Walt Disney World Vacations - Where the Magic Never Ends!

Planning a holiday to the world famous Walt Disney World Resort must be at the top of every child's wish list and is a holiday the whole family can experience together.

Disneyland Resort was the first of Disney's parks and resorts which opened to the public in 1959. During the 90s the park was expanded and in 2001 the park became a resort which has now been visited by over 515 million guests.

The resort has so much to offer the whole family and is best explored at leisure over a period of time, making the resort the ideal holiday location. Offering attractions, entertainment, dining, shopping, tours and much more Disney is perfect for keeping everyone amused and provide a once in a life time adventure for all.

Visit Thunder Mountain, Tinkerbell and her fairy friends, the Haunted mansion and more. Take a tour and discover the magic for yourself or you could watch one of the latest live entertainment shows.

See all your favourite Disney characters from your favourite, movies and cartoons. Visit them at their resort home or see them in action during one of the famous street parades. The street parades attract huge amounts of visitors and are a celebration of life where everyone can interact.

When visiting Orlando particularly Disney you want to ensure you plan your stay thoroughly so you don't miss out on anything of particular interest. Staying close to the resort can help save time and add convenience to your holiday experience.

Renting a Walt Disney World villa close to the resort is ideal for exploring not only the resort but also the local surroundings. Many sleep up to 12 people making large family holidays easier.

Disney is often visited for a celebration whether it is a birthday, engagement, anniversary or another milestone in life. Renting a Walt Disney World villa means the whole family or group of friends can stay together and enjoy the entire celebration as a group.

Affordable California Vacations

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Summer is nearer and for many of us, this means some time off: time off from packing lunches for the kids, time off of work, time off of carpool or simply some time off from the daily grind that is our routine.

If you can't plan that dream getaway this year, worry not, for there are many fun and mind freeing getaways right here in our own backyards.

Isn't it always so that we forget how incredible the place we live? To remember can remind us not to take for granted those who support and love us; too often, we can take them for granted as well.

Think about it, many people flock to Northern California for their vacation! Here we have a gorgeous mountain range, The Sierra Nevada, we have some of the best wine country in the entire world, we have coastal hideaways and tourist oriented cities, the great redwood forest, world-class resorts and restaurants.

In this article we'll look at a specific region of Northern California and explore some of the experiences awaiting you on your Sierra Nevada Foothill getaway.

Let's begin with the area largely responsible for the greater area developing, because of the Gold Rush, the Coloma River Valley and El Dorado County.

El Dorado County hosts some of the best getaway vacation spots in all the state. Located just 2-hours from the San Francisco Bay Area and between both major access roads to North Shore and South Shore Lake Tahoe, El Dorado County is an excellent choice for an affordable break from it all filled with variety. It's an excellent choice as it's a relatively easy commute from anywhere in the State and it boasts some of the richest history in all the United States.

The History:

James W. Marshall discovered gold in 1848 on the South Fork of the American River in the valley the Nisenan Indians knew as Cullumah. This event led to the greatest mass movement of people in the Western Hemisphere and was the spark that ignited the spectacular growth of the West during the ensuing decades. The gold discovery site, located in the still visible tailrace of Sutter's sawmill, in present day Coloma California, is one of the most significant historic sites in the nation -  Excerpted from the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park website.

So often it's easy to overlook what's right here in our backyard, but truly, the epic Gold Rush took place right here. The park is as good a place as any to begin your local getaway. Onsite are many artifacts from the Gold Rush era, including a replica of the mill, still-standing buildings from the day, a museum and a nature trail wherein you can have a park ranger lead a walk through history.

Before you make your way to Coloma and the Gold Rush site, you have a decisions to make. Are you making a day of this? Is it just you and the family coming into town for a little history and picnic on the banks of the South Fork of the American River or are you planning a big family get together, reunion style, and you're planning to employ some of the built in barbeques they have available for your use. Is the family going to stay a day or multiple days?

