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Florida Theme Parks & Attractions

NEW Florida Resident Staycation Offer at SeaWorld Orlando

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EDITED TO ADD: SeaWorld and all area theme parks are closed for the remainder of March due to Coronavirus concerns, so this ticket offer is no longer available. Stay tuned for further updates about local area theme parks.

SeaWorld Orlando announced today that their Florida residents can take advantage of a very special offer this weekend!

Starting today, March 12, SeaWorld Orlando Parks are offering Florida Residents a staycation promotion! Florida Residents can save up to 60% on SeaWorld tickets as low as $49.99, Aquatica tickets as low as $34.99, and a SeaWorld/Aquatica 2 park ticket for only $59.99.

The promotion starts today, March 12th, and ends March 16th – better act fast to score those deals! The promotion comes just in time for the Seven Seas Food Festival, ongoing at the park through March and April.

The nearby Discovery Cove will be participating in the offer as well, offering Florida Residents a 40% discount if they book their reservation by March 16 and visit by May 20, 2020.

For more info and to take advantage of this deal, click here. Or to score even more, and visit Discovery Cove too, click here for more information on that deal.

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NIK WALLENDA to Perform Stunt at LEGOLAND’s Pirate Island Hotel Opening

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World-renown daredevil Nik Wallenda has announced that he will be ‘walking the plank’ at the grand opening of LEGOLAND Florida Resort’s all-new Pirate Island Hotel. The stunt is scheduled to air live on ABC for all to view!

LEGOLAND Florida Resort writes,

In true pirate-fashion, Wallenda will “walk the plank” from inside the theme park to the new hotel to kick off the resort’s opening festivities on Thursday, April 16. LEGOLAND Florida Resort park and hotel guests are invited to take part in the fun and watch the nail-biting stunt safely from the ground.

This event will be no “walk in the park” for the Wallenda Team as they will construct a high wire longer than 500 feet for the walk. They will also work closely with LEGOLAND master model builders to craft LEGO bricks onto Wallenda’s 28-foot balance pole.

LEGOLAND and Nik Wallenda fans alike can stay tuned to Facebook and Instagram as the park releases additional details on how to watch the stunt unfold live on Thursday, April 16.

NEW! LEGOLAND® Pirate Island Hotel Grand Opening – April 17

Located just 130 kid-steps from the theme park entrance, LEGOLAND Pirate Island Hotel will feature 150 LEGO-filled rooms (including four suites), a heated pool (complete with LEGO soft bricks to build in the pool), hundreds of LEGO models, exclusive character experiences and in-room LEGO treasure hunts. Similar to the popular LEGOLAND Hotel, each room will include two separate spaces: a kid’s sleeping area and an adult area.

The five-story hotel will house the pirate-themed Shipwreck Restaurant with family-style dining, Smuggler’s Bar for adult swashbucklers, an entertainment area with kid-friendly nightly programming and LEGO play areas. Directly outside the entrance to the hotel, a pirate shipwreck will greet guests and offer a unique photo opportunity.

LEGOLAND Florida Resort has also prepared a brief video to tell us more about the event!

The Pirate Island Hotel will officially open to the public on Fri., April 17. Reservations are available at LEGOLAND.com/pirateisland

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SeaWorld Announces Artists for Seven Seas Food Festival

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The Seven Seas Food Festival will begin soon at SeaWorld Orlando!

Coming this spring, guests will be able to experience a festival of fun, food, and music at SeaWorld Orlando. Every weekend during the event, concerts will be held at 6pm at the Bayside Stadium.

THE LINEUP!

·      Billy Ray Cyrus headshot, Seven Seas Festival SeaWorld Orlando  March 7 – AJR

·        March 8 – Dylan Scott

·        March 14 – Hunter Hayes

·        March 15 – Joe Nichols

·        March 21 – YES and Alan Parsons Live Project

·        March 22 – Edwin McCain

·        March 28 – Gin Blossoms

·        March 29 – Village People

·        April 4 – Jesse McCartney

·        April 5 – Gretchen Wilson

·        April 11 – Scotty McCreery

·        April 12 – Jeremy Camp

·        April 18 – Everclear

·        April 19 – Grand Funk Railroad and BLUE ÖYSTER CULT

·        April 25 – Vanilla Ice and C&C Music Factory

·        April 26 – Chris Janson

·        May 2 – Billy Ray Cyrus

·        May 3 – Sean Paul   Village People headshot, Seven Seas Festival SeaWorld Orlando

All of these performances are included with the price of admission! But for the most exclusive experiences, reserved seating can be purchased online. Additionally, there’ll be a plethora of fun new food items at the event, and the full menu can be viewed on SeaWorld’s website.

