December 2011 – Issue 38
“The more you like yourself, the less you are like anyone else, which makes you unique.” -Walt Disney
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
November 8, 2011-December 18, 2011 is a special event held each winter on select nights at Magic Kingdom theme park. Purchase of an additional event admission ticket is required to attend Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. This festive celebration is filled with live entertainment, spectacular fireworks and an oh-so-jolly holiday parade. Celebrate the magic of the season in the holiday wonderland of Magic Kingdom theme park. Gather with loved ones for a festive sight- and sound-filled special event that is sure to make you merry!
SeaWorld’s Christmas CelebrationWhere the Season Meets The Sea
Waves of holiday spirit splash over you during SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration! Carols fill the air, a sparkling sea of trees lights up the water and skaters dance on ice. Here in our wintery, watery wonderland, you can journey to the North Pole on THE POLAR EXPRESS EXPERIENCE, share a smile with a sea lion, and enjoy stunning live shows inspired by the natural world. With everything from elves to Elmo, and from Santa to Shamu, SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration is where holiday memories are made.
Celebrate the 10th Anniversary Macy’s Holiday Parade at Universal Studios featuring floats and balloons direct from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade® in New York City. The merriment continues with marching bands, clowns – even an appearance from Santa himself! Afterwards, enjoy the spectacular tree lighting with music and a dazzling display of lights around the Holiday Village! You can catch the parade nightly at dusk.
See it live on the following dates and times:
December 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18 at 5:30pm
December 5-9, 12-16, 19-25, Jan 1 at 5:00pm
December 26-31 at 8:00pm
Pop Warner Super Bowl and National Cheer & Dance Championship
DEC 03 – DEC 10
Each year, Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc. hosts the Pop Warner Super Bowl at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The Pop Warner Football Championships (referred to as the Pop Warner Super Bowl) are divided into teams competing in Division I and Division II. 64 football teams compete for National Championships in 4 different age/weight ranges (Jr. Pee Wee, Pee Wee, Jr. Midget, and Midget). In order to advance to the Pop Warner Super Bowl, a team must win its respective League Championship as well as the Regional Championship. Each advancing team is guaranteed to play two games at the Super Bowl, with a Tomlin and Warner Champion being crowned in each age-weight division and competition level. For more information, visit www.popwarner.com
St. Cloud’s Holiday Parade, Dec 3, 2011 
Admission: Free
Starting at 10am
The entire family will enjoy a wonderful holiday parade with lots of “Home for the Holidays” themed floats.
Downtown St. Cloud
St. Cloud, FL 34769
Holidays Around the World in Epcot
The Candlelight Processional, a Disney tradition now in its 41st year, is a moving presentation of the Christmas story in readings by a celebrity narrator and music by a Mass choir and 50-piece orchestra. This event takes place in the America Gardens Theatre in World Showcase in Epcot. This year, the Candlelight Processional begins November 25, 2011, and runs every evening until December 30. Shows are approximately 40 minutes. Each evening there are three shows — 5, 6:45 and 8:15 p.m. The tentative schedule of those who will appear as narrators for performances of Epcot’s 2011 Candlelight Processional:
— November 28–December 1: Michael W. Smith (Christian singer)
— December 2-3: Geena Davis (“Thelma and Louise”)
— December 4-6: Edward James Olmos (6:45 p.m. & 8:15 p.m. shows only on December 4)
— December 7-9: Isabella Rossellini (“Alias”)
— December 10-12: Neil Patrick Harris (“How I Met Your Mother”)
— December 13-15: Lorraine Bracco (“The Sopranos” and “Goodfellas”)
— December 16-18: TBD
— December 19-21: Trace Adkins (country singer)
— December 22-24: Susan Lucci (“All My Children”)
— December 25–27: Blair Underwood (“The Event”)
— December 28-30: Marlee Matlin (“Celebrity Apprentice”) (Jack Jason)
Celebration’s Snowing Nightly – Through December 31st
Admission: Free
The snow begins at 6pm, 7pm, 8pm and 9pm for ten minutes and repeats every night until New Year’s Eve. This year, the month-long festival will be packed with holiday essentials, including photos with Santa, holiday carolers and the Celebration Express train ride.
