The Wandering Disciple

The massive Shamu Stadium as viewed from the air aboard the Sky Tower. Shamu Stadium is home to the popular Shamu shows. Opened in 1984, the stadium can seat over 5,500 spectators as they watch the park’s iconic killer whale perform in an 7 million gallon pool. The current production at Sea World Orlando is One Ocean. (Photo: May 21, 2006)

The lush landscape and colorful buildings of Sheraton Vistana Village reflect in the lake.  Vistana Village is a vacation resort community located in Orlando just minutes from Sea World, Walt Disney World and Universal Studios.  (Photo: May 20, 2006)

An elephant enjoys his home at Busch Gardens Tampa. The wilds of Africa come to life in the theme park where wild animals meet wild rides. (Photo: March 19, 2006)

A wild iguana basks in the Florida sunshine at Gasparilla Island State Park on the island of Boca Grande. The iguana is not a native species of Florida and is damaging to the ecosystem on the island. During the peak of the invasion in mid 2000’s, there were as many as 12,000 wild iguanas inhabiting the island. But trapping efforts by the locals have help reduce the population to a more manageable number. (Photo: March 5, 2006)

The stars of Woody Woodpecker’s Kid Zone take a break from the crowds at Universal Orlando. Here guests can meet Woody and Winnie Woodpecker while enjoying great children’s rides. (Photo: January 28, 2006)

A bell tower at Portofino Bay Hotel helps make the Central Florida resort feel like the heart of Italy. No detail is spared in making you feel like you are strolling along the Italian waterfront, not in the heart of Universal Orlando. (Photo: January 28, 2006)

Located in Central Florida, Universal Orlando is one of the countries premier theme park destinations. Comprised of two theme parks, three hotels and an entertainment district, Universal Orlando provides visitors an opportunity to ride the movies. (Photo: December 25, 2005)

The playful world of Curious George comes alive at Universal Studios Florida. The interactive water play area allows the younger members of the family to explore the city through the eyes of everyone’s favorite Monkey. (Photo: December 25, 2005)

A bright, colorful seaplane from Key West Seaplanes departs Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport on a flight to the Florida Keys.  Bases out of Key West International Airport, Key West Seaplanes serves destinations throughout the Florida Keys and the Bahamas.  The custom built Cessna Stationair pictured here was the Grand Champion in the Seaplane Division at last year's Sun and Fun Fly-in.  (Photo: February 13, 2013)

Take a break from the heat with a dip in the swimming hole at Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground.  The Meadows Swimming Pool is one of two pools at the resort.  (Photo: February 12, 2013)

To honor President's Day, our photo of the day is a wax replica of President Lincoln at Madame Tussaud's in Washington, DC.  Lincoln joins a collection of presidential figures including George Washington, John F Kennedy, George Bush, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and many more.  (Photo: February 15, 2009)

A futuristic Chevy prototype is on display in the ride queue of Test Track at Epcot.  Test Track was recently updated to give riders an insight into vehicle design.  Riders can design their own car and see how it performs on the test circuit.  (Photo: February 12, 2013)

Southwest Airline's tribute to the great state of Texas lands at Orlando International Airport.  "Lonestar One" is one of several special livery Boeing aircraft operated by Southwest.  (Photo: February 12, 2013)

Over 3,000 passengers endured the cruise from hell after a fire resulting in loss of power on the Carnival Triumph.  Passengers spent several days stranded in the Gulf of Mexico on the powerless ocean liner following a fire in the engine room. The fire was the fourth engine room fire for Carnival Cruise Line since 1999.  This photo was taken several years ago in the Virgin Islands during the ship's better days. (Photo: October 25, 2006)

Mickey and Minnie get in the Valentine's Day spirit at the Magic Kingdom park at Walt Disney World.  (Photo: February 11, 2013)

A T-Rex pokes through the bushes in the Jurassic Park land at Islands of Adventure. The Jurassic Park land is themed off the popular dinosaur trilogy and features ride inspired by the films. (Photo: December 25, 2004)

Dublin, Ireland: Aer Lingus is the flag carrier airline of the country of Ireland. They provide service to over eighty destinations on four continents. Based at Dublin Airport in Ireland, Aer Lingus was founded in 1936 as a passenger airline to serve Ireland. They remained a small, two plane operation until following World War II when the airline expanded. Aer Lingus began Trans-Atlantic routes in 1958. Today the Aer Lingus fleet has grown to over forty aircraft. Airbus is the sole provider of aircraft to the fleet, ranging from the Airbus A319 to the Airbus A330. Aer Lingus services eighty destinations worldwide. They include 70 airports in Europe, 5 in Africa, 4 in North America an 1 in Asia. While their main headquarters are based at Dublin Airport, Aer Lingus maintains operating bases at George Best Belfast City Airport, Cork Airport, Gatwick Airport and Shannon Airport. Aer Lingus was once a member of the Oneworld Alliance, however their partnership ended in 2007....

