Al's Blog – Advice You Can't Refuse

Get in touch with the Wild Side at Florida EcoSafaris at Forever Florida.  Experience a wild, natural Florida that most people do not get to see.  You can choose your own fully-guided adventure from the Coach Safari, Horseback Safari, and the adventurous Zip line Safari.  This special attraction boasts 9 Florida Ecosystems!  This wildlife conservation area is home to many native plants, flowers and animals, including white-tail deer, black bears, alligators, and the endangered Florida Panther in their natural habitat.

The Coach Safari is an open air coach that brings you on a 2-hour tour through the beautiful 4,700 acre Forever Florida wildlife conservation area.  Midway through your adventure, you’ll get a chance to walk the boardwalk that winds through 500 year old cypress trees and takes you over the Bull Creek floodplain.

Or, feel like you are going back in time on the Horseback Safari, where you can ride the historic trails the native Americans used back in the 1500s.  Choose between a 1, 2, or 3 hour ride through the wildlife conservation area.  Horses are individually picked for each rider, and the tour is fully guided, so no need to worry if you aren’t an experienced rider.

For those ready for an aerial view, zipping up to 25 miles an hour, the Zipline Safari is for you! Your guided tour will let you soar through the tree tops 55 feet off the ground along runs spanning up to 750′ in length and make your way across two sky-bridges!  What a great way to enjoy Florida’s natural flowers and wildlife!   (That is if you can keep your eyes open- what an adventure!)

Florida EcoSafaris allow you to see a side of Florida that has been preserved as nature intended.  (Approximately 50 miles from the Orlando area.)  And is one of the attractions you can go to for free with your Go Orlando Card, which is a discount card for area attractions.

Wow Orlando is going to be geting so many new reasons to visit in the next two years. First up is The Wizarding World of Harry Poter set to open soon although Universal has not announced an official opening date. They have said spring 2010 as the only opening information for now. I drive by it on I-4 frequently and the towers are quite a site from I-4 really cool looking. Universal is in the hiring and training stage at the moment. The theme park within a theme park, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will be inside Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando and I’m pretty sure construction is done. That’s why I think it will be open prior to spring break, I can promise you Universal wants it open for the lucrative spring break period.

Next on the schedule is Co Co Key Water Resort and hotel scheduled for March 25th, 2010. This is not your ordinary hotel it’s also a half day water attraction. Their target market is kids 4-11 and they will offer much more than the water park for kids and parents. Day passes are just twelve dollars so it’s an inexpensive alternative to the Orlando areas other half day attractions.

I believe Disney will be the next attraction operator to make a new splash in the Orlando area with it’s next generation technology and it’s rebirth of Fantasy Land at the Magic Kingdom. Disney has some major new competition hitting the market and since their theme parks are what started Orlando tourism so they are vulnerable because they have some of the oldest theme parks in Orlando. But don’t count Disney out with the remake of Fantasy Land on the agenda it will entice families back to the Magic Kingdom and the new technology they will be debuting will have a dramatic impact on all their theme parks I believe. Disney has been very hush hush about the new technology and are spending enough on it to add a new theme park so my belief is that it will be cutting edge. It better be for Epcot Center and Disney Studios with all the new options coming my belief is these are the most vulnerable of Disney’s Orlando Resort.

Finnaly Legoland’s acquisition of Cypress Gardens is scheduled to open in 2011 and be converted to a Legoland theme park, which brings the worlds second largest attraction operator to Orlando. It will have fourty to fifty main attractions, the water ski show, botanical gardens and the plan is to keep one of the wooden roller coasters because there are so few of them left. All this and the Lego experience too, I mean how many kids love their legos? Kids will be able to build bigger than they could ever build at home.

So with all the new options coming to Orlando I suggest booking your Orlando vacation soon as possible. You can get incredible deals on hotels as average rates have been tumbling for two years now. What goes down will come back up and with all that’s hiting Orlando, room rates will soon begin to rise. I hope while in Orlando you will consider visiting my one of a kind dinner show/theatre Capone’s Dinner & Show visit us at www.alcapones.com to discover our blast from the past!

An iconic old International Drive hotel that originaly opened as a Hilton is being totally rebuilt into a kid friendly concept with a huge water park as it’s center piece. With locations in seven states it has proven brand appeal and this hotel offers day passes! Such kid friendly perks such as face painting, hula hoop contests and much more are geared to win the hearts and souls of their target audience young kids and their families. Not a guest of the hotel, no problem day passes are offered for ONLY twelve dollars. That’s an incredible value for a half day attraction. It should definitly steal business from the other Orlando area half day attractions such as Gatorland, Ripleys Believe It or Not, Fun Spot, The Titanic Exhibition and WonderWorks.

