Amazing questions -- and equally amazing answers

Not long ago, we looked at some, er,  dopey questions asked by visitors to Walt Disney World in Florida. Now let's cross the country and look not only at questions asked at Disneyland in California but also the clever (or is it sarcastic?)  answers that employees have been known to give. Information is from the book "Mouse Tales" by David Koenig.

Q. (During a downpour). Is that real rain?

A. It's not real.  Mr. Disney has arranged to have an artificial rainstorm in the park every day at 3.

Q.  Is that actual water in the Submarine Lagoon?

A. No, that's cellophane with blowers underneath.

Q. Are the ducks in the Rivers of America real?

A. No, the birds have to be wound up every morning.

Q. (While staring at a large trash can) What ride is this?

A. It's the Can Ride.

Q. How long is the submarine ride?

A. Two days. (So, the book reports, the couple went back to their hotel, packed their bags and returned with suitcases in hand.)

Discount book may cut the cost of NYC visit

New York CityPass contains tickets to the Empire State Building Observatory, the Museum of Modern Art, Statue of Liberty from Liberty Island or from a Circle Line Cruise, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Museum of Natural History and the Guggenheim Museum. New York CityPass is $79  for adults, a savings of $61 over Individual ticket prices, and $59 for ages 13-17, a $42 savings. Booklets are valid for nine days.

Visit www.citypass.com.

Friday's trivia answer: the Caspian Sea

We asked for the name of the world's largest sea, and it is the Caspian.  The sea,  which some term a lake, has a surface area of 143,244 square miles.

Write an essay and win a $780,000 home

Roscoe, a comical Jack Russell Terrier – and his owners – will be awarding their $780,000, fully furnished North Conway, N.H., resort home to the winner of a creative essay contest, to benefit the Conway Area Humane Society. The 3,100-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath home is in the planned community of Hale’s Location, and abuts the first fairway of the golf course. Hiking and cross-country ski trails can be accessed directly from the community, and Echo Lake Park is a five- minute walk from the house. The entry fee is $50.

For details, visit www.newenglandhomecontest.com.

The most popular attractions in New England

According to the AARP Bulletin, these are the top attractions in the six New England states, along with the annual number of visitors: Maine, L.L. Bean's flagship store, Freeport, 3.5 million; New Hampshire, White Mountain National Forest, 5 million; Vermont, Ben & Jerry's factory, Waterbury, 293,000; Massachusetts, Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston, 20 million; Connecticut, Hammonasset Beach State Park, 1.9 million; and Rhode Island, Roger Williams Zoo, Providence, 505,409.

Little things mean a lot

When I stayed at the Hampton Inn in Smithfield, R.I., over the weekend, I was delighted to find that the included breakfast buffet had a choice of regular coffee or dark, robust coffee. As I sipped my coffee (the dark, robust kind), I pondered how little things like that can add greatly to a hotel stay.

Fascinating fact

In Japan, tipping is largely viewed as an insult.

A taste of Scotland -- and its famed whisky

Strathisla Distillery on Scotland's Malt Whisky Trail (Photo by VisitScotland.com)

Scotch whisky and Scotland go together like ... welll, scotch and soda. Nowadays, aficionados can tour several top distilleries and visit themed events while staying at one of Connoisseurs Scotland’s 23 upscale hotels. Three of Scotland's most popular distillery attractions are located near one or moreof those properties. For example:

* The Marcliffe Hotel and Spa is close to the Malt Whisky Trail,  a 68-mile route through the glens of Speyside, connecting several distilleries. The five-star country hotel is offering a Partner Stay Free package, allowing a second guest to stay at no extra charge when a single rate Executive or Deluxe room is booked Monday-Thursday. A full Scottish breakfast is included.
* Whisky Live takes place in cities from Glasgow to Tokyo, bringing together hundreds of different whiskies for tasting by both industry professionals and novices. Hotel du Vin, in Glasgow's  fashionable West End,  is offering a free half or whole bottle of Macallan to those booking Standard/Club or Superior rooms, respectively, and a complimentary in-house whisky tasting to those booking suites. 
* The Glasshouse, Edinburgh’s five-star boutique hotel, is convenient to Glenkinchie, the 19th-century distillery known for its single malt whisky. The Glasshouse is currently offering three nights for the price of two, with regular prices starting at  $250 per room per night, with full breakfast included. Scottish whisky's name is derived from name is derived from "usige beatha," which is Gaelic for "water of life." So live it up, responsibly of course.

For more information on Connoisseur's Scotland, click here.

Thursday's trivia answer

Canada has the world's largest coastline at  243792 kilometers or 15,1485 miles (including the coastline of the country's 52,455 islands). Good citizens that they are, Canadians contribute around $1 billion a year to help protect the coast from erosion and pollution.

Smile brightly, and Orlando may reward you richly

Orlando, Fla.,  is looking for a pair or people with great smiles and a lot of stamina. Their assignment will be to to experience every attraction in Orlando over 67 consecutive days, the time it would take to try the more than 100 attractions in this sunny land of theme parks and alligators, and share their adventures with the world via social media outlets and interviews. The Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau calls this campaign “Orlando Makes Me Smile.”  The pair will stay free in a two-bedroom downtown condo and will be given cell phones, digital video and still cameras, a rental car and $25,000. The experiences will include everything from roller-coaster riding to hang gliding, swimming with dolphins, spa-ing, golfing, gator wrestling, museum exploring, theater-going and dining.

Interested? Get all the details here. And smile. 

Worth quoting

"It's one of the prettiest states in our great country" -- Frank Sinatra, in concert. The Chairman knew whereof he spoke.

By the beautiful sea in Oxnard, Calif.

Oh, to be on the beach in California. Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach Hotel & Resort, which lays claim to being the only all-suite resort in southern California that sits directly on the beach, has a trio of similar offers.  The Summer Getaway Package includes three nights' accommodations, a $50 dining credit, an in-room movie or one-hour Nintendo play, two bike rentals, parking and Internet access. Prices start at $750. The Summer Fun Package is good for five nights, a $100 dining credit, two movies or two hours of Nintendo, three bike rentals, parking and Internet. The price begins at $1,250. With the Summer Vacation Package, the stay is seven nights, and the dining credit $150, along with  three movies or three hours of Nintendo, four bike rentals, and the parking and Internet. Rates begin at $1,750.

Call 805-984-2500. For hotel information, click here.

The wide world of the Web

Hotelicopter is among the latest Web sites promising great deals on hotels. The site searches more than 30 other travel sites for deals. Helicopter gained some notoriety on April Fools Day when it floated a story about a flying hotel, and people who should have known better reported it as true.

Visit www.helicopter.com.

Fascinating fact

The King Ranch in South Texas, with 82,5000 acres, is bigger than the state of Rhode Island, with 77,6957 acres. 

Keep the kids quiet with a free coloring map

A coloring-game map of the U.S. from "Miles of Smiles: 101 Great Car Games & Activities" can be downloaded free. When the kids spot a license plate, they color in that state, an activity that seems better than watching a DVD, zombie-like, in the car. The book, by  Carole Terwilliger Meyers, has games and activities  with travel-related themes.

For the game map, click here.