Let me guess. You're slightly bummed that you didn't get to see the Easter Bunny (as well as the lovely Mrs. Bunny) when they made their short, seasonal visit to the Magic Kingdom this past weekend. Photo by Todd Anderson. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Not to worry, though. If you're visiting The Walt Disney World Resort over Easter Week (more importantly, if you're armed with a Magic Your Way Park Hopper ), you can find all kinds of rabbits this time of year...

Dawn Bachers of Orlando Fun Tickets walks you through all of the exciting after-dark offerings that the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot will be serving up now through August 14th...

When you think of it in fairytale terms, a trip to Las Vegas can really like something straight out of "A Thousand and One Arabian Nights." I mean, think about it: You do cross the burning sands (Especially if you're driving in from LA. Which means that you're taking I-15 straight across Death Valley.) And then - in the middle of the desert - you can find this fabled city which is filled with castles & turrets & magic. And when I say "magic," I'm not talking...

Dawn Bachers of Orlando Fun Tickets talks up recent improvements to WDW’s retail, dining & entertainment district. Which includes an exciting new performer who just joined the cast of La Nouba...

Dawn Bachers of Best of Vegas profiles Jena Kerr, Head of Puppets for the Las Vegas Company of this acclaimed musical. Which is just about to celebrate its one-year anniversary at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino...

Given that the kids are now back in school and/or just about to go back to school I thought that I'd start this week's column with a math question. How long does it take to fill those 12 huge funnel-shaped tanks that power Typhoon Lagoon's 2.75 million gallon wave pool? Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved And the answer is ... well, that depends on whether you want 5-foot waves (which are ideal for body surfing) or 8-foot waves (which then allows Walt Disney World to...

If you want to truly get a sense of how different The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is, then why don't you join me outside on the terrace? Copyright 2010 The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. All rights reserved That's right. A terrace. In a town where virtually every other hotel room is sealed up tight and then air conditioned within an inch of its life, the 2995 rooms that will eventually come on line at this brand-new resort & casino will actually allow guests to step outside and then get some...

As you walk through Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom these days and encounter all of those construction fences for the Fantasyland expansion project it's kind of hard to imagine what this part of the theme park will look like in just a few years. But me? I can't help but look at the attractions that Fantasyland already has and wonder what this place would have been like if the Imagineers had been allowed to build the dark rides that they had originally designed for this section of the...

With the official start of Spring just days away, Lindsi Glass of Orlando Fun Tickets talks up the new arrivals as well as some of the old favorites that have returned to this Resort...

Care to guess which creatures are the most popular at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park? The answer may surprise you. It's not those real lions, elephants and giraffes that you can see while rolling across the faux-African savanna aboard Kilimanjaro Safaris. But - rather - those all-too-human animals who sing & dance daily in Camp Minnie-Mickey at the "Festival of the Lion King" show. Mind you, what's kind of ironic about all this is that - when The Walt Disney Company...

Lindsi Glass of Orlando Fun Tickets reports in from Epcot. Where Disney horticulturists worked ‘round the clock to make sure that all 80,000 bedding plants were in place for last week’s opening of this 75-day-long event

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There's an old saying that you don't fix what ain't broke. And in the case of "The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man," this Islands of Adventure attraction had received consistently high marks with Universal Orlando Guests since it first opened back in May of 1999. With some folks calling this ambitious 3D / simulator hybrid the best theme park ride that had ever been built. Which should have made Thierry Coup, the Vice President of Development at Universal Creative, happy. After...

We're just two weeks out now from the frights that can be found at the 2011 edition of Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights . And while other sites may go on & on about all the scares that await you inside of those eight great new haunted houses that are being built as we speak for this year's event, I'd like to focus instead on the six scare zones that will be featured at HHN 21. To my way of thinking, those scare zones are the real reason that Universal Orlando's...

Can it really be three years since Manta -- Central Florida's first-ever flying coaster -- initially came on the scene at SeaWorld Orlando? Copyright SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. All rights reserved Yep. To be exact, this Bolliger & Mabillard-designed roller coaster officially opened to the public on May 22, 2009. And ever since then, millions of thrill seekers have made special trips to this zoological theme park just so they could then experience what it was like to dive, twist and...

