SeaWorld Orlando will be raising ticket prices another $5 to $74.95 effective January 5th. In 2007 they raised prices in July and again in November. These prices held steady throughout the 2008 year. This price puts SeaWorld just 5 cents under a one-day one-park Disney or Universal Studios ticket who both raised their prices to $75 this past August.

For my family, the ability to convert your SeaWorld ticket into a year long pass for a little bit more still makes the price worthwhile for us, but we live here and can easily get the value out of that deal. I assume the bean counters at these organizations have run the numbers, but I would be curious to see how close the profit margin difference was for actually lowering prices to increase demand against this hike that may deter some locals. I think that’s where these price fluctuations have the biggest impact.

A family traveling here is not going to derail their plans for an extra $20 for the whole family. However, if you live here you may rethink that visit to the parks and go do something else more cost effective in the area. If you kid has a hankering to see sea life there’s a lot cheaper and even free ways to see a stingray, manatee or dolphin, that’s for sure. Add to that the hospitality house going the way of the do-do (I still think this is an unconfirmed rumor) and the “free beer” incentive is taken out of the value added column as well.

What do you think? Will these price increases keep you or any out of town relatives from checking out SeaWorld, or any other parks?

Merry Christmas! Happy Hannukah! Happy Kwanzaa! Merry Winter Solstice! (Did I forget anybody – if so, it’s not intentional.)

Regardless of how you are celebrating the holidays, we here at the Orlando Metblogs wish you and your loved ones a very happy time together.

It’s been a rough 2008 for many and even though we’re not out of the woods yet, there’s something about being able to take a quick time out with those you love that really recharges you and helps set things right.

Here’s hoping you and yours have a blessed day today and let’s make the last week of 2008 a proper send-off to the year!

Thanks for reading us here at Metblogs! We really do appreciate your support.

I have just read something that leaves me speechless. Okay, that’s not true because I’m about to launch into what will likely be a very wordy and spirited ripping, but it did leave me speechless for a moment. If you haven’t heard, thousands of Florida politicians are making use of loop holes to essentially “double-dip” and simultaneously pull a salary AND retirement check. Yeah, that’s right, BOTH. How do they do this? Well, apparently after getting re-elected they can turn in their resignation and start their retirement benefits. Because they are retiring from their current unfinished term, it does not affect their eligibility for the upcoming term for which they were just elected. I guess in the system it’s considered like two separate jobs. I still don’t see how that even works, it doesn’t work like that in the private sector.

The bottom line is the state currently is dishing out $300 million dollars in retirement benefits to people who are still employed by the state and pulling a paycheck. This includes 211 elected officials (they thank you for your votes), 203 senior managers and more than 7,763 state employees. 300 million dollars. That’s 300… Million… Dollars.

Here we are discussing cutting back jobs for teachers, nixing after school sports and field trips, paying for 911 service calls, and who knows what next. Families are losing their jobs, going into foreclosure, facing dire economic times. And these people are robbing the state coffers of $300 millions dollars annually? This is probably the most outrageous thing I have heard in a long long time. This makes the Illinois Governor trying to turn a buck on an empty Senate seat look like a minor infraction.

Every paper should publish the list of these names and we should be picketing these people’s houses. According to the article, it is legal. This does not mean we have to stand by and be silent about the blatant unethical nature of it all. This loop hole should be closed and those who took advantage of it should be outed.

Whether you enjoy great classic dance music (I’m talking swing, jazz and jump blues) or just like supporting locally-based charities, you’ll want to mark your calendars for December 21st, 2008.

That’s when the stage at the House of Blues will be taken over by Michael Andrew and Swingerhead for a night of great music to benefit Give Kids The World.

For only $17.50 a person, you can groove to Andrew & co. performing tributes to Bobby Darrin and Frank Sinatra and a healthy dose of their own originals, including tunes off their Christmas cd.

Each ticket purchased also enters you into a drawing to win to win a great door prize: a one-night stay in a harbor-view room at Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club and EIGHT one-day Park Hopper Passes.

