I wonder if we could get somebody to throw in a free Coke, hot dog, or apple pie somewhere…

Lowry Park’s ZooBoo is open on Thursdays-Sundays through Nov. 1. Admission is $17/Adults (ages 12+), $14/Kids (ages 3-11). ZooPass holders pay $12/$10. Open 7-10pm on Thursdays and Sundays, 7-11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Important information: For the safety of guests, adults (ages 12 and older) are not permitted to wear masks, wigs, face paint or costumes of any kind. Little boys and “ghouls” (ages 11 and under) are invited to come in their most spooktacular attire. Toy weapons of any sort will not be allowed into the Zoo.

Guavaween Family FunFest will be held Saturday, October 25, 2008 (10am-3pm) in historic Ybor City. This is a totally free event with a daytime crowd estimated at around 20,000. Safe trick-or-treating, costume contest and parade, and pumpkin contests are among the fabulous family activities.

The Florida Aquarium is holding Guppyween 2008, a safe, fun, and supervised children’s trick or treating on Sunday, October 26 from 4 to 9 p.m. Bring your ghosts and goblins in costume for a deliciously fun time! Candy stations will be set up throughout the facility with plenty of kids’ activities in between. Kids in costume are free, while adults (12 and over) pay $12. It’s a safe, fun party with spooky creatures and loads of tasty treats.  * Limit four children per adult. Aquarium members get in free to this event.

MOSI presents their 3rd annual Hall-O-Boo! Family Halloween Event on October 24 & 25, 5-9pm. Admission for members is only $8, and non-members is $10. Activities include hayrides, monster mash ball, mad scientist demonstrations, and much more!

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom is a fun Disney event especially geared to the under-10 crowd. Tickets vary in price depending on the date. Expect to spend up to $56 for an adult ticket. October 31st is sold out. Event takes place 7pm-midnight, though October 31st.

If you know of another family friendly Halloween event, please post your info in a comment! Thanks! Happy Halloween!

Celebrate Oktoberfest all month long in Tampa! Each weekend, checkout a different festival, and if you are longing for a mid-week bit of Bavaria, have lunch at the Schnitzelhaus! All of these events have family-friendly components to them, so bring the kids! The highlight of the month will be the big Oktoberfest in Oldsmar at Tampa Bay Downs during the last weekend. Attendance was 20,000+ last year.

If you have other events to add, please leave a comment and link at the end of this post! Enjoy!

• Schnitzelhaus German Restaurant
  • Oktoberfest will be from Sept 19th to Nov 1st
  • Live Music with Inga
    Fri and Sat 5pm – 9pm and Sun 4pm – 8pm
  • Fri and Sat Special, Four Course Dinner
    $21.95 – $25.50, reservations required
  • Open Wednesday-Saturday, 11am-9pm and Sunday, noon-8pm
  • Closed Monday and Tuesday
• Dunedin Brewery OktoBEERfest 2008
  • October 2nd-4th, starts at 4pm daily
• The St. Petersburg Clay Company OktoberBest & Brew HaHa II
  • October 11, noon-7pm
  • The event will include food, beverages, music, kids activities, and best of all work from our talented artists!
• World of Beer (Westchase) WOBtoberfest 2008, 2nd Annual Beer and Music
  • October 17th, 3pm till, October 18th, noon till
  • Live music featuring Chris Nathan
  • German and American Food
  • Authentic Oktoberfest Liter Mugs
  • Family Friendly
  • $5 admission (free for 12 and under)
  • All ages welcome, 21+ to drink
• Oktoberfest on the Beach – 7th Annual Celebration Activity Schedule
  • October 18, 11am-7pm, Kinderfest 11am-3pm
  • Held at Kolb Park, Indian Rocks Beach
  • Live music, German Band “Lorelei” performs at 1pm until 7pm
  • Adult activities include: Food Court, Beer Wagon, Vendors, Art Exhibit, Antique Show, Boat Show, Silent Auction
  • Championship Competitions include: Stein-carrying, Wife-carrying, Keg-throwing, and Polka-dancing!
  • “Kinderfest” (11am-3pm) activities include: Dodgeball, Children’s Dunk Tank, Shuttle Race, Capture the Flag, Spider Web, Red Light—Green Light, Hula Hoop Contest, Water Balloon Contest, Jelly Bean Relay, Inflatable Experiences, Tattoo Booth, Balloon Artist & Magician, Kiddie Olympics, Children’s Arts & Crafts Booth
• Top O’ the Bay Oktoberfest, Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar
  • October 24, 25, 26 – Friday 5pm to 11pm / Saturday 11am to 11pm / Sunday 12pm to 7 pm
  • Schedule of events (pdf)
  • Traditionally held the last weekend of October, Oktoberfest brings the best of Old Bavaria and New Florida together for three full days of authentic German food, drink, music and dancing… along with a spectacular carnival & Midway, a great arts & crafts show, and the wildest array of audience participation contests that the Tampa Bay area has ever seen!
  • New this year… VolksMarch (5 & 10K Family Fun Walks) and Kinder Zone!
  • Oldsmar’s version of the 198 year-old German tradition is both the largest and longest-running  Oktoberfest in West Central Florida, attracting between 20,000 and 25,000 attendees.

