Walt Disney World and Worlds of Discovery are offering free admission for members of the military to their parks. While Disney is offering five days free, SeaWorld and Busch Gardens are offering free admission to the military member’s family as well. Disney’s offer extends to retired members. (more…)
Aida Dortants of Orlando touched the statues and within a month was pregnant with her second daughter, Evan Lauren Dortants.
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Orlando will host the fourth stop of a three year, multi-city international tour of the world famous Ripley’s Fertility Statues. They will premier in Orlando this Thursday, Jan. 8.
Thousands of people have seen the statues over the past several years. Some are very serious about touching the statues, believing in their powers to help them conceive. Others want to avoid touching the statues for the very same reason!
More than 2,000 women have reported they became pregnant shortly after touching the wooden statues. Many of them had been told by doctors they would never be able to conceive. Since the women’s stories became public in 1994, millions have visited the statues.
From Jan. 8 through Feb. 1, the statues will be on display in the lobby of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium at 8201 International Drive. Would-be parents are invited to come in and touch them for free during regular business hours, 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The five-foot tall wooden statues were acquired from the Ivory Coast (Cote-dIvoire) of West Africa in 1993, and were placed in the lobby of Ripley Entertainments corporate headquarters in Orlando. Within months, 13 women, including staffers and office visitors were pregnant.
Following a December 1995 story in the Wall Street Journal chronicling the phenomenon, the demand to touch them became international news. In the ensuing years, the edifices made three trips around the world, stopping at Believe It or Not! museums.
They were retired to the Ripley warehouse in 2001, but due to great demand, they were put on display at the Ripley headquarters in Orlando where they have been seen by hundreds each month who made a special pilgrimage to see and touch the statues.
”For years now, we have been inundated with requests to make these statues available once again at our odditoriums throughout the world,” said Edward Meyer, VP archives and exhibits for Ripley Entertainment. ”Amazingly, people are still finding out about them and call us wanting an opportunity to come in and touch them. Due to this demand, we have decided to tour them again.”
After Orlando, the statues will spend a month at the Ripleys Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
For more information on the Orlando Ripleys Believe It or Not! Odditorium, visit ripleysorlando.com
From bizjournals.com:
Busch Entertainment Corp., the amusement park subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev, told employees Jan. 2 afternoon and Jan. 5 that free Budweiser beer will no longer be given to theme park patrons.
Visitors of legal age will be able to buy beer at the parks, which will convert their beer sampling hospitality centers into cafes and restaurants, said Fred Jacobs, a spokesman for Busch Entertainment.
“The hospitality centers had pretty limited appeal because it was for patrons who were of legal drinking age who wanted beer,” he said. “We were looking for something that had a broader age appeal.”
The couple dozen employees who worked in the hospitality centers will be moved to other jobs within the parks, Jacobs said.
Busch Gardens’ hospitality center in Tampa will close at the end of January and reopen with a new menu, and SeaWorld Orlando’s hospitality area will close Feb. 1 for conversion to a restaurant. Sea World San Diego, Sea World San Antonio and Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Va., are also affected.
Andrew Zimmern, host of the Travel Channel series Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, joins Chef Goofy in the Magic Kingdom Jan. 2, 2009 to enjoy two of the theme park’s giant, smoked turkey legs. Zimmern is on vacation at the Walt Disney World Resort with his family.
Photo by Gene Duncan.
Since we have no way of knowing which of our magazine stories were the most popular in 2008 (although we could probably guess), here is a list of our top 10 blog entries for 2008 and our top 10 most viewed videos on YouTube of all time. Keep in mind that some of our stories and videos weren’t online as long as the others, so they’ve had less time to get views.
Top 10 Blog Entries
Most of these were exclusive stories, so that’s the reason they were most popular. Number one made it to the top because it was linked to from the popular site boingboing.net.
10. Video: Animal Kingdom Celebrates 10th Anniversary
9. G-EAR-ing up for Toy Story Mania’s Launch
8. Walt Disney World unveils new vision for Downtown Disney
7. Busch Gardens Howl-O-Scream 9 2008 Review, Pictures, and Video
6. ICEBAR Orlando Officially Opens - Video, Pictures
5. Huge Crowd Gives Heartfelt Send-off to Adventurer’s Club
4. Halloween Horror Nights 18 2008 Review, Pictures, Video and Tips
3. Disney 2009 Celebration Concept Art, Disney Fairies Arrive in Orlando
2. Concept Art For Downtown Disney
1. Virtual Walt Disney World Launches on Google Earth
Top 10 YouTube videos
It seems YouTube viewers are particularly interested in Halloween. Most of these were shot and edited by us, but three of them (10, 9 and 3) were provided to us by Universal and Busch Gardens.
10. Bucs Cheerleaders visit Howl-O-Scream 2008 - 33,964 views
9. Halloween Horror Nights 18 Preview Trailer - 62,162 views
8. Cinderella Castle Lighting Ceremony Holiday Wish - 66,800 views
7. Halloween Horror Nights 18 Scare Zones - 75,716 views
6. Disaster! Grand Opening at Universal Studios with The Rock - 82,955 views
5. Halloween Horror Nights 18 2008 Opening Night with Bloody Mary - 83,218 views
4. Haunted Mansion Re-Haunting Reopening - 99,417 views
3. Halloween Horror Nights 2008 Bloody Mary - 132,609 views
2. Halloween Horror Nights 17 Opening Night - 169,471 views
1. Aquatica Water Park Opening Day - 308,520 views
Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn meet The Simpsons outside of the Kwik-E-Mart at Universal Studios. Also with the Carters was their daughter Amy and their grandson Hugo Wentzel.
Actress Brittany Snow celebrates New Year’s Eve at the Magic Kingdom with Mickey Mouse on Dec. 31, 2008. Snow, known for her roles in films like “Hairspray,” “Prom Night” and “Finding Amanda,” and for television shows including “American Dreams” and “Nip/Tuck,” is vacationing with friends at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.(Gene Duncan, Disney photographer)
It looks like it’s never to early to start promoting a Halloween event, which is fine by me. We just received this email from Busch Gardens Tampa:
The graphic linked to a 2008 wrap-up of Howl-O-Scream here. I suppose with the holiday season ending, it’s a great time to start thinking about October!
The town of Celebration holds a holiday celebration each night during December call Now Snowing. The main event each night is the “snow” that falls on Market Street. First the street is covered with foam and the kids play, have snowball fights and make snow angels. Then on the hour from 6 to 9 p.m., the many snow machines blow foam all over the street.
Other activities include horse drawn carriage rides, a “train” ride, carolers and a chance to sit on Santa’s lap and take pictures.
The last night to see the snow is during Celebration’s New Year’s Eve party. The event will kick off with special acoustic performances by Robbie Carrico (American Idol Season 7 Finalist) and Johnny Bulford (Colgate County Music Showdown Challenge winner) followed by The Reflections Band and live music throughout the streets. As the clock strikes midnight you can catch the fireworks spectacular while standing in the final “snowfall” of the year.
The New Year’s Eve event is free and will also feature bounce houses and interactive games for kids. Now Snowing parking and admission are free. Celebration is located between Highway 192 and interstate 4 near Walt Disney World.
Santas from all over the world visited Aquatica to unwind before a busy night delivering presents. The Santas spent the day floating down a tranquil river next to black and white Commerson’s dolphins and enjoying the Florida sunshine.
