A new year will be here before we know it, and these four cities prove that there are plenty of fresh things under the sun. Look back by stepping inside inspiring museums, then dream about what’s next at state-of-the-art attractions and innovative restaurants in New York City, Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver.
Contents
Issue Features
Club News
Meet Your New Favorite Travel Companion
Explore 3 of America's Hottest Music Cities
Behind the Rides
Cutting Edge Escapes
Itinerary: Sydney, Australia
Q+A with Chef Andy Bates
RCI Exchange: Vidanta
Meet Your New Favorite Travel Companion
Q + A with
Chef Andy Bates
Andy Bates
name
Private Chef
profession
London, England
hometown
Orlando, Florida
current city
A
Q
I definitely need my rubber spatula. And I’m a big fan of sous vide machines.
What’s your must-have kitchen tool or gadget?
1/7
FALL issue 2023
ISSUE
checking in
Feature
parks
INTERVIEW
Sydney, Australia
ITINERARY
Sydney hits all the right notes when it comes to forward-thinking, sustainable experiences. Take three days (at least!) to soak in the scenic landscapes and innovative marvels. With Club Wyndham Sydney serving as your home base Down Under, we’ve mapped out a three-day trip to delve into natural beauty, high-tech wonders, and cultural richness.
where to stay
Next, venture to the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, a green sanctuary in the heart of the city. As Australia's oldest botanic garden, Royal features spectacular horticultural beauty, winding trails, and year-round events. Highlights include the Rose Garden, wildflower meadow, and The Calyx — an immersive horticultural exhibit where art and science converge.
Afternoon
Savor modern Australian food and an eclectic wine list in an industrial-chic space at Bentley Restaurant + Bar. Enjoy unparalleled fine dining, thanks to the award-winning team of Chef Brent Savage (known for inventive culinary creations) and Nick Hildebrandt (famous for global wine pairings).
Cap your day with a lively festival or special event. In the fall, experience Volume—A Festival of Sound and Vision, showcasing cutting-edge contemporary music, film, and performance at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Evening
Wind down with a tranquil trek along the 3.7-mile Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk, showcasing clifftop vistas and white-sand beaches. For an unforgettable dinner and equally memorable views, treat yourself to Icebergs Dining Room and Bar perched atop the Bondi Beach cliffs.
Evening
Seeking breathtaking views? Head to Sydney Harbour Bridge — the world’s largest steel arch bridge. This engineering marvel was completed in 1932 and renovated for energy efficiency. Walk across this iconic landmark, stopping at Pylon Lookout for inspirational views. Or take a guided bike tour across the cycleway.
Grab lunch at Fish & Co, a sustainably driven eatery championing wild-caught, traceable seafood. Then tour the stunning Sydney Opera House, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Opened in 1973, this architectural stunner taps into renewable energy sources (think wind turbines and solar panels) while simultaneously wowing guests with showstopping performances — including a 50th anniversary slate of events lined up for October.
Afternoon
Start your morning in educational fashion at the University of Technology Sydney to witness architectural wonders, sustainable design elements, and state-of-the-art facilities. Don’t miss the eye-catching Dr. Chau Chak Wing Building with its distinctively wavy brick facade. Then take a field trip to the Powerhouse Museum, an innovation hub boasting interactive exhibits spanning art, design, science, and technology.
morning
Savor a regionally sourced feast at Three Blue Ducks, an eco-conscious restaurant started by three good mates committed to crafting ethical, delectable cuisine. Then dive into an eco-adventure at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium. Home to 300-plus species and 4,000 animals, this immersive attraction focuses on conservation, boasting nine thematic zones, including the underwater tunnel walk-through of Shark Valley.
afternoon
Nourish your creative spirit at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, one of Australia’s flagship art museums. Marking its 150th anniversary in 2021 and completing a significant expansion in 2022, the museum’s works nearly play second fiddle to the glassy North Building designed by renowned Japanese architecture studio SANAA.
morning
Club News
owner info
INNOVATION
Explore 3 of America’s Hottest Music Cities
highlight
RCI Exchange: Vidanta
benefits
highlight
Ride technology has come a long way since Space Mountain was deemed the roller coaster of the future in 1975. While the iconic race through space at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom has held up beautifully, there’s a whole new world of cool tech turning theme park attractions into engineering marvels. Here’s a behind-the-curtain peek at some of the wizardry that sends you soaring — often literally.
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About the Issue
Join us as we celebrate the many facets of travel innovation: cool gear, stunning architecture, interactive museums, thrilling rides, and so much more. The future of travel has arrived, and we're totally here for it.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Kylee Krizmanic
PROJECT EDITOR Jess Hoffert
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Ruby Pierce
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Gary Thompson, Jess Hoffert, Julia Sayers Gokhale, Karla Walsh, Lisa Beach
COPY EDITOR Diane Penningroth
WYNDHAM DESTINATIONS EDITORIAL TEAM Anna Reinert, Leslie Johansen, Jenny Rains, Alissa Miller, Karen Johnson
Destinations Editor
6277 Sea Harbor Drive
Orlando, FL 32821
WorldMarkbyWyndham.com
ClubWyndham.com
MargaritavilleVacationClub.com
ShellVacationsClub.com
Destinations is produced quarterly for WorldMark, Margaritaville Vacation Club, and Club Wyndham owners, and semiannually for Shell Vacation Club members.
©2023 Wyndham Resort Development Corporation; Wyndham Vacation Resorts, Inc; Shell Vacations Club, LP.
All rights reserved.
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+ Five Game-Changing Travel Apps
Cutting Edge Escapes
Behind the Rides
It changes weekly, but right now, it’s Spanish Ibérico Pork Secreto (an ultra-tender cut of pork shoulder) with a red pepper puree, bean salad, and aged sherry vinaigrette.
What’s your favorite dish to cook?
2/7
Again, it changes weekly, but at the moment, I’m craving ricotta ice cream with lemon olive oil and brown butter cookies.
How about your favorite dish to eat?
3/7
I’ve lived here for three years, and the food scene is getting better all the time. It’s always exciting to see small pop-ups evolving into neighborhood restaurants.
How long have you lived in Orlando, and what’s the food scene like?
4/7
Try out the extensive network of bike trails, go paddleboarding, and check out some of the area’s natural springs. They’re beautiful!
What are some off-the-beaten-path activities visitors should plan for on their next trip to Orlando?
5/7
It’s hard to beat a multiday road trip along the coast of Portugal. My suggestion is to have a plan, but always be open to taking a different path if things change.
What’s your top vacation destination and travel tip?
6/7
Do some research. The internet is great for finding small, local spots, as well as what’s new and exciting.
What advice would you give travelers looking to try local fare on their next vacation?
7/7
the event(s) of
the year
YOUR OWNER WEBSITE
Get GUIDES
the event(s) of the year
Your Owner Website
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Your resort destinations are home to exclusive events and experiences year round. Taste your way through the Pompano Beach Seafood Festival in Florida. Catch a live boxing match in Las Vegas. Run the Disneyland Half Marathon in Anaheim. Or check out the Sundance Film Festival in Park City.
Whatever you’re interested in, from food, drink, and sporting events to wellness, music, and art festivals — we’ve got a guide for that. Get inspired with popular travel activities, find the best destination to match your interests, and start planning with a list of upcoming events.
Check out one (or all!) of the new experience guides on your website and turn your vacation into a once-in-a-lifetime experience where your passions and destinations come together.
Where Passion & Travel Meet
THE EVENT(S) OF THE YEAR
Discover four destinations in each of these four bustling cities to consider adding to your itinerary. Whether you visit one or add them all to your bucket list, you’ll walk away feeling inspired to make 2024 your most inventive and adventurous year yet.
Don’t leave home without them — that’s the tagline American Express used to promote its traveler’s checks in iconic 1970s TV ads. Today, it’s tech, not checks, that travelers shouldn’t leave home without. Here are five state-of-the-art products to consider purchasing (and five great apps to download!) before your next trip.
Even the smartest device can play dumb if it’s out of juice. Tap into world power and USB outside the U.S.A. with this wall plug adapter that works in most places around the globe, including Canada, Central America, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Lightweight and simple, it offers one universal AC outlet and two USB ports. Just remember it’s an adapter, not a voltage converter, in case your device can’t handle a different voltage level (most can). $13, Amazon.
