Boo to you! Halloween in the Orlando area.
Halloween fast approaches but in Orlando, Halloween goes on for most of October (and for a little of September as well).
What kind of Halloween do you and your family like? If you have teenagers, then you may be interested in Universal Studio’s offering “Halloween Horror Nights“. As the name suggests, Halloween Horror Nights is not for the feint of heart, but if you like to be scared witless, then you will probably enjoy it. It is a separate ticketed event held on certain nights in October (usually Thursday - Sunday) and is promoted as “the best in the business” “the ultimate halloween horror experience”. Universal Studios is open for business as usual during the day so you can still plan your regular day visit to Universal, but you will see the sets and decorations for the Halloween Horror Nights. Regular tickets are $69.99 plus tax, but Universal are offering a frequent fear pass - 13 nights for the price of on which may work out better value for you if you are staying in the area a while.
Obviously that is not an option if you have younger children. Thankfully there are other altenatives.
For Disney fans, you have “Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party” also known as “MNSSHP”. Again, this is an after hours ticketed event. It is held at the Magic Kingdom and is halloween with a sprinkle of pixie dust! There is a special parade, fireworks, costumed characters. Trick or Treats stations are set up around the park as well as some craft activities. Most of the rides are open and on most days there is usually little wait for the rides. Kids and adults are encouraged to dress up. There are very few times that the whole family can dress up and wander round The Magic Kingdom - get into the spirit of it and enjoy! We did!
Just a few things of note.
- If you plan to visit The Magic Kingdom on a day that MHSSHP is scheduled, the park is closed early to guests without event tickets. Take that into account when planning your day.
- Prepare for a late night! MNSSHP finishes at midnight. By the time you get back to Emerald Island, it will be at least half an hour later, if not more. I recommend planning a lazy day for the next day - no early morning starts for the parks!
- MNSSHP is scheduled to start at 7.00 p.m. but in previous years other guests have reported being able to get into The Magic Kingdom at 4pm - this essentially allows you to have an extra few hours of Disney fun. Its worth checking with Disney if this is still available.
We took our two children and our neice and nephew one year and had a great time. We walked on to almost all of the rides with no more than a 5 minute wait. Yes, we did dress up, and it was great fun. The kids had a great time and all managed to stay awake until midnight (with the exception of our youngest daughter who was only 5 weeks old at the time!). I just wish I had known about being able to get in earlier than 7pm when we went.
Find out more about MNSSHP here and here.
Our last spooky park is Seaworld’ During October, they hold their Halloween Spooktacular. Unlike the other two offerings, Seaworld’s Halloween Spooktacular is included in your regular park entry ticket.
They also offer Count Von Count’s Spooktacular Breakfast - a character breakfast with your favorite Sesame Street Characters.
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Not so splendid at the moment
Splendid China is barely a shell of its former self. The theme park based around the cultural history of China is no more, and has been no more for a few years. The park has been stripped of anything that could sell and could be moved.
You have probably driven past the site but never realized what was once there.
Hopefully new life will be breathed into the site soon. Rumor is that the site is one of 3 being considered for a new sports complex in the county. I wait with anticipation on news of development on the site and hope that whatever ends up occupying the space will be of benefit to guests at Windsor Palms.
Free admission to Walt Disney World on your birthday in 2009
Disney announced their 2009 promotion recently based on celebrations. To celebrate your birthday they are offering free admission for anyone on their birthday. You have to provide proof of your birthday to take advantage of the free admission. More details can be found here.
If you have an annual pass or a multiday ticket, they are offering a choice of alternative birthday treats, including a birthday fasspass. These options are instead of the free admission.
You can register in advance here.
Happy birthday!
Hurricane Ike
Our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by Hurricane Ike.
Trip Insurance - Do I need it?
In Europe you normally never take a vacation without purchasing trip insurance, but here in the USA it is often overlooked. Perhaps because most Americans take a vacation within their own country, they don’t believe that trip insurance is necessary. Perhaps Europeans are used to traveling to different countries and therefore having to deal with different health systems, travel issues and the unknown problems that may arise either leading up to your trip or during your trip.
If you are traveling to Orlando to visit Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, Seaworld or one of the many other attractions, you may wonder if you really need trip insurance. You may not even think about it.
The majority of time on vacation or in the run up to vacation, nothing goes wrong. You arrive in Orlando, stay at a hotel or a vacation home in the area and have a great time. Wonderful memories are made. Magical times are had.
But there are always the “What ifs….” What if Aunt Edna is sick and we can’t go? What if the airline goes bankrupt and we can’t fly? What if something happens and we have to go home early? What if weather delays our arrival? etc.
The list of “What ifs…” are endless - and get more if you are traveling to another country. What would happen to your vacation if something happened? How would you be able to manage? Would you be able to write of non refundable monies that you have already paid? Have you read the terms and conditions relating to your bookings? (Car, flights, accommodation).
Trip insurance is insurance to protect your trip from not being able to happen or if it gets cut short. Think about this. You have a vacation booked to Kissimmee, visiting Walt Disney World. It may be a regular trip for your family, it may be a trip of a lifetime. What would happen if you were unable to go? Lets work on the principle that you do not have trip insurance of any kind. What part of your trip is non-refundable? Can you afford to absorb those costs?