• Lowry Park Zoo
• MOSI
• Florida Aquarium

Captain Memo’s Pirate Cruise has cruises for pint-sized to frigate-sized grog-drinking seadogs! Our wee matey gallavanted off to sea with his Grandma, an’ had a rip-roarin’ time afloat!

Ahoy! The Pirate Ship at John’s Pass is another place full o’ pirate-y goodness with gun battles, face painting, and treasure hunts! Arrr.

Capture this cool stuff for junior pirates from ye founders of this ‘ere day of celebration!

In our family, we’ve casually celebrated this day over the years since Dave Barry’s infamous column appeared in 2002. We still aren’t very good at pirate slang, but we try! Just sprinkle in “Avast!” or “Arrr…” into your daily conversation and you’re all set. If you really want to get into character, get your own pirate name at one of these sites:

• What’s My Pirate Name?
• Pirate Name Generator
• Find Your Inner Pirate

Dig up a treasure chest o’ fun with your mateys t’day!

Hot news! Disney just announced today that you can get a free ticket to Disneyland or any Disneyworld park on your birthday in 2009. You can read all about it in their article here. This is reflective of the trend in “celebration vacations.” More families are choosing to make their vacations or celebrations serve double duty as both. When you are shopping for a vacation like this, the highest priority is finding something for everyone, and Disney has it in spades!

Start planning now to celebrate your birthday at Disney in 2009!

UPDATE: “FREE On Your Birthday” link

The 2008 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival runs from September 26 through November 9. Florida residents are eligible for a lot of great deals during this time of year. If you live close to Orlando, consider the Epcot After 4PM Annual Pass, a fantastic deal, and will get you into Epcot all year without blackout dates after 4pm. This is great if you just want to dine, go to an Eat to the Beat concert, or visit France for pastries and fireworks at the end of an evening.

Kids can experience all the fun of the festival by traveling to over 14 Kidcot activity stops around the theme park. Our kids really enjoy this and it keeps them motivated during the day. It also provides an opportunity to rest inside, out of the sun or rain. This year, USA Pears sponsors The Pearville Fair, a learning center about pears! Our kids love Epcot!

A note about food allergies: In our experience, Disney is very accommodating, especially in the more formal dining experiences. Even the takeaway food stands are pretty knowledgeable about what they are serving. If you have food allergies, notify your server, and they will typically introduce you and your allergic child to the chef. We’ve met numerous Disney chefs and had just as many conversations with them about our food needs. Once, a chef at Boma (my personal favorite Disney restaurant) made a special dessert for Elizabeth since she couldn’t eat a single thing from their dessert offerings. As with any food activity with allergies, don’t forget your Epi-pens, Benadryl, Albuterol, and whatever else you typically need to deal with an incident. Also, don’t forget to pack some safe snacks. We always pack plenty of safe snacks wherever we go.

One last money-saving tip: You can get a large cup of ice water for free at any fountain drink vendor at Disney. I get a 32-ounce cup of ice water and sometimes mix in a Crystal Light To Go packet. Don’t let your budget prevent you from staying hydrated! Pack a water bottle. Water fountains are abundant throughout the parks, and single-serving drink packets can make it more palatable.

Tasting menus from some of the 2007 international food vendors.

It’s Your Life, Make a Difference!
Leadership Kick-Off & Family Fun Weekend
September 27, 2008

If you have a Girl Scout in your family, or someone who wants to join, you do not want to miss this Fall 2008 Kick-Off event at Cypress Gardens. There will be scavenger hunts, badge activities, and lots of scouting fun in addition to all of the great attractions at Cypress Gardens. The price is only $18/per person, and for only $10 more, you can extend your ticket to unlimited admission for the rest of 2008!

Find out more about the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida and register for the event.

Let’s take a closer look. If we just want annual BG (Busch Gardens) passes, for our family of four (2 adults, 2 kids – ages 4 and 8), the Fun Card total is $239.80. This does NOT include parking ($9 general), discounts on food, beverage and merchandise, or anything else.

Here’s my suggestion: For $35 more, buy one adult 1-year Passport and Fun Cards for everyone else. 4 trips to the park will pay for this difference in parking alone, because you get free general parking with the Passport. Another area of savings is 10% off all food, beverage and merchandise. Get this Passport for the parent who will be taking the family all the time. If you are planning to get Fun Cards again next year for the family, pay $50 more and make mom’s Passport good for 2 years. If you can’t swing the money up-front, BG offers EZ-pay for Passport holders! For the 2 year passport, it’s $6.24/month for 2 years. Add on the Fun Cards for 2008, and it’s only $174.85 up front plus the $6.24 for mom, the first month.

We’ve found that the benefits of the Passports are worth it. You will use your pass more since you won’t have to pay $9 to park every time you go. Exhausting your preschoolers in Dragon Land for a few hours in the morning or afternoon won’t cost you anything but gas to get there and back, goldfish crackers, raisins and water bottles (all in Mom’s backpack!)

Read more about all of the ticketing options at Busch Gardens here.

This is a great gift for your family members, retired parents/grandparents, home schoolers, stay-at-home parents with small children, your nanny, and even your teenage babysitter!

Stay tuned for more Busch Gardens tips soon!