Joomfeen Travel Adapter
My Aurora
Forecast and Alerts
When it comes to music, America the beautiful is America the bountiful. From sea to shining sea, migrating people and long-time locals have woven their cultural influences into a tapestry of tunes. Nowhere is the artistry more rich and diverse than in three southern cities: Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; and New Orleans, Louisiana. In addition to having shaped American music history, these cities pulse with the energy of today’s and tomorrow’s sounds. And you can experience live music on practically every corner.
WRITERs Gary Thompson and Julia Sayers Gokhale
WRITER Gary Thompson
WRITER Jess Hoffert
WRITER Lisa Beach
WRITER Karla Walsh
WRITER Kathryn Streeter
Marked by an unwavering commitment to luxe lodgings, stellar golf courses, fine dining, and ovation-worthy entertainment, Vidanta resorts deliver the ultimate Mexican escape. Unlock the magic using your RCI External Exchange Program, and have the South of the Border vacation you’ve been dreaming of. Here are four reasons you’ll fall in love.
Relax and let yourself be swept into refined living at each resort property. Pops of elegance appear in slightly different ways at each resort: floor-to-ceiling windows, marble flooring, plush robes and slippers, and Jacuzzi soaking tubs, for starters. Across all properties, some guest suites even include a private terrace with expansive views and a personal plunge pool — an intimate setting you’ll be reluctant to leave. For VIP amenities to enhance your stay, reserve an in-room chef dining experience, a movie night with sweet and savory snacks, or a beach campfire for stargazing and indulging in s’mores.
Luxury Accommodations
Calories don’t count on vacation, and at Vidanta, even the most serious epicurean won’t be disappointed. Restaurants celebrate the cultures of Mexico, Asia, the Mediterranean, Italy, France, and more, satisfying every palate and preference. Dishes often include fresh, local ingredients curated by accomplished chefs. Sample regional delicacies at Salum Beachside Eateries & Market at Vidanta Riviera Maya, or opt for family-friendly dining with a side of digital special effects at Le Petit Chef, located at both the Riviera Maya and Nuevo Vallarta properties.
Gourmet Dining
Prepare to be mesmerized by Joyà, the only resident Cirque du Soleil show in Mexico and Latin America, which artistically combines performance and dining in an intimate theater setting at Vidanta Riviera Maya. Or create your own spectacle by splashing the day away at the property’s Jungala Aqua Experience. With slides, pools, and an epic lazy river among lush foliage, the park promises boundless fun for children and adults. Bonus: Capacity limits ensure shorter lines and thinner crowds for maximum enjoyment.
World-Class Entertainment
Vidanta knows how to spoil golf enthusiasts, with seven premier courses fanning across five properties. Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta takes the crown with three of the seven — including the home of the Mexico Open, an official PGA TOUR event. Celebrated golfers Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman designed some of Vidanta’s courses, which blend effortlessly into their surroundings with the use of native plants and trees. Whether you’re a competitor looking for a demanding course, a novice wanting one-on-one instruction, or a family drawn to light-hearted golf games, Vidanta golf delivers a hole-in-one for the whole crew.
Mexico’s Best Golf
access how-tos
Yes, you read that right — your website was recently enhanced to allow Wyndham Club Pass reservations to be booked online, no fuss, no muss. Now you can view, book, and cancel Club Pass reservations at the click of a mouse (no lengthy phone call required!).
Also, when you book your Club Pass reservations online, you’ll take advantage of a deeply discounted Club Pass exchange fee. This new website enhancement not only saves you time, it can also save you some dough.
But wait, there’s more. Club Pass online reservations isn’t the only website enhancement worth mentioning — other exciting new features were added like the ability to modify reservations, view and manage waitlist requests, and book waitlist matches online too!
NEW! Book Club Pass Online
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Club Wyndham The Store has helped you bring your vacations home for years, offering a wide selection of bedding, bath, and housewares products that you have long enjoyed at your club resorts.
In an effort to bring you even more options, Club Wyndham The Store is now Shop Travel + Leisure — your new source for an incredible selection of goods inspired by wondrous destinations around the world. Now your home can be a reminder of past experiences, and an inspiration for journeys to come.
With Shop Travel + Leisure, you can take advantage of discounts and specials on high-quality, brand-name products. Visit the online store today and start living like you’re always on vacation.
Bring Your Vacations Home
Shop Travel + Leisure
access how-tos
From travel protections and local discounts to savings on brand-name products, you have access to even more benefits beyond your club that’ll make every day feel like an epic vacation.
Wherever your travels take you, get peace of mind with travel insurance and points protection. Planning to travel outside of your Club Wyndham resorts? Book with a Best Price Guarantee through your in-house travel agency. Or convert your points to Wyndham Rewards and get even more travel options.
Want to save where you spend? Get owner-only discounts on home goods, restaurants, activities, and more to complement your daily adventures.
Owner Travel & Lifestyle Benefits
Beyond Your Club
Shop Travel + Leisure
Beyond Your Club
Stay Connected with Your Club!
OWNER GROUP
the event(s) of
the year
YOUR MEMBER BENEFITS
Get GUIDES
Your resort destinations are home to exclusive events and experiences year round. Taste your way through Hawaii’s Food & Wine Festival. Catch a live boxing match in Las Vegas. Complete your first half marathon in Arizona. Or check out Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in San Francisco.
Whatever you’re interested in, your resorts can put you in the middle of it all. Turn your vacation into a once-in-a-lifetime experience where your passions and destinations come together.
Where Passion & Travel Meet
THE EVENT(S) OF THE YEAR
VIEW SVC LIFESTYLES
There’s a whole lotta world out there to see. Start with your Shell Vacations Club resorts, sure, but when you’re ready to move beyond that your membership benefits can really start to come in handy.
SVC LifeStyles can take you to a wide variety of destinations where Shell Vacations Club doesn’t have a resort — places like Orlando, Nashville, San Antonio, and Steamboat Springs. LifeStyles also gets you access to premium event tickets to enhance your vacation experience.
SVC Collections is an entire portfolio of travel options, from ocean and river cruises through SVC at Sea, air travel through SVC by Air, rental cars through SVC by Land, and gift cards through SVC PlayDeck. Additionally, Collections offers special resort and hotel programs, so you can go anywhere in the world with your membership.
SVC LifeStyles & SVC Collections
YOUR MEMBER BENEFITS
the event(s) of the year
YOUR MEMBER BENEFITS
Stay Connected with Your Club!
OWNER GROUP
VIEW SVC Collections
Club News
Meet 5 Extraordinary National Parks
Vacation Experiences You’ll Remember Forever
Discover Desert Tranquility, Culture and Urban Thrills in Las Vegas
Mix-and-Match Meals — Food Halls Service
Itinerary: Branson, Missouri
Q+A with Hiking Concierge, Ash Nudd
RCI Exchange: Massanutten, Virginia
Club News
Meet 5 Extraordinary National Parks
Vacation Experiences You’ll Remember Forever
Discover Desert Tranquility, Culture and Urban Thrills in Las Vegas
Mix-and-Match Meals — Food Halls Service
Itinerary: Branson, Missouri
Q+A with Hiking Concierge, Ash Nudd
RCI Exchange: Massanutten, Virginia
Club News
Meet 5 Extraordinary National Parks
Vacation Experiences You’ll Remember Forever
Discover Desert Tranquility, Culture and Urban Thrills in Las Vegas
Mix-and-Match Meals — Food Halls Service
Itinerary: Branson, Missouri
Q+A with Hiking Concierge, Ash Nudd
RCI Exchange: Massanutten, Virginia
Club News
Meet 5 Extraordinary National Parks
Vacation Experiences You’ll Remember Forever
Discover Desert Tranquility, Culture and Urban Thrills in Las Vegas
Mix-and-Match Meals — Food Halls Service
Itinerary: Branson, Missouri
Q+A with Hiking Concierge, Ash Nudd
RCI Exchange: Massanutten, Virginia
Club News
Meet 5 Extraordinary National Parks
Vacation Experiences You’ll Remember Forever
Discover Desert Tranquility, Culture and Urban Thrills in Las Vegas
Mix-and-Match Meals — Food Halls Service
Itinerary: Branson, Missouri
Q+A with Hiking Concierge, Ash Nudd
RCI Exchange: Massanutten, Virginia
Club News
Meet 5 Extraordinary National Parks
Vacation Experiences You’ll Remember Forever
Discover Desert Tranquility, Culture and Urban Thrills in Las Vegas
Mix-and-Match Meals — Food Halls Service
Itinerary: Branson, Missouri
Q+A with Hiking Concierge, Ash Nudd
RCI Exchange: Massanutten, Virginia
Club News
Meet 5 Extraordinary National Parks
Vacation Experiences You’ll Remember Forever
Discover Desert Tranquility, Culture and Urban Thrills in Las Vegas
Mix-and-Match Meals — Food Halls Service
Itinerary: Branson, Missouri
Q+A with Hiking Concierge, Ash Nudd
RCI Exchange: Massanutten, Virginia
MASTHEAD
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Kylee Krizmanic
PROJECT EDITOR Jess Hoffert
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Ruby Pierce
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Gary Thompson, Jess Hoffert, Julia Sayers Gokhale, Karla Walsh, Lisa Beach
COPY EDITOR Diane Penningroth
WYNDHAM DESTINATIONS EDITORIAL TEAM
Anna Reinert, Leslie Johansen, Jenny Rains, Alissa Miller, Karen Johnson
Destinations Editor
6277 Sea Harbor Drive
Orlando, FL 32821
WorldMarkbyWyndham.com
ClubWyndham.com
MargaritavilleVacationClub.com
ShellVacationsClub.com
Destinations is produced quarterly for WorldMark, Margaritaville Vacation Club, and Club Wyndham owners, and semiannually for Shell Vacation Club members.
