This year, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in central Florida will be celebrating two historic milestones: the 50^th anniversary of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and the 50^th anniversary of Americans in orbit.

On Feb. 18, 2012, the Visitor Complex will host a full day of events, including a special evening presentation, “On the Shoulders of Giants,” featuring guests John Glenn and Scott Carpenter.

On Feb. 20, 1962, Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth when he boarded a Mercury-Atlas rocket in the Freedom 7 capsule and circled the globe three times before a successful splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. Three months later, on May 24, Carpenter successfully orbited the Earth three times aboard a similar Mercury-Atlas rocket, confirming the spacecraft’s capabilities and jump starting the idea of future space exploration.

On July 1, 1962, the space center officially opened as an operating spaceflight center called the Launch Operations Center. That facility, which eventually became the John F. Kennedy Space Center, now celebrates 50 years of launching rockets, space shuttles and space exploration devices and constructing the International Space Station.

For information on the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, visit www.kennedayspacecenter.com/.

The snazzy new ice-skating show opening Feb. 2, features a dozen skaters, a variety of puppets, live animals, acrobats on trampolines, a virtual snowstorm and even some high tech video mapping. It’s all part of a half-hour show that tells the story of an 11-year-old boy named Austin who believes technology keeps his generation connected and his grandfather who encourages him to put down the smartphone and get out and explore the earth.

That journey is highlighted through the projection of images onto different surfaces inside Busch Gardens’ Moroccan Palace Theater. This unique change in backdrops profiles the changes in the show’s location. The performers and skaters visit the Serengeti, the Great Barrier Reef, the Arctic and even a rain forest.

The largest ice-skating show in the park’s history, Iceploration is filled with special effects and high-energy choreography, as well as colorful costumes, live animals, original music and puppetry such as a life-size elephant.

For information on Iceploration, visit http://seaworldparks.com/en/buschgardens-tampa.

The park’s first new attraction in four years, the tropical, one-acre water playground is geared to younger children and will include a 60-foot high sand castle, two splash pools, 17 slides and more than 100 soakers, jets, waterfalls and water cannons.  

Wet ‘n Wild is fully loaded with thrill rides and slides for the more adventurous. The tamer water playground is right in step with other central Florida theme parks that cater to the younger crowd.

Recently opened Legoland Florida, a park designed for 2- to 12-year-olds, just announced its own new water park area. Meanwhile SeaWorld Orlando is hosting a “Just for Kids” festival this month.  

For information on the new attraction, visit www.wetnwildorlando.com. Or for discount theme park tickets and discount accommodations at nearby Westgate Resorts properties, go to www.westgatereservations.com

That’s especially true for those who enjoy winter sports activities. Ski season opened at Gatlinburg’s popular Ober Mountain on Jan. 3.

Ober Gatlinburg features nine trails serviced by two quad lifts, one double lift and one surface lift. The Resort also offers terrain for all abilities, from beginners experiencing snow sports for the first time, to seasoned experts headed to the moguls and the terrain park.  

Snow tubing is another popular activity at Ober Gatlinburg in addition to skiing, snowboarding and ice skating.

For more information about Ober Gatlinburg, the aerial tramway, restaurants, shops and more, visit www.obergatlinburg.com/. Or if you would like to learn more about discount Gatlinburg resort accommodations and vacation packages, go to http://www.westgatereservations.com/.

Legoland was built on the grounds of the former Cypress Gardens. Now the new park is utilizing the former Splash Island area and infrastructure to create a kid friendly water park.

The new water attraction will feature a Lego Wave Pool offering up a kinder and gentler wave experience rather than the giant waves found at other Orlando area water parks. The back of the wave pool will include bright Lego colored tiles and a number of three-foot-tall Lego figurines. Meanwhile, the front of the pool will offer up a Lego Imagination Station where children can create using oversized, spongy Lego blocks.

Other water park features will include a Build a Raft lazy river that allows kids a chance to decorate their inner tube with giant Lego bricks; the Duplo Splash Safari, a shallow pool with giant Duplo animals geared to kids age 5 and younger; the Joker Soaker, an aquatic jungle gym with a 300-gallon bucket that dumps water regularly; a restaurant, changing rooms and more.

For added thrills, the water park will offer the Twin Chasers, an enclosed, dueling tube water slide and Splash Out, another high speed ride with three slides and 60-foot drops.

Water park tickets are an option only available in addition to the regular Legoland Florida admission. The cost is an additional $12 for ages 3 and older and $3 more for 2-year-olds and younger. (Regular theme park admission is $75 general, $65 ages 3-12.)

The theme park announced a variety of new attractions set to open in 2012, including a new parade, an after-dark show, a new Blue Man Group show and more.

The new attractions should help Universal Studios regain some of the traffic it lost to sister park Islands of Adventure when it opened up the highly popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter in 2010.

The new “Universal’s Superstar Parade” becomes the park’s first daily parade event. The interactive parade will stop to allow characters, dancers and performers a chance to engage with spectators. Highlights include large floats, street performers and characters from “Dispicable Me,” “Dora the Explorer,” “SpongeBob Squarepants” and “Hop.”

Universal is also expanding its nighttime fun by adding “Universal’s Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Moments.” The end of the night event on the theme park’s lagoon offers a salute to Universal Pictures based on a movie history projected on both sides of a series of 30-foot by 30-foot waterfall curtains. The show also includes lasers, pyrotechnics, fountains and a special narration by actor Morgan Freeman.

