by admin | Dec 17, 2015 | Local Events, News, Theme Parks and Attractions
Orlando City ranks high in Google’s trending soccer teams of 2015
We know we love them, but apparently a lot of people around the country love Orlando City Soccer Club, too.
The soccer club is ranked No. 2 in Google’s Year in Search of Top 10 Trending Soccer Teams of 2015 in the United States, trailing only FC Barcelona. The only Major League Soccer team in the top 10, Orlando City was ranked ahead of such high-profile clubs as Arsenal FC, Manchester United, Real Madrid and several others.
“This is one of the proudest moments for our front office staff, technical team, players and fans,” said club President and founder Phil Rawlins. “It’s a testament to the hard work we’ve all done to elevate this team and capture the hearts of a growing global fan base, and I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of our soccer community.”
There were several moments in 2015 that kept the Lions trending online this year, such as the #FillTheBowl marketing campaign that motivated 62,500 fans to sell out the club’s inaugural MLS match at the Orlando Citrus Bowl, as well as team captain Kaka’s late goal that brought the bowl to its feet in the 90 th minute of the NYCFC match.
The full list of teams that made Google’s Top 10 Trending Soccer Teams included: FC Barcelona, Orlando City SC, Arsenal FC, Manchester United FC, Chelsea FC, Real Madrid CF, Boca Juniors, Corinthians, Chivas and AC Milan.
The top “trending” teams are the searches that had the highest spike in traffic over a sustained period in 2015 as compared to 2014.
The soccer club is ranked No. 2 in Google’s Year in Search of Top 10 Trending Soccer Teams of 2015 in the United States, trailing only FC Barcelona. The only Major League Soccer team in the top 10, Orlando City was ranked ahead of such high-profile clubs as Arsenal FC, Manchester United, Real Madrid and several others.
“This is one of the proudest moments for our front office staff, technical team, players and fans,” said club President and founder Phil Rawlins. “It’s a testament to the hard work we’ve all done to elevate this team and capture the hearts of a growing global fan base, and I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of our soccer community.”
There were several moments in 2015 that kept the Lions trending online this year, such as the #FillTheBowl marketing campaign that motivated 62,500 fans to sell out the club’s inaugural MLS match at the Orlando Citrus Bowl, as well as team captain Kaka’s late goal that brought the bowl to its feet in the 90 th minute of the NYCFC match.
The full list of teams that made Google’s Top 10 Trending Soccer Teams included: FC Barcelona, Orlando City SC, Arsenal FC, Manchester United FC, Chelsea FC, Real Madrid CF, Boca Juniors, Corinthians, Chivas and AC Milan.
The top “trending” teams are the searches that had the highest spike in traffic over a sustained period in 2015 as compared to 2014.
by Elsa Soto | Oct 21, 2015 | Local Events, Theme Parks and Attractions
Not many people would attempt to visit Gatorland, Fun Spot America and Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament in one day, but that’s just an example of one day on a media trip with Experience Kissimmee.
Experience Kissimmee and Visit Orlando, the two organizations responsible for marketing Central Florida, do everything they can to attract tourists, including organizing free trips for domestic and international media, travel agents and event planners.
“They can be fun, but they can be very exhausting, too,” said Larry White, Experience Kissimmee’s vice president of communications. The bulk of the visits, called familiarization trips or FAMs, take place in the fall — after the busy summer season, but before tourists start planning next year’s vacation. They are used to educate travel influencers about each destination in an effort to drive business. Each group carries a different importance, but all are necessary in bringing tourists to the region.
Journalists, for example, are likely to produce stories from their trip or take to social media to share their experiences as they happen. Each FAM attendee will have a specific hashtag they’re asked to use when posting on social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook, said Rochelle Siegel, who handles communications for Experience Kissimmee. This allows Kissimmee officials to track the number of impressions from each post and see the social reach from the trip.
“They can’t write about the destination until they’ve experienced it,” Siegel said. Depending on the type of group visiting, trips can last between three and five days.
Alan Fyall, professor at the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, said FAM trips are an important investment for marketing organizations because their reach can be so great. “There’s a whole range of information out there that people tap into,” said Fyall.
Fyall said tourists looking to make such a big trip, such as a first visit to Central Florida and the theme parks, don’t only rely on websites and online travel reviews. As old-school as it can sound, they heavily rely on recommendations from travel agents, too, said Fyall.
Experience Kissimmee’s familiarization trips include a variety of activities, including taking this group from Denmark out for some kayaking in Osceola County. (Contributed photo)
“It seems so 1970s, but it is still very, very relevant,” he said. Fyall gives another example of the reach of a FAM trip-generated story. When he was moving to Central Florida from England three years ago, Fyall and his wife picked Winter Park as their new home after reading a story in an airline magazine, just the kind of coverage often generated from such trips.
