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From Private Guides to Front-of-the-Line Access: How Disney VIP Tours are Redefining Theme Park Experiences

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:55 GMT

Theme park guests are increasingly seeking out personalized and exclusive experiences to enhance their visits. As such, there has been a growing demand for VIP tours that offer a more tailored and efficient experience, including access to exclusive areas, priority seating, and front-of-the-line access to attractions. These tours are particularly popular among families with young children, individuals with specific needs, and guests who wish to maximize their time in the parks.Disney VIP Tours have been a staple of the theme park experience since the early 1980s when they were initially offered as a way for celebrities to experience the parks with privacy and convenience. Since then, Disney VIP Tours have evolved to include various options, such as private tours, group tours, and customized itineraries. These tours offer an array of benefits, including the ability to skip lines, personalized attention from expert tour guides, and access to backstage areas and VIP lounges. As theme pa...

Sri Lanka: A Wildlife Wonder Awaits

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:55 GMT

Chitral Jayatilake didn’t set out to become an ecotourism guru and nature photographer featured in some of the world’s most prestigious media, but a combination of a zest for wildlife and the emergence of Sri Lanka, his home country, as a global mecca of biodiversity found him well-suited in the role.Now as a tourism head at Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts, one of Sri Lanka’s top hospitality companies, he regularly takes groups of travelers to the wilds of Sri Lanka to experience the country’s beauty and stunning ecology. That’s if he’s not shooting stunning photos himself for publications like National Geographic, or helping BBC film their Planet Earth series.Chitral JayatilakeSri Lanka’s place as a much lauded and growing wildlife tourism destination is well earned. While being a small island nation, its 25,300 square miles are filled with some of the planet’s densest animal herds against some of its most beautiful backdrops.That’s why publications across the globe have, in turn, reco...

Presale Codes for Hot Tuna Going Fishing Tour

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:55 GMT

Have you been keeping your lamps trimmed and burning? You better, because Hot Tuna is going on a final electric tour. The duo of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady’s tour is dubbed “Going Fishing.” The tour launches on September 15 in Rochester, NY and wraps October 7 in Live Oak, FL — see below for all dates. Passwords and presale codes for Hot Tuna Going Fishing Tour tickets are as follows:Presale codes for Hot Tuna Going Fishing TourPresale tickets for Hot Tuna Going Fishing Tour go on sale today, May 2 and we’ve been told the following presale codes and passwords may work. Details are subject to change, and vary by event date:Live Nation website presale code or password: ICONICLive Nation mobile app presale code or password: COVERTSales for the general public should go on sale this Friday, May 5. Take note that details, dates and codes for the tour are subject to change.What have Hot Tuna been up to?The legendary duo Hot Tuna is famously made up of childhood friend...

Opinion: A Biden-Trump rematch? American democracy is broken

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:55 GMT

A lot can happen between now and next year’s election, but President Joe Biden’s decision to run and former President Donald Trump’s barely diminished standing with Republicans make a repeat of their 2020 contest quite likely. Pause for a moment to consider this prospect — and the epic failure it represents.The Democrats’ best offer to the nation is a leader who’s 80 going on 90, who can’t safely be allowed off-script or put in front of reporters, whose grasp of policy and his own personal history was tenuous even in his prime, and who’s accused of involvement in his son’s peddling of influence.The Republicans’ leading applicant for the world’s most important job is admittedly still a youngster at 76. On the other hand, he led an administration that set new standards of chaotic and incompetent government, encouraged a riotous assault on the U.S. Capitol, is the subject of several criminal and civil investigations, and is defending a lawsuit alleging he’s a rapist.This extravaganza o...

