About Vacation Fun Florida

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Vacation Fun Florida is the writing team of Adele Woodyard and Stephen Morrill. We maintain our website at —are you ready for this?—
http://www.VacationFunFlorida.com

We also write articles in newspapers and magazines, update travel books, and are working on both printed books and e-books. Visit our web site for more on that and for our bargain travel ideas.

From time to time Adele or Steve will post notes here, discussing what they have found in their travels around Florida, and even what it is like to be a travel writer in a destination state.

You can help! Feel free to drop by whenever you have a suggestion as to what to see and do in Florida. That could be a hotel, a restaurant, an attraction, whatever. Email us at: steve@VacationFunFlorida Be as specific as possible, tell us what you think about that item. And web URLs really help us.

Thanks!

Daytrips, Kids and Animals

— by Adele Woodyard

Schools out, kids are home, and no time (and/or money) for long vacations? To get away for a day is easy when you live in Florida where ATTRACTIONS is spelled in capital letters. Some that appeal especially to kids begin with the letter “A” as in “animals”. Here are a few (besides Mickey) located in Central Florida, from Tampa Bay to the Space Coast . Call or check web sites for hours, fees and directions.

Suncoast Primate Sanctuary is on Alt. 19, just south of Klosterman Road, Tarpon Springs. Sort of a retirement home for monkeys, it was opened to the public in 2008. Although the majority of residents are chimps, orangutan and other primates, you’ll also see exotic birds, reptiles, a lemur or two, maybe even a black bear. An occasional retiree has been in show business, e.g. Cheeta is a celebrity chimp from Tarzan movies back in the 1930s.. 727-943-5897; www.suncoastprimate.org

Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa has been chosen as top children’s zoo by both Parents magazine (2009) and Child magazine (2004). Latest newcomer to its 2000 animals is a 10 year old koala from Australia that joins Eastern grey kangaroos and wallabies at the Kangaroo Walkabout section. In summer heat all will enjoy a water flume ride on “Gator Falls”, and little ones a romp under the fountain’s spray at the entrance. Special prices and/or events are occasionally offered. 813-935-8552; www.lowryparkzoo.com

Dinosaur World in Plant City may not have live animals, but what kid doesn’t love long-dead dinosaurs? Extra fun to see how many of the 150 replicas of these ancient beasts that roam through the grounds, your child can identify. There’s also a Fossil Dig included in admission price for ages 3-12—others pay extra. 813-717-9865; www.dinoworld.net

Green Meadows Petting Farm in Kissimmee introduces city kids to such animals as cows, chickens, turkeys, donkeys and sheep. There’s even a non-farm (in the US anyway) water buffalo. Kids can try to milk a cow, ride a pony, a tractor-drawn hayride, and hop on a little train. 407-896-0770; www.greenmeadowsfarm.com

Central Florida Zoological Park near Sanford (Lake Monroe) has, on its 21 acres, a variety of species that are endangered or threatened with extinction. These include the elephant; big cats like leopard , tiger and cheetah; as well as the more common monkeys, reptiles and birds. Some animals are touchable and may eat out of your hand. 407-323-4450; www.centralfloridazoo.org

Brevard Zoo, Melbourne has animals from Africa, Asia, and Australia as well as American wildlife. There’s ostriches, lemurs, white rhinoceros, the Thompson gazelle, colorful exotic birds, and alpacas from the Andes. Train rides and kayak paddles are also available. From July 4 through August 29 the zoo will be open on Saturdays until 9 p.m and free after 5 p.m.. 321-254-9453; www.brevardzoo.org

New Prices for Florida State parks

— by Adele Woodyard

In these days of forced budget cuts it looked, for awhile, as if 19 of Florida state parks would have to be closed. Instead, the powers that be raised entrance fees a buck or so for most, the first time in five years—and lowered one—the recently acquired Weeki Wachee Springs. Starting July 1, their mermaids can be seen at the same price as the Homosassa Springs State Park wildlife–$13 adults, $5 children 6-12, 5 and under Free.

Those two are top attractions, but think of what else you may find when your wallet’s flat. You can visit a fort, a famous writer’s house, or Indian Mounds, at $2 per car, holding up to 8 people. A Gulf beach , or river to swim in for $3; farm animals, or springs for $4; folk crafts, endangered birds, or Florida cattle and cowboys for $5. Eight cost $8 per car to enter; at 40 state parks you pay nothing at all. These are just a few of the possibilities you’ll discover on www.FloridaStateParks.org. Wherever you live, or are staying in Florida, there is one near you. So pack a lunch, the kids, and hop in the car. Where else can you spend a fun day for so little?

