CREDIT: COURTESY OF MT. OLYMPUS WATER & THEME PARK RESORT
America’s First Rotating Waterslide Just Opened — and Goes Up to 25 Miles per Hour, If you are applying for a Schengen Visa, get ready to wait longer than expected and more in top news of the day.
America’s First Rotating Waterslide Just Opened — and Goes Up to 25 Miles per Hour
A water park in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin (a.k.a. the water park capital of America) named after Greece’s highest peak just unveiled the country’s first and only rotating waterslide. Dubbed Medusa’s Slidewheel, the ride lasts approximately 96 seconds and opened May 28, 2022. Soaring 80 feet into the air and spanning 100 feet in width, it’s like a cross between a waterslide and a ferris wheel. Entering through an automatic tube conveyor on a raft, riders slide forward and back while experiencing the thrill of speed, g-force, and airtime — at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour. Attached to Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park is a 1,600-room resort. Guests can also experience an indoor water park, fresh off a 22,500-square-foot expansion that includes a new children’s splash zone and swim area; the world’s first multilevel go-kart track; and the world’s first underground roller coaster.
Are you applying for a Schengen Visa? Get ready to wait longer than expected
The duration for a Schengen visa can go upto almost a month due to high demand. A number of people are waiting for their visas as the visa processing time has increased like never before. As per reports, there are no appointments available (to submit visa application) for European nations till June-end. While normally the visa processing time (minimum) is 15 working days, a number of people have said that they haven’t received their passports even after a month reporter TOI.
On May 19, the Swiss embassy in India, told travel agents: “With immediate effect and due to the high volume of the visa applications, the Swiss Visa VFS Centre and the Embassy of Switzerland in New Delhi will only accept the visa applications, with travel dates, which are not falling in next 15 days from the date of application submission at the VFS Centres across India. This is valid for all the short-term tourist visa applications.”
Airfares surge 50% as domestic and international travel rebound
More Americans are taking to the skies this summer than there are available plane seats, driving up ticket prices as airlines grapple with surging fuel costs, staffing challenges and smaller fleets. Airfares at American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines — the three largest domestic carriers — shot up nearly 50% for the week ending May 23 compared to a year ago, according to an analysis by Cowen, a financial services firm, reports CBS.
A report from Mastercard Economics Institute shows consumers are booking domestic and international travel at a rate not seen since before the pandemic. By the end of April, flight bookings were up 25% compared to pre-pandemic levels, with the report’s authors noting an “unprecedented surge” in international trips, based on anonymized spending data from Mastercard cardholders.
