The Queen of Soul performs March 13 as part of Universal Orlando’s Mardi Gras celebration, which runs Saturdays through April 17. Mardi Gras means Cajun cuisine, authentic New Orleans music, concerts, and, of course, a parade with plenty of bead throwing.

The Mardi Gras parade starts at 8 p.m. Saturday night, and Aretha’s concert will begin at 8:30 p.m.

The concert lineup for the rest of the Mardi Gras season includes:

• March 20: Miranda Lambert
• March 27: 3 Doors Down
• April 3: Beach Boys
• April 9: Sheryl Crow
• April 10: Flo Rida
• April 17: Chicago

Universal is running a special hotel package in conjunction with Mardi Gras this spring: Book 3 nights and get 2 more free. You can still book this package online through the end of March.

The resort has 386 rooms and is built for families, with dozens of options such as two-bedroom suites and rooms that connect side-to-side or back-to-back. Larger families that book adjoining rooms will get a $30 price break over the cost of two individual rooms.

And then there’s the water park! CoCo Key Water Resort will have 8 water slides, children’s play areas, a teen area and a quiet pool zone, all under a canopy.

There’s also a full-service restaurant, food court and grab and go market on the property, so plenty of options for eating.

Here’s how the pricing works: You book your hotel rooms (rates range from $99 to $149 per night), and then pay an additional $19 per day, per room resort fee, which covers unlimited access to the water park for up to four people, as well as your in-room Internet and other children’s activities at the hotel.

This new hotel and water park is centrally located on International Drive in Orlando. Coco Key will offer free transportation to and from Universal Studios Orlando, Islands of Adventure, SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica and Wet n’ Wild. It’s about a 20-minute drive away from Walt Disney World.

This device has a 3.0 megapixel camera with an LED flash. Two things like about it:

• There is an easy way, right from the camera screen to turn the flash on, turn the flash off or leave it on auto. With my previous cell phones with cameras, I refrained from taking pictures in “no flash photography allowed” situations, because I didn’t know how to turn off my flash.
• The camera takes multiple pictures quite rapidly. There is no real lag time between shots.

One thing I don’t like about the camera:

• There is no zoom capability. This is likely a choice of the developer – speed over a digital zoom – and if you have to make the choice, I guess I would lose the zoom, too. But it would be nice to let the user make that choice on a case-by-case basis.

That said, overall I am happy with the Verizon Palm Pre Plus camera. Here are some pictures I took with it. They are completely unedited, and you can click them to see the actual size the camera takes.

The view from our hotel room at the Quality Suites Oceanfront in Jacksonville.

Taken in a dark room with the Verizon Palm Pre Plus camera flash, at the Museum of Science and History in Jacksonville.

Outside with the sun overhead, at the Jacksonville Beach Pier.

As I mentioned in my last review post, an update to Palm’s webOS last week gave the Verizon Palm Pre Plus a camcorder function. I am very pleased with how it works! Not only can you shoot video on the Verizon Palm Pre Plus, there is also an edit function that allows you to trim the ends of the video easily. Here is a video I shot, edited and uploaded straight to YouTube from my phone. It was shot at the Jacksonville Museum of Science and History in a room with the lights turned off.

Disclosure notice: Verizon paid for my Palm Pre Plus and is paying for one month of my service in exchange for me trying the phone and posting about my experiences on my blog. I’m still thinking for myself, though, and you can count on me to provide my honest opinion of this product.

• Guests can swim with Navy Divers at Paradise Lagoon.
• Listen to the Navy Rock Band each day from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
• Challenge a Navy volleyball team to a game for a chance to win a prize.
• Take a look at the Blue Angels flight simulator.

Regular hours at Adventure Island are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Following the park’s preview next weekend, Adventure Island opens for the season on March 22.

I did not know much about the Palm Pre Plus before I started using it, but one thing I had heard about was the webOS operating system Palm had developed. I heard people were raving about it.

Now I see why, and that’s what I will be covering in my next few posts about the device.

The big news is that my phone told me there was an update of webOS that needed to be installed yesterday. This update was “pushed” to my phone; I didn’t have to go anywhere and download it. That’s great for me because I am terrible about taking the time to download software updates and get them installed. One click to give the OK to install, and the Verizon Palm Pre Plus did all the work.

