The first time we took our two older children to Epcot, they were both under five.  Get there early when the park opens and since World Showcase opens later than Future World, you’ll start there!   The first thing you’ll see on entering the park is Spaceship Earth (it resembles a giant golf ball)!  This is a very slow moving pleasant attraction that is fine for toddlers.  If your child is afraid of the dark, though, it may be best to avoid this one.  

The Universe of Energy pavilion has one of our favorite attractions at Epcot, “Ellen’s Energy Adventure”.   Your children may enjoy this, or they may be very frightened of the life-like dinosaurs that move and roar.   Use your judgment on this one! 

Not to be missed in Future World with pre-schoolers are The Living Seas pavilion and The Land Pavilion.  They will particularly love “The Seas with Nemo and Friends” as well as “Living with the Land”.   My children particularly enjoyed this and wanted to go back on the boat ride again and again!   They were quite enthralled with the trip through the Disney greenhouses where they saw unique new-age growing methods in practice plus a number of unusual fruits and vegetables.

Before leaving Future World, you’ll want to take in one more attraction, “Journey into Imagination with Figment” at the Imagination! Pavilion.   My kids really enjoyed this ride led by a very lovable purple dragon named Figment.   Let me warn you, though, that you won’t be able to get that song out of your head!

This is a good time to go back to the villa for a nap!  You can return late afternoon or early evening to take in the World Showcase.  When you return, depending on the age of your children, stop in to one of the gift shops and consider purchasing a Passport for them.  This will keep them busy as you tour the country pavilions.  You can read more about this item here:

http://www.silvercreekvillas.com/blog/archives/77

Before you enter the World Showcase, check out the times for the various live performances.  There will be a variety of acts outside the different pavilions and some of these may appeal to your children.  So, plan on taking a few of these in as you stroll through the countries.  Most of the main attractions in this area of the park will not be suitable for young children.  The Maelstrom seems tame enough but there is a fast drop and a frightening troll that really disturbed my children so I don’t recommend it!  There are beautiful films in China, France and Canada but the short attention span of your young children will more than likely only allow you to attend one of these.  If that’s the case, we found “Reflections of China” to be a great choice.  The one main attraction that will be suitable and most enjoyable for little ones will be  “El Rio Del Tempo” in the Mexico pavilion.  This is a very pleasant and beautiful boat ride through a very colorful and festive world!

If you managed to get a nap break in at some point during the day, you’ll want to stay and see “Illuminations: Reflections of Earth”!  All of Epcot comes to “light” with this most spectacular grand finale laser light show.  Your children will be in awe – so will you!!

Brevard Zoo

8225 North Wickham Road

Melbourne, FL 32940

www.brevardzoo.org 

Opening Times

Daily                9.30am – 5.00pm (last admission at 4.15pm)

Closed             Thanksgiving & Christmas Day

Closes at 3pm on event days (ie Safari Under the Stars, Boo at the Zoo, Great Tastes of Suntree). Most activities are outside, and may close early if there are severe weather conditions.

Prices (2009)

Adults              $12.50

Seniors$11.50

Children           $9.50 (Ages 2 – 12).  Under 2’s are free

Opened in 1994, Brevard Zoo is about an hour’s dive away from Kissimmee, and is located on the Space Coast, just ½ mile east of I95, exit 191, in Melbourne, Florida.

Covering 5 acres, Brevard Zoo contains more than 550 animals representing 165 species from North and South America, Australia and Asia.

The zoo is divided into five areas: Expedition Africa, Australia/Asia, Wild Florida, La Selva & Paws On Play.  These loops are accessed off the main loop that encircles the Indian River Play Lagoon.

Feed The Giraffes / Lorikeets
Feed the giraffes at the giraffe platform in Expedition Africa.  (Treats are $2).
Feed nectar to the lorikeets (parrots) in the Aviary in Australasia. (Nectar cups are $1).
Feed seed sticks to the cockatiels in the Aviary in Australasia. (Seed sticks are $1).

Cape To Cairo Express Train Ride
The 10 minute ride passes the Australian aviary and around Lemur Island, an island that houses the zoo’s lemurs. ($3 for ages 2 and up)

Australia/Asia
Featuring animals from Australia and Oceania, such as the red kangaroo, emu and wallaby. This also houses the aviary which is divided into three sections: bats, lorikeets and turacos. There is also a butterfly exhibit six weeks of the year in the turaco section.  Siamang gibbons are located between the entrances to Expedition Africa and Australia/Asia.

