Avoid Heathrow!

Disney Shift: Smoking is no longer allowed in any Disney hotel rooms or timeshares in Orlando. It'll only be OK at certain outdoor spaces. [Related: European governments are cracking down on smoking, as this map shows.] Movin' movies: Austin's Rolling Roadshow is screening movies all over this summer, including "North by Northwest" at Mount Rushmore. Details here. Billy Graham Library Opens: Charlotte, N.C., is home to a library dedicated to the evangelist. The building resembles a barn; the entrance is a 40-foot-tall glass cross. billygraham.org. Correction: On Monday, this blog linked to a chart in a BudgetTravel.com magazine article that contained a mistake: We erroneously said that a participant in American Airlines' reward program could keep their account active by buying a gift card from partner Starbucks. Instead, you need to buy two bags of coffee via Starbuck's retail website, StarbucksStore.com. ($9.50 each) via Starbuck's retail website StarbucksStore.com. Americans are workaholics: One in five toted laptop computers on their most recent vacations, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released last week. [CNN.com] For info on how to put your "crackberry" to better use, click here. Williamsburg Spa Opens: The 20,000-square-foot Spa of Colonial Williamsburg is open. thespaofcolonialwilliamsburg.com. No-Frills Jamaica: SuperClubs' basic brand, Rooms, gets a second property, in Negril, in December. roomsresorts.com. National Park Fees Going Up: Over the next three years, higher rates will be introduced at a third of U.S. national parks, including Big Bend, Zion, and Mesa Verde. The old $10-per-vehicle rate may become $20. [Readers of BudgetTravel.com react to the fee hikes here.]

The spa and adventure packages profiled as today's Real Deal got us thinking about all the neat perks and packages in our Girlfriend Getaways issue. There's one in particular we wouldn't want you to miss--a women-oriented tour of China created specially for Budget Travel by Champion Holidays for the second year in a row. (Here's a photo of reader Linda Henriques, in the back far left, who went on last year's trip with four girlfriends.) Participants get to befriend pandas at the Beijing Zoo, learn about the Chinese art of paper cutting, visit with a family, and tour a silk factory, where you can choose a fabric for your own custom-made, traditional qipao dress. Champion Holidays also covers the blockbusters you'd expect: guided tours of the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, a Grand Canal cruise, and so on. You can find more details about the 12-night trip priced at $1,799 here. And to spot some pandas closer to home, check out our adorable Zoo Babies feature, with fun facts and photos from five top U.S. zoos.

Is the Grand Canyon Skywalk a tourist trap? For those who haven't heard about it, the Skywalk is "a glass-bottomed, horseshoe-shaped walkway over the Grand Canyon--protruding 70 harrowing feet," as Budget Travel described it this past winter. Unfortunately, since we reported on it, the owners of the Skywalk have hiked the price of admission. The total bill is now $75 a person--53% more than what we had told readers to expect. I'm personally skeptical that the Skywalk is worth $75. But you be the judge: The pop-culture travel blog Jaunted has a video of what the tour is like. (See here.) And if you've toured the Skywalk in person, please share your opinion of it with our readers by posting a comment below. Borat is writing a travel guidebook. According to this AP story, "Borat, the fictional ambassador from Kazakhstan has a book, with two titles, coming out this fall: Borat: Touristic Guidings To Minor Nation of U.S. and A. and Borat: Touristic Guidings To Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." I wonder which travel magazine will bid to publish an excerpt? Scuba diving in Paris? "Between now and June 10, professional scuba instructors are offering one-on-one lessons in the heated, above-ground pool at the foot of the tower," according to this AP story. Bizarre.

As This Just In anticipated a month ago, a Harry Potter theme park will be opened by Universal Studios in Florida in 2009. Hip, hip, hurray! Nickelodeon said today that it's teaming up with Marriott in creating new kid-friendly family resort brand. It'll take about a dozen years to build about 20 properties, each with a water park. The first resort, a 650-room property in San Diego, will be open within a couple of years. Of course, Nickelodeon already offers Nick Hotels via Holiday Inn. Tomorrow, the Operation Spy experience debuts at the International Spy Museum in downtown Washington, D.C. Participants ages 12 and older assume the role of U.S. Intelligence officers on an intrigue-filled international mission. The exhibit combines live-action, video characters, special effects, and hands-on activities to simulate what it's like to be a spy. Sounds pretty neat. Be sure to book your timed tickets in advance. Details here. Ireland price break: $800 per person, air/hotel/car for six nights. Last-minute planners may find that vacation packages offer a way of cutting some of the costs of a trip to Ireland--where Guinness now goes for $7 and Dublin hotel rooms are reaching $400 a night because of the watery value of the dollar. Dooley Vacations is offering a vacation package, starting at $800 per person for travel during peak-season--a savings of about 20 percent off the cost of buying the airfare, hotel and rental car separately. The package includes round-trip airfare on FlyGlobespan from New York or Boston to Knock, Ireland, a six-night stay at multi-room inns, and car rental with unlimited mileage. Book by June 8. For details, call 877/331-9301 or click here. Starting today, it's easier to plan and take a Segway tour. As editor Erik Torkells noted when he recently took such a tour in Bermuda, Segways are those electric scooter-like contraptions that you move by shifting your weight." (Fun fact: Most of the world's 23,500 Segways are used for tourism.) Starting today, Segway tours are conveniently listed on a single webpage -- here. Editor's note: Per the comment below, "Actually, that link for tours on a Segway only shows those tours certified as "SegwayAuthorized Tours" by Segway, Inc. To see a list of all tours featuring the Segway PT worldwide (almost 200 so far!), visit www.SegwayGuidedTours.com next."