©2023 Wyndham Resort Development Corporation; Wyndham Vacation Resorts, Inc; Shell Vacations Club, LP.
All rights reserved.
Email Us
MASTHEAD
tap the sections above to learn more!
Beyond Your Club
2023 Photo Contest
SHOP TRAVEL + LEISURE
From travel protections and local discounts to savings on brand-name products, you have access to even more benefits beyond your club that’ll make every day feel like a memorable vacation.
Planning to travel outside of your WorldMark resorts? Get peace of mind for you and your vacation with travel insurance, TravelSecure, and credit protection, or book with a Best Price Guarantee through your in-house travel agency.
Want to save where you spend? Get owner-only discounts on home goods, restaurants, activities, and more to complement every moment of your daily routine.
Owner Travel & Lifestyle Benefits
Beyond Your Club
When you’re on vacation, sometimes magic happens and you find yourself experiencing a true one-of-a-kind moment, and so … you take a picture to try and freeze that moment. A hike up a majestic mountain, a picnic underneath a vibrant sunset, the perfect family-fun moment on the beach — thanks to the push of a button or the click of a shutter, those experiences don’t have to be lost forever. You can freeze the moment with an epic vacation photo and relive that moment every time you see it.
If you’ve got an amazing vacation photo from a WorldMark vacation that just perfectly froze a magical moment, share it with your club for your chance to be a winner in the “Freeze The Moment” 2023 photo contest.
Freeze The Moment
2023 Photo Contest
Shop Now
WorldMark The Store has helped you bring your vacations home for years, offering a wide selection of bedding, bath, and housewares products that you have long enjoyed at your club resorts.
In an effort to bring you even more options, WorldMark The Store is now Shop Travel + Leisure — your new source for an incredible selection of goods inspired by wondrous destinations around the world. Now your home can be a reminder of past experiences, and an inspiration for journeys to come.
With Shop Travel + Leisure, you can take advantage of discounts and specials on high-quality, brand-name products. Visit the online store today and start living like you’re always on vacation.
Bring Your Vacations Home
SHOP TRAVEL + LEISURE
Beyond Your Club
2023 Photo Contest
Shop travel + leisure
Stay Connected with Your Club!
OWNER GROUP
the event(s) of
the year
YOUR MEMBER BENEFITS
Get GUIDES
Your resort destinations are home to exclusive events and experiences year round. Taste your way through Hawaii’s Food & Wine Festival. Catch a live boxing match in Las Vegas. Complete your first half marathon in Arizona. Or check out Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in San Francisco.
Whatever you’re interested in, your resorts can put you in the middle of it all. Turn your vacation into a once-in-a-lifetime experience where your passions and destinations come together.
Where Passion & Travel Meet
THE EVENT(S) OF THE YEAR
VIEW SVC Collections
VIEW SVC LIFESTYLES
There’s a whole lotta world out there to see. Start with your Shell Vacations Club resorts, sure, but when you’re ready to move beyond that your membership benefits can really start to come in handy.
SVC LifeStyles can take you to a wide variety of destinations where Shell Vacations Club doesn’t have a resort — places like Orlando, Nashville, San Antonio, and Steamboat Springs. LifeStyles also gets you access to premium event tickets to enhance your vacation experience.
SVC Collections is an entire portfolio of travel options, from ocean and river cruises through SVC at Sea, air travel through SVC by Air, rental cars through SVC by Land, and gift cards through SVC PlayDeck. Additionally, Collections offers special resort and hotel programs, so you can go anywhere in the world with your membership.
SVC LifeStyles & SVC Collections
YOUR MEMBER BENEFITS
the event(s) of the year
YOUR MEMBER BENEFITS
Stay Connected with Your Club!
the event(s) of
the year
YOUR OWNER WEBSITE
Get GUIDES
Your resort destinations are home to exclusive events and experiences year round. Taste your way through the Pompano Beach Seafood Festival in Florida. Catch a live boxing match in Las Vegas. Run the Disneyland Half Marathon in Anaheim. Or check out the Sundance Film Festival in Park City.
Whatever you’re interested in, from food, drink, and sporting events to wellness, music, and art festivals — we’ve got a guide for that. Get inspired with popular travel activities, find the best destination to match your interests, and start planning with a list of upcoming events.
Check out one (or all!) of the new experience guides on your website and turn your vacation into a once-in-a-lifetime experience where your passions and destinations come together.
Where Passion & Travel Meet
THE EVENT(S) OF THE YEAR
access how-tos
Yes, you read that right — your website was recently enhanced to allow Wyndham Club Pass reservations to be booked online, no fuss, no muss. Now you can view, book, and cancel Club Pass reservations at the click of a mouse (no lengthy phone call required!).
Also, when you book your Club Pass reservations online, you’ll take advantage of a deeply discounted Club Pass exchange fee. This new website enhancement not only saves you time, it can also save you some dough.
But wait, there’s more. Club Pass online reservations isn’t the only website enhancement worth mentioning — other exciting new features were added like the ability to modify reservations, view and manage waitlist requests, and book waitlist matches online too!
NEW! Book Club Pass Online
YOUR OWNER WEBSITE
the event(s) of the year
Your Owner Website
Stay Connected with Your Club!
OWNER GROUP
the event(s) of
the year
YOUR OWNER WEBSITE
Get GUIDES
Your resort destinations are home to exclusive events and experiences year round. Taste your way through California’s Wine Country. Catch a basketball game at Madison Square Garden. Complete your first Iron Man in beautiful Hawaii. Or check out the Austin art and music scene at SXSW.
Whatever you’re interested in, from food, drink, and sporting events to wellness, music, and art festivals — we’ve got a guide for that. Get inspired with popular travel activities, find the best destination to match your interests, and start planning with a list of upcoming events.
Check out one (or all!) of the new experience guides on your website and turn your vacation into a once-in-a-lifetime experience where your passions and destinations come together.
Where Passion & Travel Meet
THE EVENT(S) OF THE YEAR
access how-tos
Yes, you read that right — your website was recently enhanced to allow Wyndham Club Pass reservations to be booked online, no fuss, no muss. Now you can view, book, and cancel Club Pass reservations at the click of a mouse (no lengthy phone call required!).
But wait, there’s more. When you book your Club Pass reservations online, you’ll take advantage of a deeply discounted Club Pass exchange fee. This new website enhancement not only saves you time, it can also save you some dough.
Club Pass can take you someplace new — with access to more than 95 WorldMark resorts, Club Pass puts the world at your fingertips.
NEW! Book Club Pass Online
YOUR OWNER WEBSITE
the event(s) of the year
Your Owner Website
Stay Connected with Your Club!
OWNER GROUP
THE
Have tunes, will travel. Portable music has come a long way since transistor radios and boom boxes. This Bluetooth speaker delivers high output and woofing bass in a lightweight, compact form for up to 12 hours. And weather’s not a worry. With the waterproof design, you can groove to Rihanna’s “Umbrella” in the rain or U2’s “Beautiful Day” in the sun. Use the PartyBoost feature to link multiple speakers. It comes in 11 vibrant colors. $90, JBL.
JBL Flip 5 Portable Bluetooth Speaker
Lose yourself in sounds you love and muffle the ones you don’t with these godsends for travelers. Whether it’s a noisy flight or a noisy night in a hotel, Beats Studio Pro provides therapeutic acoustics for music, movies, games, phone calls, and podcasts while filtering out any distracting din. Choose from three distinct sound profiles, go wired or wireless, and use transparency mode to stay present and aware. Listen for up to 40 hours on a charge. $350, Beats by Dre.
Beats Studio Pro
Noise-Canceling Headphones
If you like to read when you travel, then let the e-reader leader spare you from toting hardcovers and paperbacks. Their latest model is lighter than ever, with a front-lit, glare-free screen that reads like paper. It can hold a veritable library, too, so load it up before hitting the road, skies, or seas. The battery lasts for weeks, and the unit can even take an accidental dunking — feel free to read at the beach, by the pool, or in the tub. $140 (for 8GB storage), Amazon.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite
This handcrafted leather folio’s compartments keep your personal tech-support team organized when you’re on the go. On one side, store travel docs, a small notebook, and credit cards next to an iPad or other tablet. On the opposite side, stash a power bank, charging cables, and earbuds. Pick a color to suit your style and personalize with a monogram (for an extra $12.50). $139 for small (fits iPad mini), $159 for large (fits standard iPad), Mark and Graham.
Mark and Graham Essential Tech Folio
This app shows detailed northern lights forecasts and notifies you when chances are good to see them in your location. You can also check out reported sightings nearby and the places with the current highest activity.
1
iExit Interstate
Exit Guide
Never worry about missing a good pit stop: iExit uses your location and direction of travel on the interstate to show you all the restaurants, gas stations, hotels, and attractions off the upcoming exits. Bonus: It also displays gas prices.
2
Merlin Bird ID
Have you ever been hiking and wondered what birds you’re hearing? With Merlin Bird ID, you can start a sound recording that will identify the birds chirping around you. (Or you can upload a photo to ID.)
3
Huji Cam
Vintage photo vibes are in, and the Huji Cam turns your phone into a disposable camera. A nostalgic interface takes photos that look like they were just developed at the local drugstore. You can even choose what year you want the time-stamp to say.
4
Google Translate
We all know the benefits of Google Translate, but it does more than just translate typed or spoken sentences. While traveling, you can use it to scan signs and menus, and it will automatically translate them onto your screen.
5
where to stay
WorldMark Avenue Plaza
Club Wyndham La Belle Maison (Club Pass)
Count on two things filling the air in New Orleans — the sweet scent of jasmine in spring and the sweet sounds of music year-round. The Crescent City is the birthplace of jazz, but it’s also been a nursery for the blues, rock, and zydeco, nurturing giants such as Louis Armstrong, Allen Toussaint, Jelly Roll Morton, Pete Fountain, Dr. John, Wynton and Ellis Marsalis, and Harry Connick Jr. Music is in NOLA’s DNA, and not just during Mardi Gras and spring’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The music scene’s mosh pit is the French Quarter, aka the Vieux Carré, home of legendary Bourbon Street. You’ll find an abundance of live music venues there, including iconic and intimate Preservation Hall, which offers nightly traditional New Orleans jazz performances. Hear more music on nearby Frenchmen Street, the main thoroughfare in the Marigny neighborhood. Favorite spots include The Spotted Cat Music Club, d.b.a, and Three Muses. The New Orleans Jazz Museum, which houses interactive exhibits on different aspects of the genre, offers a weekly Balcony Courtyard concert series. The great music reverberates in other parts of the city, too, like at Kermit's Tremé Mother-In-Law Lounge on Claiborne Avenue, Rock ‘n’ Bowl in Mid-City, Maple Leaf Bar in Uptown, and Vaughan’s Lounge in the Bywater.
New Orleans, Louisiana
where to stay
Club Wyndham Nashville (Club Pass)
Though its name is synonymous with country music, Nashville is really a jam band of a city, blending country and western with bluegrass, blues, pop, rock, gospel, classical, and Americana. The heart of this mash-up is Broadway, the downtown main drag nicknamed the Honky Tonk Highway. It’s lined with clubs that charge no cover to hear live music by the next Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, or Reba McEntire, all performers who got their start in Music City. Adjacent areas like Printers Alley, SoBro, and The Gulch offer even more places to sample the Nashville sounds. Broadway is also a short walk from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, where exhibits trace the genre’s evolution and celebrate its royalty. A newer Broadway stop, the National Museum of African American Music, showcases the influence of African Americans on more than 50 types of popular music, including jazz and hip-hop. A bit farther away, historic Music Row is more about the business side, housing songwriters, record labels, radio stations, and recording studios. And no Nashville visit would be complete without a pilgrimage to the Grand Ole Opry, the show and stage that put the city on the music map. Tour both its present site and its cathedral-like prior home, Ryman Auditorium.
Nashville, Tennessee
where to stay
WorldMark Austin
It’s no wonder Austin declares itself the Live Music Capital of the World. You’ll see performers everywhere — the airport, grocery stores, sidewalks, festivals, and hundreds of bars, clubs, coffeehouses, and concert halls. And though the sheer number of venues impresses, what’s truly amazing is the diversity of sounds, a product of the world cultures that merged in central Texas. It all started with German polka music played at beer gardens in the late 1800s, then grew to embrace Tejano and Latin styles, jazz and blues, country and folk, pop and rock, R&B and hip-hop, and electronic and dance. Janis Joplin, Willie Nelson, and Stevie Ray Vaughan head the list of hitmakers associated with the Austin music scene. Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater (ACL Live) is the city’s best-known venue, hosting TV’s long-running Austin City Limits and a crowded calendar of concerts. It’s also a venue for South by Southwest (SXSW), an annual conference and festival that celebrates music, tech, film, education, and culture. Other longtime favorite music spots include dance hall Broken Spoke (big for boot-scooting and people watching); The Continental Club, a supper club turned eclectic music mecca; and C-Boy’s Heart & Soul, a hub for fans of blues, soul, and country in the South Congress neighborhood.
Austin, Texas
NASHVILLE
San Antonio Area
Southern California
Orlando Area
where to stay
Club Wyndham Riverside Suites (Club Pass)
Club Wyndham La Cascada (Club Pass)
WorldMark New Braunfels
What happens when you combine the splash of a log flume with the hills of a roller coaster? The world’s first launched flume coaster, opening here in 2024. It all starts innocently, with a meandering course along tame water. That is, until you hit the launch system that sends your boat flying at 30 feet per second. And that’s just the first act. Next, a vertical lift brings your boat to the top of a 53-degree slope (the world’s steepest flume drop), sending you into a free fall that ends with a thorough soaking. On a sunny San Antonio afternoon, it doesn’t get much better.
SeaWorld San Antonio
Catapult Falls
3/3
Don’t want to climb up all the steps for a waterslide, but also looking for something less flat than a lazy river? Ride up the innovative AquaVeyer at the New Braunfels water park. The massive conveyor belt sends tubers up a hill and drops them at the top of a gradually descending river. Once you reach the end of the looping waterway about 15 minutes later, you can either hop out or take the AquaVeyer for another round. Schlitterbahn has a long track record of splashy innovation, including the Master Blaster water coaster, using water jet propulsion to send riders up and over a series of hills.
Schlitterbahn Waterpark and Resort
AquaVeyer
2/3
Since 2001, Idaho-based Rocky Mountain Construction has transformed rickety wooden coasters into buttery-smooth scream machines with new tracks and previously unthought-of contortions. They also pioneered the single-rail coaster design with this ribbon-like configuration of track completed in 2018. Seated single file, riders have nothing but the open air on either side of them as they whoosh through the 1,800-foot-long journey. While appearing thin, the single-rail track is some of the strongest in the industry, allowing for minimal support beams and a sensation of heart-pumping vulnerability despite the highest safety standards.
Six Flags Fiesta Texas
WONDER WOMAN Golden Lasso Coaster
1/3
where to stay
WorldMark Oceanside
WorldMark Dolphin’s Cove
WorldMark Anaheim
Noninverted dive loop. Negative-G stall loop. Small ejector airtime hump. Those phrases mean little to the average parkgoer, but coaster enthusiasts know those terms add up to one thing: the ultimate adrenaline rush. Opened in 2018 at this 1920s-era park, HangTime boasts one of California’s steepest coaster drops, at 96 degrees. (That’s more than straight down, for the record.) The Gerstlauer-designed attraction exudes a surfing theme with its beachy color scheme and open-air train design that gives riders free-flowing vibes through smooth loops and dives. At night, the ride becomes a glowing spectacle with “chase lighting” that follows the trains through their twisty maneuvers.
Knott’s Berry Farm
HangTime
4/4
What starts as a standard cartoon becomes a Technicolor dream when guests walk through the screen and board a train helmed by Goofy. Thanks to trackless technology, the train cars can separate from the others, and at one point, each car “dances” to a whimsical waltz and spirited conga choreographed by Daisy Duck. Throughout the ride, advanced projection mapping technology is used to blur the line between reality and fantasy as guests find themselves endearingly trapped inside a three-dimensional animated world. (This ride can also be enjoyed at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.)
Disneyland Resort
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
3/4
Less of a ride and more an interactive experience, this walk-through attraction caters to racing fans of all ages. Inside a garage-like space, touch a full-size Ferrari F40 made from 358,000 LEGO pieces. Next, it’s off to build your own version. Once all the pieces are assembled, a digital scanner turns your model into an animated race car, allowing you to personalize your vehicle with a custom license plate and minifigure. Ready to roll? Start your virtual engines and duke it out on a digitally projected replica of Italy’s Pista di Fiorano circuit. Whether or not you’re the champion, go ahead and pose with a LEGO trophy. Here, everyone wins.
LEGOLAND California Resort
LEGO Ferrari Build and Race
2/4
Even on San Diego’s warmest days, it’s easy to feel a whisper of a chill when riding a snowmobile-shape coaster car along 2,800 feet of track. Designed by celebrated Liechtenstein-based designer Intamin, this “straddle coaster” features cars that gently rock and roll, mimicking real-life snowmobiles as the ride leans into turns. Three launches and a top speed of 40 mph make the ride shriek-inducing without alienating younger brave souls. Before boarding, meet beluga whales, harbor seals, and walruses while learning about SeaWorld’s animal rescue efforts around the globe.
SeaWorld San Diego
Arctic Rescue
1/4
where to stay
Club Wyndham Cypress Palms (Club Pass)
WorldMark Reunion
WorldMark Kingstown Reef
No animatronics here. Those are actual sharks, dolphins, and other sea creatures you’re whizzing past on a duo of body slides at this SeaWorld-affiliated water park. The 330-foot-long waterslides begin with a serpentine journey beneath translucent cutouts of sea life. Near the end of the ride, the slide dips into a pool of live leopard sharks, Commerson’s dolphins, and sardines. Enclosed fiberglass tubes allow for a brief encounter before your ride ends with a splash outside the pool area. Looking for more of a rush? Try Ihu’s Breakaway Falls (a multidrop tower slide) or Riptide Race, the world’s tallest dueling racer waterslide.
Aquatica Orlando
Reef Plunge
4/4
Everything is awesome when you’re soaring through brick-tacular scenes on Emmet’s Triple Decker Flying Couch. State-of-the-art theater seating allows your feet to dangle on this motion simulator with a massive domed screen for panoramic views. Wind and mist effects add layers of realism to the colorful action, and riders can even whiff the smoke from a cannon explosion as they navigate Pirate’s Cove. Unlike similar rides (such as Disney’s Soarin’ attractions), Taiwan-based Brogent Technologies built a 180-degree turn into the ride for a more dramatic transition from reality to the dynamic world of LEGO.
LEGOLAND Florida Resort
THE LEGO MOVIE Masters of Flight
3/4
If you believe it’s simply The Force that propels you through one of the most complex rides ever invented, stop reading now. Opened in 2019 at Walt Disney World Resort (and in 2020 at Disneyland), the ride uses automated (trackless) vehicles that weave through a massive indoor landscape of animatronic stormtroopers, towering AT-ATs, and a motion simulator that ejects you into the galaxy. There are also some old-school tricks up the ride’s sleeve: Mirrors provide the illusion of an even larger interior, and the drop shaft used to provide the sensation of a much bigger free fall is based on a design used in the 1994-era Tower of Terror, also at Hollywood Studios.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
2/4
It’s every Potterhead’s dream to fly around Hogwarts castle, partake in a Quidditch match, and narrowly dodge a wallop from the Whomping Willow. This immersive ride covers all of that and more, courtesy of robotic “arms” that provide the sensation of flight. Following a track that snakes past a mix of screen effects and moving set pieces, guests are seamlessly integrated into the action, rotating freely — and occasionally onto their backs — as they zoom through the Hogwarts grounds with Harry and other characters from the series. Identical versions of this ride enchant guests at Universal Studios in California, Japan, and China.
Universal Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando Resort
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
1/4
Austin City Limits
Broadway
French Quarter
Discover four destinations in each of these four bustling cities to consider adding to your itinerary. Whether you visit one or add them all to your bucket list, you’ll walk away feeling inspired to make 2024 your most inventive and adventurous year yet.
MoPOP Seattle
Club Wyndham Sydney
Start your day at Barangaroo Reserve, a certified carbon-neutral park merging sustainability, design, art, and culture. This waterfront urban oasis boasts walking and cycling trails, public art, and sweeping Sydney Harbour views. Explore Aboriginal cultural tours for fascinating First Nations history insights. With picnic-perfect coves sprinkled throughout, grab takeaway lunches from on-site eateries.
morning
Next, venture to the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, a green sanctuary in the heart of the city. As Australia's oldest botanic garden, Royal features spectacular horticultural beauty, winding trails, and year-round events. Highlights include the Rose Garden, wildflower meadow, and The Calyx — an immersive horticultural exhibit where art and science converge.
Afternoon
Savor modern Australian food and an eclectic wine list in an industrial-chic space at Bentley Restaurant + Bar. Enjoy unparalleled fine dining, thanks to the award-winning team of Chef Brent Savage (known for inventive culinary creations) and Nick Hildebrandt (famous for global wine pairings).
Cap your day with a lively festival or special event. In the fall, experience Volume—A Festival of Sound and Vision, showcasing cutting-edge contemporary music, film, and performance at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Evening
Wrap up your trip with a serene harbor cruise past iconic landmarks such as Luna Park. Whether aboard a yacht or a catamaran, you’ll enjoy uncompromised sunset views. Afterward, toast to your adventure with an intimate farewell dinner at Fred’s, a rustic, farm-to-table restaurant that blends old-world cooking techniques with a sustainable focus and top-quality ingredients.
Evening
explore properties
Did you know that you have access to a whole host of vacation options in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and Thailand through WorldMark’s sister brand, Club Wyndham South Pacific? These international resorts, known as affiliate resorts, are made available to you through The Exchange Network (TEN). Reservations at affiliate resorts can be booked using your developer-purchased credits* and are bookable up to 11 months in advance.
Check out Sydney’s famous opera house with a stay at Club Wyndham Sydney, experience the beauty of the French countryside at Club Wyndham Normandy, indulge in Italian luxury with a stay at Club Wyndham Tuscany, or bask in the ambiance of New Zealand’s enchanted lakes and mountains at Club Wyndham Wanaka. All these great destinations and more are available to you through the affiliate resort program.
*Club Wyndham South Pacific resorts are available through an exchange agreement facilitated through The Exchange Network (TEN). Only WorldMark Vacation Credits that are TravelShare Qualified or WorldMark Vacation Credits owned by a WorldMark owner prior to November 5, 2006, may be used for reservations at the Club Wyndham South Pacific resorts. WorldMark Vacation Credits purchased on or after November 5, 2006, from private individuals or resale companies are not TravelShare Qualified and may not be used for reservations at Club Wyndham South Pacific resorts.
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WorldMark The Canadian
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WorldMark Portland Waterfront Park
where to stay
WorldMark The Camlin
Vancouver
science world
One of a handful of Kizuki locations across the United States, this Portland gem is celebrated for being the first in the Japanese ramen industry to roast bones before boiling them for the broth, which yields a deeply fragrant and flavorful base for their noodle soups. Try the bestseller: Garlic Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen with a 16-hour shoyu broth, soft-boiled egg, and your choice of chicken, pork belly, tofu, Spam, or mushrooms.