The paths of Disney’s Animal Kingdom come alive with the music and colorful costumes of the Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade. The daily parade was introduced to the park in 2001 and has been a hit ever since. (Photo: August 18, 2006)

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: An early morning awaited us as we decided to try and cram a visit to Epcot into our busy schedule. We woke up early and quickly broke down camp so we could take advantage of the Morning Magic Hours at Epcot. Since we didn’t have a lot of extra time, we opted to drive over to Epcot. What a great decision. We secured a great parking spot in the first row. As we headed to the gates, we hit a mass of resort guests also taking advantage of the early opening for resort guests. This was the first time we tried to use the magic hours, we typically avoid them to avoid crowds. In the future, I’m sure we will continue to avoid them because other than us working on a tight schedule it wasn’t worth the crowds. We headed straight to Test Track as soon as the park opened. It had already accumulated a 20 minute wait by the time we got through the turnstile. The ride was completely renovated from the last time we visited the park. While the ride track remaine...

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: A new year means a new Walt Disney World adventure. This time we decided to take advantage of my wife’s Scentsy convention and make a short vacation out of it by camping at Fort Wilderness. This will be our first camping adventure at Disney’s campground. We arrived at Fort Wilderness right as the parks were getting ready to open, so we checked in and headed straight to the park. We decided to go to the Magic Kingdom to check out the new Fantasyland rides and attractions that opened last year By the time we rode the boat from the campground to the park, the park was open and much of the crowd had dispersed into the park. I was worried that that would mean long lines in the new section but amazingly it wasn’t so bad. The line for the new Little Mermaid ride was just five minute. Now the line for the princesses was another story, but luckily we weren’t there to see them. We rode the Little Mermaid first and it was mixed reviews. My wife thought i...

The cars of the Tommorrowland Speedway race by at the Magic Kingdom park. The ride nestled between the futuristic Tomorrowland and the whimsical Fantasyland is a popular attraction. (Photo: August 19, 2006)

The quiet oasis of the fountains of Royal Pacific Resort provide a great release from the hustle and bustle of Universal Orlando. Royals Pacific Resort is one of three resort hotels at Universal Orlando. (Photo: December 24, 2005)

As you pass through the giant gates of Timbuktu, you enter the desert oasis of Busch Gardens Tampa. The center of the park, Timbuktu is home to several rides and shows. Unlike other lands at Busch Gardens, it is the only land without animal attractions but it makes up for it with a 4-D theater and a dinner theaters. It is also home to one of the park’s oldest roller coaster, the Scorpion. (Photo: November 12, 2005)

Soaring high above Central Pennsylvania, the Flying Falcon takes riders on a bird’s eye view of Hersheypark. Added to the park in 1990, the Flying Falcon is one of 60 rides and attractions at Hersheypark. (Photo: August 29, 2005)

A beacon of freedom standing tall in New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty has been greeting visitors for over a hundred years. Dedicated in 1886, the Statue of Liberty was given to the United States as a gift from France. The statue was designed by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. (Photo: August 28, 2005)

An NYPD Motor Unit is on display at the NYPD Museum in lower Manhattan. Housed in the historic first precinct building, the museum showcases 400 years of law enforcement history. (Photo: August 27, 2005)

The bright lights of Broadway fill the night sky in Manhattan. New York City’s theater district is comprised of about 40 theaters which entertained over 12 million people in 2012. (Photo: August 26, 2005)

A life like wax figure of Steven Spielberg stands on display at Madame Tussauds New York City. Located just off Times Square in Manhattan, Madame Tussauds features over 200 wax figures of celebrities, world leaders and athletes. (Photo: August 26, 2005)

Who would have guessed that the King of Pop would have been reincarnated as a monkey....well not really. However this monkey on display at Big Cat Habitat did his best Michael Jackson impression for the camera. The Big Cat Habitat’s annual fundraiser continues for three more weekends at the Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary in eastern Sarasota County. (Photo: February 2, 2013)

An unusual sight at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, two nearly identical JetBlue Airbus A320 pass each other in the field. Thanks to a schedule flight from Boston-Logan and a chartered flight from New Orleans, the two jets featuring the barcode tail scheme arrived at the airport within minutes of each other. (Photo: February 1, 2013)

The oasis of Central Park is visible against the skyline of Manhattan. This unique bird’s eye view came aboard a Delta flight into LaGuardia Airport. (Photo: August 26, 2005)