Wizarding World of Harry Potter

‘Diagon Alley’ to open at Universal Studios in 2014

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando will expand into London next year, the theme park announced Wednesday. The new area, which has been under construction for months, will be built along Diagon Alley, and the centerpiece will be a ride based on Gringotts Bank. It is to be completed in 2014.

Theme parks

New attractions star Transformers, penguins, animal warriors

Central Florida’s theme parks will have a spate of new attractions opening over the next three months as Autobots take on Decepticons, the animal tribes of Chima battle over “chi,” pirates battle over treasure, penguins open their 30-degree home to visitors (Brrr!), space shuttle Atlantis goes on display, and the characters of Madagascar come to life.

Florida: Disney to open 24 hours on May 24

Just can’t get enough

Theme parks

Transformers ride to open at Universal in June

Transformers: The Ride – 3D will open at Universal Studios June 20, just a year after construction began and close to the start of the summer season, resort officials announced Thursday.

Florida

Vero Beach: Off the well-trodden tourist trail

You can order Gloria Estefan’s ropa vieja at either end of an hour-and-a-half drive on I-95, but only in Vero Beach does it come with a side dish of an uncrowded, white sand beach.

Florida: Collier celebrating 90th anniversary

Historic moments

Florida museum

A new perspective on art, history and technology

Those who remember the pink stucco and brick façade of the original Elliott Museum will be surprised at the “pink lady” now. The Grand Dame has been reincarnated. The demolition and reconstruction took 1 1/2 years.

Florida: Eight Flags Shrimp Festival on Amelia Island

Come hungry

Florida: Key West Songwriters Festival May 1-5

They write the songs

Make it a weekend garden party

During the 1950s, my husband traveled from New York to Miami Beach for winter vacation long before there was an I-95. He recalls seeing the McKee Jungle Garden, hailed as a “mecca for visitors,” set along Route 1 in Vero Beach. Attractions at the 80-acre “manmade jungle” included a wide variety of palms, spider and rhesus monkeys, a bear named Dr. Dolittle and fly-eating flowers.

Florida: Polk City’s Fantasy of Flight hosts Mustangs & Mustangs

Fly and Drive

Florida

Quiet beaches on Sanibel Island

Visit the beaches on this Gulf Coast barrier island and you’re likely to see people doing the Sanibel Stoop. That’s the term for the bent-at-the-waist posture used to collect seashells on Sanibel Island, which bills itself as one of the best shelling locations in the world.

Florida: Key Largo to host Humphrey Bogart Film Festival

Remembering Bogie

Quick trips: Southwest Florida

Marco Island swings its moods

Women in feathers danced some sort of crazy mating ritual to Southern tunes — vying, I was told, for the honored title of Buzzard Queen. Then there was the 70-something-year-old man in the loin cloth and tails wearing a Buzzard Queen Inspector button and, around his neck, a Perfect Woman Meter.

Kennedy Space Center

Angry Birds and pigs in space

I pull back on the slingshot and release an attack on the pig glaring smugly back at me from the facing wall.

Travelwise

Free sights for Florida’s budget travelers

Touring Florida can be expensive, especially for a traveler who chooses waterfront hotels and gourmet restaurants. But along 1,200 miles of coastline and 11,000 miles of rivers and waterways — as well as spots of dry land — are plenty of places for free fun. Here’s a sampling:

500 years of ‘La Florida’

Half a millennium has passed since Ponce de Leon claimed the state for Spain

Old Florida dining

If these shacks could talk

Nothing fancy: That could be the motto of the classic Florida fish shack.

Central Florida

‘World of Chima’ coming to Legoland

Tribes of animal warriors are coming to Legoland Florida this summer in a new “land,” based on Lego’s latest toy series, Legends of Chima, that will feature a water ride as its centerpiece.

Florida: Key Largo’s Brew on the Bay

Something’s brewing in Key Largo