The latest report indicates the following air passenger results:

• Overall air passenger volume to the OIA was up 2.93% in January 2010 compared to January 2009
• Domestic volume increased 2.76% and international traffic increased 4.63% for that same period

Typically air passenger volumes have been a leading indicator for the local tourist economy along with an accurate predictor for resort and lodging occupancies. This is a good early sign. Other financial signs seem to indicate that we have reached a short term trough and that economic conditions should improve from here.

What does this mean for the average traveller wishing to visit Florida in 2010? With new attractions in Orlando opening for early summer, resorts should begin to fill quickly. We would recommend that one should not wait until the last minute or many highly desired communities will fill during the higher occupancy periods. As occupancies and bookings begin to rise, the cheap deals will also vanish. For a recent post on our advice for the best times to visit Orlando, click here.

For reviews on many resorts located in Central Florida, consult our ratings and profiles of over 80 area resort communities. Some of the top rated vacation rentals in 2010 include Bella Vida, Cumbrian Lakes, Encantada Resort, Oakwater Resort, Reunion Resort, Tuscan Hills and Watersong Resort. All of these resorts are comprehensively reviewed along with critical details to enjoy your stay.

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• Legoland is owned and managed by Merlin Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Blackstone Group which owns SeaWorld
• The park was purchased for $22 million with new upgrades and rides for the park reportedly costing Merlin Entertainment at least 5 times that amount
• The new site for Legoland is on the historic Cypress Gardens attraction and gardens and should be ready by late 2011. Some signature landmarks from the historic park will remain such as Splash Waterpark
• The park will be oriented to children ages 3 to 12 years old
• Legoland Orlando’s sister park in Carlsbad, CA attracts about 6,000 visitors daily
• The attraction will feature roughly 40-50 mini cities, whimsical animals and Americana constructed of LEGO® blocks

Most Orlando area vacation homes are in proximity to Legoland® Florida, Universal Studios® and the Walt Disney World® theme parks. Consult our freshly updated Orlando resort reviews of over 80 communities in Central Florida and Four Corners area for detailed profiles and ratings. These reviews pinpoint location, amenities and other important information for planning your Central Florida vacation.

View Larger Map of Legolando Orlando Florida in Winter Haven FL

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The Halloween Horror Nights 2010 activities include a Halloween parade, haunted homes, frightening scare zones, lively dead entertainment, and themed performances. This year’s occasion also includes a Rocky Horror Picture Show salute plus scary appearances by an array of monsters, beasts, ogres, hellions and devilish creatures.

For additional details on Halloween Horror Nights 2010, please visit Universal’s HHN website.

Although HHN is a quite a scary attraction, you want your vacation accommodations to be much less dramatic. Vacation home rentals provide a “scare-free” environment that the whole family can enjoy while on vacation. This website provides profiles on over 80 resort communities that are located near the parks and major attractions.  Most vacation rentals have private pools, wireless internet, game rooms and other premium home luxuries.

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Seven bedroom vacation homes in Orlando can typically comfortably sleep 14 to 17 persons depending on the number of beds and pull-out couches. These expansive homes are great for family reunions and large families.

Highly rated resort communties that include such large homes include: Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms, Emerald Island, Reunion Resort and Formosa Gardens. Refer to our reviews of all of these luxury resort communities along with many others in the area on our main page.

Typically these 7 bedroom vacation homes offer as many as 7 bathrooms along with private pools and televisions in numerous rooms. Game rooms often placed in the garage are often featured in these premium homes as well. Be sure to check the home amenities offered when making any reservation.

7 bedroom vacation homes in Orlando

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Player commitments for the Palmer Invitational continue to roll in. As of this date, player commitments include Retief Goosen, local resident Zach Johnson, Ryan Palmer, Kenny Perry, Vijah Singh, Bubba Watson and rising star Brandt Snedeker. Daily player pairings for the Arnold Palmer Invitational are announced on the event website. Tournament proceeds benefit the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies.

If you are also looking to play a little golf in Orlando during the tournament, we suggest reviewing a recent post on the best golf villas in Orlando. We covered some of the best vacation rental communities located on or adjacent to area courses. These golfing communities in the Orlando area include Reunion Resort, Highlands Reserve, and Windsor Palms.  If you want to simply attend this great local event, consult our reviews of over 80 great resorts in Central Florida located on our main page. Most vacation home communities are located just 20-25 minutes away from this PGA tour event.

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Over 75 vacation home communities are evaluated including such top resorts as Windsor Palms, Windsor Hills and Emerald Island. The latest resort community review update was for Cane Island Kissimmee. As a summary, the review process for this blog includes:

• A review of the quality of all resort amenities (playground, pools, clubhouse, tennis courts, etc…).
• The cleanliness and maintenance of all resort grounds.
• A random exterior review of 40 continuous vacation homes in the community or in the case of a condominium style resort, a review of multiple buildings.
• Evaluation of the location of the resort community in relation to the Disney parks.

Our Orlando reviews are continuously updated to provide fresh material including pictures, video and photographs. With each posted review, you’ll have the opportunity to read, review and research.

Each Orlando vacation home community is given an overall star rating ranging from One to Five stars. The overall resort rating is based on all of the criteria mentioned above, as well as other attributes included in the review process.

We re-evaluate each community every six months for optimal insight.  The timeliness of every review is critical to avoid the information getting “stale”. We often see reviews on some websites that are more than one year old, and we believe that the value of these reviews to decline sharply over time. Vacation home community quality is quite dynamic because of the heavy impact of community management.