And then I went to use the camera. And lo and behold, the only major thing I had been missing in this phone was there: Video! The Palm Pre Plus can now take video! And not only does it shoot video, you can edit it right on the device and upload it to YouTube. I was going to give it a try yesterday and upload a video to share, but mama was having a very bad hair day. I will be shooting a video to share on my trip to the beach this weekend.

So, that’s the big news. There were many other feature updates with the new webOS upgrade. The sheer number of them tells me Palm is serious about improving their operating system continuously to make it easier and easier for its users.

On to the Web browser, which is, in a word, fantastic. With my old phone, I used to constantly try to load a Web page and then just give up when the browser would hang on a script it didn’t want to run. The Verizon Palm Pre Plus has loaded every Web page I have tried in the past two weeks, and that has to number in the hundreds by now.

I also like that the Palm Pre Plus Web browser loads the whole page as it would appear on a larger screen. Then, I double tap on the area I want to zoom in on and read. This saves me a surprising amount of time. Other mobile devices I have used broke up the information on Web pages to load everything in a readable size first, so I had to scroll through a mile of sidebar information to get to the blog post I wanted to read.

The speed of the Web browser seems lightning quick to me on Verizon’s 3G network. Last week, I took a trip to a rural area not yet covered by 3G, and the speed was still noticeably faster than it had been with my old device in the same area.

Next up: I will be talking about how Palm’s webOS uses “cards,” and why this system is great for busy moms. And I’ll show you a video taken with the Verizon Palm Pre Plus.

Disclosure notice: Verizon paid for my Palm Pre Plus and is paying for one month of my service in exchange for me trying the phone and posting about my experiences on my blog. I’m still thinking for myself, though, and you can count on me to provide my honest opinion of this product.

Walt Disney World has announced a series of new additions at Downtown Disney, a shopping and entertainment complex at the resort.

First up is the new store RIDEMAKERZ, which is opening March 25 on the Downtown Disney West Side. Shoppers can trick out their own remote-controlled car in an interactive environment. This store is open for a limited time, with plans to close it in the fall. The RIDEMAKERZ at Disneyland is apparently a big hit. Sounds like fun!

Another new store, D Street, will sell urban apparel, accessories and Vinylmation figures.  D Street comes after the successful launch of Tren-D on the opposite end of Downtown Disney. Disney says the store will have an industrial look and will showcase Disney-inspired art by local artists. D Street will open in April.

Downtown Disney’s AMC movie theater is also undergoing renovations. One of the theaters is getting a larger, floor-to-ceiling screen and video and audio enhancements to make for better 3D viewing. The changes will be done just in time for Friday’s Alice in Wonderland premiere.

And a new quick-service restaurant – Pollo Campero — will open in the space that was once a McDonalds. Pollo Campero will dish up chicken, yuca fries and sweet plantains, as well as Latin drinks such as horchata and tamarindo. The new restaurant is scheduled to open this fall at Downtown Disney.

The Go San Diego Card already included admission to 50 attractions and tours in Southern California, and now you can visit one of the premiere theme parks in the country with the card, as well.

If you have never had a Go Card, they are different from those free discount cards or coupon books you pick up when traveling. The Go Card is actually a ticket you use to get into your choice of the participating attractions. You pay one (discounted!) price, and choose whatever you want to see for the number of days you need.

For example, a 3-day San Diego Go Card costs $169 for adults. Use that card to visit three top attractions in San Diego — Legoland California, SeaWorld San Diego and the San Diego Zoo — and you will save yourself $26. Hit up another attraction or two, like the San Diego Museum of Art of a Whale Watch Cruise, and you will save even more.

In fact, there are more than 50 attractions, museums, theme parks and tours to choose from with the Go San Diego Card.

You can order the card for 1, 2, 3, 5 or 7 consecutive days of fun.

Good news!

You know how I always tell you to check for discounts online before you go on a trip? Well, right now, Smart Destinations is offering a 10 percent discount on Go San Diego Cards when you buy them online. For a family of 4, this sale adds up to a savings of almost $59 on the 3-day cards.

And yes, you can buy the Go San Diego Card online before your trip. Just be sure you use it within 1 year of your purchase.

Better news!

The folks at Smart Destinations want to give one lucky Theme Park Mom reader a 3-day Go San Diego Card!

Here’s how to enter the Go San Diego Card giveaway:

Required for entry:

Check out the Go San Diego Card Web site, then come back here and leave a comment telling me about two attractions you would use your card to visit.

