The Orlando Japan Festival is sponsored by the non profit Japan Association of Orlando. The JAO was…read morefounded in 2011 and ever since then they have worked to create a greater understanding of Japanese culture in Florida to cultivate a deeper understanding of and interest in Japan and to promote friendship between Japan and Florida. The signature event of the JAO is the annual Orlando Japan Festival held every November. This year was the 24th year of the festival. The Orlando Japan Festival is held in the spacious Lakefront Park in Kissimmee. I was pleased to see that there was plenty of free parking only a few blocks away. Nothing ruins my festival mood faster than circling an hour for overpriced parking. Another nice feature of this festival is that admission is free. The festival is large and spread throughout this beautiful park. Near the water we were able to catch some relief from the heat with a cooling breeze. There are over 50 vendors selling Japanese goods, food, and drinks, and entertainment that includes Taiko drumming, Koto (the Japanese harp), traditional dancing, exhibitions of martial arts such as Judo, Karate and Kobudo. This Japanese culture festival ranges from the traditional to modern pop culture. My favorite part of the event was people watching because many attendees arrived in elaborate costumes. We started off with boba drinks and shopping but it was very hot and the food was expensive and the lines were long. After enjoying a walk around the festival we headed out to somewhere where we could sit and enjoy air conditioning while we ate. My recommendation is to arrive early for least limes and so you can enjoy all of the entertainment.

Love attending the annual japanese fetsival down in lakefront park in kissimmee around November!…read more My experience every year is always interesting especially the array of food booths and market booths that they offer. My favorite booth is the japanese anime / souvenier booth that offers kimono's , anime items, hello kitty, japanese ceramic tableware just to name a few! I recall the few times I have attended I have bought TONS of hello kitty items for less than $10! Last year I bought all of the kimono's they had for $10 each! I use the kimono's as beach or pool coverups. I also scored a big Hello Kitty Toki Doki backpack for $10! My favorite food booths are the gyudon beef bowl booth and the onigiri. I think its reasonably priced and you get full from eating it throughout the day you spend at the festival. You will also noticed some guests dressed in anime costumes and some in their kimono's. I attended wearing a kimono one time but the weather was too warm to wear all day. They finally sold souvenier t shirts for $25 last year and I ended up buying one since the past years they haven't sold any from what I recall. The japanese festival is a great way to experience japanese culture and to try out the awesome food the food booths offer. They also showcase cultural music on stage and also kimono try on's. Just a tip - If you want nearby parking try to come in 1 hr early before the festival starts. Try to attend it this year if you can!

What's not to like about Night of a Million Lights?! This event is held at Give Kids the World…read morewhich is a story book type resort dedicated to providing children with critical illnesses and their families A weeklong vacation experience. As for the event, Night of a Million Lights, it is a holiday event work all the houses are adorned with Christmas lights and music going on all around. For 2021, as you arrive to the property you are directed to parking on the other side of Route 192. From there you will be driven by boss over to the event. It's about a 10 minute bus ride, maybe a little less if less traffic and you don't hit the light, from the parking to the event drop off. Your ticket is scan before you get on the bus so once you come off, can you simply start enjoying the run. This year they have plenty of vendors throughout the property selling food, snacks, merchandise. It's a great event for a great cause, and plenty of opportunities for holiday photos

This was a great experience! I went on opening night (not intentionally, just worked with our…read moreplans) with my mother, aunt and cousin (GNO). We wanted to do something extra Christmas-y while my aunt and cousin were in town visiting and this fit the bill! We didn't fully know what to expect regarding the showcase, but it rocked! Plus, your supporting a good cause. The light displays were elaborate and so cool, I thought the sponsored houses were neat, and the train ride had a fantastic story and information with it. We didn't eat anything there or get souvenirs, but it looks well organized from that perspective with options. We were there from ~8pm-10pm and it was a perfect amount of time. It was low key and relaxed, but so exciting! I'd recommend this as a cute date night for couples or a family outing for young children. If you liked and miss Disney's Osbourne Lights at Hollywood Studios, you're going to love Night of a Million Lights!

The food was amazing, the beer was very cold and well poured, and the service was impeccable…read more Everything was clean and food came out in a timely manner. The server was kind enough to take a picture with us and our dog. The music was jovial, and I didn't understand a word of it, but I did tap my foot.

