Country and classic rock concerts. Sizzlin’ and delicious BBQ for top local restaurants. Sampling tents and beer gardens. It all adds up to another year of Bands, Brew & BBQ at SeaWorld Orlando.

The popular annual event runs Saturdays and Sundays over the course of four weekends, Feb. 11-12, 18-19, 25-26 and March 3-4, 2012.

In addition to all the regularly scheduled fun and adventure at SeaWorld, this special event offers up rocking concerts from some of the top musical artists in country and rock. The theme park also partners with Orlando area restaurants to provide a rich and varied array of BBQ and grilled foods, plus a thirst-quenching beer garden featuring nearly 50 craft beers from nearly 20 different domestic and international breweries.

This year’s musical artists include:

• Sat, Feb. 11:      Foreigner
• Sun, Feb. 12:    Gary Allan
• Sat, Feb. 18:     Trace Adkins
• Sun, Feb. 19:    Kenny Rogers
• Sat, Feb. 25:     Doobie Brothers
• Sun, Feb. 26:    Ronnie Dunn
• Sat, Mar. 3:       Sara Evans
• Sun, Mar, 4:      Scotty McCreery

SeaWorld Orlando is offering kids a little something extra with its new Just for Kids festival.

The program, which takes place on Saturdays from January 14 to February 4, offers youngsters an opportunity to sing, dance and play while at the popular Orlando marine theme park.

Kids can enjoy breakfast with their favorite characters from Sesame Street. They can experience live concerts starring artists like Choo Choo Soul, Doodlebops and Max & Ruby. It’s all part of the fun and adventure that also includes kid-sized rides, animal encounters and more.

Tickets to the four Just for Kids concerts will be distributed on a first come, first served basis, across from the park’s Nautilus Theater starting at 9 am each day of the festival. Seating is limited and tickets, while they last, are included with regular park admission.

January 14:  LazyTown - Stephanie and Ziggy are trying to set a new energy record in the town they are visiting. They call Sportacus for help, but Robbie appears and the energy meter is dropping. Join Robbie, Ziggy, Stephanie and Sportacus as they set a new energy record.

January 21:  Max & Ruby’s Musical Playdate - Celebrate the universal nature of sibling relationships in Max & Ruby’s Musical Playdate. Max & Ruby never quite want the same thing and their plans always collide, with hilarious results.  Featuring upbeat and original songs, this Playdate is sure to have the whole audience singing and hopping along.

January 28:  Doodlebops’ Musical Playdate - Get movin’ and groovin’ with the kids’ favorite band in the Doodlebops’ Musical Playdate. Join rock stars DeeDee, Rooney and Moe as they sing their favorite songs, tell their wackiest jokes and show off their funkiest dance moves. The Doodlebops can’t wait to “Get on the Bus” and come to your town.

February 4:  Choo Choo Soul - Conductor Genevieve Goings and her Beat Boxing / Break Dancing engineer DC bring Choo Choo Soul to town for a live visit! Winner of the Parent’s Choice Award for Children’s Television, Choo Choo Soul takes the whole family on an amazing learning and musical adventure, as they present fun and kid-friendly hip hop style songs all about those ABCs, 123s, vegetables and most importantly the power of doing your own dance!

SeaWorld Orlando welcomes guests with a new holiday show based on the Christmas story and told through the eyes of animals. The show is part of the Orlando theme park’s annual SeaWorld Christmas Celebration, which began Nov. 25.

Featuring original music, “O Wondrous Night” includes puppet animals at the nativity scene along with their live counterparts, including a donkey and a camel.

The show will take place in the Nautilus Theater, which houses “A’llure…The Call of the Ocean” throughout the rest of the year.

The new production is just one of many holiday happenings at SeaWorld. Several other holiday shows also return, including the ice skating show, “Winter Wonderland on Ice,” the killer whale show, “Shamu Christmas … Miracles,” the fun-filled “Clyde and Seamore’s Countdown to Christmas” as well as “A Sesame Street Christmas.”

Christmas is celebrated around the park. Guests can ride the Polar Express Experience, a seasonal version of the Wild Arctic ride based on the popular children’s book and movie. Also returning is the park’s Sea of Trees. You’ll find dozens tress filled with sparkling and choreographed lights along the park’s center lake, plus a Christmas Market with food and shopping along the Bayside Pathway.