Other new attractions at Universal include a revised Blue Man Group show and two new miniature golf courses at Universal CityWalk. Later this summer, the park will open a new attraction based on the film “Dispicable Me” called Dispicable Me Minion Mayhem. The park is also introducing new high tech adjustments to its popular Spider-Man ride such as some re-animation and a more vivid high definition projection system.

For information on discount Orlando theme park tickets and discount Orlando family vacation packages, visit www.westgatereservations.com.

Disney’s Backstage Magic Tour

You don’t have to be a Disney employee to discover some of the secrets behind the magic of Walt Disney World Resort. Disney’s Backstage Magic Tour offers an inside look at some of the creative and technical operations utilized behind the scenes. This is a unique opportunity to see how Disney utilizes innovative special effects to create world-class entertainment while bringing elaborate attractions to life.

At Epcot, the tour reveals some of the details that make The American Adventure such a popular attraction. Tour guests will also get a different view of Main Street, U.S.A. at Magic Kingdom when guided through a hidden world - the park’s legendary underground “Utilidor” tunnel system.

After a family-style lunch at the Whispering Canyon Café at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, guests will visit the Disney World Nursery & Tree Farm to see how horticulture and landscape design are to create an endless variety of uniquely themed environments.  

The tour continues to Disney’s Hollywood Studios where you’ll see how Disney Imagineers combined cutting-edge design with breakthrough technology to create the popular Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

You’ll also discover how wardrobe plays such an important part of the Disney magic. See how the Creative Costuming team outfits show and parade performers. And then complete your 7-hour long tour with an up-close look Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

The Backstage Magic Tour is open to guests 16 years and older who carry government-issued photo identification. Lunch is included with the tour. Theme Park admission is not required or included.

Disney’s Family Magic Tour

For a shorter family tour, you might want to try Disney’s Family Magic Tour. Guests are invited on a 1 ½ to 2-hour guided interactive quest to save the Magic Kingdom from the dastardly plans of a Disney Villain.

Although guests of all ages are welcome, this tour is ideally designed for those 4 to 10 years of age. Led by a tour guide, you’ll be asked to search for and follow clues throughout the Magic Kingdom, solve diabolical puzzles and participate in a fun-filled scavenger hunt.

Magic Kingdom theme park admission is required and is not included in the price of this tour.

Keys to the Kingdom Tour

Who wouldn’t want the keys to the Kingdom… the Magic Kingdom! This unique tour highlights the long and fascinating history of Walt Disney World Resort while offering backstage access to secret areas of the theme park.

Guests must be at least 16 years of age to participate in this 4.5-hour walking tour. You’ll explore some of the stories behind the Magic Kingdom while learning how Walt Disney’s innovative ideas, revolutionary visions and creative philosophies made it all possible. The tour includes stops at backstage facilities and a number of favorite attractions.

One special highlight is a trip below Magic Kingdom theme park into the legendary service tunnels referred to as Utilidors, or utility corridors. Guest accessible areas of Magic Kingdom are actually on the “second floor” of a massive structure. The first floor, called the Utilidors, allows Cast Members, deliveries and even trash to be unknowingly transported without disturbing the guests’ experience in the theme park.

Magic Kingdom theme park admission is required and is not included in the price of this tour.

The landmark springs pump 550 million gallons of sparkling clear water each and every day. And the park’s unique glass bottom boats off an amazing view of underwater life in the clean, 99.8% pure waters of the Silver River. One spring, Fish Reception Hall, is home to dozens of species of fish plus alligators, clams, crawfish, shrimp, snails and turtles, all amidst the backdrop of tiny fossilized shells from 70 million years ago. 

Now you can also enjoy music from the park’s 2012 Concert Series. Shows begin at 3 pm and are included in park admission, $31.99 general, $24.99 ages 3-10. Reserved seats can be purchased for an additional $10.

Jan. 28          REO Speedwagon

Feb. 11         Thompson Square

Feb. 18         James Otto and Lee Brice

Feb. 25         Travis Tritt

Mar. 3           Steel Magnolia

Mar. 10         Styx

Mar. 24         Glen Campbell

Mar. 31         Eddie Money

For additional information, visit http://www.silversprings.com/. Or for discount Orlando family vacation packages, go to http://www.westgatereservations.com/.

Pigeon Forge, near Gatlinburg, TN, brings the great American West to life with its 12^th Annual Saddle Up festival, to be held Feb. 23-26, 2012. The celebration salutes the American West with cowboy musicians and poets, a hearty chuckwagon cookoff, and a cowboy dance.

The unique four-day festival is filled with entertainment the entire family can enjoy and plenty of cowboy-themed activities. “Stories and Strings” is a new concert featuring a variety of top country western performers who will discuss their influences, demonstrate their styles and play, performing together for the first time.

The list of 2012 Saddle Up entertainers includes: R.W. Hampton, Stephanie Davis, Saddle Cats, Cowboy Celtic, Kent Rollins, Ray Doyle, Andy Nelson and Chuck Pyle.

If you’re looking for discount resort accommodations or discount family vacation packages in the Great Smoky Mountains, visit http://www.westgatereservations.com/.