Hurricanes

by Stephen Morrill

June 1 to September 30 is hurricane season in Florida. Hurricanes have happened in every month of the year but those are the big months, the months when Floridians watch each tropical wave coming off the west coast of Africa and ask themselves “Does that one have my roof’s name written on it?”

Locals pretty much know what to do if Mr. Big Wind shows up. Visitors living in hotels may have other needs and less experience. Let’s review:

— Stay on top of events. If there’s a storm somewhere out there that might interfere with your life, check at least several times a day on the storm track, any advisories being posted, or evacuation warnings. Hurricanes sometimes pull sudden left or right turns without signaling first. (Cynics note that it’s only in Florida that they don’t use turn signals. Hummm….)

— Think about evacuation routes, traffic, and time needed to accomplish this. There’s little point in leaving a concrete-block structure to go sit in a car in the middle of a hundred-mile-long traffic jam on some interstate. Sailors have an old saying that the time to reef the sail in a strong wind is when the thought first crosses your mind. In short, trust your instincts. If you fully intend to evacuate, do it as early as reasonable to beat the crowd. Florida civil authorities are wonderful about getting people moved—they really do know their jobs after all this experience—but Florida is a long, narrow peninsula with limited evacuation routes too.

— If you choose, for whatever reason, to hunker down and ride it out, prepare yourself for a few hours of excitement and a few days of disruption. First, once the storm arrives, stay indoors. Only idiot TV weathermen go outside where the air is filled with flying roof tiles. Your home or hotel room will lose electricity, phones—even cell phones, possibly water. Stock up on water, batteries, any medications, and food that requires no cooking or refrigeration, at least enough for a few days. Some streets may be blocked by downed trees or limbs (plus various wires too—and don’t even think about touching any wire laying on the ground) but those are usually cleared within a day or two.

— Please don’t have “hurricane parties.” You may need a clear head and quick reaction times. It rarely happens but sometimes a home or hotel loses a roof, or the windows blow in. When the windows go, the roof is often not far behind as a structure that loses integrity gets blown open from the inside out. Best place to be is in the bathroom, in a cast-iron tub, with a mattress pulled over you. I’m not kidding and tubs can take two adults in a Category 1-3 hurricane, and six to eight in a Cat-4 or Cat-5.

— After the storm, stay away from downed wires, watch your step among a lot of sharp things on the ground, and help everyone else. If there is a silver lining in the hurricane wall-cloud, it’s that it brings out the best in most people, and total strangers will do their best to help you and vice-versa.

But the good news for today is that all this warning may be unneeded. The National Weather Service says they expect the 2009 hurricane season to be a relatively light one. We can only hope.

- Steve Morrill has lived up to a week on his screened porch, eating cold Chef-Boy-R-Dee washed down with warm beer and waiting for electricity and a cleared street. Today, his evacuation plan is to leave early for Las Vegas where when you gamble you at least have a chance of winning.

State Parks Ring Wedding Bells

by Adele Woodyard

To Floridians, our state parks are a wonderfully inexpensive way to have fun for a day, or to pitch a tent or park an RV when traveling outside our own backyards. But as a site for a wedding? A February (Valentine’s Day?) webmail from the Department of Environmental Protection, mentioned five parks popular for weddings or vow renewals. What with June the traditional month of brides soon upon us, here’s a peek at the possibilities.

Take another look at Steve’s blog on Eden Gardens State Park in Santa Rosa Beach, and its photo of a plantation home. Imagine a bride and her entourage in Gone-With-the-Wind gowns, gliding across the lawn to a flower bedecked altar. Can you picture a more romantic setting? The only thing missing is the groom and his men in Civil War uniforms.

For brides, say on the second-time around who prefer a more casual approach, why not Honeymoon Island in Dunedin? That’s actually what it was—a honeymoon spot for newlyweds back in the 40s—long before it became a state park in 1982. The palm thatched love nests may be gone, but there’s still the beach for the ceremony. If the timing is right and the weather cooperates, there’s nothing like a magnificent Gulf sunset to wrap up the celebration.

