WATCH: Orlando Opens Two Insanely Tall, Record-Breaking Thrill Rides
Posted on 01/10/2022, 5:30 PM
Update: In March 2021, a 14-year-old boy fell from the FreeFall and died. Investigators later accused the ride operator of manually altering the restraint system to accommodate larger riders, compromising safety. In October 2021, it was announced that FreeFall would not reopen and would be demoliished instead. SlingShot, operated by the same owners, has not yet reopend.Orlando is known for amusemen...
2022's Safest U.S. Airline—and Where It Ranks Worldwide
Posted on 01/08/2022, 5:30 AM
Covid-19 has been the biggest safety concern in air travel (and every other kind of travel) for two years now. So it's no wonder the expert safety monitors at AirlineRatings.com have added Covid protocols to the main criteria for assembling the site's annual list of the world's safest airlines. Since U.S.-based carriers have balked at tough pandemic-era health and safety measures adopted elsewher...
Experts Weigh In On the Top Restaurant Trends For 2022
Posted on 01/07/2022, 5:45 PM
We all know people who travel to eat. In fact, we may be people who travel to eat. But two pandemic years and the simple march of time have shifted where and what we'll eat when we travel in 2022—and how we'll do so in our home communities, for that matter. To get a handle on those potential changes, I looked at the end-of-year articles from a number of experts, from those in the restaurant indust...
Hawaii Simplifies Entry Requirements for Omicron
Posted on 01/06/2022, 2:00 PM
As of this week, visitors to Hawaii no longer have to fill out a pre-arrival questionnaire. Border officials will still ask asking visiting U.S. citizens for a recent negative NAAT or antigen test through one of the state's Trusted Testing Partners. For vaccinated travelers (proof is required), tests must be taken no more than three days before boarding flights. For unvaccinated travelers, each ...
San Diego Water Park Reborn as the West Coast’s First Sesame Street Theme Park
Posted on 01/05/2022, 5:45 PM
To the venerable query "Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?", a new theme park in Southern California has an answer: by inner tube. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment is transforming the site of its Aquatica water park in Chula Vista, California (just outside San Diego), into Sesame Place San Diego, a new theme park dedicated to Sesame Street and the long-running kids' show's lovable ros...
Explore the Logs of Every Sailing of the Revered QE2 Ocean Liner on This Interactive Website
Posted on 01/03/2022, 12:45 PM
During its 40 years in service starting in 1968, Cunard's Queen Elizabeth 2 ocean liner sailed a total of nearly 6 million miles, stopping at 312 ports around the world and crossing the Atlantic Ocean 805 times. Now permanently docked in Dubai, the QE2, as it's commonly known, has been transformed into a 13-deck, 215-room floating hotel in the city's Port Rashid district. But you don't have to g...
Here Are the Dates When U.S. National Parks Are Free in 2022
Posted on 12/29/2021, 1:15 PM
On December 28, 2021, the National Park Service announced the days in 2022 when entry to national park units will be free. Although we love any day when the general public can waltz into their national parks without paying a dime (rather than paying up to $35 per carload, the entry fee at many of the most popular parks), the calendar for 2022 has left us disappointed. This taxpayer-paid gift is o...
PHOTOS: Robots of the Future Look Cool at This Sci-Fi Ice Hotel in Finland
Posted on 12/28/2021, 7:00 AM
In frozen Finland, a seasonal hotel that's made entirely out of ice and snow is celebrating its 20th winter in operation by looking toward the future. Located in a resort area inside the Arctic Circle, Lapland Hotels SnowVillage has a science fiction theme this year, with overnight suites designed to look like the insides of spaceships. Throughout the chilly complex, elaborate ice sculptures depic...
Spock’s Ears and Other Major Changes Coming to the Smithsonian’s Air & Space Museum
Posted on 12/22/2021, 6:00 AM
Two of the most iconic appendages in sci-fi are going on permanent display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The institution announced last week that it has accepted the gift of a pair of prosthetic ear tips worn by Leonard Nimoy when he played Spock on the original Star Trek TV series, which ran from 1966 to 1969. The pointy foam props we...
Holiday Flight Delayed? This Hard Seltzer Company Will Buy You a Drink
Posted on 12/21/2021, 12:00 PM
Air travel could drive anybody to drink nowadays, so maybe it makes sense that liquor companies are trying to ease our flying woes this holiday season. Last week we told you about a Maker's Mark promotion that will reimburse checked baggage fees. Now, the hard seltzer company Vizzy has announced it will buy a drink for anyone whose flight is delayed on the busiest holiday travel days this year—t...
