The LG Travel News Roundup: 1.7.11

Weekly Travel News — By Candace R on January 7, 2011 at 6:00 am

By Candace Rardon
LG Section Editor

Missed the big travel stories of the week? And the weird, wacky and insignificant ones? We’ve got your roundup right here…

Orlando serves its millionth butterbeer

Muggles everywhere had reason to celebrate last June when the “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” attraction opened inside Universal Studios’ Islands of Adventure. Now, Universal officials reveal just how the Muggles have been celebrating: with butterbeer, it seems. As of Thursday, the park has sold a million mugs of the nonalcoholic drink, which is served either cold or frozen. The drink, whose recipe was approved by J.K. Rowling herself, was a favorite of the books’ characters. Source: Yahoo

Explorers unearth the world’s largest cave passage in Vietnam

You don’t have to be a spelunker to get excited over the recent discovery of large passages in the Hang Son Doong cave (which means “mountain river cave” in Vietnamese). In some parts, the cave, located near the Vietnam-Laos border, measures 262 feet wide and high by nearly three miles long, but rumor has it some passages might extend to 300 by 800 feet. Although explorers first entered the famous passage in 2009, floods had kept them at bay until just recently. Source: Gadling

Bagel-toting nutty professor arrested on Boston plane

Customers on a US Airways plane in Boston played a version of “What’s in your bag?” this week when they heard weird noises coming from a package in an overhead compartment. The bag belonged to Ognjen Milatovic, a math professor from Florida, and both the suspicious noises and his refusal to sit down or turn off his phone led him to be hand-cuffed and taken off the plane. So what was all the fuss about? Officials have confirmed Milatovic’s bag contained the usual items–wallet, keys, and hat–plus a bagel and cream cheese. Not exactly worth confiscating, but that still doesn’t explain the noises. Source: AOL

New super yacht design inspired by Monaco

It seems like a clip from MTV’s “The World’s Most Insane Mega Yachts”–a new design for a super yacht measuring 155 meters and featuring four main decks. Titled “The Streets of Monaco,” the yet-to-be-built yacht draws its inspiration from the European microstate and will include the usual smattering of cruise activities plus a replica of Casino Square on its top deck and–perhaps the most exciting proposed idea–a go-kart circuit. Any takers? Source: Gadling

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Travel News Bits

Grab your hiking boots and leave your wallet at home
If cost is the only thing keeping you back from visiting the 394 U.S. national parks, this is the year for you: on eighteen days throughout across 2011, the National Park Service is offering free entry to all parks. Source: USA Today

Thumbnail courtesy of John Raoux, AP, from msnbc.com