The SeaWorld Orlando Seven Seas Food Festival begins February 7th, and lasts Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through May 3rd.

Of course, be sure to keep an eye out for the new ICEBREAKER attraction coming this year as well!

 

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Details Announced for The 6th Annual Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Food & Wine Festival

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Busch Gardens Food and Wine Festival

Earlier this week we got some exciting new details for the upcoming Food & Wine Festival at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay coming this spring.  From concert dates to fun new food items, here’s what we know so far!

DATES!

The fun begins with a Passholder exclusive event!

Busch Gardens Food and Wine Festival

Feb. 28:                Pass Member Exclusive Preview with “Eaglemania: The World’s Greatest Eagles Tribute Band!”

This exclusive event is available ONLY for Pass Members to preview the all-new menu of sips and samples at the 6th Annual Food & Wine Festival.

Be sure to visit Busch Gardens’ website to learn more or purchase your Annual Pass to gain access to this VIP opportunity!

Additionally, we’ve received information with more concert dates during the festival!

Feb 29:                Collective Soul
March 1:              The Commodores

March 7:              Chase Bryant & Danielle Bradbery
March 8:              Rachel Platten

March 14:            Ezra Ray Hart
March 15:            THREE DOG NIGHT

March 21:            LOCASH 
March 22:            Fitz & The Tantrums

March 28:            Home Free
March 29:            Taking Back Sunday

April 4:                 Third Eye Blind
April 5:                 KC & The Sunshine Band

April 11:               38 Special
April 12:               Micah Tyler & Austin French

April 18:               Lee Brice
April 19:               Clint Black

April 25:               El Gran Combo
April 26:               Toad the Wet Sprocket & The Verve Pipe

Fans of these groups will be excited to know that there are VIP packages available for each act “including reserved concert seating and a 5-item Food & Wine Festival Sampler Lanyard.” And new for 2020, you can upgrade to the Unlimited Food & Wine Festival VIP Seating Package for the ultimate concert-going experience. This new opportunity includes VIP seating for EVERY concert of the 2020 festival!

NEW TREATS!

Busch Gardens Food and Wine FestivalThis year’s event highlights a tasty new dining lineup too! Designed by the award-winning new Executive Chef of Busch Gardens Ernie Reyes, the festival’s menu features 25 NEW food items, and over 80 wines, beers, and cocktails. Here are just a couple of the new dishes to expect:

·        The ALL-NEW Chef’s Corner cabin: featuring three signature dishes carefully crafted by the park’s head chefs – arroz con pollo, pork belly taco with kimchi slaw, and pork tenderloin with champagne watercress sauce.

·        NEW Iconic Coaster Cocktails: including Iron Gwazi Gimlet, Falcon’s Fury Lemon Drop, and Tigris Tea

·        NEW Pick-A-Barrel tasting: create your own flight of liquors and wines from around the world

Guests can also already view the entire remaining menu online, and decide ahead of time what their must-eats are. From there, guests can also upgrade or purchase their Food & Wine Festival Sampler Lanyard. Busch Gardens writes that “Guests can purchase a 5, 8 or 12-item sampler lanyard to use at each festival cabin to explore sample-sized dishes and drink offerings with ease, starting at just $32. Pass Members can purchase an exclusive 15-item sampler for the same price as a 12-item sampler and SAVE 20%!”

COMING THIS SPRING!

Busch Gardens Food and Wine FestivalThe 2020 Food & Wine festival at Busch Gardens begins this spring, running every weekend from February 29-April 26. While you’re there, be sure to check out the incredible new IRON GWAZI attraction opening Spring 2020.

Best Way to Play:

Visit Busch Gardens Food and Wine Festival and year-round events is with an Annual Pass that includes 12 months of unlimited visits, FREE parking, FREE Serengeti Safari, merchandise and dining discounts¹, and special limited-time perks throughout the year. Or for a limited time, buy a Busch Gardens Tampa Bay 2020 Fun Card and an Adventure Island 2020 Fun Card FREE – Florida families can take advantage of this limited time buy-one-get-one FREE offer and get unlimited year-round park admission to TWO until December 31, 2020².

¹All events and attractions listed are included with park admission. Upgrades, specialty food and beverage items are sold separately.

²Some restrictions apply; Blackout dates may apply

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VLOG: Building Christmas at LEGOLAND Florida Resort!

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We have a brick-tacular time during the Christmas season at LEGOLAND Florida, and in the process try some weird fries, build an ornament, and roll down a hill into the sea. Never to be seen again.

