Family, travel, mom blog | Theme Park Mom (Leigh Caldwell)

Photo by Terwilliger911

One of Theme Park Mom’s tenets is that you plan for getting wet at a theme park by wearing lightweight clothing, bringing a change of clothes or a bathing suit, etc. But what if you could get your family dry almost as quickly as they got wet?

Enter the U.K.-company Haystack Dryers. The dryers are on display at an Orlando convention for amusement park operators this week. They use infra-red lamps to dry you and your clothing in minutes after that wet ride. The company says the theme-park version will dry a family of five.

A number of theme parks in Europe provide the dryers. There’s often a charge of about $2 to use them. Unless it’s a very hot day, I’d gladly pay $2 to get my family dry. How about you?

The dryers were installed at Dollywood earlier this fall. Theme Park Mom hopes this trend sweeps the U.S.!

Wow! You came back! I hope you find my site helpful. Please contact me if you have any suggestions or story ideas.

Courtesy photo / Sea World

“A’Lure, The Call of the Ocean” is now showing at Sea World Orlando.

The half-hour spectacle features 12 Chinese acrobats, and tells the tale of the Sea Sirens.

The show is performed on a massive stage in front of a projection screen at the Nautilus Theater.

DeWayne Bevil of the Orlando Sentinel got to experience being a part of the show recently. He writes about the adventure today on Theme Park Rangers.

Universal Studios Orlando will feature Manheim Steamroller live in concert on Dec. 6. The group will perform at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. that day in the New York area of the park.

And Dec. 6 is a big day for the resort. The Macy’s Holiday Parade also debuts that day at 7 p.m. in the Universal Studios park.

And the “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” show will be back in Islands of Adventure beginning Dec. 6.

The shows are included in the regular park admission prices.

If you’re visiting Orlando during Thanksgiving week, here’s some fun you might want to check out.

The Polar Bear Club — the crazy folks who take a plunge into icy water — now has a branch in Orlando.

Now you know there’s no icy water to be found in Florida, so how is this going to happen?

Enter Gaylord Palms, and the resort’s “Ice” exhibit. The entire exhibit is carved out of ice each holiday season and this year, it will feature four ice slides that land in freezing water.

So on Nov. 28 at 8:30 a.m., the Orlando Polar Bear Club will run through the 9-degree exhibit in bathing suits and take the plunge. Tickets are $19.99 and include a “warm-up” reception with coffee and hot cocoa. And $5 of your ticket goes to Special Olympics.

If you’re interested in joining the club, you can buy a ticket at www.orlandopolarbearclub.com. Theme Park Mom is gonna be content to just watch.