Fun Travel Facts and Trivia

Fast Facts about Travel near our Sundance Vacations Properties

Sometimes our brains are just in the mood for some interesting travel facts, and what better way to impress someone than with a unique, little-known fact to share about your next vacation?

We’ve searched all around for some great travel trivia and found 91 (updated) fun travel facts to share with you around our Sundance Vacations properties in the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean.

1. Every 60 seconds, 146 cubic yards of sandcastles are being built worldwide.
2. The “smoke-line” left by an airplane is really water vapor. A longer lasting, wider line could be the tell-tale sign of an impending storm while a short lasting one indicates low-humidity air and fair weather.
3. Despite the movies, it’s impossible to open the plane’s door mid-flight. The cabin is so pressurized that it would take several strong people to push it open since it must be moved in and turned slightly before opening.
4. During an average lift off, a commercial jet takes off at 550-580 miles per hour.
5. The tallest mountain in the world, Mauna Kea, is located in Hawaii. It’s about twice the base to peak height of Mount Everest and when measured from the seafloor is over 32,000 feet high.
6. The word Pennsylvania is misspelled “Pensylvania” on the Liberty Bell, which tourists can now see in Philadelphia.
7. The city of Chicago is where the first ever ferris wheel was invented in the 1893 World’s Fair.
8. Battle Creek, Michigan makes more cereal than any other city in the world.
9. Montana has three times as many cows than it does people.
10. For our Walking Dead fans out there, which has scenes filmed in Atlanta, the old name of the city in Georgia was Terminus. Sound familiar?
11. According to statistics gathered in 2014, the U.S. has over 19,000 landing facilities and 378 airports.
12. The Great Smoky Mountain National Park is actually the most visited national park in the United States!  They had more than 11.3 million recreational visitors in 2017.
13. Noah’s Ark Waterpark in Wisconsin is the largest outdoor water park in America. It has over 70 acres of water slides! The Dells is also home to the nation’s largest indoor water park resort, Kalahari Resort (125,000 square feet).
14. Fear not! Although Michigan is known as the “Wolverine State,” there are no longer any wolverines in the state. One was spotted in 2004, however, that was the first found in over 200 years.
15. The Finger Lakes area in New York is the largest wine producing region in the United States, besides California.
16. The famous Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Company gives their ice cream waste to local Vermont farmers. The hogs love to devour all flavors…well, except Mint Oreo, which they are picky about.
17. Maine is the only state in the US with a  name that is only one syllable.
18. Ninety percent of the country’s toothpick supply is made in Maine. They’re also famous for harvesting the most lobsters and producing the most broccoli.
19. There is a house in Rockport that is made entirely out of newspapers.
20. Both volleyball and basketball were invented in Massachusetts. It is also where the first sewing machine and computer were invented.
21. Atlantic City, New Jersey is home to the longest boardwalk in the world.
22. Virginia is the only state that has the same state tree and state flower, the Flowering Dogwood Tree.
23. The Outer Banks of North Carolina is the 3rd largest destination for weddings in the US, third only to Hawaii and Las Vegas. It’s estimated that there are more than 3,500 weddings hosted in the Outer Banks every year!
24. The population of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina jumps from 30,000 to over 350,000 in the summer months.
25. Parts of Forest Gump were filmed in Savannah, Georgia…most notably the bench Forest sat on the north side of Chippewa Square, for the famous “Life is like a box of chocolates” quote. The bench is now located in the Savannah History Museum.
26. When you’re in the middle of the Panhandle of Florida, be careful about the settings on your phone. Some travelers will set their clocks to manual so it doesn’t keep switching between Eastern and Central time zones.
27. The soil in Baldwin County, Alabama around the Gulf Shores area became so fertile after the 1906 hurricane that vegetables grew to huge proportions. Sweet Potatoes were the size of water buckets and cabbages weighed up to 20 pounds a piece!
28. In Galveston, Texas, it is illegal to have a camel run loose on the beach.
29. Gatorade was named after the University of Florida Gators where the drink was developed on the east coast of Florida.
30. The temperature in Naples has never reached 100 degrees, the record is 99 set in Sept. of 1986
31. Idaho has the most rivers! With 3,100 miles of water, it’s the most out of all the states.
32. The name Tahoe in California comes from a mispronunciation of the Washoe Native American name for Lake Tahoe, da ow a ga, translating, “edge of the lake.”
33. Cutting down an endangered cactus in Phoenix, Arizona could land you one year in prison! It can take up to 100 years for a Saguaro cactus to grow, so it’s no wonder why!
34. The best preserved meteor crater in the world is in Winslow, Arizona.
35. Viva Las Vegas! Bugsy Siegel named his casino the Flamingo after the long legs of his showgirl girlfriend.
36. 60,000 pounds of shrimp are consumed in Las Vegas every day, almost as much as in the whole United States.
37. The Ancient Mayans of Cancun cultivated tree sap to make chewing gum.
38. More than 25% of Costa Rica is considered protected national parks and refuges.
39. Happy Face Spiders are only found in Hawaii. They have distinct colorful formations on their backs which often times resemble a yellow smiley face.
40. According to the most recent statistics issued by the State Department in January of 2014, only 46% of Americans who have a valid passport.
41. The airline Emirates has the longest regular non-stop airline route, taking 16 hours to travel from Dubai to Auckland.
42. The most visited amusement park is the Magic Kingdom in Florida.
43. The Mall of America, located in Bloomington, Minnesota is so big that it can contain 34,336 school buses.
44. The Port of Miami holds the title for the busiest cruise port in the world. In 2013, more than four million cruise passengers traveled through its facilities.
45. Pilots and copilots are required to eat different meals in case one of the meals causes food poising.