George Aguel, Visit Orlando’s president and chief executive officer, said his organization has hosted several in the last few weeks. Most recently, Visit Orlando officials hosted groups from Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom and Denmark. Two more, in partnership with Emirates Airlines, which started service between Dubai and Orlando last month, are planned. Aguel’s organization averages between two and three trips a month during the year.
“We recognize there’s a point you can only do so many of these,” he said, adding they take extensive time to coordinate and host.
Not only do these trips take time to plan — sometimes weeks, sometimes months — but they require participation from businesses and attractions in the area.
Experience Kissimmee and Visit Orlando work directly with airlines, hotels and transportation companies, among other businesses, to ensure each FAM trip is fully booked with a detailed itinerary without footing the entire bill.
“In all cases it’s a co-op,” said White. “There’s got to be a cooperative spirit from top to bottom throughout all of this to work.” Each organization notifies business partners about planned trips and wait for offers and deals to pour in. Officials then review offers and decide what is the best fit for each respective FAM. As each trip offers a chance for businesses to hit a new level of exposure, one beyond what they could pay for with standard marketing, it can be a competitive process.
“We have to be fair,” said Ana Gonzalez, Experience Kissimmee’s director of international sales & marketing. “Our partners really love FAMs. The industry likes the opportunity to be showcased.” Paul Phipps, chief marketing officer for Visit Florida, the state’s tourism arm, said it’s crucial for individual destination marketing organizations to promote themselves because that helps promote the state as a whole.
“To do international, you’ve got to be able to tell your story,” he said. “We have to be at the table. We have to be telling that story.”
Source: Orlando Sentinel
by admin | Aug 25, 2015 | Local Events, News, slider, Theme Parks and Attractions
$30 Legoland Admission, and half goes to the Sunshine Foundation
For a limited time Legoland is partnering up with Sunshine Foundation. From 8/17/2015 to 9/27/2015 Legoland is offering a discounted admission ticket. General admission can be as much as $87 per adult, but for this limited time purchase your ticket for just $30. $15 of every $30 Legoland Admission ticket sold will go to the “Not For Profit organization”, the Sunshine Foundation. The Sunshine Foundation’s sole purpose is to answer the dreams of chronically ill, seriously ill, physically challenged and abused children ages three to eighteen, whose families cannot fulfill their requests due to financial strain that the child’s illness may cause.
Click Here to purchase your tickets!!
$30 Legoland Admission, and half goes to the Sunshine Foundation. Take advantage now of enjoying this amazing theme park and help provide HOPE for these children. It’s a “WIN-WIN”!!!
by admin | Aug 19, 2015 | News, Theme Parks and Attractions
Big Disney Plans
Take that, Harry Potter – in a few years.
The Walt Disney Co. announced Saturday that it will build a 14-acre Star Wars land and 11-acre Toy Story area at Disney’s Hollywood Studios – the largest overhaul ever within an existing Walt Disney World theme park. Experts say they expect it to take several years before Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ complicated and costly new expansion becomes a reality.
Disney declined to give further details beyond what it revealed last week. The company said it will break ground on another Star Wars land at Disneyland in California by 2017 but gave no similar details for Orlando. No price tag has been provided, although costs for expansion on both coasts is expected to be in the billions.
“It seems like the Hollywood Studios transformation is going to be many, many more years until you feel like you’re in a complete theme park,” said Bob Boyd, an analyst with Pacific Asset Management.
Disney’s plans are expected to remake Hollywood Studios from what many tourists consider an afterthought into a major destination unto itself. Star Wars in particular is considered Disney’s way to strike back at Universal Orlando’s wildly successful Harry Potter lands.
Industry watchers said the project could make Hollywood Studios enough of a draw to charge the same premium single-day admission as Magic Kingdom: $105 as opposed to $97 at other Disney Parks.
“Knowing what they believe the power of Star Wars is and what this is supposed to cost, I would imagine that once this is up and running, you’ll see parity between admission prices for the Magic Kingdom and Star Wars, Pixar, Hollywood Land,” said Jim Hill, an industry blogger and editor of JimHillMedia.com.
Disney will give the theme park a new name but has not revealed it yet.
In the short term, Hollywood Studios will be a them park in limbo, undergoing a lot of construction work.
“You’ve got a lot of things to move around at Hollywood Studios,” Boyd said. “you’ve got buildings coming down. A lot of the old infrastructure built for the old park won’t be adequate for this.”
Hollywood Studios has vacant land around it, but Disney has no said whether its new lands would require expanding the park beyond its current boundaries. The current entrance, designed for a much different attraction, probably won’t suffice anymore, Niles said.
Reedy Creek, the Disney-funded government that oversees resort property, is considering possible improvements, including a road that could take some traffic off nearby Osceola Parkway. District administrators did not give further details.