Kayaking
Choose either a guided kayaking tour of the 22 acre restored wetlands in Wild Florida, at the Wetlands Outpost, or paddle through Expedition Africa, which features white rhinos, giraffes and ostriches.  ($6 per person).

Not for under 5’s.  Children 5 - 12 must be accompanied by an adult in the kayak with them. All participants must sign a waiver in order to kayak (Under 18’s must have a signed waiver by a parent, grandparent, or legal guardian).

Wild Florida
On exhibit are otters, alligators, crocodiles and bobcats.  This is where the alligators and otters are fed.

La Selva (the jungle)
On exhibit are the jaguars, Cottontop Tamarins, Golden-headed Lion Tamarins, iguanas and vultures.

Animal Demos
Alligator and Crocodile Feeding: At 3 p.m. every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, viewed from the bridge to Wild Florida.
Vulture Feeding: At 12 noon daily in the La Selva loop.
River Otter Feeding: At 2 p.m. every Tuesday and Saturday at the otter habitat in Wild Florida.

WildlifeDetectiveTrainingAcademy
Specifically focused toward smaller children, the building houses the terrariums containing the zoo’s reptiles, amphibians and arthropods.  The children can dig up bones in a sand pit, from an ‘animal crime scene’ and an animal hospital where children learn about animal anatomy and veterinary science.  There is also a new mystery every month which children can investigate and find clues throughout the zoo. Visit Lagoonadventures.org for more information.

Paws On Play
Lots of fun for the whole family, including water play, an aquarium, fort building and animal petting area.  The Indian River Play Lagoon is a water play area that runs alongside the 20,000 gallon aquarium featuring animals found along the Indian River Lagoon. There is also a separate area for under 3’s to splash about.

The Flamingo Café and Whale’s Tail offer a large selection of food, snacks, and drinks. Open daily 10.00am to 4.30pm. 

Panther’s Paw Gift Shop:   Opens at 10 a.m.

Admission Packages:

Young Explorer’s Package (Adults $17, Seniors $16, Children $14).  Includes Zoo admission and tickets to ride the train, feed the giraffe and lorikeets..

Wild Explorer’s Package (Adults $19, Seniors $18, Children $16).  Includes Zoo admission, a choice of kayaking Wild Florida or Expedition Africa, and giraffe and lorikeet feedings.

Wild Encounter Tours, Destination Africa(Ages 5 - Adult $75, Seniors & Ages 3 & 4  $37.50, Unders 2’s are free).  An educational hour with the Zoo’s animal residents like Ollie, a black-throated monitor lizard, and Howard, one of the white rhinos. Learn how to keep these beautiful creatures conditioned, healthy, and mentally enriched, and explore first-hand how the Zoo’s skilled keepers utilize their training to interact with the animals. (For reservations call 321 254 9453 Ext. 219 or email edregistrar@brevardzoo.org  )
Tours are on Saturdays and Sundays at 1 p.m

The Rules of the Wild

No age limit, but children 5 and under must be accompanied by an adult at all times. No strollers permitted on tour.
Smoking is not permitted inside the Zoo.
Pets are not allowed inside the Zoo (service animal owners must check in with Zoo administration office.)
Shirt and shoes are required at all times.
Loitering on Brevard Zoo property, including the parking areas, is prohibited.
Weapons of any kind are not permitted on Zoo grounds.
Bicycles, skateboards, roller blades and rolling shoes (heelies) are not allowed in the Zoo.
A full-service ATM machine is located in the park, just inside the main entrance on your left. Brevard Zoo is handicapped accessible with wheelchair and stroller rentals.

Surrounding Area

Brevard Zoo is a half-day experience, probably an hour to see all of the exhibits and at least an hour to experience the Paws On children’s play area. Then the activities and animal demonstrations will require a few more hours. 

But why not explore the surrounding area as well.  Within 20 miles of the Zoo, there is Cocoa, Cocoa Beach, Indian Harbour Beach, Indialantic, Melbourne, Merritt Island, Palm Bay, Rockledge, Satellite Beach, West Melbourne, and Florida’s Space Coast. The Zoo is also only 30 miles from Sebastian and Titusville.