SeaWorld ends its nightly celebration with “Holiday Reflections: Fireworks and Fountains Finale.” Celebrate Christmas at SeaWorld Orlando on Fridays, Saturday and Sundays from now through Dec. 11, 2011 and nightly from Dec. 16-31, 2011.

SeaWorld Announces Concert Lineup for Bands, Brew & BBQ

The holiday season is only just beginning at Orlando’s theme parks, but the fun just keeps on coming in 2012, as well.

SeaWorld Orlando recently announced the musical acts for its 2012 edition of the park’s popular Bands, Brew & BBQ Fest. 

The event, which takes place over four weekends in February and March, features eight live concerts ranging from 1970s rock to the best in country.

2012 Bands, Brew & BBQ Performers:

Feb. 11: Foreigner

Feb. 12: Gary Allan

Feb. 18: Trace Adkins

Feb. 19: Kenny Rogers

Feb. 25: Doobie Brothers

Feb. 26: Ronnie Dunn

March 3: Sara Evans

March 4: Scotty McCreery (reigning “American Idol”)

All concerts are included in regular SeaWorld Orlando park admission. For additional details visit http://www.seaworldorlando.com/.

One of Orlando’s big 3 theme park giants is about to get bigger.

SeaWorld Orlando has announced plans to create two new attractions in 2012 and an entire new “land” with an Antarctic theme in 2013. The additions will mark the biggest expansion in SeaWorld’s history.

One new attraction, called TurtleTrek, will take guests on the life journey of a sea turtle. The attraction will include a pair or aquariums, one filled with manatees and the other filled with sea turtles. After passing through the aquariums, guests will enter a domed, 3-D theater where images of sea turtles will appear to swim around and above those guests.

A second new attraction will be Freshwater Oasis, an exciting new environment to be built at SeaWorld’s sister park, Discovery Cove. Guests can wade through a rainforest spring while small marmoset monkeys play in the surrounding canopy. Guests will then enter a faux sinkhole where they’ll have an opportunity to swim along with Asian river otters.

Each of the new attractions should be open by spring 2012. Meanwhile, SeaWorld also plans to open a completely new area of the park based on the continent of Antarctica. This area will replace the existing Penguin Plaza and allow guests to experience Antarctica through the eyes of a penguin.

Trick or Treat! Kids of all ages can catch the Halloween spirit by joining the pumpkin fishes, friendly sea witches, sea fairies and other fanciful sea creatures during SeaWorld Orlando’s annual Halloween Spooktacular celebration.

The Halloween funfest includes a frozen fun zone with interactive games and activities and an ice DJ. Guests will also enjoy strolling entertainment as Gummy Worm Wanda, Salt Water Taffy and Swedish Fish Suzy, plus schools of pumpkin fish and 35 other colorful sea creatures welcome trick-or-treaters.

As an added treat, you can use your Spooktacular map to search for hidden treasures and sweets at 14 different treasure stations throughout the park.

Sesame Street fans will be delighted by The Count, Elmo and other Sesame Street residents in the special “Countdown to Halloween” live music stage show.

SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular 2011 Dates:

Oct. 8-9, 15-16, 22-23, 28-30 (Event begins at noon)

Despite an abundance of clear skies and sunshine in central Florida, it’s tough to see for miles and miles unless you’re standing on a beach along the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico.

You certainly won’t find any high elevations or even many tall office buildings. But there is a handful of attractions that’ll get you high enough to catch a nice, sweeping view of the Florida terrain.

At Disney World’s Downtown Disney shopping and entertainment complex you’ll find “Characters in Flight,” a spectacular tethered helium balloon designed to take guests 400 feet straight up for a 360-degree view of the Walt Disney World  Resort area and beyond.

The bright yellow balloon decorated with Disney characters like Dumbo, Aladdin and Mary Poppins, can be seen from miles around as it soars skyward above the lake at Downtown Disney. Each ride lasts approximately 8-10 minutes. Adult tickets are $18 and children can ride for $12.