Map: Tracking the rain in the Bay Area

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:55 GMT

Tuesday morning’s rain was the leading edge of a system expected to linger in the Bay Area until Wednesday night.Light rain, showers and temperatures in the 50s are forecast, the National Weather Service said.The updating radar map above shows areas of precipitation in green, with greater intensities indicated by yellow and orange.Related ArticlesWeather | Hours without power is tough, but what about Bay Area community’s two weeks? Weather | Forecast map: California rivers bulge with snowmelt, but no major floods expected. How’s it look near you? Weather | Bay Area lawmakers push feds for disaster recovery package for California farmers Weather | Warming Bay Area temperatures bring with them Spare the Air alert Weather | PG&E measures 211 inches of snow in final Northern California park survey

Walters: California Democrats at odds over how to close budget deficit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:55 GMT

California’s tax revenues continue to fall short of expectations, its deficit continues to grow and with the June 15 deadline for enacting a new budget, there’s a three-way split among the Capitol’s top Democrats.In January, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared that the state had a $22.5 billion deficit, just months after bragging about a nearly $100 billion surplus. However, revenues – particularly personal income taxes – have grown even softer since then. When Newsom unveils a revised 2023-24 budget later this month, he’s expected to declare a wider income/outgo gap.The problem is exacerbated by two factors: the spending expectations that were raised by last year’s phantom surplus and the lack of revenue clarity because the deadline for filing income tax returns, originally April 18, was extended by six months due to winter storms.The current budget, passed when surplus projections were soaring, contains dozens of appropriations to create new projects or services, or to expand existing ones...

Skelton: Tucker Carlson’s ludicrous falsehoods have no place in journalism

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:55 GMT

If you’re an opinion journalist, a cardinal sin is to express a view you really don’t believe — or stoop to fabrication. In short, blatantly lie.It’s unforgivable — and potentially libelous.I’m referring particularly to so-called journalists who sound off when they don’t believe their own words. They lower themselves just to be provocative, feed listeners what they want to ingest and build viewer ratings.Someone like fired top-rated Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who trumpeted former President Trump’s lies about the 2020 election being stolen when he apparently didn’t believe the claptrap himself. Some other Fox News stars fit into the same dark corner of deception and hypocrisy.It all came out in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against Fox for smearing the company’s reputation during 2020 post-election reporting. Fox settled the suit by paying out nearly $800 million to Dominion and issuing a statement conceding that it had aired falsehoods about the company.Texts and...

Dutch plan to cut nitrogen emissions gets EU green light

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:55 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch government plans to drastically cut emissions of nitrogen pollution cleared a key hurdle Tuesday when the European Union’s executive arm gave the green light to farm buyout schemes worth nearly 1.5 billion euros ($1.65 billion). The plans to reduce nitrogen deposits — mainly by livestock farms — on EU-designated areas of vulnerable nature have sparked heated debate and widespread protests by angry farmers in this small nation that is a major producer and exporter of farm products. Dutch agricultural exports were worth 122.3 billion euros last year, according to the national statistics office.The Dutch ruling coalition wants to cut emissions of pollutants, predominantly nitrogen oxide and ammonia, by 50% nationwide by 2030. It was not immediately clear how much of that target could be met using the EU-approved funds.Nitrogen pollution makes climate change worse and can harm biodiversity, according to the UN Environment Program. A key part of ...

Cheniere Energy: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:55 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — HOUSTON (AP) — Cheniere Energy Inc. (LNG) on Tuesday reported first-quarter earnings of $5.43 billion.The Houston-based company said it had net income of $22.10 per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, were $6.89 per share.The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $5.96 per share.The natural gas company posted revenue of $7.31 billion in the period, which also beat Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $6.58 billion._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on LNG at https://www.zacks.com/ap/LNGSource

Repligen: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:55 GMT

WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) — WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) — Repligen Corp. (RGEN) on Tuesday reported first-quarter profit of $28.8 million.The Waltham, Massachusetts-based company said it had net income of 51 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 64 cents per share.The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 59 cents per share.The drug developer posted revenue of $182.7 million in the period, also beating Street forecasts. Eight analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $181 million.Repligen expects full-year earnings in the range of $2.35 to $2.42 per share, with revenue in the range of $720 million to $760 million._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on RGEN at https://www.zacks.com/ap/RGENSource