Orlando Florida

• Thanksgiving Holiday at Rosen Plaza Café Matisse

  Rosen Plaza/Café Matisse 9700 International Drive Thanksgiving Day Buffet Buffet Hours: 11:00 am - 8 pm Price: Adults $31.95 plus tax and gratuity, children ages 4 - 12 $15.95 plus tax and gratuity; Bring in this listing for $3 off each adult Reservations: (407) 996-0256 recommended, but not required Grand Thanksgiving Holiday Buffet featuring a traditional hot buffet of Mom’s favorites such as sliced roasted turkey with cranberry sauce, sausage cornbread dressing, sweet potato cakes, holiday pot roast with pan gravy, Virginia ham basted in brown sugar and serving stations with seafood selections, chilled salads and antipastos, soups, a fruit and granola bar and extensive dessert station with pumpkin pie and pumpkin pound cake, NY cheesecake and chocolate mousse cake. For parties of six or more, the restaurant offers their traditional turkey carved tableside. rosenplaza.com/specials/thanksgiving_2008.asp

• Light Up UCF November 20 – January 8

  Yes, there is ice skating in Central Florida—this Friday, November 20, Light Up UCF kicks off 50 nights of music, lights and ice. Orlando’s largest outdoor ice rink will be open to public skating and private parties. Highlights of Light Up UCF include an ice skating with skate rental included with the purchase of a skating ticket. Visitors can also climb up to the top of Mt. Glide and slide down a 100 ft. ice luge. The University of Central Florida campus will be bathed in the warm glow of Christmas lights every night at 7:00 p.m. with 75,000 twinkling lights pulsing in time to everyone’s favorite holiday tunes. Want to see your favorite Christmas movies outdoors? Light Up UCF includes a holiday film festival on a two-story screen. Some of the films include Home Alone, The Santa Clause, A Christmas Story, Elf, and many more. Other attractions include live performances by the UCF Knights marching band, the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes (tickets for the performance at the UCF Arena must be purchased separately) plus a ferris wheel and carousel ride sponsored by McDonald’s. For a full schedule and ticket prices, visit Lightupucf.com.

• Highland Manor Thanksgiving Day Brunch Buffet

  Highland Manor Thanksgiving Day Brunch Buffet Thursday, Nov. 26, 2009 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. 604 East Main Street, Apopka, Fla 32703 Join friends and family for a savory, southern style Thanksgiving Day Brunch Buffet at Highland Manor. The menu features favorites from maple brined turkey and pineapple glazed ham to highland cornbread stuffing, roasted pumpkin and chestnut soup and mashed sweet potatoes topped with roasted apples. An assortment of sweet temptations are available for dessert such as sticky buns with pecans or pumpkin and sweet potato pies. Reservations recommended, but not required. www.highlandmanorapopka.com Price: Adults $30, children ages 5-12 $15 and children under 5 are free. Add unlimited mimosas for $5 or Bloody Mary’s for $10.

• Celebrating the 2009 Holiday Season

  Celebration Suites at Old Town wants to share one of Orlando’s secrets with you: Almost all of the holiday festivities in Orlando have already begun! Don’t wait until the last minute to book your holiday vacation. Stay earlier and beat the crowds! The Orlando weather provides the perfect holiday escape for your family, friends or group. Gaylord Palms’ ICE! is already underway, and only one mile away from your spacious and affordable suite when you stay at Celebration Suites at Old Town. Less than two miles away, Walt Disney World Resort is already celebrating the holidays with The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom. With complimentary transportation provided from Celebration Suites to all of the major Orlando theme parks, why not get in on the fun a bit earlier this year? Celebration Suites offers suites that sleep up to six people from just $42.95 per night that are conveniently located next door to the Old Town amusement complex. This hotel is home to two heated pools, a fitness studio, volleyball court, basketball court, game room, and playground. Room service is provided by Tex Mex Express and Flipper’s Pizza, and with the wide selection of shopping, dining, rides and nightlife next door, this hotel will quickly become your family’s favorite holiday destination! Celebration Suites Reservations