Kizuki Ramen and Izakaya
Feel like a bigger fish in a smaller pond at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, where a ticket will allow you to explore how individuals impact the world. On-site, explore a playground, planetarium, movie theater, and age-specific exhibits. Before you visit, get a taste from the comfort of home through The Fab Lab video series, complete with at-home experiments pertaining to astronomy, zoology, chemistry, and biology.
OMSI
Portland
portland art museum
Created for the 1962 Century 21 Exposition (Seattle World’s Fair) with a mission to “ignite curiosity and fuel a passion for discovery, experimentation, and critical thinking,” the interactive museum teaches kids and kids at heart about stars, animals, space, water, and all five senses. Save time for the laser dome, where you’ll be treated to a laser show performed in tandem with music by the likes of BTS, Taylor Swift, Pink Floyd, Queen, and The Weeknd.
Pacific Science Center
Short for the Museum of Pop Culture, at MoPOP you can tour exhibits related to hip-hop music, science fiction, indie video games, and beyond. The permanent collection features more than 80,000 curator-favorite objects, and the rest of the galleries and movies evolve with the times.
MoPOP
Speaking of cocktails, you’ll find some seriously unique options (including nonalcoholic alternatives) hiding out at this craft cocktail bar and Korean small-plate spot. The room lights up for every visitor who orders a Pisco and Paparazzi — it comes with a Lambrusco, pisco, lemon, raspberry, almond syrup, and lavender bitters mixed drink, plus a Polaroid of you enjoying the bevvy. The ideal pairing: Kimchi Pimento Cheese scooped up with Ritz crackers.
Dark Room
Peek through the world’s first and only revolving glass floor at this sky-high destination. One day per year, you can make it an intensely active excursion by tackling the Base 2 Space challenge, a fundraiser with an epic finale: climbing all 98 flights of stairs to the top. Or you can simply take the elevator, soak up the views, then sip on a cocktail at The Loupe lounge, situated 500 feet above Pacific Northwest soil.
Space Needle
Seattle
Mopop & the space needle
New york City
where to stay
Club Wyndham Midtown 45
Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
Sydney Opera House & Sydney Harbor Bridge
Luna Park
Spyscape
There’s no need to hide your nerdy side. At this nonprofit science center, deep thinking is welcomed, celebrated, and fostered through educational exhibits about all things STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art/design, and math). Study up about the climate, human body, plants, animals, art, and illusions. Be sure to save time for Eureka!, a gallery focused on dancing and high-energy play with drums, parachutes, and music.
Science World
In other sky-high news, this simulation ride is the perfect fit for anyone who prefers milder thrills. Learn about the people and cultures you’re about to “fly” over, then hop aboard a video journey above the Canadian Rockies, Iceland, or the North Pole. With mist on your face, moving seats, and scents of nature, you’ll feel like you’re really inside the scene that’s on the screen.
FlyOver Canada
Explore one of the most picturesque panoramas of this beautiful Canadian city from a chairlift or a fully enclosed Skyride. (Envision a van that travels by a ski lift-style iron rope rather than wheels.) Or, when the weather cooperates and you’re feeling really adventurous, try ziplining, paragliding, or “surfing” (riding on a safely fenced open-air platform on the rooftop of the Skyride).
Skyride Surf Adventure at Grouse Mountain
You might not guess it since this restaurant has a 159-year-old sister in Beijing, but the Michelin star-winning hot spot is one of the most innovative on the planet. At this immersive restaurant, book a table in dining areas that are full of sounds, projections, and interactive ingredients that make you feel like you’re underwater floating past coral reefs or in the thick of a busy Shanghai scene.
iDen & Quanjude Beijing Duck House
This art center and its sister, PAM CUT (Center for an Untold Tomorrow), showcase the immense ways art can reflect and teach us about life. Recent and upcoming exhibits spotlight the behind-the-scenes efforts to bring a stop-motion-animated Pinocchio movie to life, futuristic footwear designs, and groundbreaking Black artists from Oregon.
Portland Art Museum
You have just one hour to solve puzzles, answer clues, and think critically to find your way out of this live-action game. Thanks to intricate set designs, lighting, and sound effects, it’s like an action movie come to life. Not all games are scary — each room is given a “fright factor” of 1 to 10 and a recommended minimum age range so the entire family can take part in the fun.
Hour to Midnight Escape Room
Spyscape
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WorldMark The Store has helped you bring your vacations home for years, offering a wide selection of bedding, bath, and housewares products that you have long enjoyed at your club resorts.
In an effort to bring you even more options, WorldMark The Store is now Shop Travel + Leisure — your new source for an incredible selection of goods inspired by wondrous destinations around the world. Now your home can be a reminder of past experiences, and an inspiration for journeys to come.
With Shop Travel + Leisure, you can take advantage of discounts and specials on high-quality, brand-name products. Visit the online store today and start living like you’re always on vacation.
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Planning to travel outside of your WorldMark resorts? Get peace of mind for you and your vacation with travel insurance, TravelSecure, and credit protection, or book with a Best Price Guarantee through your in-house travel agency.
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When you’re on vacation, sometimes magic happens and you find yourself experiencing a true one-of-a-kind moment, and so … you take a picture to try and freeze that moment. A hike up a majestic mountain, a picnic underneath a vibrant sunset, the perfect family-fun moment on the beach — thanks to the push of a button or the click of a shutter, those experiences don’t have to be lost forever. You can freeze the moment with an epic vacation photo and relive that moment every time you see it.
If you’ve got an amazing vacation photo from a WorldMark vacation that just perfectly froze a magical moment, share it with your club for your chance to be a winner in the “Freeze The Moment” 2023 photo contest.
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WorldMark Avenue Plaza
Club Wyndham La Belle Maison (Club Pass)
French Quarter
Count on two things filling the air in New Orleans — the sweet scent of jasmine in spring and the sweet sounds of music year-round. The Crescent City is the birthplace of jazz, but it’s also been a nursery for the blues, rock, and zydeco, nurturing giants such as Louis Armstrong, Allen Toussaint, Jelly Roll Morton, Pete Fountain, Dr. John, Wynton and Ellis Marsalis, and Harry Connick Jr. Music is in NOLA’s DNA, and not just during Mardi Gras and spring’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The music scene’s mosh pit is the French Quarter, aka the Vieux Carré, home of legendary Bourbon Street. You’ll find an abundance of live music venues there, including iconic and intimate Preservation Hall, which offers nightly traditional New Orleans jazz performances. Hear more music on nearby Frenchmen Street, the main thoroughfare in the Marigny neighborhood. Favorite spots include The Spotted Cat Music Club, d.b.a, and Three Muses. The New Orleans Jazz Museum, which houses interactive exhibits on different aspects of the genre, offers a weekly Balcony Courtyard concert series. The great music reverberates in other parts of the city, too, like at Kermit's Tremé Mother-In-Law Lounge on Claiborne Avenue, Rock ‘n’ Bowl in Mid-City, Maple Leaf Bar in Uptown, and Vaughan’s Lounge in the Bywater.
New Orleans, Louisiana
where to stay
Club Wyndham Nashville (Club Pass)
Broadway
Though its name is synonymous with country music, Nashville is really a jam band of a city, blending country and western with bluegrass, blues, pop, rock, gospel, classical, and Americana. The heart of this mash-up is Broadway, the downtown main drag nicknamed the Honky Tonk Highway. It’s lined with clubs that charge no cover to hear live music by the next Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, or Reba McEntire, all performers who got their start in Music City. Adjacent areas like Printers Alley, SoBro, and The Gulch offer even more places to sample the Nashville sounds. Broadway is also a short walk from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, where exhibits trace the genre’s evolution and celebrate its royalty. A newer Broadway stop, the National Museum of African American Music, showcases the influence of African Americans on more than 50 types of popular music, including jazz and hip-hop. A bit farther away, historic Music Row is more about the business side, housing songwriters, record labels, radio stations, and recording studios. And no Nashville visit would be complete without a pilgrimage to the Grand Ole Opry, the show and stage that put the city on the music map. Tour both its present site and its cathedral-like prior home, Ryman Auditorium.