Disclosure: LEGOLAND hosted us for this event, but these opinions are our own!

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Food and Wine Weekends at Hilton Bonnet Creek and Waldorf Astoria

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Hilton Bonnet CreekI’ve written before about the wonderful hotel options at the Hilton Bonnet Creek and Waldorf Astoria Orlando. We stayed there back in 2015 for their Race Weekends package, and I’d been there before with my friend Amanda, on a girls weekend getaway, full of fun, food, and sunburn in my case. Back then, I called these hotels the “best kept secret in Walt Disney World,“ and while I think that word has gotten out, there are still many people that don’t even know where these resorts are located. Food and Wine Weekends may just change that.

A great way to get introduced to these beautiful properties is one of the many event weekends they have going on throughout the year. The aforementioned Race Weekends are a great option for runDisney races; they really give you extra fun for your races, with all sorts of great amenities to enjoy. They also have Florida Resident rates, breakfast included packages, and more. Last night we were invited to experience a taste of their Food and Wine Weekends. These weekend menu options extend the “Magical Dining” menus that happen all over Orlando in September, with proceeds going to various charities, and are a perfect complement to the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival.

Food And Wine Weekends Breakdown:

The Food and Wine Weekends offer special tasting menus at 3 of the restaurants throughout the Hilton Bonnet Creek and Waldorf Astoria. The best part (for me and many of my friends) is that they also offer full vegan menu options at each of these locations.

A couple of weeks ago, I enjoyed the vegan Magical Dining menu at Zeta Asia, and it was truly amazing. I was very happy Amanda made that reservation because I didn’t know it existed and I’m still thinking about the menu items we had (I am officially in love with the vegan Bao Buns and the Bibimbap)!

Vegan Bao Zeta Asia

You can find ALL of the Food and Wine Weekends menu options, including Peacock Alley’s “Bar du Chocolat and Champagne tasting” and the Myth Bar’s “Pop Culture” with house made fresh fruit popsicles, organic ice pops, and “poptails” for the adults, in this guide from Hilton Bonnet Creek.

 

Vegan Options:

Last night, we were treated to the vegan Cauliflower Salad from La Luce, the Vegetable Fricassee from Bull & Bear, and the Impossible Bibimbap from Zeta Asia. These were all wonderful choices, and honestly, I was full after the first option, and absolutely stuffed by the 3rd. I somehow made room for the two vegan desserts we were offered, a dark chocolate and passion fruit dessert from Bull & Bear, and the special request dessert available in the hotels when you request a vegan dessert: fresh fruit sauce over a coconut tart, with fresh berries and whipped non-dairy cream. They were both SO wonderful, it definitely didn’t feel like a thrown-together vegan option, which is often the case with desserts. Check out photos in the gallery below from the evening and some of the hotel properties. Just click to enlarge any photo:

 

We were also treated to a vegan cocktail, since the one they were serving that night had sheep’s milk in it. We were given a modified “Bee’s Knees” with agave instead of honey. It was very floral and lovely. You can order this at Peacock Alley any time! You can watch the bartender create this drink for us, as well as chefs creating the amazing nitrogen-cooled chocolate pictured above, any time on my Food and Wine Weekends Instagram story highlight.

Bee's Knees vegan cocktail Peacock Alley

I hope I’ve tempted you a bit to head over to the Waldorf Astoria Orlando or Hilton Bonnet Creek and experience their Food and Wine Weekends for yourselves. It really is a wonderful experience, and such a nice, relaxing, crowd-and-line-free way to enjoy some culinary delights. I was hosted for our tasting experience, but I truly do love these properties and think they are such a nice getaway from the hustle and bustle of the nearby Disney hotels. Did I mention the lazy river? 

Hilton Bonnet Creek lazy river

If you’ve never been, enjoying a Food and Wine Weekends tasting menu is a great way to get over and explore the properties before staying the night (but staying the night is also a great way to end your Food and Wine Weekends evening!).

Have you stayed at either of these properties, or enjoyed their Food and Wine Weekends, or their stellar dining options?

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts or if you plan to check it out. Let me know in the comments below or drop me a line on social media, I’d love to chat about it! Thanks for reading.

Disclosure: As mentioned, I was hosted by Hilton for this tasting event, but my thoughts and opinions are, as always, my own. 

WANT TO REMEMBER THIS INFO? SAVE THE HILTON BONNET CREEK AND WALDORF ASTORIA FOOD AND WINE WEEKENDS PIN TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD! 

 

Food and Wine Weekends Hilton Bonnet Creek Waldorf Astoria
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