velton
• Meals Worth Stopping for in Florida: Local Restaurants within 10 Miles of the Interstate by Nancy Barber and Jane Bolding
• Picturing Florida: From the First Coast to the Space Coast by Kahren Jones Arbitman and Susan M. Gallo
• Road Biking Florida: A Guide to the Greatest Bike Rides in Florida by Rick Sapp
• Greetings from Orlando, 1902-1950 by Donald D. Spencer
• Birnbaum's Walt Disney World 2009 Pocket Parks Guide
• Florida Baedeker Guide

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

As expected both Disney and Universal increased their theme park admission ticket prices in early August by around $4 for a basic one day one park ticket.

This means a one day one park adult ticket to Disney or Universal Studios now costs $75. As before savings can be made by buying online or by purchasing a multi-day ticket. Generally, the more days you buy, the cheaper 'per day' the ticket becomes.

Also, remember that visitors from the UK can buy special 5, 7, 14 or 21 day unlimited admission tickets that must be purchased in the UK before you travel.

At this time SeaWorld and Busch Gardens have not announced any similar prices rises.

To read more about theme park ticket prices in Florida, click here.

As predicted, 2008 is already looking like another above average hurricane season.

August saw Tropical Storm Fay make landfall in the USA a total of four times as it snaked it's way back and forth across the Florida peninsula.

Even though the winds did not reach hurricane strength, several people were drowned in heavy seas off the Florida coastline and in total 11 deaths in Florida were attributed to the storm as well as many more in the Caribbean.

Fay brought tornadoes and very heavy rain which caused massive flooding which in turn then caused other problems. Many wild creatures including water snakes and alligators found themselves in suburban neighbourhoods as large parts of central Florida were submerged under water.

One unfortunate person died after being bitten by a colony of fire ants that were swept into their house on the flood waters.

As this newsletter goes to press, a deadly hurricane Gustav is heading for the Louisiana coastline whilst Tropical Storm Hanna might threaten the eastern Atlantic coast of Florida.

State officials in Louisiana have ordered mass evacuations of New Orleans ahead of the approach of Hurricane Gustav. It is hard to believe that it is almost three years to the day that Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans causing such terrible loss of life.

To read more about the latest Florida weather, click here.

Fodor's Florida 2009 is published as part of Fodor's Gold Guide series on September 9, 2008

The 2009 edition of Fodor's Florida 2009 describes the whole of Florida and is split into ten convenient regions starting with The Panhandle, including Tallahassee, Pensacola and the Gulf Coast; Northeast Florida from St. Augustine and Jacksonville down to Daytona and the Space Coast; Walt Disney World and the Orlando Area; Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast including Boca Raton.

It then moves on to Fort Lauderdale and Broward County; Miami and Miami Beach; The Florida Keys including Upper, Lower and Middle Keys plus Key West; The Everglades including the National Parks of the Everglades; Biscayne and Big Cypress); The Lower Gulf Coast including Fort Myers, Naples and the coastal islands and ends with The Tampa Bay Area including the Manatee Coast.

The introductory sections include a series of itineraries ranging from a couple of days up to a whole fortnight with driving maps and suggested stopovers for a range of interests including the natural wonders of Florida, major highlights and the best beaches.

General information sections cover the best times of the year to travel, what is on each month plus hotel and restaurant options to suit all tastes and budgets.

An alternative guide book covering the whole of Florida is Frommer's Florida 2009 which is also published this month.

To read the complete review of Fodor's Florida 2009, click here.

September and October 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 September 2008 (Power Rangers at Disney's Hollywood Studios) and October 2008 (Wonderworks on International Drive) 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 September or October 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...

This year, Labor Day is on September 1 so you can expect increased visitors at the theme parks around this time.

One of the biggest theme park events in September is the start of the annual Epcot International Food and Wine Festival which runs until early November.

Some theme parks such as Disney's Magic Kingdom also kick off their Halloween celebrations this month. Details of the all the theme park Halloween events can be found here.

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

The Atlantic hurricane season is currently very active with eight named storms so far this year and two major hurricanes. As mentioned earlier, Florida took a battering from Tropical Storm Fay and Louisiana is bracing itself for the arrival of Hurricane Gustav.

Rainfall is expected to be above average for September across the State with average temperatures.

In the north around Pensacola and Jacksonville there will be a lot of thunderstorms (particularly on the West coast) and it will be quite humid. On the West coast, daytime temperatures will be in the low to high 80s and the nights will be in the high 60s/high 70s. On the East coast, daytime temperatures will be slightly higher in the mid 80s/low 90s but at night it will slightly cooler in the high 60s/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.

Down in Miami and the Keys, daytime temperatures are similar with high 80s/low 90s during the day and low to high 70s 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.

Copyright © 2008, 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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