Vacations Blog

Orlando Makes Kids Smile!

Building on the recently ended 67 Days of Smiles promotion, the Orlando/Orange County Convention&Visitors Bureau is offering kids between the ages of 13 and 18 to win an Orlando vacation.

This time Orlando CVB is teaming up with the Florida Film Festival and KIDS FIRST! to give away  an Orlando vacation for four.  The prize includes airfare, lodging for three nights, rental car, theme park tickets and full filmmaker passes for the 19th annual Florida Film Festival in April, in addition to having their short film premiered at the festival.

How do you (or your children) enter?

Make a three minute video that answers the question “Why does Orlando make you smile?”

AND be willing to pay $25 to enter.

Normally I’d warn people to run screaming from a travel contest with an entry fee, but the Orlando CVB is a respected organization that just finished up a successful contest – including awarding an all inclusive trip to Orlando.

In addition to the contest open to 13 to 18 year olds, there is another category for people 19 and over to enter with a short film answering the same question.  Entries for all categories must be received by January 11, 2010, and winners are expected to be announced sometime in February.

Get everything you need to enter the contest at http://www.kidsfirst.org/Orlando.html.

Photo credit: Britt Reints

This is where the wild things are.

Tomorrow may be Halloween, but if your town is anything like mine the festivities will be in full swing tonight as well. There are neighborhood parties and pumpkins to carve and apples to bob. And there are costumed children everywhere.

What does that mean to you? It means that whichever way your travels may take you this weekend you need to play it smart. Cabs, buses, subways – these are good ideas. In fact, the best costume in the room just might be the designated driver.

But you knew that. Just keep your eye(s) on the other guy, yes, the one dressed as a keg.

Photos by Whit Honea

For more family-friendly travel photos visit DeliciousBaby’s Photo Fridays.

How, you ask, are the UpTake Vacation writers spending their fall? Well, thanks for asking. We’re doing a lot of this:

Lehner Pumpkin Farm in Radnor, Ohio

Linus: Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere. He’s gotta pick this one. He’s got to. I don’t see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one. You can look around and there’s not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see.

Entry and photo by Ed.

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Benson Park Sculpture Garden

Most families only visit Loveland, Colorado, because the town is the last stop on Highway 34 before you reach the gorgeous Rocky Mountain National Park, just 30 miles away.

Benson Park Sculpture Garden

But if you’re heading into the National Park, or simply driving through Colorado on Interstate 25, Loveland makes for an interesting stop along the way.

If for no other reason than to see the statues.

Loveland has nearly 300 pieces of public art, mostly sculptures, spread all over, in front of city buildings, dentist’s offices, schools, and private homes.  You can drive around town, playing a game of spot the statues, but I don’t recommend it if you want to keep your insurance premiums down.  Instead, go directly to where the bulk of the artwork is on permanent display, at the Benson Park Sculpture Garden.  And it doesn’t cost a thing to enjoy.

The park is a dazzling site, with over 130 sculptures of all shapes and sizes placed around three large ponds.  When I first took my kids there, their response was the usual, “Oh no, do we have to walk?”  But once they meandered down the trail and spied their first statue, a boy playing marbles with a dinosaur, they were immediately hooked.  Aching feet were completely forgotten as they discovered new surprises around ever corner.

Benson Park is in a quiet, residential area, so it feels peaceful and uncrowded.  On the cold spring day we were there, it was certainly free of people.  The morning snowfall added to the magical air of the place as we took our time walking the trails.

This is the kind of place you’ll want to have your camera ready for memorable poses of your kids with the various sculptures.  They’ll plead with you to take a picture of them with every strange and whimsical creature they see.

There are picnic tables, benches, and bathrooms, so don’t worry about how much time you spend.  We were surprised to find two hours gone by without even noticing.

Granted, we were not in any kind of hurry.  Loveland was an overnight stop for us on our way through the state.  I highly recommend the new Holiday Inn Express just off I-25, which features the usual indoor pool but with a kid-pleasing giant red water slide.

Colorado is an amazing state, with majestic mountains and stunning scenic vistas.  It’s easy to overlook the little things.  But, next time you’re traveling through the area, you’ll find it well worth your time to add Benson Park Sculpture Garden to your list of places to see.

Benson Park Sculpture Garden

Benson Park Sculpture Garden

Benson Park Sculpture Garden

All photos by Phil Corless

Perhaps you thought this was Texas.  True, they do everything bigger, but this kernel of candy corn is located outside Disneyland Resort’s second gate Disney’s California Adventure.

Disneyland knows big, too. The two guys in the photo are both well over 7′ tall.  Read More »

Glenwood Hot Springs Pool

Glenwood Springs, Colorado, is home to the world’s largest natural hot springs pool.  Perfect for those cold winter days.  Or, in our case, a blizzard-like spring day.  As the snow fell that afternoon, there was no better place for my wife and kids to be than in the balmy 98-degree water of the Glenwood Hot Springs.

A Wordless Wednesday contribution.

Photo by Phil Corless

This is an American Airlines gate in the Seattle-Tacoma airport that was hand-decorated by American Airlines employees on their own time.  The gate is where one child’s dream vacation started earlier this month as they boarded their WishFlight. Read More »

Rolling Clouds and Leaves of Fall Outside of Seattle

I’m not going to lie.  I took these photos in my front yard about 30 minutes ago.  Sue me.

The point is that there are many reasons to get in your gas-guzzling car and drive around our wonderful nation right now, namely really pretty trees. Read More »