Guess what time it is, Internet! That’s right, it’s time to travel around you! Stand still.

Travel Around the Internet is a weekly UpTake feature where we showcase the numerous emails we receive from you, the reader. Also, tweets, deals and stuff we stumble upon (and Digg, and reddit). Basically, it’s internet travel news all in one nice place.

Seriously, we’re a lot of fun to be around.

There’s no crying in flying — at least not on Southwest. (AOL Travel)

Snorkel for luminescence at CasaSandra on Holbox Island, Mexico. (CasaSandra)

Looking for Scottsdale luxury at an affordable price? (Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale)

Win a Disney family trip to Hollywood! (Family.com)

Looking for good surf in Los Angeles? (CBS: Best of L.A.)

Tour the rainforest by zip line and moonlight in St. Lucia! (AdrenaLUNA)

DreamWorks and Gaylord Opryland have an experience that you might like! (Gaylord Opryland)

The world’s most endangered travel destinations — see them while you can! (lonely planet)

Live your own Shark Week! (Gadling)

Jackasses on airplanes. (CNN)

Universal Orlando Resort has some Harry Potter travel deals that are just like magic! (Universal Orlando)

More travel drama re: Cuba. (MSNBC)

In need of a mancation? Here are the best places! (AskMen)

If you would like to see your link on UpTake please use the email link in sidebar. Happy travels!

I know, the X Games started yesterday, but this is L.A., and if you aren’t late you aren’t fashionable. It’s kind of a thing out here. That said, if you and yours are visiting SoCal this weekend there is one more must-do to add to your overflowing itinerary. That must-do is the X Games that I opened with. Pay attention.

The X Games are ESPN’s creation, a gift to the world of extreme sports competition. The Summer X Games started in 1995 and feature some of the best extreme athletes in the world. You know, the crazy kids.

All of the events are held in downtown Los Angeles. They are spread between Staples Center, the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE, Lot 7 (the actual parking lot), Event Deck at L.A. LIVE and Gilbert Lindsay Plaza. What could be more extreme than that?

Tickets start at $5 and include admission to the X Fest at L.A. LIVE, which features live music, sponsor tents, an interactive skate park, demonstrations and opportunities to meet the athletes. X Fest opens an hour before the events start and closes an hour before the events end.

If you plan to attend X Games 17 please consider public transportation as traffic will be congested (i.e., it will be ugly) due to street closures. For those of you that are up to the challenge, there is paid parking along Figueroa St. for $25.

X Games 17
Staples Center
1111 S Figueroa St.
Los Angeles, CA
(213) 742-7100
More Information
Tickets

Now that I live in California (again) I have big plans to make a dream a reality. I want to learn how to surf. I’m not sure why I haven’t done it in the past. A lot of my friends consider it to be the only thing that keeps them (relatively) sane.

There are surfing schools and day lessons available all along the coast, and I plan on visiting one of them — as soon as Living Social emails the right deal. A family coupon would be nice.

I’d love to get my boys up on some boards. We had thought that skiing might be our family activity, but it turns out that everyone hates the cold, so now we’re thinking surfing might be the answer. We shall see.

Destination surf vacations sound really awesome.

Do you surf? Do you have kids that surf?

This post is part of our Friday Family Series.

Photo: Luis Alves via Flickr

The recent post on surviving Disneyland triggered an onslaught of emails and tweets (where an onslaught equals three) wanting to know more about Disney’s Fastpass system. Here you go!

The Fastpass (not to be confused with Disney’s PhotoPass) works like this: Certain rides/shows at the Disney parks (list below) offer a Fastpass option that allots a window of time for guests to return to said attraction and bypass the longer stand-by line.

If an attraction offers Fastpass there will be an area somewhere in the vicinity of the entrance or exit (some are harder to find than others) where guests can insert their admission ticket FOR THAT DAY into a machine (each person in a party needs their own pass) and it will return the admission ticket with an additional ticket that is the Fastpass.

Depending on the ride, time of day and crowd levels, the return time (an hour window issued in five minute increments) may be close to the issue time or hours later. With the exception of the World of Color show in Disney’s California Adventure, guests will not be able to get another Fastpass in the Disneyland Resort for at least two hours. Walt Disney World parks will have different rules and exceptions.

Return to the attraction during the time printed on the Fastpass and enter the Fastpass line. A Disney Cast Member (CM) will grant guests access to the line after confirming that their time is correct. (Please note, hold onto the Fastpass as they will be collected by another CM later in the queue). Fastpass holders seldom walk right onto the ride, but the wait time will be considerably less than that of guests in the stand-by line.

Here are the Disneyland Resort rides that offer Fastpass: Read More »