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Published Nov/Dec 2006 |
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From Australia to the high seas, New York to Las Vegas, here are 15 places to visit and ring in the new year.
By Deborah Reinhardt Palmer |
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 ith champagne, fireworks, confetti and balloons, New Year’s Eve is the world’s biggest party. Revelers can spend thousands of dollars on New Year’s travel or it can be done relatively inexpensively. Here are 15 ideas for a New Year’s Eve getaway that suit almost any budget.Why the big party? The Romans in 153 B.C. were the first to observe Jan. 1 as New Year’s Day. Waiting to ring in the New Year the night before has been in place for hundreds of years. According to Hallmark, the custom of making toasts, a New Year’s Eve tradition, is traced to the reign of England’s Elizabeth I. A piece of toasted bread was dipped in one’s wine before drinking the wine and eating the toast. The custom became known as toasting. Seventh-century Dutch pagans exchan-ged gifts for the New Year. During the Middle Ages, a variety of early Christian feasts were held to mark the New Year. Modern New Year’s Eve parties almost always involve drinking, so no matter where the fun takes you, make sure there is a designated driver in your group. Many bars or hotel parties will provide free soft drinks for this person. AAA can provide free designated driver stickers plus alcohol and driving safety brochures. Above all, do not drink and drive. Remember it takes 1 1/4 hours for the body to eliminate the alcohol contained in one drink. U.S. party towns New Year’s Eve in New York has been a tradition since 1904. The original party was an opening bash for The New York Times’ new headquarters. The ball drop, a brainchild of Times’ owner Alfred Ochs, dates back to 1907. After a citywide ban of fireworks for New Year’s, Ochs had a 700-pound iron and wood ball lowered from the tower’s flagpole. Today’s ball, designed by Waterford, weighs more than 1,000 pounds and has 504 crystal triangles covering its circumference. As many as 750,000 people crowd into Times Square for this celebration. Plan ahead to be a part of this pop culture event. Tips to keep in mind: There are no portable public toilets at the event; New York in December is cold; public drinking is illegal in New York; and security will be heavy. Good planning information is online at www.timessquarenyc.org. Hotels will have special events. Tour operators, such as ATI, will offer New Year’s in New York packages. Contact AAA Travel for ATI packaged tours. What’s billed as America’s Party could only happen in Las Vegas, a city of extremes. Some 300,000 people line up and down the Strip to watch fireworks shoot off resort rooftops. Hotel packages and shows no doubt will fill up quickly. Fremont Street Experience hosts a private block party that includes four national music acts and electronic fireworks on the overhead canopy. Downtown hotels will have dinner/entrance packages. Early details included ticket prices (approximately $80). For more block party details, click on www.lasvegasexperience.com. See your AAA Travel agent for details on Las Vegas travel packages. Parties for the football fan Brennan Vacations has a package that combines the 118th Tournament of Roses Parade with a New Year’s Eve party, New Year’s Day champagne brunch, visits to Universal Studios and more. Tour prices for the five-night package start at $1,799. For the family football nut, add on tickets to the 93rd Rose Bowl championship game. Limited tickets are available through Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com) in December or call (213) 365-3675. Parties and Miami seem to go together, and those surrounding the Orange Bowl (Jan. 2) seem almost as big as the football game, which will be in Dolphin Stadium. In addition to the clubs, hotels and restaurants that will be hopping, the big New Year’s Eve party starts at 7 p.m. at Bayfront Park and features concerts and fireworks. Watch the 25-foot neon orange drop from the Hotel InterContinental, which also has fireworks and a laser show. These are free events. Open the year with another party, the Orange Bowl PATCH® Beach Blast on Hollywood Beach, noon until 8 p.m. You’ll need tickets for this one. And no ticket, no football seat. Add your name to the waiting list at www.orangebowl.org. The Sugar Bowl will be played Jan. 3 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Tickets range from $125–$550 (www.sugarbowltickets.org). There’s plenty to do in Atlanta before the game, including the 19th annual Peach Drop on New Year’s Eve held at Underground Atlanta. These bowl game tickets can be pretty scarce; consider travel packages that include tickets to the big game. Contact AAA for tour availability. Family parties Every day is a party at Walt Disney World in Orlando, and at the Downtown Disney resort area, there’s a New Year’s Eve party every night. Universal Orlando Resort has a New Year’s Eve party with music, food and midnight fireworks at CityWalk®. What’s great about these destinations is that everything to entertain a family is in one location. Arrive, unpack and party hearty. For Disney and Universal travel packages, contact AAA Travel. When money is no object If you could be anywhere in the world with loved ones for New Year’s, where would it be? Perhaps Sydney, Australia. The fireworks in Sydney’s harbor are shown across the world on television. Perhaps