Today Merlin Entertainments announced a multi-million dollar investment for its biggest family tourist center in the world with the planned opening of Legoland Florida. Merlin purchased the historical Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, Fla. from property investment company Land South Group and will open Legoland Florida on the site at the end of 2011. The [...]

It seems the cat may have gotten out of the bag. The Lakeland Ledger has obtained an e-mail sent to Polk County Commissioner Randy Wilkinson that says Legoland is coming to Cypress Gardens. All e-mails sent to public official’s business e-mail accounts are public record. But the e-mail wasn’t sent from Merlin Entertainments Group officials [...]

The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Merlin Entertainments Group has purchased Cypress Gardens. From blogs.orlandosentinel.com: A spokeswoman for Merlin said the purchase includes the current Cypress Gardens theme park, the Splash Island water park and the adjacent botanical gardens. The company did not disclose the sales price. Merlin is the second busiest amusement operator in [...]

There’s a lot going on for New Year’s Eve, but not all of the parks will be having special events or fireworks at midnight. Here’s a list of the special New Year’s Eve events. But be warned that it’s the busiest day of the year and many of the parks may close when they reach [...]

Former Walt Disney Imagineer Mark Eades (pictured here) was the media producer for the original Star Tours attraction, which first officially opened at Disneyland in California in 1987 and later at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (then Disney-MGM Studios) in Florida in 1989. With Disney’s announcement that they will be revamping the attraction into Star Tours II, [...]

By Andy Guinigundo With the Christmas holiday upon us, let’s look at a winter festival that takes place at one of the biggest amusement destinations – Six Flags. There are four Six Flags Parks taking part in the “Holiday in the Park” celebration this year. These include The Great Escape (Lake George, N.Y.), Over Texas [...]

Disney has announced the dates for Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2010 as: May 21 – 23, May 28 – 30, June 4 – 6, June 11 – 13. Prior to today’s announcement, many fans thought Disney might change their usual May/June dates for the annual Star Wars-themed event to surround Star [...]

Now that SeaWorld and Busch Gardens aren’t associated with Budweiser anymore, the former Bud & BBQ event for 2010 will be renamed Bands, Brew & BBQ. Bands, Brew & BBQ will be held each Saturday at SeaWorld and Sunday in Busch Gardens during February 2010. Just like the new name says, the parks will feature [...]

The official Disney Parks blog has finally confirmed the long-rumored return of “Captain EO” to Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. beginning in February 2010, but only for a “limited engagement.” The 17-minute, fan-favorite 3D film stars the late Michael Jackson in a sci-fi battle and will temporarily replace “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience” in Disneyland. Unfortunately, [...]

The Grinch will take over Universal Orlando’s new official Facebook page to answer guests’ questions live this afternoon. The star of Dr. Seuss’s “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” will interact with fans and give them a humorous glimpse into the entertainment they can expect at Grinchmas – a live stage show at Universal’s Islands of [...]

Since 2002, Universal Studios has partnered with Macy’s to bring elements of the famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to Orlando during the holiday season. In addition to shipping down memorable floats featured in the annual New York parade, Macy’s brings several of the giganic balloons that have made the parade so popular over the decades. [...]

It’s time again for our monthly update on the construction progress of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure. Here’s a quick video tour of what’s new since our last update, followed by some photos: httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJZAB99CzDs As you can see in the photo above, some of the scaffolding has come [...]

Disney has gone miniature-crazy as they release their third tilt-shift video shrinking Walt Disney World through a clever photography technique. This time, their cameras were set up at the Magic Kingdom, during the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade tapings, capturing the entire parade as well as performances by the Jonas Brothers, Kris Allen, Celine Dion, [...]

Photo by TouringPlansLast week, we told you about Disney testing a queueless meet-and-greet system in Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom in which parents would wait in line while their children played in a playground until it was time for everyone to meet a character. Now it appears that testing continues this week but on a [...]

Chef Emeril Lagasse met fans and signed copies of his latest cookbook at Universal Orlando CityWalk on Dec. 14, 2009. The book signing took place in front of Emeril’s Orlando (his restaurant) in CityWalk. Emeril’s new cookbook, called “20-40-60: Fresh Food Fast” includes simple techniques and quick tips to create healthy meals for the family on the go. [...]

In Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom this week, a few of Disney’s Imagineers and cast members held a test at Pooh’s Playful Spot, the playground located across from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh dark ride. Pooh characters were made available for meet and greets, but new queueing rules were attached. Parents were instructed, [...]

After a couple of days delay, the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade television taping finished up yesterday at the Magic Kingdom. We brought you photos from the first day of recordings featuring Yanni and Kris Allen last Thursday, and the tapings were to continue the next two days, but Mother Nature had other ideas with [...]

The Winter 2010 issue of Orlando Attractions Magazine is now available for preview and pre-order. Feature articles in this issue include: • COVER STORY: A Whole New World Reimagined and expanded Fantasyland to deliver more magic than ever before. • Blast Off Into Superspace Disney’s Space Mountain reopens with new enhancements. • Star Tours II: [...]

“American Idol” winner Kris Allen and composer/pianist Yanni performed at the Magic Kingdom on Dec. 3, 2009 as part of this year’s taping of the annual Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade. Taping continues on Dec. 4 and 5 and will be aired on Dec. 25 on ABC. Here are a few photos of today’s performances, [...]

December is one of the best times to visit Orlando. Even though there’s no real snow, you’re sure to be able to get into the Christmas spirit with all of the festivities. Whether want to visit the Grinch, go ice skating, see thousands of dancing holiday lights, Orlando has you covered. Here are the events [...]