100% of the proceeds from ticket sales goes to Give Kids The World, a 70-acre, non-profit resort in Central Florida that creates magical memories for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. You can pick up yours at the House of Blues box office, or online at www.hob.com/orlando. Doors open at 6pm and the show starts at 7pm.

Spotted in the sky over Walt Disney World:

Now, while I appreciate the sentiment, I can’t help but think Jesus would have appreciated the money spent on the skywriting be used in more charitable ways…like a local food bank or homeless shelter.

But maybe that’s just me…

Most people know radio DJ Mel Taylor as one of the voices on WJRR, but she also spears a charitable organization called Mel’s Bad Girls Club (MBGC), that aims to raise money for other charities by having fun events and fundraising activities.

This Friday, December 5th, MBGC is holding an event called The Frosty Ball, which is being billed as a sort of Christmas prom. Originally, tickets were $25 a piece, with proceeds going to B.A.S.E. Camp Children’s Cancer Foundation. But in hopes of drawing a bigger audience and more money for the charity, Mel is now offering tickets to the event in exchange for any kind of donation. A portion of the bar sales will also benefit Base Camp.

The event is being held at the City Arts Factory (located at 29 S. Orange Ave; corner of Orange and Pine downtown), and in addition to partying with Mel and her gang, you can enjoy a silent auction, a raffle with some great prizes, a dj spinning some great tunes all night and take in an art show also put on by MBGC until 11pm, featuring over 29 different female artists and Base Camp patients.

Since this is a prom, they do request you wear some kind of semi-formal/business/cocktail attire (in other words, please make an effort and don’t just slip on a t-shirt and ripped jeans). Doors open at 8:30pm and the party will go on until they kick y’all out.

For more information, visit MBGC’s official website or MySpace page.

Hard to believe, but it was five years ago this week when the metblogs network was first started, with one lonely Los Angeles blog. Five years later, the network has bloggers in 56 cities worldwide (including some that will appeal to gamers), of which this Orlando site is one.

Over the years, our network has covered everything from pop culture to world events (we even had bloggers reporting from the recent violence in Mumbai and Karachi).

We thank you for reading us and hope you’ll continue to stop by as the network heads into its next five years.

Earlier this week, Orlando-based IZEA CEO Ted Murphy gave away a bathtub full of cereal (52 boxes worth of the breakfast stuff) on his blog. It was just a fun little promotion that he decided to run but the cool part is that in addition to awarding the cereal to a lucky winner, Murphy says he will also donate the same amount of cereal to a local food bank.

Yay to him for doing that!

Now, Murphy is thinking of doing another bathtub giveaway and is looking for suggestions, preferably holiday-themed. If you’ve got an idea — and believe me, he’s open for any challenge — head over and leave it in his blog’s comments. I voted for canned pumpkin since I love pumpkin pies and bread this time of year, plus, it’s good for the skin, which is handy if you plan to fill the tub with it.

Yup, found another deal going on tickets. This time it’s on the Blue Man Group show over at Universal Orlando. I haven’t seen the Orlando version, but I have seen the Vegas version and I loved this show. It’s visually interesting, funny and I loved the interactive elements.

Through this Sunday (November 29), you can purchase Orchestra/Poncho area seats, which normally go for $74 for $54. That’s a $20 savings, which will at least get you a couple of drinks at the concessions stand.

To nab these tickets for shows through March 13, 2009, call 800-BLUEMAN (800-258-3626) or visit the theater box office at Universal CityWalk and mention the promotional code BLUEZOOUS. Blackout Dates for this offer are Nov. 24-30 & Dec. 22- Jan 1. The discount is also not valid for Friday and Saturday evening shows.

If you want to take in an upcoming Orlando Magic game but are short on cash, it’s come to my attention there are three upcoming games with discounted tickets available.

