Jaunted

Roller Coasters / Theme Parks / Amusement Parks / Attractions / Missouri Travel / → All Tags

Where to Find the World's Craziest Wooden Roller Coaster

With the warmer weather comes theme park season, as parks across the country dust off the rides and attractions. In addition to bringing down the decorations from the attic and testing out all the old favorites, there’s also the opportunity to try out some new stuff.

There’s one coaster that we’re particularly intrigued with during this season, as we’re eager to check out the latest offering over at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri.

We’ve always had a spot in our hearts for the wooden roller coasters. Sure they might not go as fast as their steel siblings, but the twists and turns—not to mention the shimmies and shakes—more than make up for things. However, Outlaw Run is looking to change everything, as it’s going to be the world’s first wooden roller coaster to offer a double barrel roll. They’re not stopping there either, as the thing will also feature plenty of other firsts.

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Jaunted in Sydney / Seaplane Tours / Air Tours / Attractions / → All Tags

Seaplanes Over Sydney

We just rode shotgun in a most excellent seaplane tour over Sydney. Before we took off, Pilot Andy let it be known that in his opinion there were few things better than riding in a seaplane, and he was right on. Take off, which you can watch in the above video was smooth and once airborne we put on our headsets and listened to Andy school us on a bit of aviation history as we cruised 1,000 feet above Sydney Harbour.

The quick tour takes you Southeast down the dramatic coastline a bit to Bondi Beach. At Bondi the plane circles back and affords you views of the Northern Beaches and, of course, the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. After you pass Circular Quay you begin a quick decent, smoothly splashing down into Rose Bay.

The tour will run you $225 AU and you can get to Rose Bay easily by taking one of the Sydney ferries at Circular Quay (the green & white ones).

If you want to check out the Inner Harbour view video, it is after the jump. If you want to catch up on all our Jaunted in Sydney videos, you can watch them here.

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Chocolate / Attractions / Secret Vegas / → All Tags

Vegas Machine Spouts Chocolate Jackpot

While a solitary truffle may not strike everyone as interchangeable with hitting the Triple 7s, there are enough fans of the hallowed cocoa bean who will take nearly as much delight in the payout of the Chocolate Clock at the Payard Patisserie inside Caesars Palace.

From the city that brought you…well, sin…comes not only a soon-to-debut resident production of “The Lion King”but also this mechanical novelty straight out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

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Charlotte Field Trip / Attractions / Malls / → All Tags

Hanging Around Charlotte's EpiCentre

On your next layover in Charlotte, don't be afraid to check out the city if you have the time. There’s a lot more to do than to just chill out on those rocking chairs between the terminals. Here are some tips for getting around quickly.

Every city that wants its share of the spotlight tries to create some sort of downtown entertainment and shopping Mecca. We recently saw Los Angeles adding to its “arsenal” of downtown attractions, and during our recent field trip we witnessed what Charlotte has up its sleeve. After taking the LYNX Blue Line to Uptown, we stumbled upon the city’s newest complex—The EpiCentre.

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Attractions / Royal Palaces / Royal Travel / Tourist Sites / → All Tags

Nepal Kicks Royals Out; Invites Tourists In

One of the world's last old-school monarchies, the royal family of Nepal, is being eased out of their luxuries as the country gets keen on democracy. And as the royal family is on the way out, Parliament has asked them to kindly vacate their royal residence.

But their loss is inquisitive travelers' gain: the government is transforming Narayanhity Royal Palace in Kathmandu into a tourist attraction, throwing its gates open to the public today.

Much of the immense palace, some of which is as old as 200 years, has only been seen by a few non-Royal eyes before. The first phase of the palace's new existence as a museum opens 19 imposing royal bedrooms, salons and banquet halls, and also includes a memorial at the notorious site where 10 royal family members will killed in a shocking shooting eight years ago.

· Nepal ready with guided tour of royal palace [Thaindian News]
· Nepal travel coverage [Jaunted] [

Photo: wikimedia]

Movie Set Travel / Steve Martin / Pink Panther Deux / Attractions / → All Tags

'Pink Panther 2' Incredulously Substitutes Boston for Paris

Today, Steve Martin returns as Inspector Clouseau in "Pink Panther Deux." The movie is set in Paris and a few scenes were shot there but the majority of on location filming took place in Boston.

Beantown may seem like an unlikely stand in for the City of Lights but the film’s director, Harald Zwart, thought it was a good fit, saying, "thankfully, Boston has some good old buildings."

Massachusetts’ new film tax incentives have attracted many projects in the past year, like “Ghost Town”, “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” and “Bride Wars." If a trip to Paris isn’t in your near future, here’s a guide to get your Parisian on in Boston.

