Roadtripping

Dollywood roller coaster: Fly like an eagle

I’ve been reading about the new Wild Eagle coaster at Dollywood and I have to admit: It’s seducing me.

The wing coaster was the first of its kind in the U.S. when it opened in March at Dolly Parton’s theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., although another has opened since then at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Ill.

Look at the photo above and you’ll see why Dollywood calls it the Wild Eagle: the “body” of the eagle rides atop the track, but the seats are on the “wings,” which are atop … nothing. It reminds me of SheiKra at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, where the riders in the outside seats are over nothing, but the new wing coaster takes it a step or three further.

I may be forced to detour through eastern Tennessee on my road trip to Asheville, N.C., this fall.

Photo credit: Dollywood

 

Watching up close as jets take off from St. Maarten

From the balcony of my hotel room on Maho Bay, I could watch planes landing and taking off from the St. Maarten airport. Jets and prop planes came in low over the turquoise water, crossed a narrow strip of beach and touched down on the runway across the street from the sand. It was a form of entertainment, second-guessing the pilots and their landing technique. And that beach, I realized, might be the closest you could get to watch takeoffs and landings from -- in the world.

Then one day I noticed a group of people taking this form of entertainment seriously. As a jet taxied into position for take-off, they lined up on the sand behind the airplane, at the top of a shallow embankment that dropped to the water. When the jet's engines revved, sand whirled up and filled the air. The people standing at the top of the embankment were pushed backwards by the jet blast, so that they slid as if on skis to the water's edge.

Nearby, the Sunset Bar seemed to be the unofficial headquarters for this activity. On an upended surfboard, someone had written the times of every flight scheduled to land that busy Saturday afternoon. Eight jets were lined up at the gates at that hour, plenty of opportunities for this game.

Then I noticed the camera crew and a flier that said they were taping footage for a new show on Discovery about people doing weird things. Yes, I thought, it is weird for people to deliberately stand where they can get hit by jet blast and a stinging curtain of sand. Go to YouTube.com, search for st maarten airport blast, and you can see for yourself — including a recent incident where the jet blast was so powerful that it blew a teenage girl loose from the fence she was hanging onto and sent her stumbling across the street where she hit her head. I’d understand better if there was a reward for this particular risky behavior, like the thrill of free fall that comes with skydiving or bungee jumping. But when the reward is sand in my eyes? No thanks. 

Now, to the whine of a jet engine, a plane backed away from the terminal and turned onto the taxiway. People began to take positions. Some lined up against the chain-link fence at the end of the runway, standing in front of the signs that warned people could be injured or even killed by jet blast. Others lined up on the sand across the street, their phones and cameras raised.

I stood off to the side, outside the jet blast zone delineated by paint on the guardrail. The jet engines revved, a mild blast of hot air hit me, and a small spout of sand whirled around my legs, stinging my exposed ankles. Both were milder than what hit people standing within the jet blast zone. Their shirts flew up or whipped around their midsections, and they hid their faces against the flying sand.

The plane roared away, and the thrill-seeking was over for the moment. But there would be at least seven more jet takeoffs that afternoon. Plenty of sand and hot air to go around.

 

Six Florida outings that will help you cool off

Now that the hot weather is making us think of things to cool off — dumping that icy bottle of drinking water over our heads, taking a tour of a meat locker, crawling into an ice maker — my friends at FloridaRambler.com have come up with six cool outings throughout the state, from the Keys to the Panhandle. They range from kayaking to sitting at a tiki bar to going to one of Florida’s 10 best beaches (including St. Andrews State Park in Panama City, pictured above). Check them out here.

 

GPS units are great, but it's hard to beat today's mapping programs

I used to burn through reams of paper printing out maps from MapQuest.com. I love maps. If I was planning a road trip, I’d consider all the variations on routes and detours, and print out a different map for each alternative. I always took along my road atlas, but it was hard to beat the kind of detail mapquest.com gave me. Except, of course, when it was wrong, which in the early years wasn’t all that unusual.

My first GPS unit was a gift, and to my surprise, in spite of my devotion to maps, I immediately became addicted to it. I stopped printing out maps. Until the first time the GPS was wrong. And then there was the time it malfunctioned and froze. I learned here was another piece of technology that is not 100 percent reliable.

Now I just print out one or two maps I consider critical and take along a fold-out map or a road atlas for back-up, but mostly I rely on my GPS. I still use MapQuest.com, although most people I know prefer Google maps. But MapQuest.com and I got used to each other, I learned its tricks and, OK, I stuck to what was familiar.

Anick Jesdanun, a technology writer for the Associated Press, used the opportunity of a Memorial Day weekend trip to Arizona to try out and compare four free mapping services — Google maps and MapQuest.com plus Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing. He found that Google maps worked best, but said MapQuest.com was a strong second, especially in giving him alternative routing instructions. Read his full report here.

I’m not ready to give up on MapQuest.com. But next time I plan a road trip, I think I’ll take along a couple printouts from Google maps too. Just in case. 

 

Queen of the Mississippi preparing for New Orleans launch

The Queen of the Mississippi, which will be launched on the Mississippi River in August, arrived at the Port of New Orleans last weekend, where workers are finishing design details and cleaning, and the crew will undergo training.