According to Travelzoo, the Magic are currently offering seats at over 60% off for the following games via Ticketmaster:

Magic vs.:
– Minnesota Timberwolves … Dec. 3
– Oklahoma City Thunder … Dec. 5
– Golden State Warriors … Dec. 22

This makes upper Level seats just $10 (reg. $27) and lower level seats $30 (reg. $70). Of course I’m sure this offer is “while they last” but you can’t beat those prices if you want to see the Magic play and aren’t picky about the other team.

Just visit Ticketmaster, pick the game and then enter the code TRAVEL in the in the box marked “Promotions and Special Offers.”

If you happen to be looking for something to do tomorrow, Saturday, November 15th, consider heading downtown to catch Rock For Hunger 3.

This day-long concert features a variety of local bands performing to raise money and awareness for the homeless issue in Orlando.

Among the twenty local and indie bands that are participating are Junkie Rush, Afterglow Radio, Passafire, Jah Roots, Ambertone, Social Ghost, and the chart topping hip-hop artist Kardinal Offishall. The event also features an art show, local vendors and more.

The concert is sponsored by local non-profit group Rock For Hunger and tickets are only $10 advance/$20 at the door for all this entertainment. The event starts at 2pm at the Plaza Theater (425 N. Bumby Ave, just south of E. Colonial) and is all ages.

Just a short note that if you live on the southwest side of town, it seems the new Whole Foods Market at the corner of Sand Lake Rd and Turkey Lake Rd is starting up a new farmer’s market.

According to the flyer, the first Sand Lake Farmer’s Market kicks off this Saturday, November 1, and it will run every Saturday after from 9am until 2pm at that Whole Foods location.

Not sure what the market will offer, but I think it’ll be a nice weekend companion to the Lake Eola Farmer’s Market. If anyone goes on Saturday, drop us your thoughts in comments section.

[blogger note: I meant to post this a week ago, but an unexpected throwdown with some heavy wood furniture left my dominant hand wrapped up and me unable to type well. So please pardon the lateness – I hope you still enjoy the post. :) ]

As you know, we blogged before about the massive Create Chaos web/graphic design conference and I actually attended the Wednesday panels, as well as poked around the expo hall. Beyond journalistic curiosity, I freelance in web design, so I was interested in hearing from people who do it full-time as a career. I figured I could pick up a lot of information and pointers – much as I did at other recent local tech events.

Unfortunately, my experience was rather mixed.

I started the morning with the Freshbooks panel, “Marketing for Creative Professionals,” which was so packed that I actually found myself sitting outside the room watching the presentation. Also enjoyed their next presentation, “How to Make Love to Your Customers! ” – there’s a real truth to exceeding expectations and thinking outside the box. I then poked my head into a few other panels, but nothing was really of interest to me so I went to check out the expo hall. Found a few interesting services to check out…and the Izea peeps (Ashley, I SWEAR I am NOT stalking you. LOL ), but was surprised there weren’t more exhibitors. I then hopped between two panels, one of which was titled “Designing Websites That Don’t Look Like Websites” when it should’ve been named “how to lead a panel that people walk out of.” Seriously folks, don’t spend the first 25 min of a panel showing pictures of your office and talking about your resume when people are there to learn. That’s all I’m saying.

Wrapped up my day at Create Chaos by taking in the intimate FreshBooks panel on what their company is all about. It’s an online invoicing and time tracking service that actually accomplishes more than that and it impressed me enough to give it a try, I think. Not just because it’s relevant to my work, but because I liked how informative their staff were at the earlier panels with ideas on building your business and customer service seems to be definite priority to them. It does have a free version if you want to give it a look over (if any of you run home businesses or are self-employed).

I would’ve taken photos but Create Chaos wasn’t allowing audio or cameras of any kind. Boo on them – especially at the prices they were charging. They did post photos of their own at Flickr, though.