Special Events

For information on late night and special events, and extended opening hours on Saturday nights in summer, visit www.brevardzoo.org

1 Cost

2 The duration of the flight including the number of stops on route.

3 If people have experienced bad flights either due to the weather or the airline they flew with was poor.

Because we are frequent visitors Carol (my better half and is the one that makes all our flying arrangements) usually has a good idea when she see’s a flight advertized if it’s a good, bad or indifferent price.

As well as being able to judge the cost she can also equate in the additional time taken for potential stop over’s, the experiences we have had with the different airlines (if we have flown with them before), the time of year we intend to fly which in turn dictates how close to our departure date before books the flight.

She also takes into account the differences between chartered or scheduled flights.

This is all way over my head so my input is usually limited to a whine if the flight is delayed, there is not enough leg room or we don’t have our own headrest TV’s but credit were credit is due Carol usually says ‘I am a great help’ when I make one of my observations.

When we are asked for ideas from people it usually boils down to 2 main areas depending on individual circumstances.

During high season especially for new visitors to Florida, people who are not frequent flyers or if they are flying with very young children we would suggest a direct flight. Not always the cheapest but you get on a plane 8-9 hours later you get off.

If lowest cost is the main aim then chartered flights with stop over’s can usually be the cheapest way to travel. The main disadvantage is the time it takes to get to your destination.

We once took 24 hours from taking off at Orlando to landing at our local airport Durham Tees Valley. I can’t remember my exact words at the time but in a nut shell I stated I wouldn’t be doing it again in a hurry.

I think that was an occasion when Carol mentioned that I was ‘a great help’.

We have had a number of odd, interesting and unplanned experiences using scheduled flights. If you are interested I will put some of our experiences on the articles site.

 Brian Pearson

Halloween horror nights at universal is THE BEST experience ever, we have been going now for the past 6 years and always make sure our holiday is around the time when this is on. the best deal out there is the frequent fear pass, you do not need an annual pass to get this, it is a very special offer, you get to go to the horror nights at least 12 times, you get to ride all the rides on the side they are having the horror nights, so not only are you getting to experience all the fun of the horror nights with the haunted houses and scare zones, you are able to enjoy universal also.

We would also recommend the meal deal bands that they have, it is a great deal $19.99 for the whole day at selected restaurants, pizzas, burgers, chinese, fried chicken, pasta, deserts, cookies. it is great for the whole family, something for everyone….

There is also a drinks cup you can buy, if you buy it with your armband your drinks are free all night, if you just buy the drinks cup then refills are about $1 per refill, still a great idea drinks can get quite expensive when you are hot and sticky running around in the hot weather from ride to ride !!!Express pass is great but a little expensive, seaworld and busch gardens are doing similar options now a lot cheaper.

but you can not beat disneys fast pass (FREE) you just have to collect a ticket from each ride you want to go on.

Best times to visit the parks is MAY and September, very quite easy to get on the rides not too much queing

Best restaurants > GOLDEN CORRAL and for the kids a great cheap meal out

all you can eat CI-CI’S Pizza at $5.00 per person for all you can eat pizza, pasta, salad, deserts !!!!!!! great value great taste’

you can find ci-ci’s on international drive, highway 192  vineland rd

Many more opening,

best crazy golf, highway 192 BONANZA golf only $3.99 per person, special offers always in the books, check out all coupons can save you a lot of money over 2 weeks !!!!!

Cirque du Soleil are in Down town Disney resort and the show is called LA NOUBA which means “To party or to live it up” Audience participation is a must.

 If you are a big kid at heart like me, then this appeals to all ages. The magic of seeing performers do the impossible on high wire, German wheels, skating, and flying trapeze is certainly breathtaking. The shows lighting and costumes grabs your imagination, emotions and your senses. The music has 2 distinct sounds, smooth and dynamique and certainly has a French/Canadian style.

The atmosphere and make up are amazing and you will be enthralled for every minute you are there.

This company started with 20 humble street entertainers in 1984 in Quebec, employed 73 people and celebrates its 25th Anniversary in 2009. It has won numerous awards. It now has over 4000 people employed which include over 1000 artists. It has visited over 200 cities world wide and 90 million people have seen a show since 1984. There were 15 million visitors alone in 2009.

If you have a celebration coming up and want a special night out, you must go see this show. Prices are not cheap with front row seats $117 for an adult and $94 for a child. Tickets can be booked by phone 407-939-7600 or can be booked 6 months in advance.

