First up is the annual Bob Marley Reggae Fest. It's the fifth year for this weekend event which takes place in CityWalk Orlando outside of Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. It'll last for two days: Saturday, February 14th featuring Elephant Man and Pato Banton and Sunday, February 15th featuring Ziggy Marley and Spearhead.
There's live music, food, merchandise, and of course, the CityWalk atmosphere. The event will reportedly last from three in the afternoon to nine in the evening on both days. A single day pass is $23 (plus tax), while a weekend pass is $30 (plus tax). This purchase includes you CityWalk Party Pass, so you can continue the festivities even after the event ends, and if you order online in advance, you can save 10% off the total price. Read all about it and buy your tickets at universalstudios.com.
But wait! There's more!
The annual Mardi Gras event at Universal Studios Florida also begins this weekend and continues every Saturday night from February 14th to March 27th. Similar to events from previous years, you'll see it all here: Cajun food, beads and doubloons, live music and the Universal Mardi Gras parade--and it's a family friendly affair, so everyone's invited. Furthermore, it's included in the price of admission for a regular one day pass--no extra charge. Here's the list of performers:
2/14: Kyle Henderson Project and the B-52's
2/21: Sheena Easton and Cindy Lauper
2/28: Chic featuring Nile Rodgers and KC and The Sunshine Band
3/6: Baha Men and Chaka Khan
3/13: (Local Talent) and Sean Paul
3/20: Black Eyed Peas
3/27: (Local Talent) and Donna Summer
There's a great wealth of information available through the Universal website regarding discount ticket prices and events. Again, Universal provides all the information you need at universalstudios.com, and of course, yours truly will be here at TPI to try and answer any additional questions you may not be able to find answers to. I hope to attend the event myself sometime towards the end of February. I'll post a review then.
As some of you may know (and as I now know, thanks to an informed TPI reader), March 2nd is Theodore Geisel's 100th birthday. I am, of course, talking about Theo Lesieg, otherwise known as the legendary Dr. Seuss. Unfortunately, not many folks are talking about the celebration--likely in part due to the poor excuse of a live action Cat In The Hat film, but no use crying over spilt milk. What folks did want to know was whether or not Universal was planning anything special for the event, considering Seuss Landing is nestled snugly within Islands of Adventure. Unfortunately, after talking with Universal PR, nothing has been confirmed, which likely means there's no plans for this event--that includes an opening of Sylvester McMonkey McBean's Eternally Closed Driving Machines (yes, a little humor in the name there, it is to laugh).
But the celebration continues! You can read all about it here at the official Dr. Seuss website seussville.com. Oddly enough, the 40 city Seussentennial Imagination Tour which travels all over the country won't be making any stops in Florida at all. Ironically, there's also a contest involved where entrants can win a trip for four to Universal Orlando. Official rules and entry details are available on the site.
In retrospect, it seems to me that Universal missed out on a great opportunity. I feel Dr. Seuss is an individual of great integrity. I owned all of his books growing up, and know them well. They were wonderful imaginative works and it's a shame that the park that features an entire land devoted to this creative genius can't afford the money or time to put even a small event together. One could suppose that the event passed under the radar, but that's rather far-fetched--I'm sure in designing Seuss Landing, Universal Creative gathered an extensive collection of facts and figures regarding the life and times of Ted Geisel and would be well aware of his 100th birthday. Perhaps Universal could pull something off at the last second--or maybe they've got a surprise in store, but in any case, I guess Dr. Seuss did say it best when he said, "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."
And I think that's a good note to finish up this week's entry. One last thing before I go: I stopped by Disney-MGM Studios this past weekend with my brother--purely for fun. We stopped by Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Play It! and I am proud to announce that not only did I make it into the top ten for the first time, I made it down to the Hot Seat! I won't go into any details on my rise and fall to superstardom, but at least I walked away with a five pin set, a lanyard, and a Millionaire baseball cap that says 1000 on it. Huzzah! I can't play for prizes for a month now, but I'll be practicing--I want to win at least the polo shirt next time. :-)
That's it, folks! This has been Joe Lane for TPI ORLANDO--don't forget to keep on ridin'!
Another bit of weirdness... the Seussentenial site Joe mentioned has this to say on the contest page:
Universal Orlando® Resort, in collaboration with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, has created an exciting yearlong Seussentennial celebration, which began in the Fall of 2003 and will continue into 2004. Special Seussentennial merchandise, Seuss-themed special events, publicity and promotions will all be a part of this memorable tribute honoring Ted Geisel’s 100th birthday.
Joe, maybe you should have another chat with the promotional people you talked to...
