florida FEATURE 43
Opposite page: top, U.S. Historic Downtown District in
Homestead, bottom, playing chess in Little Havana; this page: Another one of Floridas great icons: the pelican
What’s new Attractions: Opening this summer at Universal
THE PERFECT BREAKERS BY PETER ELLEGARD “For clients who enjoy pampering in style, venerable Palm Beach Island resort The Breakers is perfect. Especially if they stay in one of the 27 rooms comprising the Flagler Club on its top two floors, as I did. Named after railway magnate Henry Flagler, who founded The Breakers in 1896, it is like a little hotel within the 540-room Italian Renaissance-style landmark property. You might find yourself rubbing shoulders with heads of state in the private lounge, where refreshments are served all day. Chef concierge Bernard Nicole, has been there since 1981 and served five US presidents. Pour yourself a wine or cocktail from the Flagler Club’s private bar and watch the sun setting over West Palm Beach from the adjacent terrace. Then retire to your luxury room, where
you are welcomed with a chocolate model of the hotel and where the bathroom mirror has a built-in TV screen!”
Orlando Resort (
universalorlando.com), The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley will feature a ride aboard the Hogwart’s Express, with attractions including thrill ride Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts and quirky shops. Disney will unveil details of its all-in-one MagicBand at Walt Disney World (disneyworld.disney.
go.com) in May. Currently being trialled, it serves as a combined room key and electronic ticket for theme and water parks. Ihu’s Breakaway Falls, at Aquatica
(
aquaticabyseaworld.com), will be Orlando’s tallest waterslide, while Falcon’s Fury in Busch Gardens Tampa (
buschgardens.com) will be North America’s tallest freestanding drop tower and will feature a fi ve-second, 60mph vertical drop. Both will debut in spring, with Falcon’s Fury opening on May 1. This summer will see the opening of Florida’s tallest and fastest water-based racing attraction, Aqua Drag Racer, at Wet ‘n Wild Orlando (
wetnwildorlando.com). The thrill ride will be six storeys high and will pit riders head-to-head as they race down four twisting, intertwined tubes before accelarating down parallel racing lanes to
splash across the fi nish line. Airlines: Budget airline Norwegian
(
norwegian.com) is launching twice-weekly fl ights from Gatwick to both Orlando and Fort Lauderdale in July.
Virgin Atlantic (virgin-
atlantic.com) is doubling capacity
from Manchester to Orlando with double- daily fl ights in summer.
British Airways (
batraveltrade.com) is increasing Orlando fl ights from 10 a week to 13 this
summer, having boosted Tampa fl ights from fi ve a week to daily this winter.
Cosmos (
cosmos.co.uk) is adding 25,000 more seats
into Orlando this summer. Hotels: The new value-priced, 1,800-room Cabana Bay Beach Resort (universalorlando. com) has almost doubled Universal’s room tally. The 349-room Jimmy Buffet-themed Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort (
margaritavillehollywoodbeachresort.com) opening in 2015 will include shopping, a spa and an open- air auditorium called the Hollywood Band Shell with live music performances throughout the year. Also opening in 2015 in Fort Lauderdale will be the Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach Residencies (ConradFortLauderdaleBeachResidences. com). The 24-storey condo-hotel was originally
planned to open as the Trump Resort in 2009. Cruising: Port Everglades has just added a new $75million cruise terminal as it looks to expand the number of ships cruising from the port. It is now up to 46 ships, including Princess Cruises’ (
princess.com) new Royal Princess, which recently made the destination its home port, and 5,000-passenger sister
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