10 Coolest Water Parks in the World

Grand Wailea Activity Pool, Maui, Hawaii The pool complex at the upscale Grand Wailea Activity Pool is a decidedly adult take on the water park (although children meeting the height requirements are also welcome), with a swim-up bar inside a secluded grotto. There are nine pools in all, connected by a slow-moving "river," not to mention a whitewater rapids slide, a Tarzan pool with rope swing, six waterfalls and three hot tubs. The hotel’s newest attraction is the Fishpipe, a rotating barrel where you slide the equivalent of a mile in just 90 seconds. Disney’s Blizzard Beach, Orlando, Fla. The larger of Disney’s two Orlando water parks, Blizzard Beach gives visitors chills just by suggestion. It’s intended to look like a freak snowstorm hit a ski resort; there’s even a chairlift to whisk you to the top of Mount Gushmore. From there, daredevils can descend the Summit Plummet, in which you freefall 120 feet at speeds approaching 60 mph. A tamer option is the 90-foot Slush Gusher water slide. The 8-lane Toboggan race lends the feeling of racing down a sledding hill against all your friends, and you can leave your mittens at home. Raging Waters, San Dimas, Calif. The biggest of the three Raging Waters parks in California (other locations are in Sacramento and San Jose) features 36 rides and attractions sprawling across 50 acres in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. A number of the most popular rides, including Dark Hole and Dragon’s Den, let you slide with a partner. Parents who prefer to relax while their kids splash around can rent shaded cabanas with lounge chairs for the day. There’s even a sandy "beach," although the park is some 40 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. Wild Wadi Water Park, Dubai Residents of the United Arab Emirates are no strangers to dealing with broiling heat. They figured out how to build an indoor ski slope in the desert, so a water park in the shadow of the Burj-al-Arab Hotel was a piece of cake. Wild Wadi Water Park's 30 rides range from the kid-friendly lazy river of Juha’s Journey (named for a character in Arabian folklore) to the adrenaline-pumping Wipeout Flowrider surf simulator. Islamic swimwear is available for Muslim women who prefer to dress more modestly than Western traditions dictate. Splashin’ Safari, Santa Claus, Ind. Yep, the town is really named after St. Nick himself, and you’ll love it whether you’re naughty or nice. The four-person Wildebeest at Splashin' Safari used to be the longest water coaster in the world, at more than 1,700 feet. That is until 2012, when the park topped itself with the even longer, six-person ride known as Mammoth. Both use conveyor belts to haul you up to the pinnacle — no stair-climbing required. Splashin’ Safari is adjacent to the land-based Holiday World amusement park, so there’s no end of carnival fun, no matter the weather The Wisconsin Dells, Wisc. An hour north of Madison, the town that that invented the indoor water park rightly claims the title "Waterpark Capital of the World." Since the creation of the Water Factory at the Polynesian Resort in 1989, another 18 indoor parks and water playgrounds have splashed into town, along with three outdoor parks. Noah’s Ark, America’s largest water park, is constantly seeking superlatives to add to a roster that already includes the country’s longest water coaster (Black Anaconda) the largest bowl ride (Time Warp), and Scorpion’s Tale, the first-ever near-vertical looping ride. Beach Park, Fortaleza, Brazil Want to know what it’s like to jump off the top of a 14-story building? Try the Insano, which is as crazy as it sounds. The world’s tallest free-standing water slide plunges its riders at more than 65 mph into the rushing waters below. Although this thrill ride gets most of the attention, the majority of Beach Park’s attractions are geared towards families, especially those with young kids. And if you tire of the man-made rides and games, there’s always the natural serendipity of the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, just across the street. Calypso Park, Ottawa, Canada Canada’s biggest water park has only been open for three years, but it has already attracted more than a million visitors. The highest free-standing tower in North America is the launching point for heart-pumping descents like Blue Rocket, inverting expeditions like Aqualoops and family-friendly twisters like Mellow Yellow. The massive wave pool can accommodate up to 2,000 people at a time. Schlitterbahn, New Braunfels, Texas German for "Slippery Road," Schlitterbahn is the gold standard of water parks; its 65 acres are routinely ranked as the favorite of frequent splashers. Schlitterbahn’s newest ride, the Falls, is also its longest. This 3,600-foot loop parallels the Comal River, linking the park’s two biggest neighborhoods, Surfenburg and Blastenhoff. The ride careens through whitewater rapids, cascades and big waves before carrying riders back up to the summit. Schlitterbahn is also one of the few parks that allow you to bring your own food and picnic. Family-friendly admission prices include a souvenir bottle and free fountain drinks. Tropical Islands, Krausnick, Germany It’s another world entirely under the 16-acre dome at Tropical Islands, less than an hour from Berlin. It’s home not only to Germany’s tallest water slide, but also to a Balinese lagoon, an indoor rainforest, and a tropical "sea" where the glass dome allows the sun to shine through. You can spend the night in this climate-controlled environment in a rainforest tent, a jungle lodge or a regular hotel room. And, this being Germany, you’re never far from a hot tub, steam bath or sauna.

