The Disney on Ice tickets run anywhere from $15 to $50 depending on seating and show preferences.

The 2011 Disney on Ice schedule features this family oriented extravaganza with all the Disney Princesses making an appearance. Cinderella also meets Prince Charming during this magical musical. The adventurous Rapunzel along with her pals Flynn and Maximus also make an impression. This is another one of our favorite Walt Disney World® family oriented events.

For those not from Central Florida, the Amway Center is located on 400 West Church Street in Downtown Orlando. The Amway Center is home for the Orlando Magic NBA basketball team. The center is a beautiful ultra-modern special events venue which is built for comfort and recreation. Visit the Disney on Ice website for any event news or itinerary updates.

Vacation home rentals are still available for the Labor Day weekend and other Fall occasions. See over 80 Orlando area vacation home rental communities in Central Florida that could be perfect for your family or special vacation. These are posted on the main page of our website.

The Disney on Ice musical showcase would be a great addition to any Orlando vacation itinerary. Renting a vacation home would be a great addition to your Orlando accommodations as well.

The Amyway Center is roughly just a 35 minute drive from many of the vacation rental communities in Kissimmee and Davenport depending on traffic conditions. Make plans to attend this truly magical Disney event!

This year’s concert series runs the nights of September 9th and 10th 2011 on several performance stages at the park. Individual entrance to both Night of joy nightly festival performances are required along with Disney World Magic Kingdom tickets.

The Night of Joy 2011 line up includes some notable Christian artists. The Friday, September 9th line up alone includes contemporary Christian, rock and pop music genres:

• -Newsboys
• -Jeremy Camp
• -Skillet
• -Matthew West

The festival performers on Saturday, September 10th comprise praise, hip/ hop and gospel musicians:

• -MercyMe
• -Jars of Clay
• -TobyMac
• -Marvin Sapp

Each night’s schedule is always subject to change. Group rates are also available in addition to individual ticket admission prices. Doors open at 4 p.m. although the staged concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. each evening.

Rising talent in the Christian music world are always showcased at this event. Past blockbuster Christian headline artists have included Michael W. Smith, Twila Paris, Steven Curtis Chapman,  Casting Crowns, Amy Grant and Petra.

The Christian Music trade association indicates that Christian/Gospel music comprises about 5% of the market with retail sales of over $500 million annually. Performances are typically family friendly and draw excellent crowds whenever they are scheduled.

For more information and concert updates, click on the Disney Night of Joy website.

In addition to attending these 2 nights of family entertainment, be sure and stay in a resort rental near Disney World and Magic Kingdom. Family resorts in Orlando are a great way to vacation in privacy and luxury. For reviews of these 80+ vacation home resort communities, click on the reviews sections of our home page.

• May 20-22 and May 27-29 : Anthony Daniels (C3PO) will sign autographs and will meet and greet guests in the park
• June 3-5 and June 10-12 : Ray Park who played Darth Maul will also make an appearance and visit with Disney guests
• Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) will be present at the June 3rd-5th event and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) will be in the park June 10-12

The Star Wars weekends at Walt Disney World® are always a lively and fun event and an opportunity to get autographs and mingle with your favorite characters. This year’s programme will also debut with the release of the new Disney 3D attraction “Star Tours – The Adventures Continue” on May 20th.  The thrilling ride takes you through the intergalactic universe onboard the Starspeeder 1000.

Star Wars Weekends 2011

Word has that the high tech flight simulator will feature 3D video, animatronics and special effects. Star Wars characters such as R2D2, Darth Vader, Master Yoda, Admiral Ackbar and Princess Leia will be permanent fixtures at the attraction as well.

Make your plans now to stay at one of the nearby Orlando vacation home rentals. The star studded communities we have reviewed on this blog among others include Bellavida Resort, Encantada Resort and Tuscan Hills. Don’t be a dwarfnut or be broggled, go dirtside and vacation in your very own interplanetary vacation villa in comfort, luxury and style.

Disney World Holidays

• Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas – This is a special holiday event at the Magic Kingdom®. One must typically purchase an additional premium ticket to attend this. The entire family will enjoy seeing Santa and the Christmas Parade. Disney characters mix and mingle with the crowd and a fireworks extravaganza tops off a fun family happening. For more specific details on Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party visit the Dusney web site.

• Epcot International Food and Wine Festival -  Epcot® is the home for this annual soiree held from mid-September through mid-November. Each of the park’s global pavilions are alive with culinary exhibits and wine tastings. Oenophiles will enjoy the plethora of varietals and world regions represented along with the special selection food pairings. Regular tickets for Epcot allow you admittance to this event.

