Hawaii destinations close for repairs, new resorts prepare to open

by Chris Owen on

Kona Village Resort, one of the iconic vacation destinations and resorts of Hawaii, announced this week that it will close for an extended period of time due to the significant structural and property damage it sustained during the recent earthquake-generated tsunami. But while some Hawaii destinations have closed for repairs, other new resorts prepare to open.

“We are very sad to close Kona Village Resort for an extended period of time, but the damage to the property from this natural disaster is severe enough to render it inoperable,” said Patrick Fitzgerald, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hualalai Resort/Kona Village Resort. “We are fortunate that our guests and employees were evacuated safely. Our hearts are heavy with this decision’s impact on employees and loyal guests who have visited us over the years. Our thoughts also are with the people of Japan during this difficult time.”

The 45-year old Hawaii resort sustained significant structural damage from the storm surge including damaged buildings and attractions at the 82-acre property.

The Four Seasons Resort at Hualalai, the first and only AAA Five-Diamond and Forbes Five-Star resort on the Big Island also closed for repairs but reopened this week.

Meanwhile, construction proceeds full speed ahead at Disney’s massive new Aulani Resort and Spa scheduled to open August 29, 2011.

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Flickr photo by Luckypines

Turn your Utah-bound boarding pass into a ski lift ticket

by Kraig Becker on

Spring may have officially arrived, but that doesn’t mean you can’t sneak in a few more days on the slopes before the ski season ends for another year. To help facilitate that, three Utah ski resorts are offering a deal that will let you exchange your boarding pass for a lift ticket instead.

Beginning this Sunday, March 27th and running through the end of the season, any out-of-state visitor who brings their boarding pass from Salt Lake City International Airport to one of the participating Park City resorts will receive a free lift ticket for that day. This gives visitors the option to ski or snowboard at The Canyons or Park City Mountain, or ski at Deer Valley. (Sorry snowboarders, you’re still not welcome there!)

As with all good things in life, there are a few caveats to keep in mind. For example, you must register for the free passes in advance of your arrival, and the date of redemption must match the date on the boarding pass. That means you better catch an early flight to take true advantage of this deal. An ID is required to redeem the pass as well and Utah residents are not eligible. To see all the rules and regulations check out the website for the promotion here.

This isn’t a bad deal for someone looking to get a little last minute skiing or snowboarding in before they put their gear back in the closet for the summer. You’ll want to hurry to take advantage of the promotion however, as both Park City Mountain and Deer Valley close for the season on April 10 and The Canyons follow suit on April 17.

Mazatlan just won’t let it go, wants cruise lines back bad

by Chris Owen on

Cruise lines turned a cold shoulder to Mazatlan, Mexico after safety concerns forced them to move ships away and sail elsewhere. Government and tourism officials caught the next plane to Miami, set on convincing cruise ship operators to come back. They did. Once back more crime came up and they went away again. Now, cruise lines have canceled far into the future, still leaving the door open to return at some point but Mazatlan officials have had enough and are lashing out at cruise lines.

“We understand that travel agents and providers have a duty to inform their customers, but we feel as if we have been unfairly singled out as an unsafe destination,” said Julio Birrueta, spokesperson for the Mazatlan Tourism Trust reports Caribbean News Digital “Perhaps the recent incidents have received critical attention because we are so widely regarded as one of the safest destinations in Mexico.” added Birrueta.

No, recent incidents received critical attention because more tourists were shot and hundreds of Americans have been killed since 2004.

That’s a big deal to cruise lines. It’s kind of a big deal to cruise passengers too. Are the cruise lines making too big of a thing about this? Is Mazatlan and just Mexico in general a safe place to visit? Some people/animated characters think yes.


Flickr photo by Jesus Villaseca Perez

Video by Simply Vallarta

Orion spacecraft key to future space travel

by Chris Owen on

Lockheed Martin’s Orion space craft, designed to take astronauts to the moon, may first be used as an emergency escape vehicle for the international space station. By 2016, NASA wants to run multiple, deep-space missions to the moon and much farther destinations, making the Orion spacecraft key to future space travel.

“Orion was designed from inception to fly multiple, deep-space missions,” John Karas, vice president and general manager for Lockheed Martin’s Human Space Flight programs told Computerworld.com.

The Orion spacecraft was first part of NASA’s Constellation program, slated to bring humans back to the moon by 2020 but budget cuts and behind-schedule, over-budget construction caused a refocus of the program. Now, the goal is sending astronauts to Mars and further into the solar system.

“The spacecraft is an incredibly robust, technically advanced vehicle capable of safely transporting humans to asteroids, Lagrange Points and other deep space destinations that will put us on an affordable and sustainable path to Mars” said Karas.

When the Space shuttle fleet is fully retired at the end of the year, Orion may be used as a means to evacuate astronauts from the International space station. The Orion spacecraft includes a crew module, a cargo transport, a service module for propulsion, electric power, fluids storage and a spacecraft adapter for securing it to the launch vehicle.

In 2009, Gadling reported on a NASA focused on commercial space travel with a plan to spend $50 million of economic stimulus cash from the feds into putting the average traveler into space. While the topic comes up from time to time, commercial space travel seems to be not much more than a dream. But if the Commercial Spaceflight Federation has anything to say about it, that dream will be a reality soon.

In a letter sent to Congress earlier this month, the federation notes:

“We are writing to urge you to fully fund NASA’s plan to use commercial companies to carry crew to the Space Station because it is critical to the health of the Nation’s human spaceflight efforts.”

They may just get their wish. With the space shuttle program coming to an end shortly, there are few alternatives to take man or supplies into space and an International Space Station up there that will need both.

Flickr photo by Bernt Rostad

VIDEO: Take a stop-motion trip to 1983 New York City

by Meg Nesterov on

In just under six minutes, you can take a (mostly) stop-motion trip to 1983 New York City in this short film called “N.Y.C. (No York City)” by Rick Liss with music by Laurie Anderson. The video follows a dizzying path through Manhattan, past familiar landmarks like the World Trade Center, the subway, and Central Park (check out the roller skaters!). While the clothes and cars may seem dated, in many ways, it’s not much different than 2011 New York City, except with more mimes.