Thinking Ahead....

“The 4th of July audience does not require much,” notes Fireworks by Grucci CEO Philip Butler, whose Long Island–based family-owned company has spanned five generations. “You can put fireworks of any kind in the sky and they’re happy.” But that hasn’t stopped cities and towns across the nation from pulling out all the stops—and all the cash—when it comes to orchestrating their annual July 4th pyrotechnics displays. The latest in fireworks technology, choreography to live music, spectacular settings, and lengthy shows (20 to 30 minutes of explosions) carrying hefty budgets ($100,000 and up) all contributed to this year’s top Independence Day players, which include New York, Boston and Washington, D.C. But shows in some smaller towns are also forces to be reckoned with. Kaboom Town! in the Dallas suburb of Addison, Texas, for example, is a well-known spectacular offering a 30-minute display, choreographed to pop music and following an air show; it has a price tag of $220,000 this year. It’s an annual favorite of the American Pyrotechnics Association, says Julie Heckman, especially because, she explains, “I don’t think people would necessarily think of it as being among the top shows.” Though Addison has a population of only 15,000, its spectacle draws half a million spectators from the Dallas region. To form this year’s list of top fireworks displays in the nation, we weighed the recommendations of the American Pyrotechnics Association, as well as the most elaborate events by some of the country’s biggest fireworks providers (as they noted) including Grucci, Pyro Spectaculars by Souza and Pyro Shows. Getting the list down to 10 was no easy feat, and many cities not on it—including Philadelphia and Atlantic City—deserve major honorable mentions. “As with most events, it’s not just one component that puts something over the top,” notes Lansden Hill, Jr., CEO of Pyro Shows, based in LaFollette, Tennessee. “It’s the spirit of the holiday, and the venue, or backdrop. The budget of the show certainly has a big bearing, as do the type of fireworks, and how they’re being presented. You can put $100,000 of fireworks into the hands of a lot of people, and all will do something different with them.” Pyro Shows is behind the display in Washington, D.C.—where, he says, the attraction is “the fact that it’s being shot on the National Mall.” “The making of a great show is the ambiance,” concurs Jim Souza, CEO of Pyro Spectaculars by Souza, the Rialto-California–based company producing the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks, “Ignite the Night,” in New York City. This year’s show, the 36th annual, will use more than 40,000 shells and pyrotechnic effects shot from a total of four barges in the Hudson River and choreographed to a score of pop favorites—plus live performances by Katy Perry and Kenny Chesney. “Macy’s is the grandaddy of them all,” says Heckman. Also at play this year are a slew of brand-new fireworks shells, discovered by pyrotechnics companies who scour the globe from Europe to China seeking out the best new explosives. “The Macy’s show takes a year in preparation,” says Jim Souza of Pyro Spectaculars, who travels the world for new products, then has them fired in a California testing facility. Among this year’s finds: the Transformer, which has half shells opening in one color followed by another and another and another for a brightly hued, 8-second wow factor. Yet another bursts into the shape of a wagon wheel. A Pyro Shows favorite, meanwhile, is the Big Kamuro, which is a massive exploding gold willow with a long duration, says Lansden. Grucci has its signature Gold Split Comet, which leaves a vividly sparkling trail. Of course, some cities have cut or drastically reduced their July 4th fireworks displays because of financial constraints—Chicago and Detroit among them. But those that have lowered their budgets are still hoping for big thrills—which, says Heckman, is certainly possible. “Every show is unique,” she says. “Even the smallest community show can be spectacular.” (courtesy of http://www.forbes.com/sites/bethgreenfield/2012/06/27/top-10-best-july-4th-fireworks-displays/)

REMEMBER YOUR KEYS !!

