Last year it took us until the end of January to open nominations for the stupidest traveler of the year. But now that we're living in the future, here in 2012, everything moves faster.

It's the first week of the new year and already there are stories of travelers who—if they aren't straightforwardly blistering idiots—start off at least as idiot-adjacent. But then at the end there's a punchline that literally causes our blood pressure to spike, and that crosses the line into incandescently stupid.

The Fickes family of North Carolina has quite the broode. There are the two parents, Kathy and Jason Fickes. Then there's their 3-year old son. Then there are their 18-month old twins. Then there's their eight-month old baby. All six of the Fickes were traveling to Chicago to visit grandparents over Christmas. So far so good. The problem enters inasmuch as they tried to fit the entire family into a single row in coach on a US Airways flight.]]> Omri 2012-01-02T08:58:31-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/7/14/82941/6529

Traveling with children can sometimes be a pain, but Delta’s got a new idea that might make things a little better. For right now it’s only for unaccompanied minors traveling without Mom or Dad, but maybe eventually it’ll be open for all the little ones to swing by and blow off some steam.

The Delta Sky Zone is open in Atlanta on Concourses, B, C, and E, and it’s available to those little ones connecting all by themselves—or with a little help from Delta employees. Inside, kids have access to brand new furniture to bounce all over, XBOX 360s, and unfortunately some kind of educational materials. We’re thinking that there’s got to be some soda and chips thrown in their too, or at least a little tap water. Video games during a layover would definitely make us thirsty! ]]> kjb 2011-07-14T08:34:09-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/6/29/23130/2869

Get your little plastic pieces ready, as it's finally almost time to hit new world's newest Legoland just outside of Orlando. It's not just any old land dedicated to Legos either, as this place is going to be the biggest—as in 150 acres—Legoland in the world. As you might remember the place was kind of Cypress Gardens for many many years, but on October 15 it will be officially transformed into a shrine of all things Lego.

It's park number five around the world for the Lego empire, as there's already a park in California along with options in Denmark, Germany, and the United Kingdom. In total there's going to be around 50 new rides, shows, and attractions, so there will be more to see than just crazy-nuts Lego creations. Although, we're pretty sure there's going to plenty of those too. ]]> kjb 2011-06-30T08:42:28-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/2/28/22363/1190

We’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of all things Lego to Florida, but now it seems like we might want to turn our attention elsewhere around the globe. The plastic pieces are on the move, and it looks like Malaysia might be welcoming the first Legoland in Asia sometime in 2012.

Apparently bulldozers have already been hard at work clearing around 75 acres or so for the new park, and its 40 plus rides and attractions that will make up the new Legoland Malaysia. This will be the sixth land devoted to Legos worldwide, so if you’ve already been to the other five, you better start planning your trip to hit up the latest and the greatest. There’s over 30 million plastic pieces to assemble, so you’ve still got a little bit of time to find a decent flight. ]]> kjb 2011-03-01T10:16:06-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/1/11/144825/488

It's small, but very notable: US passport forms for children have been changed in order to accommodate families with two dads or two moms, by changing the "mother" and "father" headings to include "parent 1" and "parent 2." The new forms became available January 3, meaning 2011 begins just another governmental agency's acceptance (the Department of State, in this case) of same-sex couples. They may not be able to get married yet in all states, but being able to sign on as official parents of their children is a major step.

The Global Cocktails blog has quotes from the Family Equality Council in appreciation:]]> JetSetCD 2011-01-11T14:48:25-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/11/2/22029/7102

Opening day is still like at least a year away, but the newest Legoland is already trying to build a little bit of buzz in Florida.

Last week, park officials busted out the artist renderings and other pretty pictures for some of the new attractions. One of the main attractions that caught our eye might just make Cinderella jealous, as the park will have its very own castle within the Castle Hill section of the park. No princesses inside the castle though, as there’s going to be a dragon-themed coaster working its way in and out of the toy fortress. ]]> kjb 2010-11-03T08:43:50-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/8/30/16237/0947

Repeated Jaunted experiments have shown that, next to "overweight passengers on planes" disagreements, nothing generates heat like "kids on planes" arguments. Both debates even have the same sides. On one hand, there are people who insist they shouldn't be miserable because they got an unfortunate seat next to an obese adult or a screaming child. On the other side, you've got overweight folks and parents who point out that hey, they get to fly too.

Now, thanks to suggestions coming out of a new study, there are renewed discussions about separating children from fliers who want nothing to do with them. "Family-only sections" are being bandied about, and there's even talk of "child-free flights!" Apparently surveys show that an overwhelming number of people without kids prefer not to to have their flights ruined by unruly kids. Fascinating! Even more fascinating, it turns out that the surveys are filled with stacked questions and all end up justifying a new round of airline fees. Strange!]]> Omri 2010-08-30T17:21:29-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/