Wandered around a bit in the conference center after everything wrapped for the day because running simultaneously at the Marriott with Create Chaos was the “industry only” ShowEast, a trade show for theater owners to see what films are coming out in the next six months and decide which ones to book, as well as see what items are available to enhance their theaters and attract customers. I couldn’t get into the actual panels, but the lobby was free to walk through and all the major studios had huge standees and posters up touting upcoming releases. Of course I took a few photos:

Nobody at ShowEast seemed to mind my cellphone camera going off, and given a chance I would have gladly walked off with the huge multi-panel standee for Baz Luhrman’s upcoming epic, Australia, starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. Couldn’t figure out a way to fit it in my car, though. Tried to take a photo of it, but was thwarted there, too, since it always seemed to have a group standing in front of it.

If any of you were at Create Chaos, would love to hear your feedback. Heck, drop us a line if you just want to talk upcoming films, too. :)

If you like action sports, such as skateboarding, BMX bike races and motorcross, you’ll want to check out the AST Dew tour when it comes to town this weekend to the Amway Arena in downtown Orlando.

During the event, which kicks into high gear tomorrow, over 150 of the best action sports athletes in the world will be in town to compete in the competition, including Ryan Sheckler (Skateboard Park), Dave Mirra (BMX Park), and Nate Adams (Freestyle Motocross). In addition to the competitions, the Dew Tour will feature a musical performance from Boys Like Girls on Friday, October 17th, and a daily festival village with interactive events, athlete autograph sessions and games.

Tickets for the event are as low as $15 a day for adult general admission and $7.50 children ages 2-12. $35 will get you a reserved general admission single day ticket and for the hardcore sports fan, $100 will put you in the Action Zone, which includes a behind-the-scenes tour. There are also 3-day reserved passes ($90) and 3-day Action Zone passes ($250) available.

NBC Sports will be in town broadcasting live from the Saturday and Sunday events, with recaps later in the wee morning hours on the USA network.

The Orlando stop marks the final event of the 2008 season, so it should bring out some high-energy competition amongst the competitors.

Also around town are a few AST-related events to note.

• The new Roll Bar, located at Veranda Park (7065 Westpointe Blvd) in Metrowest, is kicking things off with a mega-blowout party on Friday (October 17). Celebrity motorcross competitor and tattoo/nightlife entrepeneur Carey Hart will be hosting the event, which will feature music from local favorites Junkie Rush and Crisis In Hollywood. Hart will be celebrating both the 1-year anniversary of his Hart & Huntington Tattoo shop at Universal Orlando, plus the release of his new book, “Inked.” For more info, or directions to the club, call 407.296.5221.
• The next day (October 18), you can catch Carey Hart at the Hart & Huntington Tattoo shop signing copies of “Inked” and whatever else people bring in, from 6pm until 7pm.
• The Dragon Room at 25 Church St is holding an after-party Saturday night (Oct 18). Liquid Force, leader in wake apparel and hard goods, will be teaming up Monster Energy, Skull Candy, Spy, Ketel One and Jose Cuervo to throw a huge party and your Dew Tour badge or ticket stub gets you free entry before 11pm. Call 407.733.0208 for VIP Reservations.

I don’t think I’ll be attending any of the events or parties, but if you do, feel free to drop links to your photos or blog coverage in the comments.

According to a story by Scott Joseph, Walt Disney World has finally stopped serving foie gras at its theme park and resort restaurants.

As of October 1, the company’s last four Orlando restaurants still featuring it – Victoria & Albert’s, California Grill, Citricos and Les Chefs de France – all took it off the menu. I applaud them for the decision, though, as Joseph points out, it’s a move that will surely upset some gourmet diners.

For those that have never had it, foie gras is made from goose or duck liver, and according to several animal rights organizations, farmers produce it by forcing a metal pipe down the throat of the animal and force-feed it massive amounts of grain until its liver swells to 10 times the normal size. There has been huge pressure over the last few years for restaurants all over the U.S. to stop serving it, and an equal fight by some “gourmet” eaters to keep it on the menu.

What do you think of the decision by Disney to stop serving it?