Across town at SeaWorld Orlando, you’ll find a similar airborne view aboard the theme park’s 400-foot-tall Sky Tower. The cost to ride to the top of the revolving viewing platform is included with regular theme park admission.

A less expensive view can be found just west of Orlando in nearby Clermont where the city’s Citrus Tower offers a panoramic of the surrounding lakes, rolling hills and developments in Lake County. An elevator takes visitors to the top of the 22-story high tower where there’s a glass enclosed observation area. Admission to the Citrus Tower observation deck is $4 for adults and just $2 for children.

Another spot to get a bird’s-eye-view is from the top of Mount Gushmore at Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park. You can take a ski lift to the top where you’ll find an observation area offering a great view of the surrounding Disney parks and property. And when it’s time to go, you can take the easy way back down or you can choose the faster path down Summit Plummet, a 120-foot water slide. You’ll experience the 12-story water slide drop at speeds of 50-60 miles per hour!

Visit www.westgatereservations.com for information on discount Orlando family vacation packages and theme park tickets.

Orlando’s Discovery Cove theme park is getting ready to open an exciting new attraction in early June. The new million-gallon saltwater reef called Grand Reef” will be the first expansion at the SeaWorld Orlando sister park since its initial opening in 2000.

The 2.5-acre artificial reef will be filled with approximately 125 species of sea life, including fish, rays, sharks and urchins. Guests will be allowed to enter the reef to walk, swim and snorkel amongst the sea life.

The highlight is an underwater walking tour or “SeaVenture.” Guests wearing a 75-pound dive helmet (which weighs just 15 pounds when underwater), can follow a themed trail through the reef, encountering schools of fish.

The SeaVenture experience will be limited to guests age 10 or older and groups of no more than six people at a time. However, the attraction also comes at a cost of $59 per person in addition to regular park admission.

The Grand Reef lagoon will offer an area to view approximately 60 lion fish. The venomous lion fish is native to the Pacific Ocean; however, the Discovery Cove lion fish were collected and removed from the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico where they are considered an invasive species.

Discovery Cove maintains a limited capacity of approximately 1,000 each day, so reservations are recommended. Other park features include pristine beaches, lazy river, snorkeling with rays and tropical fish, a free-flight aviary, and at an added cost, the park’s signature dolphin swim experience. Guests also enjoy lockers, snorkel gear, breakfast, lunch, plus unlimited snacks, drinks and select alcoholic beverages.

For more information on Discovery Cove and discount tickets to Orlando’s other theme parks and attractions, go to www.westgatereservations.com.

Get ready for another Jack Hanna Weekend at SeaWorld® Orlando, April 29 - May 1, 2011.The celebrity animal expert affectionately known as Jungle Jack, makes regular appearances at the Orlando theme park and is recognized worldwide for his knowledge and enthusiasm for wild animals and wildlife conservation.

Hanna will host two shows per day during his long weekend at SeaWorld. He will introduce guests to exotic and endangered animals in his own special way, answer questions and provide exclusive up-close encounters.

Show times will be at 1:15 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. each day in Nautilus Theater at SeaWorld.

For a complete list of other shows, attractions and events at SeaWorld, please visit http://www.seaworldorlando.com/. Or you can go to http://www.westgateresevations.com/ to find discount SeaWorld tickets and discount Orlando family vacation packages.

SeaWorld Orlando is ready to add a little Latin flavor to its musical lineup as the theme park gets set for its annual Viva la Música celebration.You can join the fiesta across the next four Saturdays as SeaWorld features a variety of Latin award-winning musical acts performing salsa, merengue, reggaeton and more.  You’ll also find the park showcasing an array of traditional Latin foods and specialty drinks. The menu includes creations from three different regions of Latin America, including delicious Arepas made by SeaWorld’s new executive chef, Hector Colon.

The Latin celebration occurs each Saturday with the event area opening at noon and live concert performances beginning at 3 pm. The celebration is included with regular theme park admission. However, you can upgrade and enjoy Viva La Música with reserved seats right in front of the stage when you purchase a VIP package.

Viva la Musica - Scheduled Musical Artists

March 12 - Chino & Nacho

March 19 - Manny Manuel

March 26 - Jerry Rivera

April 2 - Ednita Nazario