In This Issue Welcome Theme park ticket prices Space Shuttle Atlantis USA by Rail book review Halloween celebrations September desktop September events Weather forecast

Hi Subscriber, welcome to the September newsletter of the Florida Review & Travel Guide.

The first hurricane of the season, hurricane Ernesto, has caused little damage to Florida but still managed to disrupt NASA's attempts to launch the Space Shuttle Atlantis; see below for more details.

Also on the theme of hurricanes, Disney and Universal Studios have published formal adverse weather policies.

Disney have announced that if you book your vacation with them and the National Weather Service posts a hurricane warning for either Orlando or your hometown within seven days of your planned arrival, then you can cancel or reschedule. Since 1971, the Disney parks have only closed twice for a full day due to hurricanes.

Universal has published a similar but more flexible "no questions asked" policy which allows you to cancel or reschedule if a named storm threatens. SeaWorld continues to operate an informal policy on cancelations.

RSS News Feeds

Continuing the plans to improve the service of the Florida Review and Travel Guide, this month sees the launch of three RSS feeds to bring you the news as it happens. If you want to know more about RSS or how to subscribe to our news feeds, click here.

Florida books published in September

"Fodor's Florida 2007" (Fodor's Gold Guides) is published on September 5 and a week later "Frommer's Florida 2007" (Frommer's Complete) on September 12. Apologies but the review of "Orlando" (Eyewitness Top 10 Travel) by Dorling Kindersley has been deferred to next month.

Holiday makers to Florida this autumn will be faced with a second round of theme park ticket price rises in 2006 as both Disney and Universal Studios have announced increases to their one day (and multi-day) tickets.

Disney announced on August 6 that they had raised their admission prices with a further $4 added to the one day ticket and $6 to all other multi-day tickets. A one day ticket now costs $67 plus tax for adults and $56 for children.

A few days later, Universal Studios followed suit and increased their ticket prices by a similar amount. It just remains to be seen if the other major Florida theme parks such as SeaWorld and Busch Gardens now raise their prices in line with Disney and Universal.

For ticket price details of all the major theme parks in Florida, click here.

NASA had hoped to launch the Space Shuttle Atlantis on August 27 as the first shuttle mission to continue the building of the International Space Station but the unpredictable Florida summer weather intervened.

There was a lightning strike on the launchpad a few days before the launch and so the launch was delayed until August 29 whilst engineers checked that no damage had been done to Atlantis or any of the systems.

Then on August 28, NASA was forced to postpone the launch again when it became apparent that Hurricane Ernesto (the first hurricane of the season) was likely to make landfall in the Florida Keys.

The path of Ernesto was forecast to pass directly over the Kennedy Space Center and so the decision was made to return Atlantis to the safety of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The giant crawler had only travelled a few miles when Ernesto lost some of its strength and was downgraded to a Tropical Storm and so NASA then decided return Atlantis back to the launchpad again and to weather out the storm there.

By moving Atlantis from the launchpad, the launch will be delayed until at least September 6 which leaves little margin for error as the launch window is only open until September 13 and the Russians are also planning a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station later this month.

For the latest information on the shuttle launch date and time, click here.

USA by Rail, 6th Edition is one of the Bradt Rail Guides and is published by Bradt Travel Guides.

USA by Rail is now in its 6th edition and has been fully revised to include comprehensive advice on everything from ticket types to tipping as well as a section on the history of North American railways from the early pioneer days of steam trains to Amtrak and the present day.

For anyone planning a long distance train journey across the vast continent of North America, USA by Rail makes the perfect travelling companion. Despite its name, it covers both the USA and Canada.

With rail fares typically 50% to 75% less than airfares, travelling by rail can make a relaxing change from flying though travelling times are usually a lot longer.

The bulk of the book (some 300 pages), details the 37 long distance routes across the USA (25 routes) and Canada (12 routes).

Each route description includes a map with up-to-date timetables, details of schedules, departure and arrival times and stopping points along the way.

For travellers specifically interested in Florida, the book includes The Sunset Limited (nearly 3 days from Los Angeles to Orlando), The Silver Star and Silver Meteor (New York to Miami) and the Auto Train (Lorton to Sanford), the longest passenger train in the world.

To read the rest of this review and details of where you can buy this book, click here.

After Christmas, Halloween is one of the largest holiday seasons in Florida. All the major theme parks in Florida put on special shows and events for Halloween and some stay open late but remember, the events only take place on certain dates, usually around weekends.

You need to choose your Halloween event with care as some Halloween events are not suitable for young children, some allow costumes, others don't and some parks charge a separate admission.

