Christmas at the Orlando theme parks is just amazing.  Walt Disney World is always alight with wonder.  This year Universal Orlando is going to be kicking it up a notch with a Christmas spectacular at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  From November 18, 2017 - January 6, 2017, Universal will be laying out the decorations, garlands and lights as you walk through both Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. There will also be special holiday-themed food and drink and festive performances by the Frog Choir and Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees. At night, state-of-the-art projection mapping and lighting will illuminate the Hogwarts castle to bring Christmas moments inspired by the Harry Potter series to life in a way that will be reminiscent of the way Walt Disney World uses Cinderella's Castle as a backdrop of light displays.  They will also be bringing back the classic Macy's holiday parade as well as a Grinchmas Wholiday Spectacular which will include a musical retelling of the TV classic story as well as meet-and-greets with the Grinch and Max.

We still have an opening available at our Kissimmee Orlando vacation villa at the Encore Club Resort at Reunion for Christmas, including Christmas eve and Christmas day, with a departure on December 26.  Don't wake up Christmas morning in a cramped hotel room - wake up in a house!  Contact us to make this the best Christmas ever!

We are happy to report that our game room at the Encore Club Resort at Reunion is complete!  With this game room as an addition to our home theater room, private pool and spa and the 2 Disney themed bedrooms (Finding Nemo and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train), we think we have the assembled for our children the ultimate kid friendly Kissimmee Orlando vacation home near Disney World.  We welcome you to experience a Disney World vacation the same way we do.  Add to the mix the Encore Club at Reunion's water park with its multiple waterslides, tub ride and aqua drop, and we know you will agree that we have everything you are looking for to make your Orlando vacation amazing.  Contact us for more details, 

Summer is almost over and that means Epcot is ramping up for the International Food and Wine Festival.  In addition to trying some amazing new specialty menu items at each of the international pavilions, one of my favorite features of this festival is the Eat To The Beat Concert Series.  This series is a collection of great bands and vocalist who perform for free (if you call it free after paying admission to the park) in the American Gardens Theater found at the back of the International Showcase.  Some of the bands coming this year include Squeeze, The Hooters, 38 Special, Air Supply, Dennis DeYoung (Styx), Sugar Ray and 10,000 Maniacs.  Check out the concert list here.  If you love good food and wine and enjoy great music, you are welcome to stay at our Encore Resort at Reunion vacation home!

During our most recent stay at our Kissimmee Orlando Vacation Home near Disney World we spent an evening at Disney's Animal Kingdom and used a fastpass+ for River of Lights.  For infrequent visitors to Disney World I wouldn't recommend booking a fastpass in advance for River of Lights because you can't get additional fastpasses until you use your first three fastpasses (River of Lights is performed at park close).  As Disney World annual passholders, instead of rushing to the parks at rope drop, we often spend the day chilling by our backyard pool and spa, playing ping pong in the games room or hanging out at the Encore Club at Reunion water park. Then after a dinner at home we enjoy going to the theme parks at the end of the day to take in an evening of sights and sounds as well as watching the fireworks.  River of Lights provides a unique nighttime show at Disney World which does not rely on fireworks, but rather is more of a floating fountain and water show.  River of Lights is a great show for all ages and takes me back to Walt Disney's original motivation for starting Disneyland - to create a place where people of all ages can partake in the same activities and be equally entertained.  River of Lights is a great reminder that, while admission to Walt Disney World's theme parks is not cheap, the amount and level of entertainment provided by Disney is, in a word, awesome.  If you want a peak of what River of Lights is like, you can watch the whole show in this video from the Disney Parks Blog.

We are at our Encore Resort at Reunion vacation home villa and are very excited to be midway through completion of our Star Wars themed game room! We have the wall art completed and we are just waiting for the flooring and the games to arrive. We know kids of all ages who are Disney and Star Wars fans will love our 2 Disney themed bedrooms and game room. If you are seeking a kid friendly vacation home near Disney World, definitely contact us for details. Here's a sneak peak at our Orlando Kissimmee Disney rental home's progress: