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There & Back |
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| Travel briefs |
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| By The Associated Press |
Friday, October 09, 2009 |
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Halloween-themed attractions at amusement parks
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Eighty-one percent of amusement parks will hold Halloween or fall-themed events this year, according to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.
But fewer than half of them offered Halloween attractions 15 years ago, illustrating the tremendous growth in recreation related to the holiday, according to an informal survey conducted by IAAPA among more than 100 park managers.
Some parks offer haunted walks and other fun for thrill-seekers, complete with zombies and bloody axemen. Other places are geared for kiddies, with pumpkin-decorating and hay rides. And some cities have haunted houses created from abandoned prisons and other creepy places using Hollywood-style special effects.
Here is information on some of these attractions, compiled by the IAAPA. Check with destinations for exact times and dates; many are only open Thursday-Saturday or Friday-Sunday through Halloween.
—Boo Crew Haunted House in Rochester, Ill., “Dr. Griswold’s Experimentorium,” http://www.boocrew.com
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Fla., and Williamsburg, Va., “Howl-O-Scream,” www.howloscream.com
Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio, “HalloWeekends,” www.halloweekends.com
Carowinds, Charlotte, N.C., “SCarowinds,” www.scarowinds.com
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Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pa., “Terror Behind the Walls,” www.easternstate.org
Kennywood Park, West Mifflin, Pa., “Phantom Fright Nights,” www.phantomfrightnights.com
Kings Dominion in Doswell, Va., “Halloween Haunt,” www.kingsdominion.com
Kings Island near Cincinnati, “Halloween Haunt 2009” http://www.visitkingsisland.com
Six Flags parks, “Fright Fest,” at parks in or near Mitchellville, Md.; San Antonio, Texas; Jackson, N.J.; Gurnee, Ill.; Lake George, N.Y.; Louisville, Ky.; Los Angeles, Calif.; Arlington, Texas; Eureka, Mo.; Vallejo, Calif.; Agawam, Ma.; and Atlanta; www.sixflags.com
Universal Studios in Universal City, Calif., and in Orlando, Fla., “Halloween Horror Nights,” www.HalloweenHorrorNights.com
Great Wolf Lodge resorts, “Howl-O-Ween at the Wolf,” Kansas City, Kan.; Traverse City, Mich.; Concord, N.C.; Mason, Ohio; Sandusky, Ohio; Scotrun, Pa.; Grapevine, Texas; Williamsburg, Va.; Centralia, Wash.; Wisconsin Dells, Wis.
Hersheypark, Hershey, Pa., “Hersheypark in the Dark,” www.hersheypark.com
Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Lake Buena Vista, Fla., “Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party,” www.wdwnews.com
‘Bed in a Tree’ guide: Sleep in a seashell, wine barrel or prison cell
NEW YORK — How would you like to sleep in a giant seashell, wine barrel, prison cell or castle?
These are just a few of the incredible lodging options featured in “Bed in a Tree and Other Amazing Hotels Around the World” (Eyewitness Travel, $25).
Author Bettina Kowalewski slept in each one of the 27 unusual accommodations described in the book, from a bed in a cave in Cappodocia, Turkey, to a bed in the Ice Hotel in Norrbotten, Sweden. Each entry is accompanied by suggestions for things to do nearby.
She also found a hotel designed like a giant doghouse, the Dog Bark Park Inn, in Cottonwood, Idaho; another in Germany’s Rhine Valley where huge wine barrels have been outfitted with two beds each at the Hotel Lindenwirt; and a converted prison in Lucerne, Switzerland, where you can sleep in a cell at the Jailhotel Lowengraben.
On Isla Mujeres, off the coast of Cancun, Mexico, there are two giant white manmade seashells, outfitted with beds and bathrooms, called Casa Caracol, and in Scotland, on the Isle of Mull, you can stay in a castle.
Kowalewski also describes treehouse lodging in New Zealand; beds in spheres suspended from trees on Vancouver Island in Canada, called Free Spirit Spheres; and the place that “Bed in a Tree” is named for: a roofless, open-air bed with a mosquito net in a platform in a tree in the South African bus. It’s part of the five-star safari lodge Lion Sands, offering a front-row seat for viewing wildlife for those adventurous enough to try it.
Magazine readers’ poll names best destination spas
NEW YORK — Only two spas in the Eastern U.S. made it onto Travel + Leisure’s top 10 list of the world’s best destination spas.
Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Mass., was No. 4 on the list, and The Lodge At Woodloch in Hawley, Pa., was 10th.
Spas in Arizona, California, Mexico and Texas took the other spots, beginning with Mii amo, A Destination Spa At Enchantment, in Sedona, Ariz., in first place.
Maya Tulum Wellness Retreat & Spa in Mexico was second, followed by Miraval, Arizona Resort & Spa, in Tucson.
Lake Austin Spa Resort in Austin, Texas, took fifth place, followed by Rancho La Puerta Tecate in Mexico, Canyon Ranch in Tucson, the Golden Door in Escondido, Calif., and The Oaks at Ojai, in California.
The magazine’s “World’s Best” lists are based on results of a questionnaire made available online to readers. Respondents are permitted to complete the survey only once, and are screened in an effort to remove responses from travel industry professionals. More than 15,000 readers participated in the 2009 World’s Best Awards survey. The spa list results are on www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest/2009.
Budget Travel magazine recognizes innovation with Extra Mile Awards
NEW YORK — New services and features from Kayak.com, American Airlines, JetBlue, Google and TripAdvisor honored with Extra Mile Awards from Budget Travel magazine.
The magazine gives the awards for developments that make travel “easier, more enjoyable and more affordable.”
The top 10 winners for 2009, listed in the magazine’s October issue, are:
Kayak.com, for new features like search sharing, a real-time map of available airfare and an iPhone application.
New York City, for new public spaces like making Times Square car-free and turning an abandoned railway into a walkway called the High Line.
Apple, for equipping the 3GS iPhone with a built-in applications store for anything you might need on the road.
American Airlines, for the One-Way Flex Awards loyalty program, which helps occasional travelers earn rewards.
JetBlue, for offering amenities at the gate, like the Re:Vive bar kiosks at JFK airport.
Intrepid Travel, for carbon-offsetting all of its itineraries by early 2010.
Google, for offering the Street View mapping feature for theme parks and trails.
Delta, for bringing back customer service in style with Red Coats, agents dedicated to troubleshooting at a number of airports.
Hyatt, for “new surprise perks to new and loyal customers.”
TripAdvisor, for new tools like the Vacation Rental Calculator, the Top Values Tool, and the Fees Estimator.
South Carolina Preservation Society offers home tours
CHARLESTON, S.C. — South Carolina’s oldest city is preparing to open its most beautiful homes to visitors.
The Preservation Society of Charleston begins its 33rd annual Fall Tours of Homes and Gardens on Thursday. Tours are offered Thursdays through Sundays through Oct. 25 during the height of the city’s fall tourist season.
The Preservation Society dates to the 1920s and is the nation’s oldest community membership preservation group. Tour proceeds pay for education, advocacy and planning.
The Historic District tours feature mainly private homes and gardens but also include historic churches and public buildings.
Volunteers interpret the history, architecture and decoration of buildings for visitors.
www.preservationsociety.org/.
‘Clean Breaks’ guide offers travel that’s authentic and green
NEW YORK — A new book called “Clean Breaks: 500 Ways To See the World” offers vacation options that are socially responsible and environmentally friendly, from camel trekking in Egypt to learning Spanish in Nicaragua to exploring Native American heritage in the U.S.
Authors Jeremy McSmith and Richard Hammond offer sections on 14 regions of the world in the $30 book from Rough Guides.
Recommended adventures include riding the National Cycle Network in Britain, staying on an organic farm in Ibiza, Spain, or traveling with the indigenous Sami as they follow the annual migration of reindeer from inland winter habitats in Norway to coastal grazing land. The Sami experience departs mid-April, lasts eight days and is arranged by the tour operator Turgleder, www.turgleder.com.
Elsewhere, you can snorkel around Chumbe Island, Zanzibar, while sleeping in solar-powered bungalows where the showers and basins are fed by rainwater, or stay in Tokyo at Yoshimizu, an inn with mud walls, bamboo floors and organic tatami mats, and no TVs or phones in the room. Closer to home, try a Go Native America trip in Wyoming, South Dakota, Arizona, Montana, Nebraska or New Mexico to learn about the histories and customs of the Great Plains tribes: www.gonativeamerica.com.
Catwalk hikes planned for New River Gorge this spring
FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. — New River Gorge visitors will be able to walk directly across the canyon on a 30-inch-wide steel span 850 feet above the river starting in the spring.
The National Park Service has picked Bridge Walk LLC to provide year-round guided tours on the New River Bridge’s maintenance catwalk, according to The Charleston Gazette. The catwalk is a 30-inch-wide path that hangs below the bridge and stretches more than 3,000 feet across the canyon.
Bridge Walk and the state Department of Transportation will coordinate the development of a safety system for catwalk hikers, and work out a catwalk-access plan. Bridge Walk’s managing partner, Benjy Simpson, said catwalk hikers would wear climbing-type harnesses and clip on to a secure overhead cable.
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