Move over Facebook and Twitter - Instagram is now becoming the most popular social media site for image sharing, particularly for people under 30 years of age.  Aside from a great smile, one of the most important parts of a great instagram photo is the backdrop.  Great news!  Here are some links to hook you up with some of the best Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Instagram photo locations to make everybody at home jealous!  These locations include some funky wall backgrounds for the Instagram purists, a few character themed locations, and locations that take advantage of the amazing architecture found in both of these theme parks.  To find your way to a great Instagram photo shoot at Walt Disney World or Universal Orlando, check out these links:

Instagram Location Ideas 1
Instagram Location Ideas 2
Instagram Location Ideas 3
Instagram Location Ideas 4

If you are staying at our Encore Resort at Reunion vacation villa, there are some amazing backdrops locations at the resort community's water park that will let your co-workers know you are having a great time on your vacation.  Here are a few of our favorite  Encore Resort at Reunion Instagram photos:

Has your little one ever dreamt of being a mermaid or a shark?  Here is an amazing opportunity that you won't find at any other vacation home community in Orlando - an onsite Mermaid school!  For on $35.00, a child (or adult for that matter) can enroll in one of the countries most prestigious schools - Mermaid University!  Get your fin on and slide into the huge Encore Resort Cove Pool, located in the The Encore Club's 3 acre water park (and only a 3 minutes walk from our vacation villa).  At the end of the class, feel free to practice those fin kicks or, alternatively, return to your human form and head down the mat racers, aqua drop or tub slide, or just play around on the bucket tipping Surfin' Safari Aqua Structure.  After you've enjoyed all the water slides, join in on one of the other events organized by the Encore Resort Activities Team (see April activities below).  The fun never stops when you are a guest at our 360vacationhome.com vacation villa!  Click here for more information about about reserving a spot at Mermaid University or booking a holiday at our vacation rental by owner home.

Plans are moving forward towards a partnership between Osceola County and LifeSports USA to build a 60 acre sports complex at the corner of US192 and SR 429 in Kissimmee, Florida, just 5 km from Orlando's Encore Resort at Reunion.  The complex will house a softball facility with 8-10 baseball diamonds and 8-10 long fields suitable for soccer, lacrosse, rugby, field hockey and football.  The fields will be made of both natural and artificial turf and all be lite with LED lighting for both day and nighttime fun.  This complex will be perfectly located to our vacation rental home near Walt Disney World.  The sports complex will be a mere five minutes drive from our holiday villa, and The Encore Club Resort amenities will be perfect for families who have children competing in a tournament or enjoying a sports camp.  With the vacation resort community being so close to the fields, families can return to enjoy the water park and water slides in between games.  The sports complex will also complement The Dan Marino Encore Resort Fantasy Football Camp which is expected to be coming soon the Encore Resort.

You can now walk around Epcot's World Showcase, explore Magic Kingdom's Main Street USA, wander through Pandora at Animal Kingdom and stroll down Sunset Boulevard at Hollywood Studios, all without ever leaving your desk.   Thanks to Google Streetview, you can now get an pedestrian's eye view of Walt Disney World.  Simple go to Google Maps and view the map for Walt Disney World.  Then "grab" the yellow person at the bottom right and drag him to where you want to start and go for a walk around the Kingdoms.  My apologies to all your employers - this will be an amazing time goblin!  Here are some good starting spots:

• Magic Kingdom Park
• Disney Springs – Dining, Retail Locations
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios
• Pandora – The World of Avatar
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom
• Epcot
• ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
• Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park
• Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park

​If you want to get a better idea of the journey from our Encore Resort at Reunion to Walt Disney World, use the same Google tool and take a virtual drive down Orlando's roads.  At only a 5 mile trip, you'll see how easy it is to travel to and from the parks.  BTW, Google's satellite image of the resort is very outdated - the clubhouse and the water park are completely finished, as are the recreational and residential areas around the clubhouse (including the area around our home).

Enjoy your virtual journey and start thinking about booking your real vacation rental home holiday today!!

Walt Disney World had some fun yesterday during the Oscars by introducing a series of video shorts that aired during the ceremony, across which the iconic Pixar ball wheels through several American cities and landscapes en route to a mystery destination. The ball rolled through San Francisco, Los Angeles, the American midwest and New York City before finally rolling through the iconic entrance gates to Walt Disney World (which, coincidentally, are located a mere 5 miles from our Orlando vacation home located at the waterslide vacation community - Encore Resort at Reunion).

​The 11-acre Toy Story Land has been created in the likeness of several locations from the animated Toy Story film series, namely the backyard of franchise character Andy. Guests will enter feeling like “they have shrunk down to the size of a toy alongside Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie and many other oversized toys,” according to a press release. Once inside, they will be able to ride the Slinky Dog Dash launched roller coaster, spin around on the Alien Swirling Saucers flat ride, and expand their targeting skills on an extended version of the Toy Story Mania! dark ride.  Toy Story Land will open June 30, 2018 as part of Disney’s multi-year initiative to enhance its Hollywood Studios theme park.