Reasonable rates are definitly part of the attraction for folks that stay at the hotel with rates starting at just $99.00 a night this hotel should be popular with a wide variety of people. Live in Orlando? This will be a great staycation option for families with children while the kids enjoy supervised fun, parents can hit International Drive hot spots along the free I-drive trolley route including Prime Outlets, Pointe Orlando, nightclubs and more. Florida residents will also find this new hotel/attraction an attractive inexpensive getaway. Tourists with children from all over the world will make the CoCo Key Water Park Resort a prime destination. It’s scheduled opening date is March 25th, 2010.

The Holidays are this week can you believe it? Time travels so fast it’s hard to believe. It’s usually a stressfull, sad or joyous time of year depending upon your personal situation.

My Holidays lost some of the joy since my parents passed my mother Celia Kucik passed away in the summer of 2001 and my father Paul D. Kucik passed away about two years and eleven months sooner in 1999. My advice is enjoy your family and friends whenever you can because life passes way to fast.

That being said take advantage of the travel deals that are out there now because they won’t last for ever. The Walt Disney Company in a guidance to investors predicted that in the second half of 2010 they don’t expect to be offering the fantastic buys of the past year. Disney leads the pack so yous can  be sure the other attractions will typically follow where Disney leads. Whether it be this holiday season, winter or spring 2010 be sure and plan a trip to Orlando.

The Christmas to New Years Eve period and early into the new year is Orlando’s busiest tourism time of year so don’t delay plan a visit to Capone’s Dinner & Show if yous should be visiting Orlando this holiday season. By booking early you will get the best seats available and be advised that typically we sell out most days during the holiday season so visit www.alcapones.com to find out how easy it is to book a reservation with us.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all and to all a good night!

The bossman isn’t asking, he’s telling yous to save a night for Capone’s Dinner & Show. It’s 1930 Gangland Chicago at his one of a kind Speakeasy and Cabaret. A time of mobsters, dames, Buggs Moran and the bossman Al Capone. Al would be happy to send a couple of his best “sales” men to convince yous seriously, it would be in your best interest.

The thing is Al is such a hospitable and generous guy he wants your gang to share the evening with him. Mama Capone each night fixes you lucky stiffs a feast of her Italian cooking. She also make a great pot roast, ham, roast turkey breast and so much more all served up buffet style.

Don’t go telling the coppers it wouldn’t be so good for your health you see Al includes Bud ligh draft, three wine choices and cocktails included in the cost of da cover charge. Al wants yous to come so bad he offers a half price coupon on his website www.alcapones.com you’re gonna have a blast!

While in Orlando Al has SUGGESTIONS for your Orlando vacation. Yous oughta listen up or he would be more than happy to send a couple of wise guys to help convince yous that Capone’s Dinner & Show should be on your itinerary.

The Gaylord Palms in South Orlando/Kissimmee has been picked by Orbitz as one of it’s ”best decked out hotels in ten popular holiday destinations”. Ice! an annual holiday attraction is hand carved from almost two million pounds of ice.

August twelfth to the fifteenth 2010 the annual Star Wars Celebration will be at the Orlando Convention Center on International Drive. The Star Wars Celebration which began in 1999 will be making it’s first appearance in Orlando. Al wouldn’t be surprised if there are events at the Walt Disney World Resort because of the Star Wars rides and events that Disney already has. If your a fan of the Star Wars series of movies you should start planning now for an out of this world vacation!

Oh and by the way Al won’t really send his wise guys to visit yous even if yous don’t save a night for Capone’s Dinner & Show but it is the Orlando areas best attraction value. Visit us at www.alcapones.com

Orlando has the highest density of themed attractions than any where else in the world. Yesterday I covered the large theme parks while today I will tell you about some of the Orlando areas smaller attraction options.

Gatorland is the oldest attraction in the Orlando area. It’s a great way to spend half a day with the family. It’s mostly a unique zoo with the highlight being all those gators. They have daily wild life shows and a train ride small kids will love. Located just noth of Kissimmee.

WonderWorks and Ripley’s Believe it or not are both located in the International Drive Resort Area and are similar in one respect they both amaze with oddities. They are both 2 to 3 hour experiences.

Fun Spot has locations through out the Orlando metro area and offer more of a carnival style of park. It’s very reasonable you can control how much the kids can spend by buying ticket plans and give the kids their tickets and $5.00 and they will have a blast.

Old Town in Kissimmee has a Friday night car show with no charge yes that’s right it’s free! There is a Fun Spot located at Old Town along with shopping and dining. It’s a fun place to check out and have an inexpensive day or evening.

Evening attractions abound in Orlando mainly Dinner Shows and the very costly shows La Noubba and Blue Man Group. Capone’s Dinner & Show is definitly the best value of the Orlando Dinner Shows as we discount our tickets to the general public rather than to ticket resellers. By eliminating the middle man we can offer a delicious dinner buffet and included beverages such as Bud Light, wine and cocktails for a discounted rate (coupon on web site www.alcapones.com) of only $24.99 you get your moneys worth before the show even begins!

If you visit our links section at www.alcapones.com you can visit the attractions web sites in this article.