The Florida Keys are an archipelago of about 1700 islands in the southeast United States. They start at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about 15 miles south of Miami, and extend in a slow curve south-southwest and then westward towards Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and then to the uninhabited Dry Tortugas. The tropical lislands lie along the Florida Straits, dividing the Atlantic Ocean to the east side from the Gulf of Mexico to the west side, and delineate one edge of Florida Bay. At the nearest place, the southernmost tip of Key West is only 94 miles from the shores of Cuba. The Florida Keys are between about 23 and a half and 25 and a half degrees North latitude, in the subtropics! The climate of the Florida Keys is however defined as tropical according to Köppen climate classification. More than 95 percent of the land mass area lies in Monroe County, but only a small portion extends northeast into Miami-Dade County, located primarily in the city of Islandia, Florida. The total land mass is 355.6 km² (137.3 sq mi). As of the 2000 census the total population of The Floarida Keys was 79,535, with an average density of 223.66/km² (579.27/sq mi), although much of the population is concentrated in a few areas of much higher density, such as the city of Key West, which has 32 percent of the total population of the Florida Keys. The world famous city of Key West is the county seat for Monroe County, which makes up a section on the Florida mainland and is almost totally in Everglades National Park, and the Keys islands from Key Largo to the Dry Tortugas. The islands of the Florida Keys are the exposedsections of an ancient coral reef. The northernmost tropical island arising from the ancient reef formation is Elliott Key and is located in Biscayne National Park. North of Elliott Key are several small keys, made up of sand formed up around small areas of the exposed ancient reef. Further north, Key Biscayne and other places north areconsidered barrier islands, made up of sand. The Florida Keys have taken on their current form as the result of the huge changes in ocean sea level associated with recent glaciations or ice ages. Beginning some 130,000 years ago the Sangamon interglacial elevated sea levels to approximately 25 feet (7.5 m.) above the current level. All of southern Florida was covered by a shallow ocean. Several parallel lines of coral reef formed along the edge of the submerged Florida plateau, extending south and then west from the current Miami area to what is now called the Dry Tortugas. This reef formed the famous Key Largo limestone deposit that is exposed on the surface from Soldier Key (midway between Key Biscayne and Elliott Key) toward the southeast portion of Eco-friendly Big Pine Key and the Newfound Harbor Keys. The types of coral that created Key Largo limestone has been identified on the exposed surface of these keys. As early as about 100,000 years ago the Wisconsin glaciation started lowering sea levels, exposing the coral reef and nearby marine sediments. By 15,000 years ago the ocean level had dropped to 300 to 350 feet below today's level. The exposed reefs and sediments were severely eroded. Acid water, which can result from decaying vegetation, dissolves the limestone. Some of the dissolved limestone redeposited as a more dense cap rock, which can be seen as outcrops overlying the Key Largo and Miami limestones and throughout the Keys. The soft limestone that eroded from the coral reef formed oolites in the shallow ocean behind the reef, and together with the skeletal remains of bryozoans, formed the Miami limestone that is the current surface bedrock of the lower Florida peninsula and the lower keys from Big Pine Key to Key West. To the west of Key West the ancient reef is covered by recent calcareous sand. The Famous Seven Mile Bridge One of the longest bridges when it was constructed, the Seven Mile Bridge connects Knight's Key (where the city of Marathon is located in the Middle Keys) to Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys. True to its title, the piling-supported concrete bridge is 35,862 ft or 6.79 miles (10.93 km) long. The current bridge bypasses Pigeon Key, a small island that housed roadway workers building Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway during the 1900s, that the original Seven Mile Bridge crossed. An old 2.2-mile section of the bridge is used for access to the island, and was closed to vehicular traffic on March 4, 2008. The aging structure has been determined unsafe by the Florida Department of Transporation. Costly repairs, estimated to be as much as $34 million, are slated to begin in July 2008. After the destruction of the Keys overseas railway by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, the railroad bridges, including the Seven Mile Bridge, were all converted into automobile roadways. U.S. Route 1 runs the length of the Florida Keys and up the Continental U.S. East Coast to Maine; the Florida Keys portion is also called the Overseas Highway. You can learn even more at our visitor center on KeysTV.com http://www.flaglerkeys100.com/

Favorite Florida Parks

Urbanites seeking a break from the hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle are finding creative public spaces that provide a breath of fresh air — part of a statewide plan to create urban spaces for people to gather in. Here's a few of our favorites: 1. At the 10-acre Arts Park in downtown Hollywood’s historic Young Circle, a sleek water-fountain sculpture houses lighted water jets that shoot upward to create fleeting designs in the air. There’s a rest stop too, with fixed seats and game boards embedded in the tabletops. Top it off with a definitive 21st-century twist — a new amphitheater pavilion hosts outdoor disco dances. 2. On Palm Beach’s Worth Avenue, amid a posh lineup of designer stores, Saks Fifth Avenue’s west wall is home to a garden flipped on-edge — nearly 11,000 plants mingle, interweaving different textures and shades of green in a stunning 24-foot- by-35-foot mural of living art. 3. Naples’ Fifth Avenue South has mini parks. Public art, including a smiling bronze gator, shares space with sidewalk benches. These teeny niches double as performance venues where musicians often set up to serenade passersby. (courtesty of http://www.floridatravellife.com/

BREAKING NEWS - STARBUCKS COMING TO DISNEY WORLD

More than a year after the Walt Disney Co. announced a deal with Starbucks Coffee Co. to bring the coffee retailer to its theme parks, signs of the collaboration have appeared in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

A gold Starbucks' logo is now featured on the window of the Main Street Bakery, and a second Starbucks sign has appeared above its doorway. Meanwhile, a notice on the door — with the logo of the "Main Street Restoration Society" — alerts guests that the bakery is being "refreshed" and suggests they visit the Tomorrowland Terrace for breakfast in the meantime.

Disney and Starbucks announced in April 2012 that the coffee retailer would open locations in each of the Disney Co.'s six U.S. theme parks. While these were to be the first Starbucks shops in Disney's domestic parks, the two companies have worked together elsewhere, including inDisneyland Paris' Disney Village.