There are campgrounds in the Coloma/Lotus area: Camp Lotus on Bassi Road, American River Resort on River Road. Perhaps an historic hotel suits your needs better or a bed and breakfast: The Albert Shafsky House in Placerville is a Bed and Breakfast, The Sierra Nevada House is right in Coloma and is an old hotel. Once here, what do you want to do? Are you looking for a day trip, such as wine tasting or rafting?

South East El Dorado County is recognized by the Viticulture Society as some of the best land for specific wine-grape varietals. Thus, some of the best wineries can be visited and tasted while you're right here. Personal favorites are Oakstone and Windwalker wineries both in Fairplay!

Maybe you want more than wine tasting, maybe you want wine tasting AND something else... there is so much to do but one of the greatest, most fulfilling options you can chose is whitewater rafting.

There are a number of rafting companies in the area. There are considerations to be made when booking your trip, but all in all, the whole host of companies is pretty darned good and customer oriented.

We encourage you to come whitewater rafting, raft a day or two or three. With the variety of outings available it's a great place for the whole family to meet up and reunion together. Those not into rafting, though it's good for most all ages and fitness levels, can find plenty to do for the few hours the rafters are on the water.

The historic town of Placerville, also known as Hangtown, and Dry Diggins, is home to the oldest hardware store in the west, a TruValue now. Too, the oldest newspaper in the west resides here in El Dorado County as well, The Mountain Democrat. You can make the 20-minute drive to Placerville and walk historic Main Street where you look up into building facades that have stood for 100+ years.

Want to really mix it up? Make plans to get up early and shoot up US 50 and spend a day in the beautiful South Lake Tahoe basin home to the Lake, hiking, biking, Desolation Wilderness, gaming, shopping, entertainment and the like.

Perhaps we'd all love to cruise the Mediterranean for a few weeks but it's simply not in our cards right now. You can head to the foothills of Northern California from anywhere in the State and be there within a day's drive. Once here, with some simple planning, you can have as fulfilling and diverse holiday as nearly anywhere in the world. Tens of thousands of people a year come to visit, shouldn't you? Happy holidays!

Hotel Hot List - The Hippest Hotels In Town

We all love to splash out - to make like a film star for the night, breezing through endless high-life bars, sipping cocktails and flashing the cash, then dragging everyone back to the hotel pad, where the party really takes shape.

Hotels are the ultimate - there's nothing more extravagant than spreading your clothes over the penthouse suite of some boutique guestroom, throwing yourself on the bed with room service at hand, ordering heavenly desserts at all hours and dissolving into the 007 fantasy with your choice company till dawn. Breakfast in bed, sipping on Margaritas and happiness in the knowledge that the bed will be made & the mini-bar restocked by midday.

If all that hedonism takes its toll, then a trip to the gym at brunch or a spot of self-pampering in the spa for an hour or two will compensate before swinging on by the lobby bar for some more superstar misbehaviour.

The Sanderson, The Metropolitan, St Martin's Lane, The Trafalgar - all belong to the fabulous world of hotel heaven. Their bars - The Purple Room, Met Bar, Light Bar and Rockwell respectively, home to the jet-setting glitterati of superstar lifestyle. If you're looking to grand it up, then a night in one of London's top boutique pads is the only way forward. Expensive, maybe. Extravagant, most definitely. But worth every penny, without a doubt.

You can group the A-list London hotels into three families. Firstly, there's the close-knit, touchy-feely family of the boutique hotels. These intimate surroundings could be as small as a cottage or as big as a mansion, but house no more than a few dozen rooms.

Blakes fits into this category. In this case, just a handful of rooms, which Anushka Hempel has decked out herself, travelling the world and sending back furniture befitting the various themes. Each room individually decorated from opulent Oriental to slim-line Mediterranean. The Hempel too has this intimate home from home attitude, though at The Hempel, the theme is crisp and airy, whitewashed walls with wispy drapes, sunken Japanese baths - it even has a private garden. At the boutique hotels, you will get the ultimate personal touch and are more than likely to cross paths with Elle or Kate at reception.