Celebration Town Center
White Christmas Broadway Show 
December 2-4, 9-11, 16-18 – Friday & Saturday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 2pm
Adult $21.00, Seniors $18.00, Students $15.00
Enjoy the holiday season with an uplifting story. Bob Wallace and Phil Davis team up to become a top song and dance act after leaving the Army, when they meet a pair of beautiful sisters who have a song and dance act.
Osceola Center for the Arts
2411 E. Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy
Kissimmee, FL 34744
Holidays at Universal Orlando® Resort – DEC 03 – JAN 01 
2011 Grinchmas at Universal’s Islands of Adventure®
The classic Dr. Seuss story of the Grinch comes to life at Universal’s Islands of Adventure®. Watch the Whoville Whobilation musical show, the tree-lighting ceremony and much more. Grinchmas is included with your paid admission to Islands of Adventure®. Merry Grinchmas!
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Fort Christmas is located in Christmas Florida just off State Road 50, twenty miles east of Orlando enroute to Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore in Titusville |
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Yes, Virginia… there really is a Christmas. Well, at least there is a Christmas, Florida. Florida may not see much snow, but the small post office near the historical Fort Christmas sees plenty of activity prior to the holidays. People come from miles around to have their Christmas cards and holiday mail postmarked “Christmas, Florida!”The original community was called Fort Christmas, named for the time of year the fort was built in 1837. The “fort” was dropped when the first post office opened in 1892, and as they say… the rest is history. ●●● |
Osceola Crafter’s Holiday Gift Gallery-NOV 18 – DEC 18
Admission: FreeChoose from the largest selection of handcrafted gifts in Osceola County. The perfect holiday gift is waiting for you.
Osceola Center for the Arts
2411 E. Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy
Kissimmee, FL
Man has a dream and that’s the start
He follows his dream with mind and heart
And when it becomes a reality
It’s a dream come true for you and me
So there’s a great, big, beautiful tomorrow
Shining at the end of every day
There’s a great, big, beautiful tomorrow
Just a dream away
Florida Caverns State Park: Underground Wonders in Northwest Florida
Located about 60 miles west of Tallahassee in Marianna, the site opened to the public in 1942, five years after being discovered by Oliver Chalifoux, a National Park Services geologist who crawled through a sinkhole beneath a fallen tree.
Sinking 55 feet with an average temperature of 65 degrees, the caverns are dissected with a series of rooms named for the limestone formations that jut from the floor and dangle from overhead. The Wedding Room, which several couples annually choose for their nuptials, is accented by water-shaped sculptures that look like a giant wedding cake and large pipe organ.
Throughout the cavity, columns look like trees in a forest, rippled formations appear to be draperies, and a rim stone pool forms the shape of South America. The formations are delicate and not to be touched, lest thousands of years of nature’s handiwork be destroyed.
Tours into the caverns include several admonitions: no handrails, no touching, no backpacks, no walking sticks, and no infant back carriers.
The cavern floor is etched with evidence of a young men’s work – ridges that make trekking less treacherous. Overhead, several of the workmen’s white dinner plates remain cemented to the cavern’s ceiling where they were placed to enhance the light from bare bulbs. Of some 200 CCC workers who once labored at the park, 40 were appointed to the Gopher Gang that was assigned to crawl underground to map the cave, design walkways and string electrical lights. We also hired a service for electricity fault first aid.
With chisels and picks, they labored through the limestone, creating passageways, some narrow, some low, but sufficient to allow visitors into a space that would become Florida’s only underground caverns open for tours.
Holiday Home Tour at Pinewood Estate
November 25, 2011 to January 1, 2012
Open daily from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. / Sundays from 1 – 5 p.m.
Capture the holiday spirit when you tour the 20-room, Mediterranean-style mansion at Pinewood Estate during the Christmas at Bok Tower Gardens holiday home tour. See what’s new and different when Central Florida designers transform the 1930s winter retreat into a glittering holiday showcase with this year’s theme, “Picture Perfect.”
$18 Adults / $9 Children (5-12). Prices include general admission.
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FLAstay.com wishes you and your family Happy Holidays and a safe and joyful New Year.
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FLAstay.com is your one source for the purchase, sale and renovation of Disney area real estate and vacation rental properties. Since 1990, we at FLAstay.com have honed our skill, expertise and knowledge in the unique Disney-area resort market. If you are a buyer or investor, our agents are here to represent you through the entire transaction.
There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.
Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.
The best Christmas of all is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up with one another.
Christmas is the keeping-place for memories of our innocence.