The Queen sailed to New Orleans from Salisbury, Maryland, after its construction was completed six weeks ahead of schedule at Chesapeake Shipbuilding.

The paddlewheeler, with a capacity of 150 passengers, is the newest and largest in the American Cruise Lines fleet. It will sail itineraries on the Mississippi, Ohio and Cumberland rivers.

The Queen will be the second boat doing overnight cruises on the Mississippi River. The renovated American Queen, which debuted in 1995 and is about three times as large as the Queen of the Mississippi, returned to cruising in April after sitting idle for four years.

Photo credit: American Cruise Lines

New 'Despicable Me' ride to open at Universal July 2

Universal Studios’ new ride, Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, will officially open on July 2, the park announced Wednesday, but guests may get a chance to try it out before then while Universal puts on the finishing touches during “technical rehearsal.”

The ride is based on the characters from the Universal Pictures movie Despicable Me, but has its own story line. Here’s the rundown from Universal:

The ride begins when guests enter Gru, Margo, Edith and Agnes’ home and learn they are being recruited to become minions. After picking up 3-D “minion goggles” in the living room and being scanned for “human germs” in the Minionization Prep Room, guests board Minion Transformation Pods to begin their training. Things don’t go as planned and guests find themselves on a chaotic adventure through Gru’s lab. The experience ends with a dance party, where guests and minions dance to Boogie Fever.

Photo: Minion test of 3-D goggles. Credit: Universal Orlando

5 new cars for family road trips

What are the best vehicles for a family road trip? Dee-Ann Durbin, automotive writer for the Associated Press, says these five are ideal, because of their high gas mileage and/or family-friendly features: Toyota Prius V, Honda CR-V, Mazda5, Hyundai Azera, and Ford Flex. All are new or newly redesigned and have top safety writings. Read about her choices here.

 

The Weather Channel's 10 summer road trips

The Weather Channel has chimed in with its recommendations for summer road trips, listing 10 drives it says are affordable. It’s hard to know how affordable they are since the list contains almost no information about the cost of food, lodgings, or attractions. But the routes do represent some of the more scenic and unusual parts of the country, among them Las Vegas, Nev., to Sedona, Ariz.; Detroit to Mackinac Island, Mich.; the Blue Ridge Parkway (pictured at left); plus a pair of Portlands: Portland, Maine to Acadia National Park; and Portland, Ore., to the Oregon Coast. Check them out for yourself here.

Florida: What's new at the theme parks

With apologies to Alfred Lord Tennyson, it’s almost summer, when a child’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of pirates, princesses, bumper cars, water slides, spinning teacups and fantasies of finally reaching the bottom of the sign that means one is tall enough to ride a grown-up roller coaster.

In other words, theme parks.

This week we bring you a preview of what’s happening at Disney, Universal, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Legoland, and Discovery Cove. Click here.

For those seeking a greater thrill, check out how Forever Florida has quietly blossomed into Zip Line Central. Click here.

For a look at how young Disney fans’ growing fascination with characters has spread to hotels, click here.

If you’re looking for an adult escape from the theme parks, this story tells you about five cool things to do outside the gates.

And finally, another adult fantasy: If you wonder what it’s like to drive an exotic supercar around a speedway, here’s my take. 

 

Marjie's tips for riding roller coasters

I spent the better part of a week in Central Florida last month, checking out new attractions at the theme parks (watch for Sunday’s Travel section for my report). In my spare time, I indulged one of my passions – riding roller coasters. That spree reminded me that being a serial coaster rider is a serious business with much wisdom to be gained. In order to justify my coaster rides as work, I’m going to pass some of that wisdom on to you. Herewith my tips for riding roller coasters.

*The scariest seat on any Florida coaster is the outside seat in the front row of SheiKra at Busch Gardens when it pauses on the precipice, just before it makes a 90-degree plunge.

*The coasters most likely to make you queasy are the wild mouse coasters like Sand Serpent at Busch Gardens or Primeval Whirl at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Wild mouse coasters usually don’t have tall drops or inversions. Instead they have switchback sections with tight, flat turns that whip the cars back and forth.

*Don’t wear earrings if your ears are going to be banging against rigid over-the-shoulder restraints, such as the Rock ‘n Roller Coaster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios or Cheetah Run at Busch Gardens (pictured above).

*If your back gives you problems, stay away from the traditional wooden coasters like Gwazi at Busch Gardens, which rattle your spine mercilessly. (They’re not roller coasters, but Spider-Man at Islands of Adventure and Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland won’t do your back any good either.)

*Conventional wisdom in Disney World’s public relations office is that the best remedy for a stomach made queasy by a thrill ride is a PB&J milkshake from the 50’s Prime Time Café at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. 

*There is no such thing as an attractive photo of you on a roller coaster. Fun, thrilling, scary, yes, but not pretty.

*Don’t wear flip-flops if your feet are going to be dangling, such as on the Dragon Challenge at Universal’s Islands of Adventure or Montu at Busch Gardens.

*If you think your phone, sunglasses and coins are going to be safe in your pockets when a coaster turns you upside down, the next time you ride Manta at SeaWorld Orlando, check out what’s in the tarp and the net strung below the ride.