46. The likelihood of being in a plane crash in American is very tiny: one in 11 million.
47. If you want to spend a night in all of Las Vegas’ hotels, it would take you almost three hundred years to do it.
48. At any given time in a day, there are over 61,000 people inside a plane in the United States.
49. Every 60 seconds, 56 pieces of luggage are lost across the globe. Check out here unclaimed baggage ends up.
50. Over 300 people get married in Las Vegas per day.
51. Studies show, jet lag feels worse when traveling from west to east.
52. A recent study revealed that working while on vacation, even checking emails, results in you remembering less from your vacation.
53. The type of vacation you choose has a lot to do with your personality. Introverts are more likely to choose a mountain vacation, while extroverts go to a seaside getaway.
54. Traveling can help improve your problem solving skills and overall brain health.
55. Traveling can also make you more creative and smarter.
56. Taking a vacation can also lower the risk of heart disease.
57. After a day or two of being on vacation, studies show that 89% of people feel less stressful.
58. Traveling has also been shown to help people with depression.
59. Couples who travel together have reported increased feelings of intimacy.
60. The United States is the only developed country without legally required paid vacation and holidays.
61. Austrian citizens are said to have the most vacation time of any country. Austria guarantees workers a legal minimum of 22 paid vacation days and 13 paid holidays each year.
62. The Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta is the world’s busiest airport.
63. In 1987, American Airlines saved $40,000 by taking out an olive from First Class salads.
64. Airports at a higher altitude require a longer airstrip.
65. 1/3 of the world’s airports are located in the U.S.
66. The Animal Kingdom Lodge in Disney serves South African wine exclusively.
67. Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida the most popular theme park in the world, it’s also the largest.
68. Admission to Disney World was only $3.50 on opening day.
69. It would take you 68 years to spend one night in each hotel room in Disney World.
70. Deer on the Florida Keys are about the size of collie dogs.
71. Key West is closer to Havana than to Miami.
72. A study proved that people who travel a lot are seen as more attractive than their non-traveling counterparts
73. More than 18 million people took a vacation on a cruise ship in a year.
74. Second to Warsaw, Chicago has the largest Polish population in the world.
75. A town in Arizona, still has mail delivered by mule due to the train.
76. The Wildwood boardwalk was originally created in 1903. Oliver Bright ordered hundreds of workers to remove the original boardwalk in 1920 in one night! The new boardwalk was moved a bit closer to the ocean despite the public’s opinion. Shortly after making that decision, the City Commissioner, Oliver Bright was removed from office.
77. “Watch the Tram car, please!” The Tram cars were originally built for the 1939 world’s Fair in New York City and were powered by diesel engines. They have carried tens of millions of beachgoers to date. The Tram cars travel at a speedy 5 MPH and operate on a single 2,000 pound, 36-volt electric battery! John Gigliotti has been driving the Tram cars for nearly 25 years and is now the Tram Safety Coordinator. 2018 marked the 70^th Anniversary of the Wildwood Tram cars!
78. The Wildwood board walk is made of more than 70,000 wooden planks and stretches nearly two miles!
79. The Whaling Wall mural made famous by Wyland stands an impressive 30 feet high and is 220 feet long! Russell Simmons from The Wildwood Arts Foundation announced that they will be able to save a portion of the wall. You can find this at Garfield Ave.
80. During prime season, Wildwood has a population of nearly 250,000 people, and during the off season, it has only 5,400 residents!
81. “Wildwoods” is a term used to bring the four Wildwood communities together. They are Wildwood Crest, the City of Wildwood, the City of North Wildwood and the Borough of West Wildwood.
82. A few songs from the rock band KISS ‘1975 Alive!’ album was recorded on July 23^rd, 1975 at the Wildwoods Convention Center.
83. Wildwood beach is growing at a rate of 100 feet a year, and is one of the ONLY places on the East Coast where the shoreline is not shrinking!
84. In 2008-2009, a section of the boardwalk had to be rebuilt using Ipe tropical hardwood, instead of the environmentally friendly black locust wood.
85. Access to Wildwood beaches is free all year long!
86. Have you had awful food while flying on an airplane? You’re not alone! About 1/3^rd of your taste buds are numbed at high altitudes! This is the same reason the flavors are enhanced in tomato juice, that’s why people seem to think bloody Mary’s taste better on an airplane.
87. Have you ever felt your throat and hands get really dry during a flight? Well, the pressurized air in the cabin is kept below %20 humidity. That’s just about the average humidity amount in the Sahara Desert!
88. Did you know that the dry air sucks the water from your body? Eight ounces of water are taken from you every hour during a flight! So, if you’re enduring a ten-hour flight, you better drink plenty of fluids because if you do the math, it amounts to about a two-liter bottle of water taken!
89. The Average Boeing 747 has just about 150 to 175 miles of wiring inside! That is enough to stretch across Massachusetts! They also hold about 1,200 minivans worth of fuel! That’s almost 24,000 gallons!
90. Picture the world as a small globe, planes would only fly about 1/10^th of an inch off the globe’s surface! That’s assuming the plane is cruising at an altitude of 35,000 feet!
91. At any given moment, there are about 9,700 planes and 1.2 million people flying around in the sky!

Who doesn’t love travel facts?

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Fun Travel Facts and Trivia

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Sundance Vacations has fun travel facts and trivia about our properties and destinations across the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean.

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Sundance Vacations Reviews

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Sundance Vacations

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