My daughter and her family are going to Florida this year and staying in my villa and will be out there for their  10th wedding anniversary. So as a surprise, I went to the theatre in July, this year, and managed to get front row seats on the actual day of their anniversary, 5 months in advance.

I don’t know who was more excited, my daughter, her husband or my 8 year old grandson. As long as when the 8 year old returns to London, he doesn’t try to copy all the tricks he saw at the show on his BMX bike.

Spoil yourself, you will remember it forever.

Universal & Busch Gardens actually employ THOUSANDS of extra staff to dress up and SCARE the visitors as they make there way around the Parks. Their costumes are absolutely brilliant and with all of the Scarey bits there are lots & lots of laughs.

Seaworld include their nights in with the price but Disney, Universal & Busch have special ticketed nights so it is best to check the nights & prices out.

Universal have a Special Themed event each year & this year it is from The Silver Screen –CHUCKY & THE WOOLFMAN.

REMEMBER some Halloween Events are NOT suitable for young children. We have this chart below which will give you a good idea of the shows but again it is best to check everything out for your own family.

Halloween 2009 At a Glance

The events really do Blow the Socks off our shows here in the UK and are well worth visiting—IF YOU DARE!!!!!!

Have fun - we are over there so we certainly will

Mary & Larry

Now if you want to drink at Sloppy Joe’s and soak up the Hemingway experience, you have a choice. You can take a road trip down the east side of Florida via the Florida Turnpike. This is a 390 mile trip (one way) and will take the best part of seven hours if you don’t want a break. You will, however, have the opportunity of having a look at such places as Palm Beach and Miami. After Miami you take US 1 down the Keys starting with Key Largo, (a good place to break your journey overnight), and taking in Islamadora, Long Key, Marathon, and Seven Mile Bridge to name only a few, before you get to Key West,the home of Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville

If you do fancy the road trip through the Keys on US 1 (sometimes called “The Overseas Highway”), you should go during the week and avoid the very busy weekends. The road is only two lanes in places, and being stuck in a traffic jam is not the best way to see the Keys.

Some people love the long car ride down the Keys, and across all the bridges, but there are those who do find it all a bit “samey”, and tiring.  

There is, of course, an alternative which will allow you to combine a shorter road trip down the Gulf coast with a trip to Key West.

200 miles from Orlando, and a much shorter three and a quarter hours away, at Fort Myers Beach, just south of Sanibel Island, you can take the “Key West Express” – a high speed ferry which will get you there in a leisurely three hours. You can go just for the day, and spend from 11:30am to 5pm in Key West, or spend a night or two drinking in the atmosphere.

The ferry, with air conditioned interiors and outdoor sun decks, will cost around $145 return. You will have to leave your car in Fort Myers (car parking is free) but you can well do without a car in Key West anyway.

So, go on - Join the nightly sunset celebrations at Mallory Square, and choose which way you would like to get there.

Andy Brownlie

When the evening arrived we headed off to the Sharpe Aquos theatre at Universal.

My wife and children had no idea what to expect but they thoroughly enjoyed the 1 hour 45 minute performance (note there is no intermission during the show so make sure the kids have visited the rest rooms before the performance begins).

Without giving too much away to anyone who wants to see the show it includes interactive plumbing, paint-filled drumming, marshmallow art, mini-cam shenanigans, cereal crunching, a rock concert movement primer, funny sign reading, paint spitting, a romantic Twinkie dinner, and lots and lots of percussion music from the men in Black clothes and of course Blue faces. They also use members of the audience in some of there sketches. Four musicians performing high over the stage look like colourful Day of the Dead skeletons, and complement the onstage percussion.

The show is appropriate for all ages, although it may be a little too intense for the youngest tots, Blue Man Group plays with sound, light, and perception and do not say a single word throughout the performance Strobe lights are used twice during the show, plus simultaneous music and streamers (100 percent recycled), and the three performers literally stroll on top of the auditorium seats, all of could be a little overwhelming for more sensitive audience members. The first four rows have plastic ponchos provided as splashguards against the paint, food, and other goodies that come flying from the stage.

The show should thoroughly entertain just about everyone. Not recommended for children under the age of three, the Blue Man Group show lasts for one hour and forty-five minutes with no intermission. Although the ticket price does not include admission to the theme park, ticket stubs do provide free entry into selected clubs at City Walk.

If you’re going to Orlando, don’t miss this show.