Several experts interviewed said it would likely take at least four years for Star Wars to open.
At Hollywood Studios right now, though, more things are closing than opening. Four attractions shuttered in the past year, and bloggers predict more will follow to make room for expansion. The 2016 “Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World” has advised tourists not to bother with the Studios if they only have two or three days to visit.
“It’s hard for us recommend spending $80-$100 on a park that has so little to offer,” it says.
In the meantime, Disney will try to generate visitor interest by more quickly adding smaller Star Wars attractions. It will introduce characters and locations from the upcoming movie in its Star Tours Ride, a “Launch Bay” preview area and a new themed fireworks show with music from the film.
Source: Orlando Sentinel
by Elsa Soto | May 13, 2015 | Local Events, News, Theme Parks and Attractions
Three new visitor attractions opened in Central Florida today as Merlin Entertainments PLC (Merlin), the second largest attraction operator in the world, celebrated the official grand opening of The Orlando Eye, Madame Tussauds and SEA LIFE Aquarium. Located in Orlando, the attractions are the centerpiece of I-Drive 360, a new dining and entertainment destination on International Drive.
Standing at 400-feet high, or nearly 100-feet taller than the Statue of Liberty, The Orlando Eye is the tallest observation wheel on the U.S. East Coast. Similar to London’s world-famous landmark, the Eye provides guests with the opportunity to escape the hustle and bustle of Central Florida in within fully enclosed, air-conditioned glass capsules. The serene journey allows visitors to take in a unique perspective of the area including nearby theme parks and attractions, the downtown Orlando skyline, lakes and lush landscape, and, if the day is clear, Cape Canaveral on Florida’s East Coast. The Orlando Eye also allows visitors to choose their own unique experiences such as champagne flights and private capsules. The attraction also offers a 4D cinematic experience showcasing a 3D aerial journey of Central Florida with added effects including fireworks, wind, scents and lighting.
Orlando has rolled out the red carpet for the world’s most famous celebrity wax attraction Madame Tussauds Orlando. Madame Tussauds showcases incredibly detailed and lifelike wax figures that pay tribute to the most influential celebrity and historical figures of our time, including funnyman Jimmy Fallon, actor Jim Parsons, pop princesses Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez, international icon Ricky Martin and many, many more!
SEA LIFE Orlando offers a new wave of underwater adventures with beautiful displays of colorful fish, sharks, jellies, sea horses, rays, sea turtles and more. Winding tunnels, floor-to-ceiling and bubble aquariums and cold water rock pools provide a unique experience for all guests as they are introduced to more than 5,000 sea animals in habitats representing the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Specific to the Orlando aquarium, visitors can also explore Florida’s freshwater lakes and ponds, extending to the Everglades. Additionally, the aquarium, known for its strong conservation efforts, will have interactive and educational components for young marine life enthusiasts.
“Merlin has more than 100 attractions, 11 hotels and three holiday villages in 23 countries across four continents, but today all eyes are on Orlando!” said James Paulding, Southeast Regional Manager, Midway Attractions, Merlin Entertainments. “From exploring the oceans of the world, to taking selfies with your favorite celebrities, or seeing 360-degree panoramic views of Orlando, we’re excited about the impact each of these new additions will have on the region from an entertainment, tourism and economic standpoint.”
But tickets today!
Source//www.officialorlandoeye.com/news/2015/may/the-orlando-eye-madame-tussauds-and-sea-life-aquarium-open-in-the-heart-of-central-florida/#sthash.ekZppPw6.dpuf
by Elsa Soto | Apr 1, 2015 | Theme Parks and Attractions
Vanilla Ice to Host Disney’s Swan & Dolphin Food Fest
Orlando’s foodie scene soon will welcome a 1990s rapper, as well as a Walt Disney World classic gastro festival.
Robert Van Winkle, also known as Vanilla Ice, will host the grand opening event April 9-11 for McFadden’s Irish Restaurant & Saloon in Orlando, one of the newest restaurants to open on International Drive. McFadden’s, located at the Vue at 360 dining and entertainment complex, is next door to the $200 million I-Drive 360 complex, which will open May 4.
The Orlando location, which created an estimated 75 new jobs in Central Florida, is New York-based McFadden’s Irish Restaurant & Saloon’s first in Florida and it’s also the chain’s biggest restaurant, at 11,000 square feet.
Meanwhile, Walt Disney World’s Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic is set for Oct. 30-31. Tickets are on sale for the sixth-annual event, which features more than 40 culinary stations from the hotel’s award-winning restaurants, as well as wine from 30 different wineries.
Food festivals like this help shine a spotlight on Central Florida culinary scene and attract more visitors to the region, helping boost Orlando’s $50 million tourism industry.
Source: BizJournals