• Holidays Around the World : Candlelight Processional – This delightful holiday event is held at the American Gardens Theatre in Epcot®. Sounds from a 50 piece orchestra and ample choir fill the air at the park amphitheatre with marvelous melodies.  Lunch and dinner packages from the professional Disney culinary staff are also available. You and the family will certainly want to make plans to attend the Candlelight Processional at Epcot.

Many Kissimmee and Orlando holiday rentals are conveniently located close to Walt Disney World. Many of the rental villas in the area feature privacy, security, luxury and recreational amenities for the entire family. Search and click on our reviews on the main page for the top neighborhoods and resort subdivisions based our professional criteria. These critiques are designed to help you make an educated reservation decision.

Speaking of “spring training”, the Atlanta Braves baseball games are always fun and the weather is magnificent. The Braves play an 18 game schedule with marquee games against the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Phillies. The Braves play in the Florida swing of the Major League Baseball spring schedule also known as the Grapefruit League.

Amateur events at the ESPN Walt Disney sports facilities include soccer, slowpitch and fastpitch USSSA softball, lacrosse, volleyball, basketball, field hockey, and football. Additional activities include martial arts, cheer and dance, track and field, cross country and triathlon. The spectator areas, amenities and overall facility are a world class opportunity for kids of all ages.

On-premise facilities around the complex include a Welcome Center, dining at the Walt Disney World® restaurants, and a Clubhouse Shop for a myriad of sports merchandise. In July 2010, HP (Hewlett-Packard) a premier leader in technology, jointly announced a few exciting partnerships with the Disney Corporation and the parent company of ESPN.

HP has created a “creation zone” inside the ESPN sports complex for downloading images and photos of sporting events. Moreover, a retail merchandising area within the creation zone  allows sports participants to purchase various items including life-sized photos and wallpaper images. An internet cafe’ rebranded with the HP name, touchsmart HP personal computers at the welcome kiosk, and renaming the fieldhouse in honor of the HP partnership are all part of the overall Disney sports strategy. All of this equals more fun and a more compelling sports experience within the ESPN sports facility.

In a very recent post on Vacation rentals near Disneyworld, we enumerated some great rental home options near the park. In fact, many of these communities are within 15-20 minute drive of the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex. For many individuals and teams participating in the events the array of vacation homes often are a very viable option. Vacation rentals near Disney can offer 2-8 bedrooms sleeping 2-17 people respectively with a great deal of comfort and all the creature comforts of home such as full kitchens, private pools, multiple living areas and even game rooms.

Vacation Rentals Near Disney

For instance, in our reviews area on our main page, Acadia Estates is an outstanding resort community for larger groups. Homes for rent in this resort community range from 4 bedrooms up to 7 bedroom villas. This would be a maximum of up to approximately 14 to 17 persons for the 7 bedroom rentals.

Consumer reviews are a great way to make one familiar with the market, but online reviews shed even more light on the options that are available. Keep in mind that quality of homes also varies within an individual community. As a smart consumer, each review should help you form your own opinions and provide valuable insight for your Disneyworld holidays.

Before we name names based on our reviews, it is important to point out that there are a lot of high quality communities. For our purposes, we’ll focus on Kissimmee rentals which tend to be closer to the Walt Disney World®  parks. Second, vacation rental satisfaction mostly involves meeting your own personal and family vacation needs. Finding the right rental home is an individual choice, just like many other areas involving personal finance. Write down your own needs (amenities, location, size of home, etc…) and then make an educated decision using these available resources.

Having said that, some of our top picks for Kissimmee vacation villas include:

• Windsor Hills Resort – A perennial favorite for vacation home renters
• Emerald Hills Villas – Excellent homes, outstanding amenities
• Windsor Palms – Gated and guarded for privacy, great location
• Bella Vida Resort – Beautiful clubhouse, new Mediterranean style homes
• Acadia Estates – Limited common area amenities, but large spacious homes

Vacation rental homes in Kissimmee Florida are a great value for any Disney traveller. The vacation rentals mentioned above are only a fraction of those rated 3 Stars and above by our website. Privacy, selection, amenities and location are but a few of the reasons rental homes should be considered if you or your family are visiting the area. Check-out our reviews and profiles of the many resorts in Central Florida. The reviews are accompanied with video, pictures and details on each resort. We hope you have a great vacation!

The promenade of international pavilions typically features over 20 food and wine stations showcasing the culinary talents of the Disney team. This is within the backdrop of the six featured continents represented at Epcot®. Seminars and culinary demonstrations are also highlighted at each of the international marketplaces.