Nashville, Tennessee
where to stay
WorldMark Austin
Austin City Limits
It’s no wonder Austin declares itself the Live Music Capital of the World. You’ll see performers everywhere — the airport, grocery stores, sidewalks, festivals, and hundreds of bars, clubs, coffeehouses, and concert halls. And though the sheer number of venues impresses, what’s truly amazing is the diversity of sounds, a product of the world cultures that merged in central Texas. It all started with German polka music played at beer gardens in the late 1800s, then grew to embrace Tejano and Latin styles, jazz and blues, country and folk, pop and rock, R&B and hip-hop, and electronic and dance. Janis Joplin, Willie Nelson, and Stevie Ray Vaughan head the list of hitmakers associated with the Austin music scene. Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater (ACL Live) is the city’s best-known venue, hosting TV’s long-running Austin City Limits and a crowded calendar of concerts. It’s also a venue for South by Southwest (SXSW), an annual conference and festival that celebrates music, tech, film, education, and culture. Other longtime favorite music spots include dance hall Broken Spoke (big for boot-scooting and people watching); The Continental Club, a supper club turned eclectic music mecca; and C-Boy’s Heart & Soul, a hub for fans of blues, soul, and country in the South Congress neighborhood.
Austin, Texas
San Antonio Area
Southern California
Orlando Area
CHOOSE ANOTHER AREA
San Antonio Area
Southern California
Orlando Area
where to stay
Club Wyndham Riverside Suites (Club Pass)
Club Wyndham La Cascada (Club Pass)
WorldMark New Braunfels
What happens when you combine the splash of a log flume with the hills of a roller coaster? The world’s first launched flume coaster, opening here in 2024. It all starts innocently, with a meandering course along tame water. That is, until you hit the launch system that sends your boat flying at 30 feet per second. And that’s just the first act. Next, a vertical lift brings your boat to the top of a 53-degree slope (the world’s steepest flume drop), sending you into a free fall that ends with a thorough soaking. On a sunny San Antonio afternoon, it doesn’t get much better.
SeaWorld San Antonio
Catapult Falls
3/3
Don’t want to climb up all the steps for a waterslide, but also looking for something less flat than a lazy river? Ride up the innovative AquaVeyer at the New Braunfels water park. The massive conveyor belt sends tubers up a hill and drops them at the top of a gradually descending river. Once you reach the end of the looping waterway about 15 minutes later, you can either hop out or take the AquaVeyer for another round. Schlitterbahn has a long track record of splashy innovation, including the Master Blaster water coaster, using water jet propulsion to send riders up and over a series of hills.
Schlitterbahn Waterpark and Resort
AquaVeyer
2/3
Since 2001, Idaho-based Rocky Mountain Construction has transformed rickety wooden coasters into buttery-smooth scream machines with new tracks and previously unthought-of contortions. They also pioneered the single-rail coaster design with this ribbon-like configuration of track completed in 2018. Seated single file, riders have nothing but the open air on either side of them as they whoosh through the 1,800-foot-long journey. While appearing thin, the single-rail track is some of the strongest in the industry, allowing for minimal support beams and a sensation of heart-pumping vulnerability despite the highest safety standards.
Six Flags Fiesta Texas
WONDER WOMAN Golden Lasso Coaster
1/3
where to stay
WorldMark Oceanside
WorldMark Dolphin’s Cove
WorldMark Anaheim
Noninverted dive loop. Negative-G stall loop. Small ejector airtime hump. Those phrases mean little to the average parkgoer, but coaster enthusiasts know those terms add up to one thing: the ultimate adrenaline rush. Opened in 2018 at this 1920s-era park, HangTime boasts one of California’s steepest coaster drops, at 96 degrees. (That’s more than straight down, for the record.) The Gerstlauer-designed attraction exudes a surfing theme with its beachy color scheme and open-air train design that gives riders free-flowing vibes through smooth loops and dives. At night, the ride becomes a glowing spectacle with “chase lighting” that follows the trains through their twisty maneuvers.
Knott’s Berry Farm
HangTime
4/4
What starts as a standard cartoon becomes a Technicolor dream when guests walk through the screen and board a train helmed by Goofy. Thanks to trackless technology, the train cars can separate from the others, and at one point, each car “dances” to a whimsical waltz and spirited conga choreographed by Daisy Duck. Throughout the ride, advanced projection mapping technology is used to blur the line between reality and fantasy as guests find themselves endearingly trapped inside a three-dimensional animated world. (This ride can also be enjoyed at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.)
Disneyland Resort
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
3/4
Less of a ride and more an interactive experience, this walk-through attraction caters to racing fans of all ages. Inside a garage-like space, touch a full-size Ferrari F40 made from 358,000 LEGO pieces. Next, it’s off to build your own version. Once all the pieces are assembled, a digital scanner turns your model into an animated race car, allowing you to personalize your vehicle with a custom license plate and minifigure. Ready to roll? Start your virtual engines and duke it out on a digitally projected replica of Italy’s Pista di Fiorano circuit. Whether or not you’re the champion, go ahead and pose with a LEGO trophy. Here, everyone wins.
LEGOLAND California Resort
LEGO Ferrari Build and Race
2/4
Even on San Diego’s warmest days, it’s easy to feel a whisper of a chill when riding a snowmobile-shape coaster car along 2,800 feet of track. Designed by celebrated Liechtenstein-based designer Intamin, this “straddle coaster” features cars that gently rock and roll, mimicking real-life snowmobiles as the ride leans into turns. Three launches and a top speed of 40 mph make the ride shriek-inducing without alienating younger brave souls. Before boarding, meet beluga whales, harbor seals, and walruses while learning about SeaWorld’s animal rescue efforts around the globe.
SeaWorld San Diego
Arctic Rescue
1/4
where to stay
Club Wyndham Cypress Palms (Club Pass)
WorldMark Reunion
WorldMark Kingstown Reef
No animatronics here. Those are actual sharks, dolphins, and other sea creatures you’re whizzing past on a duo of body slides at this SeaWorld-affiliated water park. The 330-foot-long waterslides begin with a serpentine journey beneath translucent cutouts of sea life. Near the end of the ride, the slide dips into a pool of live leopard sharks, Commerson’s dolphins, and sardines. Enclosed fiberglass tubes allow for a brief encounter before your ride ends with a splash outside the pool area. Looking for more of a rush? Try Ihu’s Breakaway Falls (a multidrop tower slide) or Riptide Race, the world’s tallest dueling racer waterslide.
Aquatica Orlando
Reef Plunge
4/4
Everything is awesome when you’re soaring through brick-tacular scenes on Emmet’s Triple Decker Flying Couch. State-of-the-art theater seating allows your feet to dangle on this motion simulator with a massive domed screen for panoramic views. Wind and mist effects add layers of realism to the colorful action, and riders can even whiff the smoke from a cannon explosion as they navigate Pirate’s Cove. Unlike similar rides (such as Disney’s Soarin’ attractions), Taiwan-based Brogent Technologies built a 180-degree turn into the ride for a more dramatic transition from reality to the dynamic world of LEGO.
LEGOLAND Florida Resort
THE LEGO MOVIE Masters of Flight
3/4
If you believe it’s simply The Force that propels you through one of the most complex rides ever invented, stop reading now. Opened in 2019 at Walt Disney World Resort (and in 2020 at Disneyland), the ride uses automated (trackless) vehicles that weave through a massive indoor landscape of animatronic stormtroopers, towering AT-ATs, and a motion simulator that ejects you into the galaxy. There are also some old-school tricks up the ride’s sleeve: Mirrors provide the illusion of an even larger interior, and the drop shaft used to provide the sensation of a much bigger free fall is based on a design used in the 1994-era Tower of Terror, also at Hollywood Studios.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
2/4
It’s every Potterhead’s dream to fly around Hogwarts castle, partake in a Quidditch match, and narrowly dodge a wallop from the Whomping Willow. This immersive ride covers all of that and more, courtesy of robotic “arms” that provide the sensation of flight. Following a track that snakes past a mix of screen effects and moving set pieces, guests are seamlessly integrated into the action, rotating freely — and occasionally onto their backs — as they zoom through the Hogwarts grounds with Harry and other characters from the series. Identical versions of this ride enchant guests at Universal Studios in California, Japan, and China.
Universal Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando Resort
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
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There’s no need to hide your nerdy side. At this nonprofit science center, deep thinking is welcomed, celebrated, and fostered through educational exhibits about all things STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art/design, and math). Study up about the climate, human body, plants, animals, art, and illusions. Be sure to save time for Eureka!, a gallery focused on dancing and high-energy play with drums, parachutes, and music.
