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Passport cards proving popular in border states
Nearly 740,000 Americans have ordered passport cards, a new document being offered by the State Department to speed border crossings by U.S. citizens traveling to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
Beginning in June 2009, travelers will be required to present documents proving both citizenship and identity when entering the U.S. through a land or sea border. For Americans who drive to Canada or Mexico or cruise regularly to the Caribbean, but who do not expect to fly abroad, the passport card is a cheaper, smaller, more portable alternative to a conventional passport book.
The card is especially popular with Americans who live in border states where it's not unusual to drive back and forth to Canada or Mexico. Residents of four border states -- Texas, California, Michigan and New York -- lead the country in the number of residents holding passport cards, according to Rima J. Vydmantas, spokeswoman for the State Department's Consular Affairs Bureau.
The passport card is the size of a credit card or driver's license, and has a photo and identification information printed on it, like a driver's license. It also contains a chip with a unique number that allows border officials to instantly retrieve your data from a government database.
It's not valid for air travel.
Passport cards are good for 10 years and cost $45 ($35 for children under 16). Applications can be made at any passport-processing site. If you already have a passport but want the card anyway because of the convenient size or quick scanning, it's only $20 and can be ordered by mail.
For details on how and where to get a passport card, visit http://www.travel.state.gov.
Processing time for applications for both passport books and passport cards are about three weeks for routine applications. Expedited service is not available for passport cards, but for passport books, expedited service takes about two weeks.
Disney opening American Idol Experience Feb. 14
An attraction inspired by the "American Idol" TV show offically opens at Disney's Hollywood Studios Feb. 14.
Walt Disney World guests can register to audition in front of a Disney casting director for a chance to take part in the theme park show. Contestants who make the cut must then audition for a Disney producer. Those selected by producers will perform in front of an onstage panel of judges and an audience of park guests who vote on each show's winners.
Performing guests with the highest votes compete in an end-of-day grand finale show at the attraction. The winner of that competition gets a guaranteed reservation, with no waiting in long lines, for a future regional audition for the real "American Idol" TV show.
Details -- including age restrictions and other eligibility requirements -- at http://www.disneyworld.com/idol.
Snow park opens in Atlanta's Stone Mountain Park
Residents of Atlanta aren't accustomed to snowy winters. But now anybody in the area who wants a day of snow play can head to Stone Mountain Park, which has opened its first "Snow Mountain Park," with three football fields of snow, a 400-foot hill with 11 tubing runs, and a 30,000-square-foot play area.
The snow park opened Dec. 31 and is scheduled to remain open weekends through March 1.
Details at http://www.snowmountainpark.com.
Kids can make snowmen and snow angels, and there's even a snowball-making zone, along with warming chalets and bonfires for roasting marshmallows and making s'mores.
The attraction uses water from Stone Mountain Lake that is filtered and then turned into snow using the same types of snowmaking machines that ski resorts use. As the snow melts, it drains back to Stone Mountain Lake. The park's Web site says that it is buying green energy credits to power the process. Many ski resorts have also tried to make their enterprises greener by buying energy from renewable resources like wind power.
Nearly 740,000 Americans have ordered passport cards, a new document being offered by the State Department to speed border crossings by U.S. citizens traveling to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
Beginning in June 2009, travelers will be required to present documents proving both citizenship and identity when entering the U.S. through a land or sea border. For Americans who drive to Canada or Mexico or cruise regularly to the Caribbean, but who do not expect to fly abroad, the passport card is a cheaper, smaller, more portable alternative to a conventional passport book.
The card is especially popular with Americans who live in border states where it's not unusual to drive back and forth to Canada or Mexico. Residents of four border states -- Texas, California, Michigan and New York -- lead the country in the number of residents holding passport cards, according to Rima J. Vydmantas, spokeswoman for the State Department's Consular Affairs Bureau.
The passport card is the size of a credit card or driver's license, and has a photo and identification information printed on it, like a driver's license. It also contains a chip with a unique number that allows border officials to instantly retrieve your data from a government database.
It's not valid for air travel.
Passport cards are good for 10 years and cost $45 ($35 for children under 16). Applications can be made at any passport-processing site. If you already have a passport but want the card anyway because of the convenient size or quick scanning, it's only $20 and can be ordered by mail.
For details on how and where to get a passport card, visit http://www.travel.state.gov.
Processing time for applications for both passport books and passport cards are about three weeks for routine applications. Expedited service is not available for passport cards, but for passport books, expedited service takes about two weeks.
Disney opening American Idol Experience Feb. 14
An attraction inspired by the "American Idol" TV show offically opens at Disney's Hollywood Studios Feb. 14.
Walt Disney World guests can register to audition in front of a Disney casting director for a chance to take part in the theme park show. Contestants who make the cut must then audition for a Disney producer. Those selected by producers will perform in front of an onstage panel of judges and an audience of park guests who vote on each show's winners.
Performing guests with the highest votes compete in an end-of-day grand finale show at the attraction. The winner of that competition gets a guaranteed reservation, with no waiting in long lines, for a future regional audition for the real "American Idol" TV show.
Details -- including age restrictions and other eligibility requirements -- at http://www.disneyworld.com/idol.
Snow park opens in Atlanta's Stone Mountain Park
Residents of Atlanta aren't accustomed to snowy winters. But now anybody in the area who wants a day of snow play can head to Stone Mountain Park, which has opened its first "Snow Mountain Park," with three football fields of snow, a 400-foot hill with 11 tubing runs, and a 30,000-square-foot play area.
The snow park opened Dec. 31 and is scheduled to remain open weekends through March 1.
Details at http://www.snowmountainpark.com.
Kids can make snowmen and snow angels, and there's even a snowball-making zone, along with warming chalets and bonfires for roasting marshmallows and making s'mores.
The attraction uses water from Stone Mountain Lake that is filtered and then turned into snow using the same types of snowmaking machines that ski resorts use. As the snow melts, it drains back to Stone Mountain Lake. The park's Web site says that it is buying green energy credits to power the process. Many ski resorts have also tried to make their enterprises greener by buying energy from renewable resources like wind power.
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