The next family is the bigger, modern variety of cool hotel. The Sanderson, St Martin's Lane, The Trafalgar and The Great Eastern all eat at this table. We're talking big, bold, busy buildings with a hundred or so rooms. They probably won't remember your name at reception, but depending on your behaviour that may be a blessing. With the modern variety, you still get the cool surroundings - the Space Odyssey lifts at The Sanderson, the art gallery lobby of St Martin's Lane, individually designed rooms and immaculate, staff in between modelling jobs - but on top of that, you get all of the mod cons. You'll get the CD & DVD player, the Playstation console, the chauffeur service, internet and the gym and spa. The bar will be bigger, busier and the service more anonymous.

The final family is the traditional family, where minimalism has no home, replaced instead by opulence and luxuriance. Here we're talking the Langham, The Mandarin Oriental and The Landmark. Grand, majestic hotels, where money is no object and where the top suites will set you back a cool £3k+ per night. The Mandarin Oriental is pure self-indulgence. You can have your own butler and spend the whole day in the spa, where you will while away six and a half hours having your face 'nourished', enjoying salt & oil scrubs, balanese synchronised massage (that's two masseurs working on you in tandem) and a luxury aromatherapy facial.

The bars of these superhotels are all well known in the right circles. The Sanderson's Long Bar and private Purple Bar, St Martin's Lane's Light Bar, The Rockwell (Trafalgar), I-Thai at The Hempel.- all offer that truly exclusive experience that makes for a perfectly extravagant night on the town. While the cocktail capabilities of your local Holiday Inn will be all but non-existent, in the grand world of exclusive hotels, drinks are a speciality. Trader Vic's and Zeta (London Hilton) have inspired many of the best mixologists about. Rockwell houses over 100 bourbons, The Whiskey Bar at The Athenaeum offers one of the best whiskey selections in Europe and the Purple Bar a knock-out array of vodkas. Then when it comes to cocktails, they come into their own. Bars like The Met, The Light and The Long Bar are supreme masters in their class, conjuring up the most magical potions and offering page after page of temptation.
Everyone moans about getting home from the West End after a night on the razz, but remember, credit card permitting, there's always the option of finishing the night in style, sleeping it off in comfort and lavishing yourself with a touch of the grand life.

The bars of London's top hotels are unarguably a breed of their own. Sophisticated and speckled with celebrity faces, they are the unsung heroes of the bar world. The Met Bar (Metropolitan Hotel) has forever been known for its celebrity scuffles and the paparazzi hang at the door like starved vultures. Schrager's sexy little numbers are all bursting with creative flavour. Be showered with colour under the smiling light-wells of the Light Bar (St Martin's Lane), be bathed in the heavenly glow of The Long Bar (The Sanderson) while big blue eyes watch you from the seat backs or be flooded with luxury at the jaw-droppingly beautiful Purple Room (The Sanderson), its cut crystal and granite bar probably the most visually stunning place to prop yourself at in the world (though you'll have to book a good room to get in!) The old dames of the hotel world offer some real old school glamour in their bars. The Hilton Park Lane's Windows Bar with its top-floor views across London and exotically themed Trader Vic's in the basement are two founder members of the hotel bar scene.

For something seriously slick and ultra contemporary, head to Blakes or The Hempel or recently refurbished Mandarin Bar to sip cocktails with London's most fashionable. Get intimate in the dark-wood sophistication of the GE Club (Great Eastern Hotel) or spread yourself about at the commodious Rockwell (The Trafalgar) and equally spacious Axis (1 Aldwych). Spend winter in the cosy warm environment of 190 Queensgate (The Gore) or summer soaking up the Noho vibe at open-fronted Charlotte Street.

Wherever you end up, grab a seat, pick up a Watermelon Martini and sip yourself slowly into the high life.