Warm up to free Orlando vacation deals in addition to playing great resort golf
The Orlando/Orange County CVB is offering discounts to attractions and the golf courses at Disney, plus area standouts such as Hawk's Landing golf course and Shingle Creek Golf Club.
Free. And with bundles of smiles.
It's enough to keep you warm on a frozen winter night, which is what most of the country has been trying to do since the calendar clicked over to January.
Thoughts of warm-weather vacations and golf vacation destinations like Orlando, Fla., are obviously swaying like palm trees in frigid heads this time of year. And with its "Bundles of Free Smiles" program from Jan. 1 to June 30, it looks like the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau is working overtime on helping you shed those layers of clothes.
Free travel offers. Free admission to various attractions. Free room nights. Free events.
And to say there are plenty of quality golf courses in Orlando and the surrounding area is to say Las Vegas has a lot of casinos in which to gamble.
Walt Disney World Resort is naturally included in one of the vacation packages, which opens access to any of the Mouse's six courses - like Osprey Ridge and the Lake Buena Vista course - and various theme parks.
Orlando World Center Marriott signed on, too, giving guests a chance to play the highly regarded Hawk's Landing Golf Club, which wraps around three sides of the resort.
Rosen Shingle Creek also joined the promotion and has a course - Shingle Creek Golf Club - that has garnered awards from Golfweek magazine and other industry publications.
A wide range of more than 50 free offers, including attractions at SeaWorld and Universal Orlando Resort, are listed on bundlesoffreesmiles.com.
Free offers are redeemed by downloading an Orlando Smile Card at bundlesoffreesmiles.com or mentioning the promotional code associated with the offer.
More information on all "Bundles of Free Smiles" offers, participating establishments and special events, is available at the Web site or by calling 1-888-ORL4-FUN (888-675-4386).
January 22, 2009
Tom Spousta, Contributor
Veteran golf writer Tom Spousta keeps one eye on the PGA Tour and another watching golf vacation hotspots and letting travelers in on the best place to vacation. He has covered golf and other sports for USA Today and The New York Times. Tom lives on a Donald Ross-designed golf course in Sarasota, Fla.