Most of us what good value for money. We may want the cheapest we can get or we may just want good value. Most of us would not pay full fare for flights unless we really had to! We may look for good deals on hotels via a website where we have to pay upfront for a good rate or We may look at renting a vacation rental for the extra space it offers. We may have pre-paid our rental car to save an extra 10% of the cost. Hey, we did good. We saved a lot of money. But this is where we could lose money if we were not able to go. Prepaid flights, car and accommodation may be non-refundable or may have a large penalty to change. Cruises are generally non-refundable after a certain date. For a small percentage of our costs, we can insure our trip against most of all of the “What if” scenarios.
Trip insurance runs approx 6% of the trip cost. A small price to pay for peace of mind. On a $6000 vacation, that would be an extra $360. Not bad value should you need it, but perhaps you are thinking “I can’t afford an extra $360″ at this time - but think how much it would cost if you didn’t have trip insurance and were not able to go.
There are various things that you can consider to reduce the cost of your trip insurance.
- If you have paid for your vacation using a credit card, sometimes that card will give you some protection for trip related things. Check the terms and conditions of your credit card and see what it offers you. Then you can decide if you can purchase a reduced form of trip insurance for less money as you don’t have to cover x, y and z.
- Shop around for insurance. There are many different policies and options. Depending on how much risk you are willing to assume yourself, you can get a cheaper policy without options. For example, there are policies that allow you to cancel for any reason but these are more expensive than policies that allow you to cancel for a limited set circumstances.
- If purchasing a travel package, don’t automatically take the package insurance. Take time and look for alternatives which may save you money. For example, if taking a Disney Cruise, they offer their own insurance. Its an easy option to just take it, but if you look around, you can get alternative insurance for a lot cheaper, with better coverage.
Some people will say “Lets just take the cheapest trip insurance option we can find.” That may not be the best option for you. Often cheaper insurance is lacking some benefits. The key is working out what you want or need to be covered for and then finding the policy that best suits those needs and gives you best value for money. On a recent trip I compared several policies and actually went for a policy that gave me more protection in certain areas - it may have cost a little more than the cheapest policy, but I felt I had the right coverage - just in case. Thankfully, we didn’t need to use it, but we were covered.
Pre-existing condition clauses can trip a lot of people up. If any of your family have any pre-existing conditions, book your vacation, then book your trip insurance. Pre-existing conditions are usually waived provided the insurance is purchased with 14 days of the first payment on your vacation. The time limit can vary from insurer to insurer, so check the policies carefully, otherwise you may not be covered for pre-existing conditions.
Hopefully you and your family will not need to use the trip insurance, but once you have purchased it you have the peace of mind knowing that you are covered for unforseen events that may cause you to cancel or alter your trip.
That reminds me, I must go and review insurance for our trip in 2009!
Happy insurance shopping.
Who owns Mickey Mouse?!
I regularly keep up to date with news and happenings at Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and Seaworld. It helps me keep ahead on the new developments in the area. One interesting thing that crossed my path recently was an article in the LA Times the gist of which is that it is unclear if Mickey Mouse is copyright to the Disney Corporation. It appears that in the early days of our pal Mickey, copyright was often recorded incorrectly. I won’t go into all the details, but I did find the article a very interesting read.
-Kay
Shuttle Atlantis Launch scheduled for October 8th 2008.
I hope to, one of these days, be at Avalon when there is a shuttle launch.
The next one is scheduled for October 8th 2008 and viewing tickets go on sale August 25th. If you plan to view the launch, there are many places in the area that you can do so for free or you can purchase the launch tickets from Kennedy Space Center. What ever you choose, be aware that more often than not, launches are rescheduled. For more details on the launch, go to the October 8th Shuttle Launch page.
On launch day, only visitors with tickets for the launch are allowed at Kennedy Space Center so it is effectively closed for the day. Traffic in that area and to the coast will be horrendous. Allow 3 hours from Orlando / Kissimmee for a journey that normally takes just over an hour.
If you get the chance to see a shuttle launch, do. From what I understand, the shuttles will be retired in a couple of years so this may be your one and only chance.
Kay
Random Ramblings of a vacation rental owner!
Wow, this is my first blog ever!
I thought it would be nice to introduce ourselves and give more information on our home at Windsor Palms, events happening in the area and just general (hopefully interesting) ramblings.
My name is Kay and my husband is Neil. We have two children, Arran and Iona. We are from England originally but now live in California.
We have owned our home in Windsor Palms since 2002. Gosh, that’s 6 years now. Doesn’t time fly when you are having fun! We bought it as an investment, but also as a place we can use when we have family vacations in Florida. It has taken a lot of hard work and effort to get to get Avalon to be the home it is today and to provide the level of service that we offer. Perhaps that is a subject of blog post for another day as most people don’t realize what good value for money a vacation rental is and how much an owner invests in their home. Most owners are lucky to cover their costs and break even. It certainly is not a get rich quick scheme. Just know that we put a lot of ourselves into Avalon and love to hear about all the great times that you have there, the magical memories that you make and of course, how much you love our home! It is those moments that remind us why we love renting our home out. We hope that you love it as much as we do!
Kay and Neil