Timing is especially important for a garden wedding to be surrounded by the color and scent of countless blossoms. For instance, peak blooming seasons for both Maclay Gardens State Park in Tallahassee and Ravine Gardens in Palatka, are January through April. But not all state park weddings need be out of doors. On Jacksonville’s Fort George Island, there’s the restored Ribault Club. The once exclusive resort is now a visitor center with rental space for special events (contact Amelia Occasions, 904-251-1050).

Planning to marry? Wondering if there’s a state park open for weddings closer to you? For more information: http://www.floridastateparks.org

Orlando has More than Mickey

by Adele Woodyard

One of Orlando’s more unusual attractions, is a brand new ICEBAR for adults. That’s right, a bar and the whole room it’s in, made of ice. You face the chill in a hooded poncho and wool gloves, a welcome touch when you hold a vodka drink in a glass made of ice. Open 5-11 p.m. daily; Chill lounge 4:30 p.m.-midnight Wed.-Sun.; 4:30 p.m.-2 a.m. Thurs.-Sat. 8967 International Drive.

Step outside and glance across the street, and you’ll think you must be drunk or dreaming. WONDERWORKS is an upside-down building! More than 100 interactive exhibits makes it an amusement park for the mind. Open 9 a.m-midnight, daily. 9067 International Drive.

The whole family can also enjoy SKYVENTURE where you skydive indoors. Dressed in full flight gear, you actually soar above the floor, buoyed up by 125 mile an hour wind.
Open 11 a.m.- 10 p.m. daily. 6805 Visitors Circle.

This time around Disney came up with a “freebie” pass to the Magic Kingdom—IF you’re there on your birthday. Steve was and spent the day with Mickey, Minnie and all the Disney crew. Meanwhile I skipped Aquatica, SeaWorld’s new water park where you can plunge down a tube among the dolphins, for Universal Studios and The Simpsons Ride, with my favorite animated family.

A less expensive, if hokey, amusement park, is Old Town in Kissimmee. Greasy burgers, tinny music and fake screams of kids on “thrilling” rides remind you of your once carefree days. Here is Old Florida at its best—or worst, depending on how you look at it.
Open 10 a.m.-11 p.m. daily. 5770 W. Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway.

Like many Floridians, we’d thought of Orlando itself in terms of theme park ticket costs, that seem to climb out of sight every year. To our surprise, the assignment that brought us here, opened doors to more places that fit our next “$5 or less” eBook. But you’ll still need to read our current e-book, 100 FLORIDA “freebies” and “cheapies”,  that’s out now, to find the ones we already knew.

One Way to Vacation for Less Money

by Adele Woodyard

Has today’s poor economy put a strain on your wallet? Think twice about a vacation? Don’t deep-six a needed getaway if you have lots of friends or a big, grown-up family. You won’t even need to say “no” to a vacation in Mickey Mouse land. Just join hands as a group, rent a home for the holiday, and split the cost.

Accommodations for a crowd of up to 12 adults are available through Advantage Vacation Homes, a property management company headquartered in Kissimmee, Fully equipped homes and resort condos offer two to six bedrooms with multiple full baths. Homes have screened-in swimming pools, often heated, while condos add clubhouses, kids playgrounds, and hot tubs to their community pools. Since there was just two of us on a business trip, our Advantage Vacation Home was a condo with two bedrooms and baths, and garage. It was spotlessly clean, attractively furnished and had enough room to park our cars.

In case the idea of sharing space for a week or more with a bevy of family or friends gives you pause, take a tip from two loners used to doing their own thing: being under the same roof doesn’t mean you’re joined at the hip. As travel writers working on both an assignment for a British company, and research for our next eBook, we spent the days going in different directions. If, say, a cluster of friends, or a family spanning three generations, have different interests, they either need separate cars, or take turns spending a day at home. Want to give it a try? Pick a place on www.advantagevacationhomes.com

For more information:
Advantage Vacation Homes
7799 Styles Blvd. Kissimmee, FL 34747
1-800-527-2262; 407-396-2262.

Warbird Flights & Museum, Kissimmee, Florida

by Stephen Morrill

I paid a visit in late February to this really cool (especially if you are a kid—of any age) museum. Located in a hangar on the back side of Kissimmee Gateway Airport, it’s reached off of US 192 at Hoagland Boulevard. (Don’t try to get there through the main airport entrance, which is some distance away.)