• Orlando Museum of Art Festival of Trees

  The Festival of Trees 2009 at the Orlando Museum of Art, an annual holiday event since 1986, continues this week through Sunday, November 22. The Festival of Trees is orchestrated by the Council of 101 to benefit the Orlando Museum of Art. For nine days in November, the museum is transformed into a winter wonderland, with professionally decorated trees, wreaths and gingerbread houses (more like gingerbread communities, in some cases) which are available for purchase. Annual highlights include the Gingerbread Village, Toyland Town and Christmas Village. Children can enjoy arts and crafts, shoppers can get a jump start on their Christmas shopping at the Holiday Boutique and Holiday Garden, and all visitors can enjoy live entertainment provided by local area choirs, schools, dance groups, orchestras, a caroling company, a ballet company and individual performers. The Festival Café will also be open for lunch or refreshments. The Festival of Trees 2009 is presented by PNC Bank from Saturday, November 14 throught Sunday, November 22. The hours are 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. with extended hours until 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 19 and Saturday, November 21. Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $6 for children ages 3 – 11.

• Celebrity chef charity event at Ritz Carlton Orlando on Dec. 3

  The late Jerome Girardot (1978 – 2009) is best remembered by his friends, family and fellow chocolatiers as saying, “Anything you can see or imagine I can create in chocolate.” To honor Girardot’s legacy to the culinary world, the Jerome Girardot Fund is hosting A Night of Extreme Taste, which will be held at the Ritz Carlton in Orlando, FL on Dec. 3, 2009. Proceeds of the event will establish a fund for Jerome’s young children, ensuring their education as they grow. Tickets are available online and group table reservations and special room rates are available. The nonprofit fund is hosting unique events in three exciting cities: Orlando, Chicago and Washington D.C. Each event will feature more than 24 celebrity chefs who will recreate some of their most famous dishes for guests to savor, complemented by fine wine and spirits. The grand dessert buffet will be prepared by some of the nation’s most talented pastry chefs. Every guest will receive a box of chocolate truffles, exclusively created by four of the industry’s most renowned chocolatiers, which includes Robert J. Ciborowski, executive chef for the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort; Norman Van Aken, who oversees “Norman’s” at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando; Sean Woods, Executive Chef of The Ritz-Carlton Orlando; Mark Beaupre, Director of Food & Beverage and Executive Chef at the JW Marriott Orlando and many more. For additional information, please send an email to the Jerome Girardot Fund, or visit the organization’s Web site at http://www.jeromegirardotfund.com/.

• Past & Present Styles of Fashion for the Holidays at Highland Manor Apopka

  Sun, Dec. 6, 2009 Habitat for Humanity of Greater Apopka ReStore presents its "Past & Present Styles of Fashion for the Holidays" held at Highland Manor Apopka. Enjoy an afternoon of shopping, fashion and fun while helping raise funds for the ReStore. The show will feature three local boutiques, Em’z on 5th, The Secret Garden and Formally Yours. Shop the sponsors before the show from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fashion show runs from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Individual tickets are $35 per person and include lunch. Corporate tables seating 10 people are available for $500 which includes lunch and two glasses of wine per person. RSVP is required. For tickets and more information, call 407-880-8852 or 352-348-2404 or visit www.habitatapopkafl.org

• Polk County Toys for Tots Drive at Fantasy of Flight

  Fantasy of Flight is pleased to participate in Polk County's Toys for Tots toy drive. The attraction is offering each guest who donates a new, unwrapped toy $8 off a full-priced admission ticket (adult $29.95 or child ages 6-15 $14.95) or an annual pass (adult $69.95 or child ages 6-15 $39.95 ) for each donation, Mon., Nov. 9 – Sun., Dec. 13, 2009. The donated toys must be presented at the attraction’s admissions counter to qualify for the discount. Not valid with any other offers, discounts or promotions. The Toys for Tots Train will be on display at Fantasy of Flight from Sun., Nov. 22 – Wed., Dec. 2, 2009. (Display schedule subject to change.) For more details, visit www.fantasyofflight.com or call 863-984-3500.