Only 1 in 4 vacation home resorts have attained a Four or Five star resort rating on this site. This is a mark of distinction held for the premium quality vacation home communities in Orlando. Also, review our website for news and events for vacation home renters. We hope the blog and reviews help simplify your vacation planning.

As we always state, our reviews are opinion based and as a result, individual opinions may vary. We would also like to note that the quality of each individual home within the same community can also vary significantly depending on the owner, and quality of vacation home management. 

Look for our new site in the near future that will allow consumers to directly comment on and rate vacation home communities in the Central Florida area.

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Typically opening any new theme park would involve several weeks of testing operations to handle peak volume. This training period is commonly called a soft opening. Moreover, the park may pursue this soft opening option for several weeks, and then declare the park fully open on May 28th as the Theme Park Insiders indicate.

One thing for certain is the fact that Orlando will bask in the glow of Harry Potter’s media attention for the next several months. The opening of the Harry Potter attraction also helps build a healthy competition for quality entertainment with Disney.

Considering the state of the recessed local and state economy, the new Harry Potter attraction at the Islands of Adventure Universal will help fill up vacation homes and other accomodations from the first day of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter’s opening date.

The closest villas to Harry Potter World and Universal Orlando would generally be Vista Cay and the Isles at Cay Commons. Both of these resort communities are rated 4 Stars (out of a possible 5 Stars) and are located just minutes from the attraction. Consult our reviews of both Vista Cay and the Isles of Cay for more detailed information. This site also profiles over 75+ additional vacation rental choices in the Central Florida area on the main page of this site.

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The resort reviews on this website are updated on a regular basis. In the case of Cane Island in Kissimmee, the initial evaluation of Cane Island was completed six months ago and has been further updated after our recent visit.

The actual resort rating is based on a combination of multiple attributes including:

* Overall Appearance of Resort

* Cleanliness of Vacation Community Grounds

* Overall Quality of Resort Amenities

Cane Island in Kissimmee is now a mix of a vacation condominium community and an apartment complex.

The Cane Island amenities include sun deck, fitness room, whirlpool spa and game room. The resort also has some excellent water features including a fountain at the resort pond and an ample community clubhouse pool. Cane Island is a mid-rise condominium complex with an apartment style build with many additional positives including location, complex and variety of amenities.

We will re-evaluate all vacation communities regular for changes. As always, please read our disclaimer for guidance on the opinion reviews and evaluation process. Consult our main page for ratings on over 80 resort communities including additional reviews of luxurious villas in Kissimmee.

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Dr. Muller has lectured on the topic of chain restaurant management in Europe, Asia and The Americas, and is one the culinary industry’s foremost experts. He was recently a featured speaker at the European Foodservice Summit and writes a regular blogspot for the Restaurants and Institutions Magazine. Click here for a review of Dr. Muller’s distinguished professional biography at UCF.

In this VLOG Dr. Muller briefly reviews his favorite Epcot restaurants concepts and the latest Disney World food options you don’t want to miss.

All of the Walt Disney World® restaurants mentioned are located in close proximity to most vacation home communities in Kissimmee, Davenport and Orlando. Each of these premiere casual dining options are highly acclaimed. Some of the more notable Epcot® food and beverage concepts Dr. Muller reviews include:

• The Rose & Crown English Pub (United Kingdom Pavilion)
• La Cantina De San Angel and San Angel Inn Restaurante (Mexico Pavilion)
• Sommerfest and Biergarten Restaurant (Germany Pavilion)
• Le Cellier Steakhouse (Canada Pavilion)
• Nine Dragons Restaurant (China Pavilion)

See The Epcot Restaurant Video Review HERE

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As we have discussed with many travel friends over the years, we are reminded why vacation homes are such a great family travel idea.

In the spirit of this, our top 5 reasons for taking a family vacation in Orlando are:

• Culture - Orlando is truly a multi-cultural place. Travelling in the parks gives any family the ability to meet people from across the globe. Beyond the great entertainment, enabling your kids the capability to interact with children of all nationalities is a great learning opportunity.
• Friends - My husband and I still have friends from family vacationing over 20 years ago. Even though we are separated by thousands of miles, we have made lifelong friends from family vacations.
• Adventure - Family vacations bestow kids the ability to meet others, and to take on adventure they would not otherwise experience. A good example locally is the Florida Eco Safaris attraction.
• Togetherness - We often talk about all the activities, attractions and events on vacation, but miss the priceless aspect - family togetherness.
• Fun - Family vacations hopefully provide us plenty of this. Smile, life is good on vacation!

What does this have to do with staying in a vacation rental and why in Orlando? Orlando is unique in its variety of family activities and attractions which foster all the attributes mentioned above. Choices for area vacation rentals are also abundant.

Vacation homes comfortably sustain families on vacation with privacy, ample space and luxury. Compare what vacation homes have to offer with any other type of accommodation. Moreover, if you are looking for great tips on family travelling, click here to consult this helpful travel tips website or Peter Greenberg’s travel news.

Our website for reviews on over 80+ vacation home communities including the best resorts near Walt Disney World. Our profiles contain valuable information along with videos from each of the reviewed resorts. Find out why thousands of travellers to Orlando consider vacation rentals to be the best family travel idea.

Orlando Family Vacation

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