To be scared witless, you can choose between Universal Studios "Halloween Horror Nights, Sweet 16" or Busch Gardens "Howl-O-Scream". Both charge a separate admission.

If you are looking for family entertainment then you are better off considering the Disney "Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party" at Magic Kingdom, the "Shamu's Halloween Spooktacular" at SeaWorld or "Phobia" at Cypress Gardens. Only Disney charge separately, the others are included in the standard park admission.

To check on all the dates and prices for Halloween celebrations, click here.

Desktop calendars for September 2006 (Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck with Donald Duck in Animal Kingdom) and October 2006 (Bok Tower and Gardens) are ready to download now.

Note that some of the larger files can be 200-300k in size so if you are on a modem dialup line it will take a few minutes to download.

To view and then download the Florida free desktop wallpaper for September now, click here.

This year, Labor Day is on Monday September 4 so look out for special Labor Day celebrations. Most students will be returning to school after their summer break so some of the theme park crowds should tail off a little.

All the major theme parks kick off their halloween celebrations in late September (see further details above).

Depending upon the weather, September could be a busy month for NASA with three launches planned. The Space Shuttle Atlantis, STS-115 is expected to launch between September 6 and 13 (www.kennedyspacecenter.com for more details).

Two rockets are also scheduled for a September launch. The Boeing Delta 2 STEREO mission has been further delayed and launch date is now set for September 18 at 05:20:00 pm from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with the Boeing Delta 2 GPS 2R-M2 mission now planned for September 21 at 03:00:00 pm (www.kennedyspacecenter.com for more details).

At Bok Tower there are two concerts. On September 14 there is the Anton Brees' Birthday Carillon Concert celebrating the first carillonneur at 1pm and 3 pm and then on September 30 at 7:15 pm Live at the Gardens! Broadway and Jazz is part of the Summer Music Series featuring Victoria de Lissovoy and Rebecca Renfroe (www.boksanctuary.org for more details).

At Universal Studios on the evenings of September 8 and 9, they are celebrating Rock the Universe where the biggest names in Christian rock take the stage (www.rocktheuniverse.com for more details).

On the same dates, Disney are also featuring Christian Pop, Rock, Urban and Gospel music at their annual Nights of Joy at the Magic Kingdom from 7:30 pm to 12:30 am (disneyworld.disney.go.com for more details).

Epcot's International Food and Wine Festival enters its 11th year and runs from September 29 to November 12. The Eat To The Beat concert series starts on September 29 and 30 with Survivor. (disneyworld.disney.go.com for more details).

There are over 20 international food and wine marketplaces representing more than 25 different countries and regions including South Africa, Italy, Australia, Russia, Spain and Ireland. For a small fee you can sample cuisine from around the world. Each year this event attracts over 1 million visitors (admission included with the standard Epcot ticket).

In Fort Lauderdale, the 19th Annual Las Olas Labor Day Weekend Art Festival will be held on September 2 and 3. Over 300 national and international artists will be exhibiting their works in this celebrated outdoor street art festival (www.mylasolas.com for more details).

In St. Augustine on the September 2 they celebrate their 441st birthday. St. Augustine was founded as a Spanish Colony on September 8th 1565 and is commonly known as the Nation's Oldest City. The Birthday Celebrations start in the morning with the traditional re-enactment of the landing of Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles followed by a Mass at the Mission Nombre de Dios. Later in the day, there will be a music festival in the Plaza de la Constitucion (www.staugustine.com for more details).

The 29th Annual Pensacola Seafood Festival takes place from September 22 to 24 in the Seville Square area of historic downtown Pensacola. It is the perfect excuse to sample seafood dishes from over 20 different vendors and live outdoor entertainment in Fountain Park and at the Gazebo in Seville Square (www.fiestaoffiveflags.org for more details).

The 24th Annual Ocala Shrine Rodeo takes place from September 1 to 3 at the Livestock Pavilion. Over 300 competitors including members of the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association will be taking part in bareback riding, steer wrestling, saddle bronco riding, team roping, calf roping and bull riding.

August saw the first hurricane of the season and though Ernesto had reduced to a Tropical Storm before it hit Florida, it brought strong winds and heavy rain to much of south and central Florida before heading into the Carolinas.

September is expected to be about average in terms of temperatures with scattered thunderstorms throughout the month.

In the north, temperatures will start in the low 90s but will gradually cool to the low/mid 80s as the month progresses. In the central and southern regions including the Florida Keys, it will stay in the high 80s to low 90s throughout the month.

To check out the rest of the Florida weather including monthly temperature and rainfall charts across the State and the latest hurricane news, click here.

We plan to bring you a newsletter on the first day of each month with details of upcoming events and news from across Florida.

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