CitySurfing Orlando

It’s been a while since Walt Disney World opened a new resort on property. The last completely new resort was Pop Century back in 2003.

There was supposed to be a companion resort that covered the first half of Disney’s history by the decades, but it never came to fruition and the shell of the resort lay dormant until Disney’s imagineers got the bright idea to turn it into a value resort comprising mostly of family suites.

As with the other value properties, Disney’s Art of Animation resort has blocks of rooms, known as wings, and each of these wings have specific themes to the decor. The resort has three family suite wings, themed after the movies Finding Nemo, Lion King, and Cars. The fourth and final wing is made up of standard rooms and is themed after The Little Mermaid.

Image courtesy of Walt Disney World

Each wing’s decor includes interior theming to the respective films. In the Finding Nemo wing, there are coral-shaped chairs and bubble ceiling lights. In The Lion King wing, Zazu features in the headboard design and Pumbaa and Timon are on the shower curtain.

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Universal Orlando has announced the first three acts of their annual concert series for the summer of 2012.

...|: Cast of Victorious

The cast of Nickelodeon’s popular series “Victorious,” including star Victoria Justice, will kick things off on June 9. Guests will also be able to take part in a Q&A with the cast earlier in the day, as well.

ZZ Top will take the stage the following weekon June 16 and the third week will see 3 Doors Down rocking the theme park. More acts will be revealed at a later date for the series, which runs through July 14, 2012.

All performances take place inside of the Universal Studios theme park on the Music Plaza stage.

Summer Concert Series performances are included in regular Universal Studios admission.

One of the most popular annual events at Walt Disney World is Star Wars Weekends, which occurs at the tail end of every spring for four consecutive weekend.

The guest list for each weekend has been released, along with the celebrity hosts.

James Arnold Taylor, who provides the voice for Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Clone Wars animated TV series, will serve as the Official Celebrity Host for all four weekends.

Joining him all four weekends will be Ashley Eckstein, who provides the voice of Ahsoka Tano in The Clone Wars. She will host “Behind the Force,” a behind the scenes glimpse at her show.

The 2012 dates and guests have been released and they are:

May 18-20 -

• Ray Park — Darth Maul, Star Wars: Episode I (The Phantom Menace)
• Jerome Blake – Rune Haako/Mas Amedda, Star Wars: Episode I (The Phantom Menace)
• Dee Bradley Baker – voice of Clone Captain Rex and Clone Commander Cody, Star Wars: The Clone Wars

May 25-27 -

• Andy Secombe — Watto, Star Wars: Episode I (The Phantom Menace)
• Ray Park — Darth Maul, Star Wars: Episode I (The Phantom Menace)
• Tom Kane — voice of Yoda, Star Wars: The Clone Wars

June 01-03 -

• Jake Lloyd — Anakin Skywalker, Star Wars: Episode I (The Phantom Menace)
• Silas Carson — Nute Gunray/Ki-Adi-Mundi, Star Wars: Episode I (The Phantom Menace)

June 08-10 -

• Michonne Bourriague — Aurra Sing, Star Wars: Episode I (The Phantom Menace)
• Jeremy Bulloch — Boba Fett, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
• Daniel Logan — Boba Fett, Star Wars: Episode II (Attack of the Clones)
• Nika Futterman — voice of Asajj Ventress, Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Star Wars Weekends takes place at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the event is included in regular park admission from single day tickets to annual passes.

Even though Legoland Florida has only been open since October 2011, it wasn’t long after that they were talking about adding on a water park for the guests as well.

The water park is located in the former spot of Cypress Gardens’ water park and features a wave pool, Build-A-Raft lazy river, tube slides, body slides and an interactive water-play structure for toddlers – DUPLO® Safari.

Legoland has set May 26, 2012, as opening day for the water park. Day guests can add on the water park for an additional $12. It is included in the all new Legoland premium pass, which includes 12 months of admission to both parks.

For more information, or to purchase tickets in advance, visit Legoland.com.

Every Saturday from April 14 through May 5, SeaWorld Orlando will hold their Viva la Musica event.

This Latin festival features food and fun for the entire family, bringing together live salsa, merengue and reggaeton performances from award-winning Latin artists, authentic arts and crafts, and more.

Each Saturday at 3pm, there will be a headliner concert. Here is the line-up:

• April 14 – Elvis Crespo
• April 21 – Grupo Niche
• April 28 – RKM & Ken-Y
• May 5 – Gilberto Santa Rosa

Viva La Musica events are included with all park admission. For more information, visit the SeaWorld Orlando website.