From Tragic to Magic! Orlando Rewards Travelers With Vacation Makeovers

ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Is trip planning so time-consuming you're already planning a family vacation to celebrate your six-year-old's college graduation? Are you challenged each time you try to satisfy the needs of your adventurous teen and timid toddler? If so, Visit Orlando wants to know all about it!

Just in time to ring in 2011, Visit Orlando is launching its first-ever 'Vacation Makeover' search where any traveler in America could be selected to receive the Orlando dream trip of a lifetime that only the country's most visited vacation destination can deliver. Beginning today, travelers can submit stories to VisitOrlando.com/makeover of their memories of their most challenging vacation planning issues, most exhausting excursion, nerve-wracking retreat, or the time a holiday went haywire. Their entry will put them in the running to receive a one-of-a-kind Orlando vacation that solves their previous vacation challenges and comes complete with airfare, accommodations, attraction admissions, ground transportation, and more.

"Every day on television, designers are providing women with beauty makeovers, construction crews are creating home makeovers, and stylists are offering wardrobe makeovers," observes Visit Orlando chief marketing officer Danielle Courtenay. "We realized that when you have a destination like Orlando, you have the ability to offer girlfriends, couples, families – any traveler who's ever suffered a vacation meltdown, actually – a vacation makeover."

Adding an extra level of fun to an already over-the-top grand prize, winners will be featured in an online travelogue throughout their time in Orlando as they share their experience with a global audience of fans and followers tracking their adventures on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. And to help plan each vacation to perfection, renowned travel expert Emily Kaufman, The Travel Mom, will personally meet each winner to assess their interests and customize each week-long getaway. Together, Kaufman, a celebrity mom and the Visit Orlando vacation delegation will review Orlando's 100-plus attractions and craft a schedule that satisfies the needs of everyone.

For the chance at one of five completely customized Orlando vacations, travelers must share why they need a vacation makeover in 500 words or less and upload a recent image at VisitOrlando.com/makeover by March 2, 2011.  Winners will be announced mid-March.

For more information about vacation experiences in Orlando, to order a complimentary vacation planning kit that includes a comprehensive Official Vacation Guide and Orlando Magicard® or to purchase discount attraction tickets, visitors can log onto Orlando's official website at VisitOrlando.com or call an Official Travel Counselor at 1-800-551-0181 (United States and Canada) or 407-363-5872. For real time updates, follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/VisitOrlando or Facebook at Facebook.com/VisitOrlando. While in Orlando, visitors may stop by the Official Visitor Center located at 8723 International Drive, at the southeast corner of International Drive and Austrian Row. The Official Visitor Center is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (closes at 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving, Dec. 24 and Dec. 31 and is closed Dec. 25).

SOURCE Visit Orlando