The museum has three missions: they display a small number of early-model aircraft, such as A German WWII Focke-Wulf 190, a 1950s-era MiG 17, a Bell 47 helicopter (the ones you see on old M.A.S.H. episodes), and classic Ryan PT-2 and Stearman aircraft.

You may fly in one of three WWII-era T-6 “Texan” propellor trainers for 15, 30 and 60-minute flights, opt for the “acrobatic” option, and come away with a video and photos of your adventure. If you’re already a pilot there are courses available for a checkout flight.

Last, the museum has ongoing restoration projects, so some of the aircraft on display may be partially dismantled while museum staff works on building new parts for old airplanes. When we were there they were rebuilding a T-6 and also the FW-190. They were making a new wing for one of them, though I could not tell you which.

Is this cool or what? this is the 1956 Taylor Aerocar. Cruise the highway at 60 MPH or unfold the wings and fly over those traffic jams at 100 MPH. Only six were built, five remain, and this is the only one still flyable. The Taylor Aerocar remains the only aircraft certified for highway driving. This one was also owned by actor Bob Cummings, who featured it on his television show.

Warbird Flights & Museum
233 N. Hoagland Avenue
Kissimmee, Florida
800-386-1593
Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days in season and Tuesday-Saturday other times (call to confirm if in doubt).
Admission $6. See http://www.kissimmeeairmuseum.com for details.

Flights on the T-6s are priced from $220-$670 with some added options. See http://www.warbirdadventures.com for details.

Nineteen State Parks Reprieved

by Steve Morrill:

The governor has reallocated about $1.9 million in state funds to keep open 19 state parks slated to close. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Recreation and Parks, asked to suggest a smaller budget, listed some little-visited parks as costing more to operate than they earned in gate fees.

I suppose it’s to the Division’s credit that they didn’t propose saving $1.9 million just by closing a single large, popular park. Government agencies like to do that, shock people by suggesting ending some popular and visible program, in an attempt to get the budget people to back off. I’ve seen the Coast Guard, for example, respond to requests for budget cuts by saying that they will have to cancel lifesaving measures. They could cut back on harbor buoy maintenance, boat factory visits or even chasing drug smugglers off the coast of Columbia, but those—while useful too—are not so publicly visible or emotional as a huge orange helicopter hovering over a drowning man.

What the Department of Environment Protection (DEP) was doing, in fact, was playing budget chicken with Florida’s county governments, which would have had to take over these small parks. But the counties don’t have any money either, and they did not step up eagerly. In a downturned economy, the governor rightly concluded that people would use cheap entertainment more and more, and the state park system might see an overall increase in visitor numbers—and now was hardly the time to be closing down parks.

In some cases, one might sympathize with the DEP. Some parks are tiny leftovers squeezed between commercial properties, or property donated that is of questionable use. Some are judgment calls. Deer Lake State Park, on the Panhandle beach near Santa Rosa (and which we visited last last year) is no more than a single long boardwalk out from the parking lot to the beach. The one local we encountered (no rangers at all) said it was his favorite beach because nobody ever used it. But the boardwalk also crosses, and offers fine views of, a rare coastal dune lake ecosystem, one of just a few in the country. What price do we put on keeping that out of the hands of condo developers? (And, ironically, Deer Lake is getting an upgrade to its boardwalk even as I write this, a maintenance project long planned. Beach access is closed until mid-April.)

Egmont Key, a large island at the mouth of Tampa Bay, had been a “party” island before the state took it over. Today it’s home to endangered gopher tortoises and a number of rare bird colonies, as well as a historic fort and an active lighthouse. Abandoning the park would have opened the island once more to freewheeling boaters who would have romped across the island with no supervision at all. The cost of cleaning up the ensuing mess would have exceeded the cost of maintaining a ranger staff on the island, not to mention the damage to wildlife habitat and the old and crumbling fort structures.

Last item for today: The State is thinking of raising the entry fees for state parks. Might be smart to grab an annual pass now. Those are available from most of the larger park offices. I paid $40 for mine.

