Florida travel Theme park guide

Disney: Still buzzing over Fantasyland

By SHARON KENNEDY WYNNE

Times Staff Writer

Walt Disney World's theme parks in Orlando are not offering much new this summer besides some interactive games, but they don't have to. Magic Kingdom is still enjoying the buzz created from the first wave of attractions in its 21-acre Fantasyland …

Gatorland: Panther siblings join the sights in Orlando

By Jay Cridlin

Times Staff Writer

Danielle Lucas cautions Gatorland visitors to temper their expectations when visiting the park's new 2,000-square-foot habitat Panther Springs habitat.

Legoland: Prepare to get wet on the Quest for Chi

By Robbyn Mitchell

Times Staff Writer

Prepare to get very wet in the pursuit of the all-powerful Chi energy source at Legoland Florida.

Transformers will invade Universal in Orlando this summer

By SHARON KENNEDY WYNNE

Times Staff Writer

The hugely popular Transformers 3D ride that makes passengers feel like they've been dropped into a movie chase scene is opening June 20 at Universal Studios Orlando — and so is a record-breaking price increase.

What's new at local attractions

Here's what's new this year at local attractions.

Space shuttle Atlantis exhibit to open at Kennedy Space Center

BY SUSAN THURSTON

Times Staff Writer

TITUSVILLE — Don't tell employees at the Kennedy Space Center the U.S. space program is grounded. Quite the contrary, they say, pointing to the latest rocket launches and deep-space missions.

Small Hudson blueberry farm yields big satisfaction

HUDSON

Concealed, the thieves bide their time. They know Bob Waldo's habits, they recognize his daughter, Nina Lewis, as she moves along the tidy rows in a bikini top and faded cutoffs. As one, the cedar waxwings take flight, dive bombing and knocking ripe blueberries off dozens of bushes.

Universal Orlando raises one-day theme park admission to $92

The cost of a one-day, one-park ticket to Universal Orlando has gone up three bucks to $92, plus tax. The increase made over the weekend makes Universal the first Orlando theme park to top the $90 threshold. Tickets for children ages 3 to 9 jumped to $86, plus tax. This is the second year in a row that Universal has …

SeaWorld's Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin puts you inches from penguins

By SHARON KENNEDY WYNNE

Times Staff Writer

The largest expansion in SeaWorld's history opens Friday, taking visitors on a high-tech ride across an ice floe, then sending them into a chilly colony of 250 penguins playing just inches away behind a low rock wall — no glass partition.

Busch Gardens: Kids dig 'Madagascar' show, adults love AC

TAMPA — There's a fantastically subversive moment in the first Madagascar 'toon when Alex the lion — an escaped New York zoo critter freaked out by his newfound freedom — gets zapped with a tranquilizer dart. He immediately spins into a hallucination soundtracked by Sammy Davis Jr.'s Candy …