Extra entries:

You can earn one extra entry for doing each of the following. Be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

• Subscribe to my blog.
• Follow me on Twitter.
• Tweet about this giveaway – SeaWorld San Diego is now part of the Go San Diego Card! Enter to win one @themeparkmom’s blog: http://bit.ly/b9F59f

The fine print: Entries for this contest will close at 9 p.m. Eastern on March 15, 2010. I will announce the winner with an update on this post on March 16. Open to U.S. winners only. The winner will be chosen by Random.org; odds of winning depend on the number of entries received.

Disclosure Notice: Smart Destinations is providing the prize for this giveaway.

Boys Like Girls

The Bamboozle Road Show, a rock and pop festival, will be making stops at five Six Flags theme parks this summer.

The headliners for the shows include Boys Like Girls, All Time Low, Third Eye Blind, LMFAO, Forever the Sickest Kids, Good Charlotte and Simple Plan.

These concert festivals are all-day events with two stages – one featuring a rotation of headline acts and a second featuring up-and-coming performers.

“The Bamboozle Roadshow is one of the hottest tickets in music and we are very excited to be a part of this year’s tour,” said Dan Weinberg, Six Flags VP of Entertainment.

The acts will vary by park — not all headliners will be at every show. Specific artist information has not been released yet.

Here are the dates for the Bamboozle shows at Six Flags:

• May 23: Six Flags over Georgia (Atlanta)
• May 29: Six Flags over Texas (Arlington)
• May 30: Six Flags Fiesta Texas (San Antonio)
• June 13: Six Flags St. Louis
• June 24: Six Flags Great Adventure (Jackson, N.J.)

Tickets are already on sale for Six Flags season passholders. They go on sale to the general public on Friday, March 5 at SixFlags.com.

The part of Summer Nightastic! many Disney fans are most excited about is the return of the beloved Main Street Electrical Parade in the Magic Kingdom.

There will also be a new Magic Kingdom fireworks show, as well as a new drop sequence and special lighting effects at the Tower of Terror in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is offering some new character dining options with the Sesame Street characters starting on March 27.

The Tampa theme park is opening its new Sesame Street Safari of Fun children’s area on that day, and you can make your reservations now to have breakfast or lunch with Elmo and friends.

Busch Gardens previewed their character breakfast for the media last week. Here’s a photo tour:

The dining venue is open air, so you will need to be sure everyone is dressed accordingly. It is covered and shaded, though, and will be a great respite from the sun this summer.

Most of the Sesame Street Safari of Fun is still under construction, but here’s a look at a finished walkway that shows the bright colors and mural painting that will be used in the new children’s area.

The preschooler who visited with me wanted me to take a picture of the bathroom, so here you go! It is conveniently located near the dining venue and will be close to the splash-play area, as well. I do wonder if that lone diaper-changing shelf will be enough on busy days at Busch Gardens.

The breakfast buffet included fresh fruit, muffins, cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, biscuits, bacon, sausage, pancakes and cold cereals. It was kid-friendly – everyone should be able to find something they like here. The beverage choices included coffee, milk (white or chocolate) and various juices.

The Sesame Street characters arrived with great fanfare. Classic Sesame Street music (“Doin’ the Pigeon,” “What’s the Name of That Song?” “Rubber Ducky,” etc.) played as the characters mingled. Elmo and Big Bird posed with kids for a professional photo at the backdrop shown in the picture at the top of this post, while Cookie Monster, Zoe, Bert, Ernie and Rosita made the rounds in the dining room.

The characters sign autographs. Be sure to bring a thick marker and a notebook or autograph book if you want them to sign; it’s hard for the characters to hold a regular pen.

I was impressed with the performance of the characters. They did a great job of interacting with the kids and getting down on their level. There was plenty of time to get pictures with all of them.

Breakfast with Elmo and Friends and Lunch with Elmo and Friends can be reserved online now. Breakfasts cost $18 for adults and $15 for children ages 3 to 9. Lunch is $23 for adults and $17 for children. Children under 3 are free at both meals, but they still need a reservation.

Right now, Busch Gardens is taking reservations for a 9:30 a.m. breakfast seating on Friday, Saturday or Sunday and an 11:30 a.m. lunch seating daily. Those times and days will likely be tweaked with the crowd levels once the Sesame Street Safari of Fun opens later this month.

Don’t forget about the new offer for kids 5 and under – a free pass to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay that is good through the end of 2010! You must sign up for this offer online at SesameStreetSafariofFun.com.