Science World
In other sky-high news, this simulation ride is the perfect fit for anyone who prefers milder thrills. Learn about the people and cultures you’re about to “fly” over, then hop aboard a video journey above the Canadian Rockies, Iceland, or the North Pole. With mist on your face, moving seats, and scents of nature, you’ll feel like you’re really inside the scene that’s on the screen.
FlyOver Canada
Explore one of the most picturesque panoramas of this beautiful Canadian city from a chairlift or a fully enclosed Skyride. (Envision a van that travels by a ski lift-style iron rope rather than wheels.) Or, when the weather cooperates and you’re feeling really adventurous, try ziplining, paragliding, or “surfing” (riding on a safely fenced open-air platform on the rooftop of the Skyride).
Skyride Surf Adventure at Grouse Mountain
You might not guess it since this restaurant has a 159-year-old sister in Beijing, but the Michelin star-winning hot spot is one of the most innovative on the planet. At this immersive restaurant, book a table in dining areas that are full of sounds, projections, and interactive ingredients that make you feel like you’re underwater floating past coral reefs or in the thick of a busy Shanghai scene.
iDen & Quanjude Beijing Duck House
where to stay
WorldMark The Canadian
Vancouver
science world
One of a handful of Kizuki locations across the United States, this Portland gem is celebrated for being the first in the Japanese ramen industry to roast bones before boiling them for the broth, which yields a deeply fragrant and flavorful base for their noodle soups. Try the bestseller: Garlic Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen with a 16-hour shoyu broth, soft-boiled egg, and your choice of chicken, pork belly, tofu, Spam, or mushrooms.
Kizuki Ramen and Izakaya
This art center and its sister, PAM CUT (Center for an Untold Tomorrow), showcase the immense ways art can reflect and teach us about life. Recent and upcoming exhibits spotlight the behind-the-scenes efforts to bring a stop-motion-animated Pinocchio movie to life, futuristic footwear designs, and groundbreaking Black artists from Oregon.
Portland Art Museum
You have just one hour to solve puzzles, answer clues, and think critically to find your way out of this live-action game. Thanks to intricate set designs, lighting, and sound effects, it’s like an action movie come to life. Not all games are scary — each room is given a “fright factor” of 1 to 10 and a recommended minimum age range so the entire family can take part in the fun.
Hour to Midnight Escape Room
Feel like a bigger fish in a smaller pond at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, where a ticket will allow you to explore how individuals impact the world. On-site, explore a playground, planetarium, movie theater, and age-specific exhibits. Before you visit, get a taste from the comfort of home through The Fab Lab video series, complete with at-home experiments pertaining to astronomy, zoology, chemistry, and biology.
OMSI
where to stay
WorldMark Portland Waterfront Park
Portland
portland art museum
Created for the 1962 Century 21 Exposition (Seattle World’s Fair) with a mission to “ignite curiosity and fuel a passion for discovery, experimentation, and critical thinking,” the interactive museum teaches kids and kids at heart about stars, animals, space, water, and all five senses. Save time for the laser dome, where you’ll be treated to a laser show performed in tandem with music by the likes of BTS, Taylor Swift, Pink Floyd, Queen, and The Weeknd.
Pacific Science Center
Short for the Museum of Pop Culture, at MoPOP you can tour exhibits related to hip-hop music, science fiction, indie video games, and beyond. The permanent collection features more than 80,000 curator-favorite objects, and the rest of the galleries and movies evolve with the times.
MoPOP
Speaking of cocktails, you’ll find some seriously unique options (including nonalcoholic alternatives) hiding out at this craft cocktail bar and Korean small-plate spot. The room lights up for every visitor who orders a Pisco and Paparazzi — it comes with a Lambrusco, pisco, lemon, raspberry, almond syrup, and lavender bitters mixed drink, plus a Polaroid of you enjoying the bevvy. The ideal pairing: Kimchi Pimento Cheese scooped up with Ritz crackers.
Dark Room
Peek through the world’s first and only revolving glass floor at this sky-high destination. One day per year, you can make it an intensely active excursion by tackling the Base 2 Space challenge, a fundraiser with an epic finale: climbing all 98 flights of stairs to the top. Or you can simply take the elevator, soak up the views, then sip on a cocktail at The Loupe lounge, situated 500 feet above Pacific Northwest soil.
Space Needle
where to stay
WorldMark The Camlin
Seattle
Mopop & the space needle
Pretend you’re in a James Bond movie for the day at this interactive Manhattan experience. Climb, jump, and dodge your way through agility-minded challenges designed by CIA experts. Then play MI6 expert-curated code games and take part in truth-or-lie challenges to determine your personal best spy role.
Spyscape
What was once a Queens public school (1892–1963) is now a celebration of modern art that showcases the countless ways creativity can inspire connection. PS1 displays are thoroughly modern: Displays include an organic plant greenhouse the size of a prison cell to “transform a space of confinement into one of possibility.”
MoMA PS1
Home to the Intrepid aircraft carrier and Enterprise space shuttle, plus some of the world’s fastest-flying jets and a guided missile submarine, this array of exhibits celebrates American innovation. Even though this museum was founded in 1982, it’s progressing with the times with features like G-force simulators, XD theaters, and more.
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
Since they change their menu every two weeks, the talented Supermoon pastry team is constantly looking forward. Indulge in unexpected creations like Croissant Butter Soft Serve, Thai Iced Tea Cruffins, and Blood Orange-Mango-Olive Oil Doughnuts. No matter when you visit this Lower East Side bakery, the future is sweet (and savory too).
Supermoon Bakehouse
where to stay
Club Wyndham Midtown 45
New york City
Spyscape
where to stay
Club Wyndham Sydney
Start your day at Barangaroo Reserve, a certified carbon-neutral park merging sustainability, design, art, and culture. This waterfront urban oasis boasts walking and cycling trails, public art, and sweeping Sydney Harbour views. Explore Aboriginal cultural tours for fascinating First Nations history insights. With picnic-perfect coves sprinkled throughout, grab takeaway lunches from on-site eateries.
Morning
Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
Sydney Opera House & Harbor Bridge
Luna Park
Wrap up your trip with a serene harbor cruise past iconic landmarks such as Luna Park. Whether aboard a yacht or a catamaran, you’ll enjoy uncompromised sunset views. Afterward, toast to your adventure with an intimate farewell dinner at Fred’s, a rustic, farm-to-table restaurant that blends old-world cooking techniques with a sustainable focus and top-quality ingredients.
Evening
Next Park
Next Park
Next Park
Next Park
Pretend you’re in a James Bond movie for the day at this interactive Manhattan experience. Climb, jump, and dodge your way through agility-minded challenges designed by CIA experts. Then play MI6 expert-curated code games and take part in truth-or-lie challenges to determine your personal best spy role.
Spyscape
What was once a Queens public school (1892–1963) is now a celebration of modern art that showcases the countless ways creativity can inspire connection. PS1 displays are thoroughly modern: Displays include an organic plant greenhouse the size of a prison cell to “transform a space of confinement into one of possibility.”
MoMA PS1
Home to the Intrepid aircraft carrier and Enterprise space shuttle, plus some of the world’s fastest-flying jets and a guided missile submarine, this array of exhibits celebrates American innovation. Even though this museum was founded in 1982, it’s progressing with the times with features like G-force simulators, XD theaters, and more.
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
Since they change their menu every two weeks, the talented Supermoon pastry team is constantly looking forward. Indulge in unexpected creations like Croissant Butter Soft Serve, Thai Iced Tea Cruffins, and Blood Orange-Mango-Olive Oil Doughnuts. No matter when you visit this Lower East Side bakery, the future is sweet (and savory too).
Supermoon Bakehouse
Take a Chef allows owners and guests staying at qualifying resorts to easily book a private chef experience – without ever having to leave the comfort of their suites. Orlando-based Andy Bates is one of thousands of participating chefs who can work with you to customize a menu and arrive at your suite to prep, cook, and serve the meal of a lifetime.
Take a Chef allows owners and guests staying at qualifying resorts to easily book a private chef experience – without ever having to leave the comfort of their suites. Orlando-based Andy Bates is one of thousands of participating chefs who can work with you to customize a menu and arrive at your suite to prep, cook, and serve the meal of a lifetime.