ORLANDO: What’s Coming-What’s Already Here

by Adele Woodyard

Here’s a peek at some of what’s happening in Orlando in 2009:

PLACES TO STAY in more than 4,700 new rooms in nine venues will include such hotels as ELEMENT Orlando Convention Center and Phase II of Floridays Resort Orlando on International Drive; Hilton Orlando Convention Center at Canadian Court; a side by side pairing of Hilton Orlando Bonnett Creek and the Waldorf Astoria Orlando at the Bonnett Creek Resort Lane. Holiday Inn – In the Walt Disney World Resort is the latest theme park arrival.

FUN & GAMES at the theme parks will add two exciting roller coaster rides before the year is out. Choose your music on Universal Studios Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit; or make like a manta ray skimming the water on SeaWorld Orlando’s Manta. Just opened: the chance to show your talent as you audition at Disney’s Hollywood Studios American Idol attraction. Win a “Dream Ticket” on the final show of the day, and it’s an automatic audition with the real American Idol producers.

2008 additions to holiday choices–in case you missed them;

PLACES TO STAY introduced more resorts, and condo-hotels to this vacation spot. Among them is the Lake Buena Vista Resort Village & Spa that opened two, three and four-bedroom units, plus the spa, with six more units to go. Also at Lake Buena Vista are the Venturella Resort & Spa and the Radisson Hotel Lake Buena Vista on Apopka Vineland Road. International Drive was the choice for Point Orlando Resort, The Westin Imagine Orlando and Hyatt Place Orlando Convention Center hotel.

FUN & GAMES: Music and dancing can be found at Pointe Orlando on International Drive, where B.B. King’s Blues Club and a Latin beat at the Cuba Libra Restaurant and Rum Bar. Or watch the belly dancing to Greek music at Taverna Opa. However all the nightclubs were closed on Pleasure Island, Downtown Disney, while a new renovation is underway through 2010.

Theme parks are another story. Disney’s Hollywood Studios opened a 3-D ride Toy Story Mania! and a behind-the-scenes Journey Into Narnia: Prince Caspian. You can ride with Homer, Marge and the kids on The Simpsons at Universal Studios, while up-close animal encounters join the 36 water slides, rivers and lagoons at Aquatica, SeaWorld’s huge new water park.

MORE to Come: Steve and I expect to bring back all kinds of goodies from Orlando to pass on after our upcoming visit. Maybe we’ll sample a bar made of ice, or float in space. So if you’re thinking of a holiday in Orlando/Kissimmee, keep an eye on our blog.

Florida State Park Star Turns 49

by Adele Woodyard

Visitors to Homosassa Springs State Park had an extra treat when Lu, the 6,000 lb. African hippopotamus, turned 49 years old on January 26, 2009. The park hosted two birthday parties for one of their most popular residents. Kids from the Homosassa Elementary School brought Lu cupcakes and entertained him, the park staff, and visitors with a song, before the alligator/hippo program. Wildlife caregivers later presented Lu with a birthday cake to top off his regular fare. To keep in shape, he consumes 15 lbs. of alfalfa hay, a 5-gallon bucket of fruit and vegetables, with 4 scoops of herbivore diet every day.

Lu, who weighed 90 lbs. when born at the San Diego Zoo, earned two claims to fame after arriving at Homosassa in 1964. Not only was he a movie-TV star while the park was under private ownership, but he was made a special Florida citizen in 1991. The acting gigs came as a member of Ivan Tors Animal Actors Troupe in such 1960 movies as Daktari and Cowboy in Africa. TV credits include Lu’s appearing on the Art Linkletter Show and a Herb Alpert Special.

However, Lu’s star status didn’t make much of an impression with the Florida Department Environmental Protection’s Florida Park Service when they purchased the park in 1989. With state focus on native Florida wildlife, all the exotic species were pink slipped to go elsewhere. It was public outcry that saved Lu from joining them. They made such a noise, the state turned around and granted the huge hippo a Special Florida citizenship. He’s continued to entertain hundreds of thousands of park visitors ever since.

Although Lu is part of the park’s history, he shares the stage with other animals. Recent additions to the park’s manatees, bobcats, cougars, bears, and birds, are Don Juan, a rare Florida panther from Busch Gardens, and three even rarer red wolf cubs. Add a picnic, boat tour or hike, and it’s a 3 to 4 ½ hour stay at one of Florida’s most popular parks.

Open daily 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Last ticket sold 4 p.m. $9.00 adult, $5 ages 3-12; $6 and $3.30 in group of 10 or more. Entrance U.S. Hwy 19, Homosassa Springs. 352-628-5343; www.floridastateparks.org