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Attractions / LA Live / Bowling Alleys / Nightclubs / Music Venues / → All Tags

LA Live Gets Percolating But Watch What You're Wearing

LA Live is the newest attraction to open in L.A. Essentially, it's a $$2.5 billion lure, designed to get more folks to downtown Los Angeles. (Sidenote: You know you have run out of room in LA when you are building something in downtown.) While the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels are still under construction as are some residential and office spaces, much of LA Live is now open including the Nokia Theater which anchors the new complex and offers up the Nokia Plaza, a sort of miniscule Times Square with scrolling LED screens and pretty much anything you can light up, including trees.

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Jaunted in Chile / Shira Lazar / Isla Magdalena / Attractions / Embedded Travel Guide / → All Tags

Live From Planet Penguin!

West Coast web media princess, and the latest Jaunted Embed, Shira Lazar is making her way through Chile on a top secret travel mission. She will be posting daily for the next week, in hopes of creating a glorious on-the-fly travel guide using as much point oh social webbing as she can. Enjoy.

For some reason people love penguins. It’s a fascination that transcends generations, genders and nationalities. It couldn’t have been more evident than with the success of the 2005 award-winning documentary March of the Penguins, which was made for $8 million and then went on to reap over $77 million in profits in the US alone.

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NYC 400 / Attractions / Henry Hudson / Botanical Gardens / Architectural Travel / → All Tags

From Old to New Amsterdam: New York Turns 400

If it ain't Dutch, it ain't much: New York City celebrates the 400th anniversary of its founding this year with Dutch cultural exhibits under the NYC 400 banner and a special present from the folks who dubbed it New Amsterdam.

Henry Hudson first landed on the island that would later be known as Manhattan in 1609, and museums like the Met and the Frick are getting in on the act with exhibits of Rembrandts, Vermeers, van Goghs and others. At the Museum of the City of New York (1220 Fifth Avenue), Amsterdam/New Amsterdam: The Worlds of Henry Hudson, opening April 4, will explore Hudson's trip with artifacts like the maps and sextants that steered him there. The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx will show off the tulips and other native plants of the Netherlands with "The Glory of Dutch Bulbs," opening April 1st.

In honor of New York's founding, Amsterdam is sending a stone plaza that will be installed in the Battery with a snack bar and LED-embedded sculpture. We'll withhold judgment on the New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion until we see an actual photo -- it's not really the Dutch government's fault someone already sent Lower Manhattan something cool.

Related Stories:
· Official list of all NYC 400 events so far [NYC Go]
· Ben van Berkel's New Manhattan Project: Battery Goes Dutch [Curbed]
· Dutch to Help New York Celebrate Hudson’s Journey [New York Times]

[Artist's rendering of the Plein & Pavilion: dezeen.com]

Desert Travel / To Do / Martin Sheen / Wolfgang Puck / Attractions / → All Tags

How To Break the Pattern of Vegas Debauchery

If it were in any other city in the Western Hemisphere, Las Vegas’ Springs Preserve, which debuted in 2006, would be no secret.

In the midst of an apparent global emergency around the subject of climate change, a well-designed, nearly new recreational and educational facility dedicated to raising awareness of sustainable living should be hitting it out of the park.

But this is Las Vegas. To date, it’s not uncommon to run into locals who still haven’t heard of the Preserve and, certainly to its developers, a disappointingly tiny number of tourists have seemed willing to drag themselves away from Vegas’ more sinful offerings.

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Ferris Wheels / To Do / Attractions / → All Tags

Perth Gives Us Another Aussie Ferris Wheel Story

There’s an odd epidemic sweeping Australia at the moment: giant ferris wheels are springing up in nearly all its capital cities. Melbourne seemed to start the trend, with Adelaide and Sydney getting in on the ferris wheel act in recent months too.

Now Perth has planted its own (not quite so big) ferris wheel on the Swan River foreshore in front of the city center. The Wheel of Perth is in a scenic spot, for sure, but whether you actually get an interesting ride out of it is open to debate.

Plenty of locals have suggested the A$15 ($10) price tag for a maximum ride time of 15 minutes is a bit steep. And you get similar views over Perth city for free from nearby Kings Park. If you ask us, this wheel seems like nothing more than keeping up with the Joneses.

Related Stories:
· Wheel Set to Spin Later This Week [The West]
· Melbourne’s Wheel Finally Starts Turning [Jaunted]
· Ferris Wheel Travel: Now Sydney Wants One Too [Jaunted]

[Photo: thatgrumguy]

Helicopter Tours / Attractions / Las Vegas Attractions / Las Vegas Travel / → All Tags

Las Vegas Strip Helicopter Tour For Those With ADD

Everyone knows there is plenty to keep Las Vegas touristers and conventioners occupied once the sun goes down, but what do you do while the sun is out? Yes, we know, you can lounge by the pool, however the desert is not exactly a tropical climate and many pools are empty, closed, or sparsely populated during the winter months.

With this in mind we set out to find something to do during the daytime that didn't involve shopping, drinking or gambling, but still involved an adrenaline rush. Thus, it should be no surprise we ended up sitting in the co-pilots seat for a strip helicopter ride.

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