the prettiest harbor in the world, the bridge, water and surrounding area are lit up by 11,000 shells, 10,000 comets and more than 100,000 pyrotechnic effects on Dec. 31. And this year’s show will celebrate the 75th anniversary in 2007 of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Trafalgar Tours has a 12-day Discover Australia package that puts travelers in Sydney on Dec. 31. The 359-room Swissôtel Sydney actually is within walking distance of several good vantage points, including Darling Harbor. Tour the bridge, opera house and have a lunch cruise on Jan. 1. Tour prices start at $2,425. Crowds in Paris pack around the Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Elysées, bringing (and shooting) fireworks. Add gourmet dining, opera, ballet and perhaps you’ll fall for Paris. Or take a dinner cruise on the Seine River for about $400. If the nearby French countryside and chateaus are appealing, the Midi-Pyrénées area offers a New Year’s Eve party near Rodez at the Château de Fontanges, well-known for its culinary offerings. For an overnight (two days) room with the celebration, it’s $280 per person. London clubs, pubs and restaurants will be buzzing for New Year’s, while big crowds gather in Trafalgar Square and at the London Eye for fireworks. Have a luxury dinner cruise with champagne on the Thames and enjoy the old city’s great skyline. Insight Vacations can take you to Germany, Austria and Switzerland for a 10-day holiday vacation. Arrive Christmas Day in Frankfurt and spend New Year’s in lovely Lucerne. Tour prices start at $1,275. AAA Travel can assist with travel to Australia and Europe. New Year’s on a budget You want to travel somewhere for fun, but can’t afford Paris or Vegas. Here are some ideas for a closer-to-home party. With a holiday light show like the one Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza puts on every year, who needs fireworks? The lights will twinkle through mid-January. For a hotel room, consider the boutique Raphael Hotel or the InterContinental, both overlooking the plaza lights. The Kansas City Repertory Theater will welcome 2007 with a live National Public Radio “Toast of the Nation” broadcast at 10:30 p.m. featuring jazz and blues. Jazz vocalist Karrin Allyson is featured in concert for the broadcast, as well as an earlier performance at 7:30 p.m. A family party–Over the Top, Under the Clock–will be at historic Union Station and features music by Liverpool, a Beatles cover band. Food, two balloon drops and a champagne toast at midnight (for mom and dad) are included. For more information, contact the Convention and Visitors Association of Greater Kansas City at 1-800-767-7700 or www.visitkc.com. Hotels in St. Louis also will offer packages for New Year’s. Free carriage rides and a fireworks display are part of the fun starting at 6 p.m. at Westport Plaza, which also offers a variety of establishments–including Cardinal slugger Albert Pujols’ new restaurant–Pujols 5. The family-oriented First Night® St. Louis will be at the Grand Center arts and entertainment district, also home to the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. The symphony will offer “a musical surprise party” on New Year’s Eve. For details, contact the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission at 1-800-916-0040 or www.explorestlouis.com. In French Lick, Ind., the newly renovated French Lick Springs Resort and Casino opened Nov. 3, restored to its 1920s grandeur. Returning guests and newcomers will appreciate the lobby’s luxurious gold gilding, artful mythological murals and huge front porch. But the historic 443-room hotel now has a new casino, a luxurious 27,000-square-foot spa, indoor and outdoor pools, fitness center, shops, nine eateries and even a bowling alley. This $382 million venture is a striking development for southern Indiana. For more details on the new French Lick Springs Resort and Casino, click here. Putting on the Ritz is a $695 per couple package the resort is offering for New Year’s Eve. It includes an overnight stay for two, a Roaring ’20s party with an open bar, five-course dinner, a gift, party favors, VIP casino admission, champagne toast at midnight, music by the Steve Allee Orchestra, and breakfast for two. Call 1-800-457-4042 for reservation or see www.frenchlick.com. It’s cold, but the music, food and fun are hot in Chicago. There will be fireworks at Buckingham Fountain and New Year’s Eve cruises departing from Navy Pier. Hotels will offer packages, or catch a Broadway show, like “Wicked” (www.broadwayinchicago .com) that offers a 2 p.m. matinee on Dec. 31. For details, contact Chicago tourism at 1-877-244-2246 or www.877chicago.com. AAA domestic travel counselors can assist with hotel packages, maps or TripTiks® for these destinations. New Year’s at sea Even its name–Carnival–says party. Carnival has more than three dozen sailings that would put you on the high seas for New Year’s, with destinations to the Caribbean and Mexican Riviera departing from New Orleans, San Diego or Florida. With non-stop activities on board, tropical ports and entertainment for everyone in the family, a cruise might be the answer to your new year’s resolution to add more fun into your life. Ask your AAA Travel agent about member discounts or benefits. Wherever you will be on New Year’s, let us raise a toast for happiness, health and peace in 2007. Deborah Reinhardt Palmer is managing editor of AAA Midwest Traveler. |
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