Originally Posted By Tikiduck "I can see that, but I'm asking why?" Well, it began in my youth, being raised in an Albanian orphanage run by a headmistress with a deep voice and a unibrow who went by the name of Frau Blucher. It was a lonely time, with months of seemingly endless boredom punctuated with moments of sheer terror. It was then, in those formative years that I began my plan to dominate the world of internet chat rooms.
Originally Posted By Nobody From post #178: "Lanai only has two hotels and both of them are Four Seasons." Actually there's a third hotel (or more accurately a first hotel). <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.hotellanai.com/">http://www.hotellanai.com/</a>
Originally Posted By hbquikcomjamesl > Well, it began in my youth, being raised > in an Albanian orphanage run by a > headmistress with a deep voice and a > unibrow who went by the name of Frau > Blucher. <cue the terrified horses> And as to my not swimming and my total lack of interest in lying about on a beach like some stranded cetacean, well, my second and most recent visit to Hawaii, I visited four islands in two weeks, with most of my interisland flights on Island Air's little DeHavilland twin turboprops, which effectively combines transportation with flightseeing, and I managed to visit over a dozen museums, two agricultural exhibits, two zoos, two aquariums, and a national park, ride two excursion trains, enter the Diamond Head caldera (and hike about a third of the way up to the old military observation post), and see the beautiful underwater scenery off the coast of Lahaina from the comfort of a nice, air-conditioned submarine.
Originally Posted By tashajilek The Submarine would be pretty neat, but I don't think you can beat actually being in the water and swimming with tropical fish and sea turtles.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Why would anyone do that when you can just go to Disneyland and view the ones in the lagoon on the submarines in Tomorrowland?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>The Submarine would be pretty neat, but I don't think you can beat actually being in the water and swimming with tropical fish and sea turtles.<< Why not compromise? There's a tropical snorkling area at Typhoon Lagoon in WDW. They loan you the mask and snorkel, and you hop in with colorful fish and sharks for a few minutes. When you're done, you head back to the water slides, or roll out to the theme parks
Originally Posted By tashajilek I would try that, but I think I would still prefere a natural setting.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance Seeing whales in the middle of the ocean in the wild during out Alaskan cruise, was a tad better than seeing Monstro in Fantasyland
Originally Posted By hbquikcomjamesl > Why would anyone do that when you can > just go to Disneyland and view the ones > in the lagoon on the submarines in > Tomorrowland? Hans, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but the submarines in Tomorrowland aren't real. They're diesel-powered tracked vehicles that happen to be roughly 75% submerged in operation. It's all special effects. That said, given that it's practically on the TL/FL border, I don't have any problem at all with the new "Finding Nemo" theme that was added a few years ago. The submarines run by the Atlantis company, <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.atlantisadventures.com/">http://www.atlantisadventures.com/</a> are real. They go down to about 150 feet in air-conditioned comfort. They're also a good deal less cramped than the Disney attraction, and the windows are much larger. When your tour reservation time comes, you're taken out on a passenger tender, to meet the submarine and its safety tender, usually arriving shortly before it surfaces. Once it surfaces, the sub, and both tenders, maneuver alongside each other, tie up, and a gangplank is extended. The previous tour group disembarks, and your group enters the sub. After roughly 35-45 minutes submerged, you surface, meeting the next tour group, and the process repeats itself, with the next group typically going down as your tender returns to shore. Atlantis subs, unlike naval and research subs, always maintain positive buoyancy, requiring constant downward thrust to remain submerged: that way, in the event of a power failure, or in the event that the crew is incapacitated, the vessel will surface by itself. At any rate, how else is a non-swimmer going to see the underwater scenery at any of the locations served by the Atlantis company?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>They're diesel-powered tracked vehicles that happen to be roughly 75% submerged in operation.<< Actually, they got converted to electric motors during the Nemo conversion a while back. They use the same electric transfer technology that was first tried out in the Jolly Trolley, and later refined for the streetcar at The Grove and the Red Cars in DCA But the point still remains that DL's subs don't actually go up and down; they move laterally like any other boat, just with most of the vessel submerged
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "There's a tropical snorkling area at Typhoon Lagoon in WDW. They loan you the mask and snorkel, and you hop in with colorful fish and sharks for a few minutes. When you're done, you head back to the water slides, or roll out to the theme parks" Now you're talking. I love Typhoon Lagoon, by the way.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "They go down to about 150 feet in air-conditioned comfort. They're also a good deal less cramped than the Disney attraction, and the windows are much larger." Seriously, this is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I have to do this! It's a hundred buck though. Still, how much fun would that be? Have you done it?
Originally Posted By hbquikcomjamesl Hawaii, several places in the West Indies, and Guam. (Click the "Global Site" link in the page header.) And yes, I did it. Twice. Both from Lahaina. Once, my first trip to Hawaii (3 islands in 1 week), and once, my second trip to Hawaii (4 islands in 2 weeks). As I recall, the water was clearer the first time, and I had a seat close enough to the bow that, in addition to my own window, I could look over the skipper's shoulder. Both times, I bought the Maui Value Pass package, which reduced the overall costs. (The first trip, I didn't have time to use the Maui Tropical Plantation ticket, and there wasn't a bus stop for it yet, anyway, and yet I still came out ahead.)