DATE NIGHT NEW PLACES ADVENTURE!!!…read more The wife and I went to Krush Brau Park for what was supposed to be an Event this past Sept. Live Band, Classic Car Show, Food, Beer, Wine. A real Event!!! Well when we got there we found out that it was not an Event at all. The Event was under a tent on the other side of the parking lot from their main restaurant. So we took the walk over through the parking lot while passing their under construction brewery building. When we walk into the tent we find... First: Very little people. For an Event I would think the large tent would at least be half full, 50-60 people. It was not, there was probably about 20 patrons present. As we sat their we saw other couples or Families doing the same thing they ordered food and were stuck till they got it. They ate it and left. That's exactly what we did as well. There were people who stayed the whole time, but they were drinking one beer after another practically. Actually saw a guy get carried out by his friends. Glad my kids weren't with us. The environment was relaxed and semi festive with flags, but not much else. Second: No live band. Music was from someone's phone with commercials, lol. Honestly, even if they had a live band. With how tall the stage is in comparison to the tent. You wouldn't see them playing unless you were in the first 5 feet of the tent. There is a very small grass space in between and that doesn't help much as then you wouldn't most likely be blocking that 5 foot into the tent. It a good layout for live music visuals. Third: the food. As I looked around I saw very little consumers with food. We can here to specifically try their Bavarian pretzels. So we said let's get a drink and a pretzel then bounce to the next spot!!! We ordered a Mojito 12$, Coke 2$ & Bavarian Pretzel 10$. We were given our drinks and we waited and waited and waited. 26 mins for a pretzel!!! We were almost done with our drinks when we finally got the pretzel. The pretzel was soft, but small and luke warm. Not hot and fresh. The beer cheese was good, but standard taste. Now we saw why barely anyone had food when we walked in. We found that rather than serving the food direct at the restaurant or have a trailer at the tent to cook in. They were driving the food over from the main restaurant and causing a large gap in serving time to this not existent Event. This is creating a Timelapse and outside temp exposure to all the food before giving it to the consumers. Service was ok. The people were very nice, but you did feel forgotten about unless you walked up for something as they just stood in the booths and weren't out cleaning tables or talking with customers. It was more like a hang out under the tent and a separate one for the employees in the Service Trailer. Hopefully they will figure it out, but Krush Brau Park needs allot of improvement in their Events & SOP's before we will ever return for any reason!!! (SOP's= Standard Operating Procedures) Was hoping for a Fun New Place, but we will have to wait to give this pace a second chance once the brewery is open. It did look very cool with a large rock or mountain on the outside so I kinda can't wait to see what they do on the inside. Also, to see where they can go and how they change their Pretzel and Service Practices. Maybe the Main Restaurant is a better experience, but the pretzel wasn't really worth the price or Tasty enough to make us want to go back to try their sausages or spend money on anything else at this time. AS ALWAYS TRY IT FOR YOURSELF!!!

Every year I visit the exotic car festival because it's big! Busy! Fun!…read more Lots of cars and entertainment, people from everywhere come out for this!!!

Love this festival. Ferrari section is my favorite. I wish the show was 2 day display, not one.read more

What a great time! This annual event, sponsored by Crisco, is reminiscent of a small town's fair…read more Friendly people abound here, and Pie Pride oozes from every single booth. There are markets, bakeries, and restaurants galore here, all keen to have you taste either their take on a traditional, or point you with special glee towards their own creations. The weather cooperated, the band was great, people struck up conversations with strangers, and everyone got a little sun. I'm awfully glad that Yelp made this a Yelp Event. I didn't see any other Yelpistas, but then again, my eyes were looking at all that deliciousness..... So, come tomorrow- or next year. And, keep you eyes on the pies!!!

One of the best events we have each year is the Great American Pie Festival over at Celebration! I…read morehave gone to this even for the past 4 years in a row and it always is worth the drive. This year, I was lucky enough to get free entry into the never ending pie buffet from our friends at Yelp! Thanks Colleen for the pie! Since parking can be a nightmare even without events at Celebration, we always park by a friends house over by the high school and walk over. It only takes about 10 min to walk over and besides, it is a nice walk back to the car to walk off some of the pie we just inhaled. We arrived on Saturday around 1 pm and found the crowds this year to be a bit lighter than in the past. After checking in with the info booth and getting our wrist bands, we enjoyed checking out all the vendors and seeing if their was any arts and crafts we might want. There is a large booth that sells t-shirts, cookbooks and of course pies! This year, there were also a larger amount of food vendors selling the normal fair type foods. We did not indulge since we were saving room for pie. They also had a zip line contraption that looked like fun. We made our way over to the pie buffet entry. You must have a wrist band or you cant get in! The pie police are watching you. Once inside, we armed ourselves with plastic forks ( I suggest bringing your own metal one if you like) and then started to check out all the booths. There seemed to be less vendors than in the past. Publix and Winn Dixie were there as well as Kroger's and the Village inn. All make great pies but the ones I enjoy most are from some of the more independent pie companies that make unusual combinations of flavors. Bakers Square, Bonerts, Legendary Baking, and Wicks pies are these types of vendors. Yet this year, they only seemed to have a few flavors to try while in the past, they might have 10 or more types. My favorite of all time was a chocolate coated frozen cheesecake on a stick.... but alas, it was not there this year. Sniff Sniff... All in all, it was still a great feast! I will say that most people can eat about 5 or 6 slices before they are done but one friend of mine ate 10 slices! Oink! Some people like to eat one slice at a time while others stop at each booth, grab the ones they want, and then find a place to spread them all out and eat them one by one. After our pig out, we continued to check out many of the other booths that circle the stage. Crisco is the main sponsor but there are also booths for Duncan Hines, Smuckers, and Dunkin Donuts. Duncan was having a bit of a scavenger hunt with their new stir in flavors of frosting. You had to collect all 12 of the flavors and then visit their booth to be in a drawing for prizes. I collected them all, got my ticket for the hourly drawing but never got back to see if I won... oh well... There was also the appearance of Poppin Fresh! and Pie man! Always popular and sometimes a line to get a photo with them. The main stage had an assortment of entertainment including comedian Kirk Marsh, singer Dean Daniels and guest chefs David Sloan and Brian Ehrenholm. If you want something fun to do and love pie, I do recommend checking out the pie festival. The normal entry for adults is $10 and if you eat enough pie, it pays for itself. Our best tip would be go in... eat pie... walk around and enjoy the booths and sights... then go back again for more pie! (Then take a really long walk back to your car!) Enjoy!