You wouldn't think that - given that Walt Disney World has been staging Halloween events at the Magic Kingdom for nearly 40 years now - that Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party would be still a work-in-progress. But given that Disney World's most popular theme park is right now in the middle of its biggest expansion in three decades (Look for Phase One of the Fantasyland Forest project to come online in the last Spring / early summer of 2012), the Mouse has taken this opportunity to...

It's the last week of July here in Central Florida. So - what a surprise - it's hot outside. If you're looking to beat the heat during your next Orlando vacation, might I suggest that you employ a little psychology? As in: It might seem cooler outside if you deliberately went to part of a theme park that at least looked like it should be cooler. Case in point: The snow-covered rooftops of Hogsmeade Village at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Copyright 2010 Universal Studios. All rights...

There were plenty of stars to be found onstage at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace earlier this week, as Walt Disney Studios took over this venerable Las Vegas venue on Tuesday night to talk up their 2011 & 2012 slates. What kind of stars are we talking about? Well, Amy Adams from Disney's "Enchanted" and "How I Met Your Mother" 's Jason Segal ... Amy Adams and Jason Segal onstage at the Coliseum. Photo by Eric Charbonneau / WireImage. Copyright Disney Enterprises,...

There are a couple of things that you just have to do while you're in Las Vegas. Drive the Strip and gawk at all the lights Hit a buffet Catch a Cirque du Soleil® show Copyright 2010 Cirque du Soleil. All rights reserved But which of the Cirque shows should you see while you're in town? To be honest, that's kind of a tough question to answer. For " Mystere ," " O ," "Ka," " Zumanity ," " Love ," " Criss Angel Believe " and...

This Saturday, it's Lucky No. 7 for the Wynn. Seven years ago on April 28, 2005, this $2.7 billion dollar mega-resort opened at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sands Avenue. And the town has never really been the same. Copyright Wynn Resort Holdings, LLC. All rights reserved Of course, there are some old timers who still miss the Desert Inn, that hotel & casino which previously occupied this spot along the Strip. But when you consider the state-of-the-art facility Steve Wynn built in...

Most men in their late 50s start to slow down a little bit. But -- then again -- most men aren't Penn Jillette. Best known as the taller, louder half of that eccentric pair of performers (who -- now through September -- will regularly be presenting their acclaimed magic act in the appropriately named Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas ), Jillette has been a very busy guy these past few months. How so? Well, just in the past year, this 57 year-old has: starred...

This JHM column is for all you Central Floridians out there. To be specific, those folks who live in and around the Orlando area. Copyright Visit Orlando. All rights reserved The upside of living here is that you've got world-class theme parks right at your front doorstep. Which means (if you so desire) you can be among the very first folks to experience the latest ride, show or attraction at SeaWorld Orlando , Universal Studios Florida , Universal Islands of Adventure & the four Disney theme...

In a town where volcanoes explode hourly from 7 to 11 p.m. at The Mirage, where a full-sized pirate ship sinks four times nightly right outside of the Treasure Island Las Vegas, it would be awfully easy to overlook the 100-year-old wooden show tent that was recently erected in the Roman Plaza at Caesars Palace. Sure, that half-scale version of the Eiffel Tower in front of the Paris Las Vegas may be taller & grander. And the Fountains of Bellagio are ... Well, splashier. But as your mother always...

For nearly 40 years now, it's been a key component of a Central Florida vacation . That - for one night - you take a break from the theme parks and then head indoors to enjoy a bit of dinner theater . Of course, the real pioneer of this Orlando entertainment tradition is the Hoop Dee Doo Revue. Which has been entertaining WDW Guests (appropriately enough) in Pioneer Hall at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground since the Summer of 1974. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights...

Life can really throw you some curves sometimes. Which is why - as 2010 draws to a close - a lot of us are probably looking for a spectacular way to put this bad old year behind us. Start the New Year off right by kicking up your heels and/or shaking your booty at some spectacularly exclusive party . Copyright 2010 The Venetian. All rights reserved And if that's really what you're looking to do this year, have your 2010 end well ... Well, has Best of Vegas got a deal for you? This New Year's...

Here's a fun factoid for all of you Michael Jackson fans out there: Following the success of "Captain EO," Michael Jackson and the Imagineers actually spent about six months in the late 1980s developing a follow-up attraction. One that would have reimagined the King of Pop as a three-armed outer-space impresario called P.T. Quantum. The "crash-landed" version of the retooled exterior of Carousel of Progress theater-go- round show building. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc...