Perhaps fueled by a sense that the economy is improving, millions of Americans are gearing up to travel this summer. And when it comes to summer travel, Americans are nothing if not decisive about where we want to go.
Orlando ranks highest among the trips that agents are booking – 17.7% say the theme-park capital is this summer’s Number One destination. No doubt, that’s due in some part to the buzz building over the June 18 opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort.
Las Vegas is Number Two at 16.2%.
“There are a lot of discounts and deals right now for those cities,” explains Melissa Teates, director of research at ASTA in Alexandria, Va. “But, generally, most people just know they’ll have a good time in these cities. Orlando and Vegas really exist as vacation destinations.”Also among the top 10 major destinations this summer are San Francisco, Miami, Los Angeles, and Honolulu.
Another hot spot, New York City, is hotter than it’s been in some time.
It zoomed up the chart from Number Ten in 2009 — with 1.4% of ASTA members saying it was their top booking — to Number Six this year at 2.8%.
Teates says people are eager to travel after having put it off during the recession. But, she notes, many travelers are still holding down expenses. One way to do that is by staying relatively close to home.
“People want to travel more, but they’re being careful with costs,” she says. “A city like New York looks good. If you live on the East Coast, you can take a train. If you’re in the Midwest, it’s a short flight.”
Yes, those are French fries. Real, freshly cut French fries. And they’re awesome.
What’s more awesome is that you can get those French fries, and the accompanying double bacon cheeseburger for $5.99 at the new CoCo Key Hotel and Water Resort in Orlando. And you can wash it down with a $1.50 large soda.
Oh, and that cheeseburger? Freshly grilled right in front of you and put on a bun that was baked in-house that morning.
A bargain on a hotel room is not hard to come by in Orlando these days, but if you have to pay $18 for a sandwich and $3.99 for a soda at the hotel, is it really a bargain in the end?
That’s why I was so impressed with the food prices at this new resort. Besides the aforementioned burger and fries at lunchtime, CoCo Key offers up an amazing full breakfast buffet, complete with an omelet bar, for $11.99 ($5.99 for kids). There’s also a reasonably priced full-service restaurant open for dinner.
CoCo Key is the latest renovation of the original hotel built on Orlando’s International Drive – which opened as the Hilton Inn South in May 1970, 17 months before the ribbon was cut at Walt Disney World.
The big attraction here is the 54,000-square-foot water park on property, which has three big water slides and plenty of splash play areas and shallow pools for little kids.
The hotel partners with Universal Orlando Resort to offer vacation packages and free transportation to the park. (You can also get shuttles to SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica and Walt Disney World.) Regular rates start at $99 per night. Resort execs say they are booking packages like crazy in conjunction with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opening in June.
Just eat at the hotel before you go to the park, because I can pretty much guarantee you that Hogwart’s food will be more expensive.
In the video, Universal Creative exec Mark Woodbury walks through the waiting area for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and shows off the portrait gallery, featuring some of the school’s founders’ paintings which come to life.
There’s another look at Headmaster Dumbledore’s office, and a peek inside the defense against the dark arts classroom, where riders will see Harry, Ron and Hermione emerge from underneath an invisibility cloak.
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is the centerpiece of the new themed area at Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park. The Wizarding World also includes a new restaurant, shops and a couple of pre-existing rides that have been re-themed to fit the Harry Potter vibe.
The grand opening for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is scheduled for June 18.
The new Intimidator 305 roller coaster has opened at Kings Dominion theme park in Richmond, VA. The coaster, named in honor of the late NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, has ride cars that look like Earnhardt’s famous black Chevy. Earnhardt’s daughter Taylor visited the park last week to open the ride.
The Intimidator 305 screams along at 92 miles per hour, thanks to a 300-foot drop at the start.
Kings Dominion says that makes it part of a new class of giga-coasters – “complete-circuit coasters with a height of 300 feet or taller.” You can now check “add a word to my vocabulary” off today’s to-do list. You’re welcome.
Universal requires 4-night stay for Harry Potter packages (Orlando, FL, USA)
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens June 18, and if you want to book Universal Orlando Resort’s vacation package to go see the wizard, you will be staying in Orlando until at least June 22.
Universal tells the Orlando Sentinel that the package was designed as a 4-night experience when it was introduced in February, but the minimum stay requirement was just set this week.
The Orlando vacation packages include a hotel stay, Universal Orlando tickets, breakfast at the new Three Broomsticks restaurant and early admission to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.Coney Island Cyclone opens for 83rd season (New York City, NY, USA)
The landmark Cyclone roller coaster has re-opened for its 83rd season on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York.
It costs $8 to ride the combination wooden and steel structure that cost $175,000 to build in 1927. Although the thrill ride is on the National Register of Historic Places, it is still listed among coaster enthusiasts as one of the best current roller coasters in the country – both for its great views of the Manahattan skyline and its 60 mph hairpin turns.
Nearby, the new Luna Park is set to open its 19 rides on the Coney Island shore on May 29.
Great Wolf Lodge tries for water-slide world record (USA)
3,651 miles. That’s the distance that bathing-suit clad visitors slid at 11 Great Wolf Lodge indoor water parks last weekend, in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record.
The Great Wolf Lodges each kept one water slide open for 24 hours and asked sliders to donate to the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. The charity event/publicity stunt resulted in 47,660 trips down the designated water slides.
Guinness is still verifying the information before making the world record – which will be in the category longest distance water sliding in 24 hours in multiple venues – official. Oddly enough, there’s no previous record-holder for this very specific, new category in the company’s record books.
SeaWorld’s Aquatic water park opens new water slide (Orlando, FL, USA)
Orlando water park Aquatica has opened its new slide, the Omaka Rocka. The tube slide deposits riders in funnels designed to mimic the sensation that skateboarders feel in the half-pipe.
This is the third year for Aquatica, SeaWorld’s venture into the water park scene. Omaka Rocka is the first addition to the park since it opened.
Future questioned at Freestyle Music Park (Myrtle Beach, SC, USA)
The troubled Freestyle Music Park is facing foreclosure. The Myrtle Beach, S.C., park – which opened as Hard Rock Park in 2008 then underwent a brand change for the 2009 season – missed a debt payment deadline last week.
The Sun News reports that the theme park’s owners have not been able to find new investors and are facing bankruptcy or foreclosure. Owners are saying it is “unlikely” that the park will open for the 2010 season.
Six Flags releases iPhone app (USA)
The Six Flags Fun Finder, a free app, is now available in the App Store. Beyond the usual park maps and event listings, that app integrates with Facebook to help you find the exact location of your friends within any Six Flags theme park. The app is free.
Last week, Universal Orlando announced an opening date (June 18) for its Wizarding World of Harry Potter and offered more details about the big new ride in Harry Potter land. But the Orlando theme park also gave hardcore Potter fans a glimpse into another important aspect of their new mecca – the food.
First up, butterbeer – the drink of choice for all young wizards. The Orlando Sentinel’s Dewayne Bevil got a preview swig last week, and he describes the flavor as “shortbread cookie with butterscotch.”
It’s a foamy drink, which makes me think it will be smooth like a cream soda. But if it is as sweet as everyone says, it seems like it might be hard to finish the reported 16 ounces in a serving. It is non-alcoholic, and Universal says the recipe has been approved by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.
There’s also pumpkin juice, which we’re guessing will taste like pumpkin pie.
And then, there’s the food. Universal chef Stephen Jayson has been using a lot of books in his menu development, but they aren’t cookbooks. MTV News says when Jayson was questioned about whether certain food items were mentioned in the Harry Potter novels, he “produced a heavily annotated stack” of Harry Potter books and offered to show the exact page where the food was described.
Much of the food in the Wizarding World’s new Three Broomsticks restaurant will be British pub fare such as fish and chips, pasties and shepherd’s pie. There will also be healthier choices like split pea soup and salads. Larger parties can order the “Great Feast,” a family-style meal of rotisserie chicken, ribs and sides.