It was another fun night at Harbor Nights. I haven't been to one in about two years as it was…read moretrending downward per my last review. I had gone numerous times over the past 10 years. This time, I noticed a significant change in how the food was served. In the past, you went to individual stands to sample a taste from various restaurants. Now, there are several buffet style setups where you can get a complete meal at one time. There was an antipasto station with meats, cheeses, fruits, etc. A carving station included carved New York strips of beef, Yukon gold mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley. It was very good! At the end of this station was a soup consisting of chicken, baby kale and artichokes. That was my favorite of the night. I also sampled the Pasta station which had fresh-made pasta that could be combined with beef short rib bolognese. Quite tasty! This station also included Florida Gulf Snapper and a Shrimp cannelloni. Along with a dessert table, there were several wine stations to try (the Cherry Pie Pinot Noir was quite good). Bottled water, soft drinks and a beer selection were also available. The band was fantastic and got the majority of people dancing and having a great time. Line dances were even encouraged! One complaint I still have is the lack of available cocktail tables for those of us who do not purchase the VIP packages. They are few and far between and more than three or four people in your party make it difficult to keep all the plates, wine glasses and water bottles on this small space. Of course, chairs are not provided for these cocktail tables. Finally, once you finish with your plates, service people are few and far between to clear the cocktail tables. Luckily, there was a dirty dishes table about 20 feet away. I was required to take the dishes there to allow my party to have comfortable room at our table. I probably will not be back for a while given the price for regular admission (with taxes and service charges) is well over $100. However, it can be fun for an occasional night out.

Attended Harbor Nights Romantico and it was absolutely amazing! The ambiance is incredible and the…read morestaff is awesome, I really enjoy this event and try to attend every year, the food was a 10/10 the braised short ribs were indescribably good, the Florida Grouper 10/10 and the Fresh Made Pasta Chef's Kiss. The Antipasto Display was perfectly crafted. The wine selection was great also. Always enjoy Harbor Nights, this is definitely an event that everyone should attend, it is especially great for a romantic couples evening.

Parking: Nightmare! I'm standing in line at aux/off-site parking at a school. $20 to park. Long…read moreline waiting on shuttles that are allegedly coming to pick us up. This is absolutely ridiculous. Just on this part of the experience, i would strongly discourage coming to this event. Wait for the spring event in St Pete. Far more organized. There are no issues like this. Event: The car collection was good. Mainly euros. The grounds and staff were great. The food was pricy. Again, unlike St Pete, we don't have a variety of restaurants to eat at. Overall: I wouldn't drive from Tampa to come back.

This is a fun event that I try to make every year. It's a car show that has a large assortment of…read moreexotic cars like Lamborghinis, Mclarens, and Ferraris. The show is held at the Ritz Carlton Orlando and generally takes place in December. This year the weather was sunny and perfect for an outdoor experience. When I got there I walked around and explored the different cars and even ran into some familiar faces. They do have food and drinks available and you can even opt for a VIP lounge area for a more luxurious experience. When we finished walking around, we had lunch at one of the outdoor restaurants at the Ritz which is a nice option to have. Looking forward to next year!

This place is situated next to the community core show area between communicore Plaza and the…read morecharacter meet and greet. It's a small window shop mainly for drinks but it also served 3 food item. My girlfriend tried the cheese stuffed with cilantro and lime arepa and really liked it. She also took a tres leces and also liked it. It is a quick spot to grab something and go. There's also a little outside garden with fake grass, umbrellas and even some chairs and tables you can use to eat and watch the (now showing) encanto show.