Epcot Food and Wine Festival 2011

If you really enjoy the Food and Wine festival, one may also want to attend the “Party of the Senses” which is a more intimate wine and culinary experience. We posted a review of a previous “Party of the Senses” in a previous blog post.

The American Pavilion is also home to an eclectic concert series featuring jazz, R&B, rock and gospel soul music. Updates to the 2011 concert series schedule and times are typically posted on the Epcot Food and Wine festival website. Musicians from previous Food and Wine events include Howard Jones, Jon Secada, Sister Hazel and Taylor Dayne. Taylor Dayne will kick-off the 2011 weekend entertainment schedule. The Pointer Sisters will also be a featured performer for the “Eat to the Beat” schedule.

Make plans now to attend this premier Epcot® special event. While you are in Central Florida, book your lodging accommodations in an area vacation home rental. Our site includes over 80 resort reviews of luxurious communities in the area. These resort communities are often within minutes of Disney.

The beneficiary of this high quality sporting event is the Childrens Miracle Network, a cooperative network of over 170 childrens hospitals that improve the lives of kids each year. In fact, over 17 million kids are touched by this deserving medical charity each year. Tickets for a one day pass run $13 with discounted weekly passes available as well.

There is still time to make plans to attend this great event. There are many vacation homes near Disneyworld that would make great lodging options for your Florida vacation. Many resort communities we review are adjacent to some top notch golf courses that would allow you to see this PGA event and then play a little golf as well. We wrote a previous post on the top golf resorts in Orlando that might be helpful when perusing our reviews. Come stay, play and help a great charity!

Although there are events all week, Saturday June 4^th 2011 is the highlight of the 2011 Disney Gay Days with the Gay Parade down Main Street USA at 3.00 PM (weather permitting). 

Disney Gay Days attracts gay, lesbian and transgender attendees from all over the world. It is estimated that approximately 150,000 people will attend the 2011 event which is a boost to the Orlando economy with over $100 million spent locally. 

Orlando Gay Days 2011 is destined to be the largest single event in Orlando. This means the event has become larger than many traditional events in the area such as the PGA or Home Builder conventions. 

If you are visiting Orlando Gay Days 2011, consider renting an Orlando vacation home. These homes can comfortably sleep from 4-17 people depending on the property size and bedroom configurations. Some of the larger vacation homes have as many as eight bedrooms or if you need of something smaller there are plenty of 2 and 3 bedroom condominiums. The advantages of a rental home over a cramped hotel room are extensive. Vacation homes offer fully equipped kitchens, multiple bathrooms, more than one living space and multiple televisions. 

If renting a single family vacation home, one can also have the option of renting a home with a private pool. Many of the local vacation home communities also offer resort style amenities, so be sure to do your research when making a reservation. Our blog includes reviews of over 80 vacation home communities in the Central Florida area.
 

Orlando Gay Days 2011

Gay Days 2011

Attention to detail is already evident in the care and detail of the new sales and administration center under construction (See brief video, pictures and photos). In case you missed it, prices start at $1.5 million for these exclusive estate resort homes. These are some of the most deluxe vacation rentals near Disney World.

According to the website, there will be select choices in four different subdivisions. The four prestigious neighborhoods include Carolwood and Carolwood Reserve which will be ultra-premium estate homes built on up to 3/4 of an acre of land. These estate homes will be golf course or lake views in a private conservation location.

The Silverbrook and Kimball Trace neighborhoods will be premium homesites on up to 1/2 of an acre of land. The architectual styles will be quite diverse and internationally inspired. Mediterranean, Tuscan, Spanish Revival, Italiante and Dutch Colonial home styles should make the resort community quite visually appealing. In all cases, and similar to the Celebration, Fl development, one must use one of the pre-selected homebuilders for the actual construction.

To complete the ambience of this new Disney luxury home community, a full amenity private Summerhouse clubhouse and access to the Four Seasons Hotel amenities. The 450+ homeowners will enjoy personalized services at the parks and resorts with exclusive perks. Check-out our pictures, photos and video of the new exclusive Golden Oak community within the Disney World® theme park. We’ll post additional details as they become available to us.

For details on other private vacation home communities in the Central Florida area, check-out our resort reviews on over 80 communities. These exclusive vacation villas are available for rental in Kissimmee, Orlando, Davenport and Clermont. Many of these rental homes are just minutes from Disney and Universal Studios®.

Golden Oak Resort Disney

Golden Oak Disney Photos